On Tuesday morning, a post appeared on Twincities Indymedia regarding a personal observation of a police raid on a party in Northeast Minneapolis.
To read the full post: http://twincities.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=6587 (Please disregard the followup post by Ellen as it has little to do with the story and this individual has a rather notorious reputation for posting rants on Indymedia - sometimes free speech can be a drag, but it's better than the alternatives.) I am pulling specific allegations from the story and attempting to present them in a manner that doesn't jump to conclusions. Read the Indymedia post for the original report. The account states that a black family in a predominately white neighborhood was having a family barbecue on Monday evening. The family was playing their music quite loud, and at some point, the police drove by and let them know that they needed to turn the music down which they did. When the police left, they turned it back up. The account claims that a number of police arrived and gives some quotes that were overheard, but most of the rest of it was reported as second hand from the owner of the house and other family members who weren't arrested. It states: - The owner of the house was ticked for "unlawful assembly without a permit" - The police pepper sprayed a number of people in the house after being told they couldn't just walk in (other provocation to warrant the use of chemical irritants at that time was not reported) - The great grandmother kicked an officer in the shins after he pointed pepper spray at a three month old child. She then was roughly arrested. - Three family members were arrested, but the post did not state the charges. I have a few questions: Is there anyone out there who can provide additional information on what happened? Is it possible to get a ticket for "unlawful assembly without a permit" when having a family barbeque in your own home? If the report is accurate in describing the level of force used, isn't this a bit extreme? Would pointing chemical irritants at a baby be considered provocation? I wasn't there, so I don't know what actually happened, but I know I'd be pretty upset if I saw someone pointing pepper spray at a baby. Obviously, if they were playing the music loud and turned it back up after being told to turn it down, they earned a ticket for the appropriate noise violation, but unless there is a lot more to the story, it seems like this was an extremely heavy handed way of dealing with the situation. Whether or not the account was accurate, it highlights the need for greater transparency in the way things are currently handled. If I could access the police side of the story (with names removed to protect the innocent or whatever), I could at least view it from a more balanced perspective and follow up the Indymedia post with the police report. All I was able to find were statistics on the MPD website, but specific reports were not available and I couldn't find a way to request one. I couldn't find anything on wcco.com or startribune.com either. However, unless things have changed now that it is under the Civil Rights Department, even if this event does go through the process it will be done behind closed doors and the results and specifics may or may not be available. By the time it does, this will have dropped into the subconscious of me and most others who heard about it and may add to any general bias we might have. Without access to more information, the only thing I have to go on is this account. - Jason Goray, Sheridan, NE __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes http://finance.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
