Originally Posted by KSTP

Two Minneapolis City Council members are calling for an investigation into how officers handled the daily protests during the Republican National Convention.

City Council members Gary Schiff and Cam Gordon say there could be more events in the Twin Cities, and they would like to use the RNC as a blueprint for future events.

Liz McLemore and her husband were on their way to a Labor Day concert on Harriet Island. Although it was an anti-GOP event, it was peaceful.

"We had to pass through literally a line of cops in riot gear," said Russell Raczkowski, McLemore’s husband.

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Gordon praises law enforcement for their services, but thinks there needs to be an independent investigation into what he calls ‘questionable use of force.’

"People who were trying to go about their normal lives…couldn't," Councilman Gordon said.

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"I think the story that I've talked to is about how proud they are of the St. Paul Police Department and other partnering agencies that responded to an extremely serious threat," said St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman.

Originally Posted by WCCO

Hundreds of officers in riot gear -- some on horses -- poured into St. Paul's streets starting on Sunday to hold demonstrators to approved routes and quell disturbances. They used tear gas, pepper spray, percussion grenades and sticks to control protesters who overstayed permits or veered into unauthorized areas.

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But protesters and some observers said the show of force raised the tension level.

"You could literally go nowhere without being confronted by a Robocop in the most intimidating, threatening gear, who wouldn't give you directions, who wouldn't do anything except threaten you and tell you to move, move, move," said Dianne Mathiowetz, an anti-war activist from Atlanta.

Some showed injuries they said were caused by rubber bullets or rough handling during arrest.

Those caught up in chaotic mass arrests included journalists, legal observers and others who hadn't intended to commit civil disobedience -- including two Associated Press reporters and an AP photographer.

Originally Posted by WCCO

On Friday, an attorney for The Associated Press sent Harrington a letter asking for an accounting of police treatment of photographers Matt Rourke and Evan Vucci. Rourke was wearing AP credentials when he was arrested Monday while covering protest violence in downtown St. Paul, and was held for 10 hours before being released.

Also Friday, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press sent Harrington and Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher a letter asking them to drop the criminal citations issued to up to 20 journalists who were detained while covering Thursday's protests.

The ACLU of Minnesota is preparing to coordinate legal representation for some protesters, and is looking into the use of chemical irritants and mass arrests as it prepares a possible lawsuit against the city, executive director Chuck Samuelson said.

Another group of six protesters held a news conference Friday to show bruises, scratches and other injuries. Two said they planned to sue and others said they were contemplating legal action.

Pre-emptive arrests before the convention and the aggressive look of riot police heightened fear and anger among the protesters, said Demi Miller, who walked the demonstrations as a member of the Peace Team, a group in yellow vests that sought to defuse tensions.

Originally Posted by WCCO

On Tuesday, the day after nearly 300 people were arrested during scattered acts of violence on the convention's opening day, police prevented the band Rage Against the Machine from playing at a free concert on the Capitol grounds.

Hundreds of angry concertgoers joined an anti-poverty march that had just come down the street.

"Suddenly we had this huge group of really enraged or upset people energized to go screaming into downtown with the poor people's march," Miller said.

By the end of the evening, 10 were arrested and police fired pepper spray and percussion grenades to disperse those who lingered after the march broke up.

Originally Posted by WCCO

St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington says his department's strategy evolved day-to-day. For example, after police learned that protesters were trying to get police to chase them around, the police began blocking people into one area where they couldn't run around.

Originally Posted by WCCO

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak says he's proud of how officers handled protests in his city.

Originally Posted by WCCO

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman says former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger will lead an independent review of law enforcement planning and tactics used during the Republican National Convention.

Coleman said on Tuesday that Heffelfinger and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy Luger will lead the review.

Originally Posted by Star Tribune

What is clear is that the independent review will not be a fact-finding mission to explore allegations of police wrongdoing or violations of people's rights, Heffelfinger said.

Instead, the investigation will focus on the city's security plan and how it played out, and whether it was consistent with "best practices," he said.

Originally Posted by Minnesota Public Radio

We will not be reviewing whether or not there are any sustainable claims of police misconduct or anything like that," Heffelfinger said. "That is outside the scope of what we've been asked to do. It's quite simply, 'Was there was a plan of procedure in place? Were people properly trained to comply with it? Did they comply with it?' And that is about it."

Heffelfinger said his team will sift through allegations against police, but only to gather information about police compliance with procedures and best practices in law-enforcement.

Originally Posted by Paul Scott in the Star Tribune

...it seems instructive to ask how we so easily acquiesced to the militarization of an otherwise peaceful, midsized American city, all in exchange for face time on "The Factor." That's the message I got from Mayor Chris Coleman, anyway, in what may well have been the first morning of the last chapter of his governance of the city. He had agreed to half an hour on Minnesota Public Radio the morning after the convention, something of a train wreck of an attempt at damage control.

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And here I really should just let the mayor speak for himself. "We had press conferences from anarchists who said we are going to create chaos in St. Paul," he said. "We had a gentleman who is a self-proclaimed ultimate fighter saying 'I'm going to split a cop's head open.' They had guns, knives, machetes, Molotov cocktails. ... This was not just a couple of people. This was one of the most coordinated, orchestrated efforts in the history of this country to try to create chaos in a community, and to shut down political dialogue."

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There were so many things wrong with the mayor's assessment: the hyperbole, the panic, the unfortunate lack of perspective in the face of civil conflict. And how about that clever reference to "dialogue" at the Xcel! What a cut-up.

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Until RNC week, we had never needed to learn the breaking point for our freedoms. Now, thanks to some yabbos with bandanas around their faces, we know the moment at which St. Paul authorities will rescind the ability to walk on public streets free of intimidation and disillusionment with one's country: Three broken windows at Macy's.

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And all it took was $50 million worth of St. Paul's finest dressed up like Darth Vader.

Originally Posted by Pioneer Press

About 30 demonstrators showed up outside a fundraiser for St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman on Friday, objecting to what the group saw as an overreaction by police during last week's protests outside the Republican National Convention.

Carrying signs that read "I Am Ashamed" and "I Survived 9/1," the group strolled the sidewalk in front of a St. Anthony Park residence where the event was being held, briefly confronting Coleman when he arrived. The crowd objected to everything from the appointment of two former prosecutors to lead a city probe into police tactics during the four-day event to reports that Molotov cocktails were found during police raids related to self-described anarchists who sought to disrupt the convention.

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"He stood by while police were used to suppress political dissent," St. Paul resident John Schatz said

Originally Posted by Pioneer Press

All this happened under the careful, but quiet, watch of police officers intent on protecting the rights and safety of all who gathered to make their voices heard.

Originally Posted by Pioneer Press

Heffelfinger and Luger will take a broad look at whether things should have gone down the way they did. Heffelfinger described their vantage point as if looking down "from 30,000 feet."

Originally Posted by Pioneer Press

"What was the plan? Is there a written document, or did they establish a plan? If not, what was the basis for their actions? If there was a plan, what was the basis for that plan? Were there best practices?" Heffelfinger rattled off Tuesday.

Originally Posted by Star Tribune

The commission will:

• identify and analyze the public safety plan
• examine how the plan was carried out, including the gathering of officers, training and equipment
• evaluate how the plan was executed before and after the convention

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Individual cases of alleged misconduct by police or citizens will not be included in the report.

Originally Posted by Minnesota Public Radio

Former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger said he originally wanted his review team to investigate the far-reaching topics of air-space safety and hotel assignments for the convention delegates.

But he said over the past few weeks, he has listened to a lot of passionate protesters and journalists who demanded answers about their encounters with the police.

"We felt, based upon community interest, that we needed to narrow it much, much more. Focus it much, much more on the interaction with the community."

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And it will address the pre-emptive raids targeting activists in the days leading up to the convention.

Originally Posted by Pioneer Press

"Once you engage us, no one can tell us where to go, where not to go, what to write, what not to write," former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger told the St. Paul City Council. "No one will edit (our) report. If we find wrongdoing, we will report it."

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"Law enforcement's interactions with the community" is the broad phrase the panel will use, they said. It includes planning, intelligence-gathering, preconvention raids in St. Paul and Minneapolis and police decisions to close streets, use force and make mass arrests.

Originally Posted by WCCO

-- Barry Feld, the Centennial Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. Feld has been a member of the law school faculty since 1972, specializing in criminal law and procedure and juvenile justice. He also has served as an assistant Hennepin County attorney.

-- Robert Hernz, a retired police officer with over 30 years of law enforcement experience. Hernz was the Golden Valley police chief from May 2002 through January 2007, and is currently the general manager for Law Enforcement Technology Group, a software development firm.

-- Mary Ann Vukelich, a private investigator with WayPoint Inc. and a faculty member at St. Thomas University. Vukelich has held various positions in law enforcement including intelligence coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

-- George Latimer, the mayor of Saint Paul from 1976 until 1990 and a former dean of Hamline University School of Law. Latimer also served as special adviser to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and from 1996-1998 he was the CEO of the National Equity Fund.

-- Linda White, a lifetime St. Paul resident and director of finance and operations at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center. White previously worked at the Minnesota Community Business Center for Fannie Mae, the Planning and Economic Development Department for the city of St. Paul, and at the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights.

Originally Posted by Minnesota Public Radio

St. Paul residents and activists lined up Thursday night to share their mostly-negative experiences about their encounters with police during the Republican National Convention in September.

Michael Andregg teaches peace studies at the University of St. Thomas. He worked as a liaison between peace activists and police for a year leading up to the RNC.

Andregg said leaders with the St. Paul police department misled residents about the intense level of the security restrictions in downtown.

He said for a week, St. Paul felt like East Berlin.