Obviously this writer was not at the February meeting public
meeting of the public safety and regulatory services committee, in which
90% of the citizens who
attended spoke passionately against CODEFOR, as well as the
police conduct vis-a-vis the ISAG protests. This ISAG incident sparked so
much public outcry that a majority of the council voted to support sevral
ordinances that were introduced to protect people from similar police
aggression in the future. This hardly consitutes the actions of a vocal
"minority." I think we can have a civil discussion about how you could
make law enforcement work and still strongly insist that the police respect
civil rights. I personally feel that this police department is out of
control, and I believe there are solutions to that problem. I also beleive
that when there is a large grassroots protest against an action beging
taken, even as in Seattle, that all sides must be listened to and treated
with respect.
Evan Schell wrote:
>The Minneapolis Police are people who work to protect as many people as
>possible. The right to peacably assemble does not include the right to
>intimidate or interfere with the freedoms of others. Nowhere in the
>constitution does it say citizens have the right to keep other citizens
>from going to meetings. In order to protect the freedom of movement for
>uninvolved citizens the police did what they had to do.
>
>My company was attempting to recruit a potential employee that week. We
>put him up at the Hilton. My company has nothing to do with genetic
>research. What is the copability of the protesters that forced him to go
>to another hotel? Who is responsible if a talented software engineer is
>lost to out of town competition? Ultimately, the mayor is
>responsible. The administration acted to protect the equal rights of all.
>
>Did they spend too much money? Of course. Were they too brutal? I
>personally think so. But, The protests came on the heals of Seattle,
>where fringe elements destroyed property and rioted. If the Mayor and
>police chief had failed to provide enough security and things had gotten
>out of hand, MOST citizens of Minneapolis would have reacted with more
>fervor than the vocal minority who felt their rights had been
>violated.
>
>Would any elected official (besides maybe Niland) allow another
>Seattle. I doubt it.
----------------------------------------->
| Tamir Nolley
| Candidate for Mpls City Council, Ward 6
| Hop on the Nolley Trolley !
| http://www.nolleytrolley.org
----------------------------------------->
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