Charles Samuelson, director of the American Civil Liberties Union-Minnesota, told the Pioneer Press it was St. Paul cops’ "ugly luck" that ACLU-MN attorney Teresa Nelson was standing next to Mick Kelly when police collared him for handing out  anti-war fliers for the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War outside Sen. Barack Obama’s June 3 rally at the Xcel Energy Center. 

Samuelson, noting that the arrest didn’t bode well for police protection of free speech rights during the Republic National Convention in St. Paul this summer, called Kelly’s crime "scalping" despite no tickets being scalped (an activity that in any case is no longer illegal in Minnesota, though it may be restricted near the Xcel Center). Police said they cited Kelly for "soliciting and peddling" but later offered apologies for wrongly detaining him, a sentiment echoed by St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman.

No such official apology was forthcoming after a similar incident three years ago when Minneapolis Parks Superintendent Jon Gurban sicced park police on Jason Stone, then a candidate for a seat on the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board who was attempting to distribute campaign literature at a city park.