Photo: Jill Brady (via The Vigil)

FBI whistleblower-turned-activist Coleen Rowley is on a roll. She ripped into the City of St. Paul’s report on Republican National Convention law enforcement in a commentary that appeared Friday at MinnPost and today at The Huffington Post. Tomorrow, as court hearings start in the cases of the RNC8 protesters, Rowley and individuals from Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) and other groups will file formal complaints against the city, state and Ramsey County over police tactics. And Rowley’s inquiries into what she suspects was overbroad surveillance during the RNC are starting to bear fruit — or at least what she calls a first “non-responsive” response from Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher’s office.

In her commentary, Rowley cites President Obama’s inauguration as an example of a National Special Security Event (like the RNC) that police pulled off “somehow, without tear gas, tasers or thousands of people dragged off in handcuffs.” St. Paul’s Heffelfinger-Luger report, Rowley points out, avoids the question of “whether such aggressive ‘police state’ action during the RNC was actually necessary.” She concludes:

Perhaps the worst mistake made in the RNC Commission Report is falling for the notion of trade-offs between security and liberty instead of seeing them as intertwined. President Obama phrased it well in his inaugural speech statement, when he said “we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.”

After a “Mardi Gras-themed procession” at noon on Tuesday on the state Capitol lawn, Rowley and others plan to file ”Notices of Claim” (pdf) that will contain charges like this:

In the year-long investigation and planning that preceded the RNC and the police enforcement during the RNC, Sept 1-4, 2008, the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, along with other state, local and federal law enforcement agencies and private corporations and associations of private companies, including the “Department of Homeland Security’s (now defunct) Highway Watch” and presumably the FBI’s “InfraGard” corporate partnerships did produce faulty and defamatory “intelligence” assertions that linked the organization WAMM that I am a member of to “terror networks”. Ramsey County opened an investigation approximately one year before the RNC that provided the basis of the false claims used to defame WAMM and to violate the privacy rights of WAMM members by then disseminating this information to private corporations, associations and other law enforcement agencies.

Rowley’s public-data requests to the FBI (her former employer) and Ramsey County have so far elicited only a brush-off response from Fletcher’s office (pdf).

Her draft response:

1) If I understand correctly, any data gathered on the other organizations and groups (besides the RNC Welcoming Committee) that I inquired about—to include that gained by viewing their websites–is not contained in separate files but in the same investigative file as the one that has led to prosecution of some of the “RNC Welcoming Committee”. Is that understanding correct?

2) If you are saying that the information your Department has collected on other groups and members of other groups, is all contained in one big file, there still would be no reason it cannot be segregated out for release, would there? Since there are no ongoing prosecutions related to these other groups and members of these other groups? For example: the “Women Against Military Madness (WAMM)”; “Troops Out Now”; the “Anti-War Committee”; “Protest RNC 2008” and other peace and social justice groups are charted out in a “Social Network Analysis” and “Power Centrality Ranking” that links them to the “RNC Welcoming Committee” in a Homeland Security-Highway Watch document that has recently come to light. It’s not clear whether this “intelligence” product was only produced as a result of “viewing their websites” but even if that’s so, wouldn’t there at least be notes and copies made from that law enforcement effort of analyzing the public websites?

3) I have a hard time believing that Ramsey County Sheriff Department informant(s) reported information only on the “RNC-8”. It is precisely the other individuals who are not being prosecuted and about whom information may be contained in the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office that is of interest for the research that Mr. Cox and I are conducting. Are informant report files maintained separately?

4) Again assuming I’m correct in believing that the Ramsey Sheriff Department’s information is contained in one big file that also involves the information collected on the “RNC Welcoming Committee,” what is the name of that file? How is it indexed for retrieval and further use? Was the file opened to contain all investigative data collected in the lead-up to the RNC or was it focused solely on the RNC Welcoming Committee? If the latter, why would the information on other groups and members of groups not connected to the prosecution of the “RNC Welcoming Committee” not be releasable at this time? Can you give me an idea of the size of the file and how many other individuals and groups (not being prosecuted) are documented or referenced in the file?

5) Why did you ask for a delay when first responding to my request back in December, telling me you expected my request to take a lot of time to gather up responsive materials?

Nearly 800 people were arrested. Pepper spray and flash-bang grenades were repeatedly used to disperse crowds. Store-front windows were smashed and vehicle tires slashed. If nothing else, the four days of the Republican National Convention certainly succeeded in bringing some excitement to the normally sleepy streets of downtown St. Paul.

Before a sometimes rambunctious public audience today, a seven-member panel, led by former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy Luger, presented an 82-page report on policing during the Republican National Convention to the St. Paul City Council. While the panel generally concluded that the St. Paul police acted appropriately in overseeing security arrangements during the four-day gathering, it did offer numerous criticisms of the department’s preparations and tactics. Among the shortcomings outlined in the report:

• The cops should have done a better job of preparing the public for the police presence during the RNC. In numerous community events leading up to the convention, police officials emphasized that they intended to utilize a friendly and low-key approach to law enforcement. In reality, there were scores of cops in riot gear lining parade routes and protests on all four days of the convention, leading many observers to characterize it as a police state. “We take fault with the city for not preparing the community better,” Luger told the city council.

• The St. Paul Police Department was slow in working out “joint-powers agreements” with more than 100 outside law-enforcement agencies deemed necessary to staff the event. This led to uneven training for officers and a “slow and disjointed response to anarchist activities” on the first day of the convention.

• There was no established protocol for dealing with journalists who got swept up in unlawful assemblies and other events. This led to the arrest of more than 40 reporters who were attempting to do their jobs. “Both the media and the SPPD struggled with the question of who was a journalist and whether journalists (however defined) should be afforded some form of special treatment should they find themselves detained or arrested,” the report concludes.

• The use of “mass arrests” to deal with disturbances should be further reviewed. In particular, the report raises questions about the detainment of roughly 350 people on the Marion Street bridge during the final night of the convention.

Despite these criticisms, the panel concluded that the threat of violence from protesters during the convention was significant and that there were credible plans to shut down the convention. “These were sophisticated, organized and tenacious activists intent on committing repeated and highly dangerous acts of violence,” the report states.

During the one-hour presentation, a packed house of observers often laughed, jeered and offered unsolicited criticisms of the report’s findings. While the outside review was intended to placate critics of the police’s handling of the convention, it was clear that many who showed up were unimpressed by the process. Heffelfinger and Luger were repeatedly interrupted by cries of “lies” from the audience as they gave their testimony. On a couple of occasions city council president Kathy Lantry threatened to shut the meeting down if the audience did not desist from disrupting the presentation.

The seven-member panel was hired in October by the City of St. Paul to review police preparations and tactics during the four-day gathering. The group interviewed more than 50 people involved in RNC protests and policing, reviewed thousands of pages of planning documents, and watched hundreds of hours of videotape. All exhibits, including videos and photographs, can be reviewed on the city’s web site.

Despite the criticism, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman expressed satisfaction at how the four-day gathering proceeded.

“I still believe at the end of the day it was a successful convention,” he told the city council. “We will take this report very seriously and we will act upon it where appropriate.”

The MPD’s internal review will mostly remain confidential, although the department is prepared to release a version of it to the public after St. Paul’s study goes public today. According to MPD spokesman Sgt. William J. Palmer:

We have completed an After Action Report, which is an internal document that reviews our methods and actions during the RNC. That is a non-public document because it will be used to plan future events and release would compromise tactical operations. There is a summary of the after action report which will be public. That document will be released once we receive a copy of the St. Paul reports. Because we participated in the St. Paul process as our agencies’ planning and operations were intertwined, we will use the relevant sections of that report to address the items of joint concern. Our report will also address those items relevant specifically to Minneapolis. We do not yet have a date that the summary will be available.

The Oberlin College project involves seven first- and second-year students (two from the Twin Cities) who will spend two weeks here this month interviewing as many as 20 people from a variety of backgrounds who were involved in, as researcher Samantha Link puts it, “the RNC scandal”:

We’ll be videotaping interviews (hopefully to compile into a mini-documentary at the end) with activists/protest organizers, journalists who got caught up in police actions, ACLU lawyers and official RNC organizers and police, if they will talk to us. Surveying the information available on the issue, it seems most of “the facts” are out there, but the people we are talking to still seem to have a story to tell. We want to focus on the human impact of the RNC conflict and any changes it created in citizens’ relationships to their government and their civil rights.

An Edina native, Link says the RNC shook her impression of home as a “generally tolerant place adhering to a live-and-let-live, ‘Minnesota Nice’ state of mind.”

A very different group from out of state is conducting another study based on interviews here this month. The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) describes itself as “a national membership organization of progressive police executives from the largest city, county and state law enforcement agencies … dedicated to improving policing and advancing professionalism through research and involvement in public policy debate.”

PERF’s topic of inquiry is more narrowly focused on communications and media relations during what are known as National Special Security Events (NSSEs) — huge gatherings like the RNC, the presidential inauguration, and even certain Super Bowls at which the U.S. Secret Service takes charge of all law enforcement.

I was among the media workers interviewed last week by PERF Executive Director Chuck Wexler and Homeland Security Development Director Gerard Murphy, in a high-ceilinged meeting room in the office suite of MPD Chief Tim Dolan, who Murphy said had invited PERF to do the study. Wexler and Murphy asked about how journalists identified themselves to police and plans made by media and police before the RNC. Wexler asked whether I would be willing to wear special vests that would mark me as media. Their interest in what happened during the RNC and what could be done to make future NSSEs better seemed genuine.

Look for updates on these three studies as they are completed or I learn more about them.

Andy Luger and Tom Heffelfinger

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman announced late Tuesday afternoon that the city will undergo an outside review of the public safety effort tied to the Republican National Convention — but its limited scope may not satisfy calls from various quarters for independent review of police misconduct.

Leading the charge is former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger, who now works for Minneapolis law firm Best & Flanagan, and Andy Luger, previously an assistant U.S. attorney who is employed at Greene Espel in Minneapolis.

They’ll be putting a team together to perform the assessment and define its parameters, according to a statement from the mayor’s office. The timeline for the study and other details are yet to be nailed down, according to mayoral spokesman Bob Hume. He told Minnesota Independent that the city had always planned to “take a hard look at the events of the week,” but didn’t before know “what form it would take.”

“Today we basically said we would bring in a fresh set of eyes to work through the process of determining what went well and what lessons are to be learned,” said Hume.

Regarding the questions that members of the public have raised about security measures during the RNC, “We want to be able to answer those as best we can. Our feeling is these two [attorneys] will help us navigate that and will give an honest look at how things went,” he said.

But Heffelfinger is saying the team will not look into allegations of police misconduct, raising the question of whether St. Paul’s move will satisfy the various organizations and officials demanding independent reviews. An international human rights group, a national civil liberties organization and a smattering of local officials have issued calls — ranging in tone from livid to tepid — for investigations:

Amnesty International wants “city and county authorities to ensure that all allegations of ill-treatment and other abuses are impartially investigated, with a review of police tactics and weapons in the policing of demonstrations” — adding that it should be prompt and public.

The American Civil Liberties Union wants “an investigation into possible violations of the First and Fourth Amendments, including the arrest of reporters trying to gather the news; the mass arrest of hundreds of peaceful protestors; the surveillance and subsequent raids on several activist groups and private homes; and the confiscation by law enforcement agents of constitutionally-protected private property.”

Locally, St. Paul City Council Member Dave Thune has said he wants “a public airing of what went right and what went wrong.” To that end, he’s scheduled a “community conversation” on Sept. 24, 5:30 p.m., City Council chambers, to hear from interest groups — but no open mic for public testimony. He’s also is soliciting citizen comment for St. Paul’s official police “after-assessment.”

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak wants to investigate police actions personally — “just the mayor taking a look at how the police responded to the protests,” his spokesman told MPR. The mayor is eschewing any formal review.

Minneapolis City Council Members Cam Gordon and Gary Schiff want “an independent, blue ribbon panel to conduct a thorough investigation into the events, decisions and policies surrounding security issues and the RNC, hold hearings and make recommendations for future policy changes.”

Schiff told Minnesota Independent on Monday that he envisions a joint Minneapolis-St. Paul commission approved by both city councils, with funding from both cities. In contrast to Heffelfinger’s statement that civilian review and police internal affairs panels could handle charges of police misconduct, Schiff said the cases arising from hundreds of RNC arrests would overwhelm those local boards, and that is why an independent blue-ribbon panel is needed.

Another parochial concern that may elude Heffelfinger are Minneapolis’ guidelines of recent vintage against which Minneapolis council members intended to measure police actions during the RNC, the “police policies regarding public assemblies” that the council passed in July 25. Gordon aide Robin Garwood and Schiff agreed city police appear to have violated at least one of the 29 policies regarding treatment of the press.

Might RNC policing be an issue in Minneapolis elections next year? Schiff shrugs, but Dave Bicking, who unsuccessfully challenged Schiff for the Ward 9 city council seat three years ago, says it could. Police accountability was one of the main issues on which Bicking ran in 2005 — a lit piece of his cautioned that “Expensive lawsuits should not be the only means for accountability” — and it could be again, especially now that Bicking’s daughter Monica is one of the marquee arrestees facing the stiffest penalties from the pre-RNC sweeps.

Read moreWith all the brouhaha over the 3rd District, what about that Senate race? WCCO’s Pat Kessler fact-checks the latest anti-war ad targeting Norm Coleman for his votes on the war, and finds them somewhat lacking. However, as soon as that was done, Coleman gave his DFL opponents more ammunition — Wednesday, a cloture vote on restoring the writ of habeas corpus failed, with Coleman voting no. Keep in mind, kids, that habeas corpus is a constitutionally guaranteed right, and last year’s Military Commissions Act ran roughshod over it. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid voted no for procedural reasons, so the bill actually got 57 votes, meaning Coleman was one of just three votes needed to restore an important piece of the Constitution that Democrats and left-leaning activist groups say has been mangled by the Bush administration.

*Correction:  Although geographically the shortest route to CD3 for Simon is straight into Minnetonka, a single precinct in House District 44A, Hopkins 7, is indeed in CD3.  This means that Simon would NOT have to move outside his House district in order to run for Congress.

Thanks for the catch!

Check back tonight once reports come in.

Speaking of Humphrey: Floods start with a trickle.The first “Stop [Candidate Name]” blog has appeared, in the form of StopBuck. (Note to Google — you guys have to make it more difficult to register a bunch of blogspot.com sites at once.)

On the Republican side, several more potential candidates have been floated, but multiple sources have indicated that the right of first refusal to frontrunner status probably goes to State Rep. Erik Paulsen. He has worked for the congressman and has long been a Ramstad protege. Even if Ramstad makes no public displays of support, his private assistance would go a long way toward pushing Paulsen over the top.

Former United States Attorney Tom Heffelfinger stated, “In 1991 I conducted a nationwide search to find the best prosecutor for the one vacancy in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Minnesota .  Andy Luger was the result of that search

]]> http://minnesotaindependent.com/445/republicans-for-luger-2/feed 0 http://minnesotaindependent.com/437/republicans-for-luger http://minnesotaindependent.com/437/republicans-for-luger#comments Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:05:08 +0000 Joe Bodell http://www.minnesotaindependent.com.php5-9.websitetestlink.com/?p=437 Tomorrow (October 5th), 10:00 AM at Hennepin County Gov. Center South Plaza, Andy Luger will be announcing the formation of Republicans for Luger, a group of influential Republicans who are supporting the DFL-endorsed candidate for Hennepin County Attorney.

Notables at the event will include former County Attorney Gary Flakne and former US Attorney Tom Heffelfinger.  The press release for the event also included several notable Republicans, including former Senator Rudy Boschwitz, Wheelock Whitney, and Hennepin County Commissioner Penny Steele.

In a race involving two DFLers opposing one another for a non-partisan office, these endorsements from should come in particularly handy in the western suburbs of Minneapolis, where there is a very even partisan split among voters.

]]> http://minnesotaindependent.com/437/republicans-for-luger/feed 0 http://minnesotaindependent.com/374/interview-with-andy-luger-candidate-for-hennepin-county-attorney http://minnesotaindependent.com/374/interview-with-andy-luger-candidate-for-hennepin-county-attorney#comments Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:14:38 +0000 Joe Bodell http://www.minnesotaindependent.com.php5-9.websitetestlink.com/?p=374 Andy Luger grew up in New Jersey and later attended Amherst College in Massachusetts, graduating Summa Cum Laude.  He graduated in 1980, and went to work building the Parker Coltrane PAC, a political action committee focusing on electing black leaders in the South.  After attending Georgetown Law, he eventually got into criminal justice, becoming an Assistant US Attorney in Brooklyn, intentionally focusing his efforts on cases no one else wanted.  Since moving to Minnesota in 1992, he has been busy, prosecuting big white collar criminal cases and building a private practice focused on the concept of complete democracy – every lawyer in the firm has a voice, including on the salaries distributed around the table.  Now working hard to obtain more responsibility and less annual pay, Mr. Luger says that the campaign has been a real life lesson for his two kids about what is really important.

I sat down with Andy on Sunday to discuss the campaign and various issues.  Thoughtful and knowledgeable about the issues in his race, Mr. Luger was also kind enough to speak slowly so I could keep up with my notepad – extra bonus MNCR points for that.

MNCR:  Your group at Camp Wellstone (early 2005) contained some rising stars in DFL politics. How did the event influence your decisions at the beginning of the campaign?

A. Luger:  I had already decided to run before Camp Wellstone.  But what it really instills is the belief that yes, you can do this.  It energized me, being surrounded by people with the same energy, the same passion for public service.  It’s lonely when you decide to run for office – friends are great, and their encouragement is great, but they’re not feeling the same things you are.  The biggest thing was asking about finding a campaign manager – I met Gia in February of last year, and she started soon after, sending me to ward conventions for the local and mayoral races.MNCR:  Later on, you actively sought the DFL endorsement for this office.

A. Luger:  Very early on, we had to decide whether to seek and whether to honor the endorsement, and in both cases, the answer was “yes.”  As a result, we started working hard to build our support list in 2005 going into the precinct caucuses and county convention in early 2006.  June 3rd (the day of the Hennepin County DFL Convention) was really one of the best days of my life.

MNCR:  What sets this campaign apart from previous campaigns for this office?

A. Luger:  I think the visibility of this race is up this year.  We had a thousand delegates show up to the county convention, and people in the DFL are really excited about the race.  Since the convention, it’s unique because I’m running as a DFL-endorsed candidate against another DFLer and no Republican.  No Green.  No Independent.  So in November, Democrats, Republicans, everyone in Hennepin County will be deciding which Democrat they want to vote for.

MNCR:  Hennepin County cuts a pretty wide swath across the state – you have Minneapolis, obviously, but also suburbs and some pretty small towns.  What issues really resonate in this sort of district?

A. Luger:  Regardless of the location, I’ve seen two general themes.  One, people want to move forward, not backward.  Two, people want a prosecutor, not a politician.  They want someone who has hands-on experience in this kind of office.

In terms of substantive issues, the primary issue is gang violence.  It goes beyond just residents of Minneapolis – if you live in Minnetonka and work in Minneapolis, you’re still worrying about the gang violence on our streets.  Most people I’ve talked to recognize that Minneapolis is the lifeblood of the county and of the state, and we need to turn this situation around.

MNCR:  So that’s an identification of the problem – how does County Attorney Luger go about doing that?

A. Luger:  First, we need to start with the understanding that gang violence is a form of organized crime.  We need to address it as we would address organized crime.  When the Feds looked at the mob as an organization instead of prosecuting one crime here, one criminal there, that’s when they started having success against the Mafia.  We need to go after the organization instead of each crime as an isolated event.

Second, there are some basic tools that we don’t have right now, namely a local Witness Protection program.  There’s no money for it right now, but other communities are building them and we need to do the same thing.  I’m not going to ask a witness to come down to the county courthouse to testify against gang leaders, and then send that witness back on the bus to their listed address where they live with their mom.  If we’re going to go after these organizations, we need to be able to protect those witnesses.

Third, I’m going to beef up the gang units, and focus more legal resources on prosecuting these cases effectively.  One area we’ve been neglecting is life after prison – 97% of convicted felons eventually get out, and we need to make it possible for them to turn their lives around if the way to.  We have a high recidivism rate right now, and there’s more we can do to reduce it.  There’s federal money available for these programs – the Bush Administration has put a strong focus on them because they work.  Money spent on preventing crime and reducing recivism is money that doesn’t have to be spent building prisons.

MNCR:  You mentioned earlier that this race is different, given that the only candidates in the race are DFLers.  How does that change the dynamic?

A. Luger:  I think it’s generally a positive thing -  people want a debate about experience and about the issues.  It’s a lot less about ideology and labels as in other partisan races.  It’s frustrating to me when I see a friend who’s running for office and gets hit with a label instead of getting to talk about the real issues.  Here, there’s less of that, so we’re able to get to “What will you do” rather than fighting over labels.  It’s led to some very fruitful and informative discussions with Democrats, Independents, and Republicans.  A lot of people have told me specifically that “party labels don’t matter to me in this race” and I think that’s a good thing.

MNCR:  You’ve just been sworn in as County Attorney.  What does County Attorney Luger do similarly to his predecessor Amy Klobuchar, and what does he do differently?

A. Luger:  The same – I’ll work with school administrators and school boards on truancy and safety issues in schools.  I worked on Amy’s ’98 campaign, and that’s one area she was and is passionate about, and I’ll continue that.  Different – there are a number of things, but initially I’ll work to build a partnership with law enforcement to dismantle the gangs, and I’m committed to personally prosecuting cases on occasion.

MNCR:  What/Who is your favorite…
Ice Cream Flavor: Easy – Oreo.
Baseball Player:  Mickey Mantle.  I have his autograph.
Local Political Figure:  Wellstone.  He said what he believed, and he stood by it whether you agreed or not.  He truly cared about the issues he talked about.
National Political Figure:  Mario Cuomo.  I’ve never been in the presence of a politician so inspiring.  He had a way about him of caring honestly and intellectually about the issues.  Brilliant and caring at the same time, and always discusses issues through the prism of family.  His speech at the 1984 DNC is my favorite political speech.
Leisure Activity:  Music
Political Blogs:  I read you, of course, MN Publius, MNBlue, Minvolved, some conservative ones. I read KvM from time to time, and Wind Beneath the Right Wing.

MNCR:  You mention Cuomo – how does he compare to another former New York Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, especially given Giuliani’s position regarding the 2008 GOP presidential nomination?

A. Luger:  Cuomo was the smartest politician I could imagine – he could quote philosophers and art historians in context and really connect them to current issues.  Giuliani is more of a tactician, and a good one at that.  But I knew Rudy mainly as a prosecutor, not a politician.  I’m really don’t know what’s going to happen there.

MNCR:  [I didn't actually ask this question, but Mr. Luger notified me of this travesty before we parted]  Why are you running?

A. Luger:  First is the standard reason, I think – I care about the criminal justice system, and I want to make a difference.  But second, I’ve always liked it when candidates inspired me.  Most people feel that doesn’t happen enough anymore.  One thought was to try to inspire people, and there have been points along the campaign trail where that’s happened.  The excitement we’ve seen shows that we’ve inspired people to get involved in politics in a positive way.

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Following great success in fundraising, the Luger campaign is making a TV ad buy, starting this week – watch for the ads on cable and later on broadcast TV, and of course keep an eye on your ballot in November for Andy Luger.

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