I think Mayor Coleman's "Independent" review of RNC public safety is anything BUT.

[Tigress DEM]

What do I do? Who do I tell?

I was researching to do a possible face to face, kinda drop by the Mayor's office and at least get some face time with the staff about the whole Democracy Now (A) and other reporters unfairly and violently arrested during the RNC when I saw a "News Flash" about an "Independent Review" of the RNC public safety and planning.

http://www.stpaul.gov/CivicAlerts.asp?AID=241

I was immediately suspicious of Thomas Heffelfinger, J.D.
He's had 2 US Attorney Presidential appointments. One from Bush I and one from Bush II. (1)

Former United States Attorney for the district of Minnesota who left office in 2006 to go to private practice defending white collar criminals for Best & Flanagan, Minneapolis.(2)

My take on his career after having lived through Reagan, Bush I and Bush II is that he's the best guy to teach Rethugs how to have the "appearance of being ethical" so they can stay out of jail when committing white collar crime.


BUT I THOUGHT Maybe Andy Luger is the balance. He looked good to begin with - On the board of Amicus, Inc. DEMOCRAT who didn't get to Henn Cty Attorney although he had the party endorsement

KOS said good things about him in 2006 during his run (3) but it looks like Andy has Republican ties to Thomas Heffelfinger from 1991. (4)


So they both work to protect white collar criminals and supposedly Tom is the Republican and Andy the DEM, but it looks like another Hannity & Colmes match-up to me.

Can this produce a fair review of police actions that protected only embedded reporters and brutalized non-embedded reporters. Ignoring their press credentials and rounding them up as criminals sends the same type of message that reporters killed "by friendly fire" in Iraq got... "If you don't deliver the news we tell you to, it could be dangerous for you." (5)







(5) I put 5 first because if you haven't read this in depth report by William Rivers Pitt about the covert assault of our government on non-embedded reporters, you won't know why I'm so freaked out.

http://www.truthout.org/article/to-investigation-reporters-without-borders-two-murders-and-a-lie

truthout.org/article/to-investigation-reporters-without-borders-two-murders-and-a-lie

(A) Compare the pattern of coverup. http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2008/9/8/amy_goodman_interviewd_for_now_on_pbs_about_rnc_arrests
/blog/2008/9/8/amy_goodman_interviewd_for_now_on_pbs_about_rnc_arrests




(1)Per Daily KOS: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/3/22/5326/71374
<snip>
Thomas Heffelfinger was a loyal republican who had a long career in public service. He served as a USA for bush I and bush II. So why "resigned" on Feb. 17, 2006, for financial reasons

(2)Per the Minneapolis St Paul Business Journal
http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2006/06/05/daily7.html
<snip>
His criminal defense practice will concentrate on helping individuals or organizations respond to suspected illegal activity and establish compliance and ethics programs designed to curb white-collar crime.

(3) KOS
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/9/25/18720/4171
<snip>
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.


(4) Republicans for Luger
http://www.minnesotaindependent.com/445/republicans-for-luger-2
<snip>
By Joe Bodell 10/5/06 1:05 PM
Several high-profile Republicans today announced the formation of the Republicans for Luger committee. As reported yesterday, Tom Heffelfinger, former US Attorney, was on hand to deliver remarks.

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"

[Bjorn Against]

1. I read that this review was not even going to look at police abuses of power

The Star Tribune article on this "independent commission" made it clear that they were not going to look at police abuses of power, they were only going to look at whether the security was adequate. Now don't ask me how they can investigate the security without even looking at the people who were supposed to be providing that security. This is commission is going to be a joke.

[Tigress DEM]

3. So it's not an "independent anything" it's just CYA to justify the abuse of power.

Investigate whether the security was adequete. What a joke. I'm sure we all sleep safer knowing that grandmothers and news reporters that believe in freedom of speech were all safely rounded up.

Who wrote the STRIB article?

[Bjorn Against]

4. You can read the article here...

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/conventions/28105534.html?elr=KArksUUUU

It was written by Chris Havens.

[Tigress DEM]

6. Thank You

I gotta work to define where my energies are best spent and it seems right now, I'm the one seeing this quirk pretty clearly.

Kinda like when you volunteer or work for any non-profit. The person who sees what needs to be done usually gets elected to push the process and get-r done.

[Minnesota Raindog]

16. Tom Heffelinger was just appointed to the so-called Norm Coleman "Truth Squad"

These has-been and never-will-be losers, as one blogger characterized them, are supposed to "set the record straight regarding attacks on Senator Norm Coleman and his record by Al Franken and his allies," according to chief GOP truth-stretcher and mouthpiece Michael Brodkorb. And there among the names is Tom Heffelfinger, who is leading the "investigation" into the police response at the RNC. That's comforting.

* Pat Anderson, Former State Auditor
* Marc Cove, School District 622 School Board Member (North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale)
* Bethany Dorobiala, Chair of the Minnesota College Republicans
* Gloria Karsky, Mayor of North Branch
* Senator David Hann
* Tom Heffelfinger
* Dennis Hegberg, Washington County Commissioner
* Doug Kelley- Former Chair, Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board
* Fran Miron, Hugo Mayor
* Mark Steffenson, Maple Grove Mayor
* Mark Uglem, Champlin Mayor
* Rep. Lynn Wardlow
* Brian Zeller, Mayor of Lakeland

[dflprincess]

17. I'm surprised Heffelfinger is associated with this group of losers

(the only other name I recognize is Pat Anderson apparently Normie can't get many "names" to defend his record). I thought Heffelfinger was fairly well thought of while he was U.S. Attorney - except by Gonzo and company, which is why he is no longer the U.S. Attorney.

[Tigress DEM]

18. What bothers me most.. and Tom COULD be an ok guy..

I don't think EVERY Republican is bad by dint of being Republican.. but what bothers me about Tom and Andy is they both are in the business of protecting white collar criminals in their law practice and that Andy has a connection with Tom.

People with the mindset that white collar crime is less serious than regular crime aren't going to be looking dispassionately at this scenario. They are going to want to clean it up as best they can so it doesn't look like the city did anything wrong. That is what they DO for a living.

Sure maybe a lot of it is about consulting with companies to steer them away from doing the wrong things in the first place, but a lot of what I've seen having been in corporate America many years is that the Republican side is all about creating a good appearance even if the company is rotten to the core. THAT worries me because Tom was with Bush I and Bush II and considered a "loyal" Republican by both.

[Minnesota Raindog]

7. Note to St. Paul

Never, ever trust a mayor named Coleman again.

[Tigress DEM]

12. And Chris Coleman makes a point every time to point out he's not THAT Coleman.

I really want to get a group together and tell him that his independent review does not get him off the hook with DEMS who expect a DEM Mayor to act like one. Saying one thing and doing another and then covering it up with a pretty report makes him look more and more like Norm the TURNCOAT DEM than Chris supposedly nothing like Norm Coleman.

After researching more about this, I am thinking that the fact that pRez *ush was going to be in town brought in a lot of heavy's. In Berlin 4 years ago when *ush was there about 300,000 protesters were on hand. They were combining it with another protest against their government about some union or general workers related issue.

The security plan there was similar to this one except far more extreme. They put high chain link fencing around the perimeter and NO ONE was allowed in who wasn't hand picked and who they knew wouldn't take advantage and try to do *ush in.

In Washington DC when I watched Cindy Sheehan get arrested we had lawyers talk to us before hand and the DC Police had a barricade put up near the rear fence of the White House grounds. Inside that fence was where the people prepared to be arrested for civil disobedience sat and outside the barrier was where the watchers recorded or took pictures. We each picked out some buddies so that if they had a problem and didn't call us we would go and find out what was happening.

It was scary and tense. They had probably 20 mounted policemen and then brought in buses that obscured our view so we started chanting BIG time "THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING". It was a little over 250 people that were arrested and about 1000 marched. The watchers were about 250-300, some were press and some people had several names.

Still, if the Minneapolis Police had been trained in proper demonstration procedure, they would not have treated journalists and non-violent marchers the same as anarchists who were throwing rocks. It seems to me that they were trying to maintain the line at all costs instead of confronting protesters peacefully and advising them to sit down and put their hands behind their back if they intended to be arrested or leave the perimeter.

Since so many were in riot gear, and had such nasty attitudes toward the peaceful DEMS and independent press I'm almost wondering if they weren't using Minute Men on the Homeland Security's dollar. I've protested in Minneapolis and I know Nuns that have protested here since Honeywell opened up on 26th Street in Minneapolis and started making guidance chips for nuclear warheads. They had to climb over fences to get arrested for trespassing and suffice it to say Honeywell didn't like them a lot, but the police weren't abusive that I ever heard or experienced.

[kickysnana]

2. I am sure that our wonderful DFL wouldn't allow this. outrage to happen in MN...

:sarcasm:

And our liberal media should be all over it right away.

:boring:

And all the activists will be in the streets to stop this

:hippie: :hippie:

So unless you want to :nuke: somethings we will continue to watch the end of Minnesota/America on our computers. :popcorn:

I wish I could help but I get to house a homeless stranger (referred by a support group leader in Iowa who has been working with her for 3 months) with pituitary cancer, pernicious anemia, erlichiosis and Lyme disease who is being dumped by Mayo clinic today :argh: who may or may not have a nursing home bed by Friday and by the time she leaves my Dad will be here after his surgery until he can go home and I am waiting to see if my sister needs cancer surgery yet this week so she may be here soon as well. My doctor said she thought I seemed a little down :cry: and I was working on it. :donut:

This also looks important http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/16/54230/2116/741/600308

[Tigress DEM]

5. I came across this information trying to decide if Chris Coleman is another nermal coleman or DEM.

When Mayor Coleman spoke at the Party For Change gathering of about 300 people put together by Air America Radio, he was saying that the police started out each day in normal police dress and only put the riot gear on after the urine, rocks and feces began to fly.

AND he said that some people got swept up accidentally in the wrong place at the wrong time but that they were working to sort it out.

SO I was going to try and work that angle. IF YOU MEANT WHAT YOU SAID, help the reporters get out from under these charges that never should have been brought against them for trying to document what was happening. Because you can't just support freedom of speech for embedded reporters like the administration did in Iraq. It didn't work there and it isn't working here.

One of the reporters got live video and then audio when the police shoved her to the pavement and caused her to get a bloody nose all the time she's saying, "PRESS PRESS PRESS WHERE ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GO?!"

Will Pitt's investigative report is how the communication lines were purposely screwed up and something like 5 reporters wound up in a hotel that was a target for supposed terrorist activity. AP told them to get out of there it wasn't safe, because they knew by the reporters GPS updates that they were in the line of fire. All other reporters had been told to stay clear of that hotel.

BUT they got a conflicting confirmation that they were safe afterward and the hotel got shot to hell with BIG shells and it's been a long time since I read the report, but I'm pretty sure at least 2 of the reporters died before someone got the message to our troops on the ground that there were reporters in the hotel they were firing at.

[Love Bug]

8. His brother is Nick Coleman of the Strib

[dflprincess]

9. And his dad was Nick, Sr.

who was the DFL senate majority leader. Normie has been known not to correct people who assume he is part of this Coleman family. (It may explain why Nick, Jr. has occasionally called him "cousin Norm" in his column).

[Tigress DEM]

15. "Cousin Norm" wow.

But Chris really looks like he needs to be more careful of the company he keeps and get back to some good old family values - HIS family values.

I wonder if Nick Jr chews his ass once in a while or just lets his column speak the volumes that would cause mash potatoes and gravy to fly at Thanksgiving.

[Tigress DEM]

13. Now Nick is a DEM without question. He writes some good articles.

HE doesn't back away from these issues.

Some of Nick's recent articles on the subject

http://tinyurl.com/6g7f9s

Wrong place, wrong lessons from RNC
One thing that was hard to swallow was the militarized statelet in St. Paul.
Sep 9, 2008

Nick Coleman: Arrests leave a bad odor
Benjamin Franklin said, "Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days."
Sep 5, 2008

Nick Coleman: Ah, fond memories: Riot gear, anarchists and the GOP
The 2008 Republican Convention wrapped up Thursday. That was fun. Let's never do it again.
Sep 5, 2008

Nick Coleman: Only a few marchers were really out of step
Vincent Campos was wearing two things no one else in the crowd of protesters had --
Sep 2, 2008

{{ Interesting side note in the Sep 2 article: }}

Note: No feces were flung during the siege of St. Paul. But there was horse flop, lots of it, as posses of cop horses chased the tricksters and left hazards for Republican wingtips.

[Mnpaul]

11. This is the crap he sent me

Thank you for contacting my office with concerns about public safety and first amendment rights with respect to the recent Republican National Convention in Saint Paul . I appreciate the opportunity to share our approach to accomplishing our main goal surrounding the convention – to maintain public safety while ensuring two critical functions: the convention be allowed to successfully conduct its business and protesters be able to exercise their first amendment rights.

Meeting the public safety needs of the convention with a multi-agency police force of 3,800 officers from around the state and country was no small feat. Law enforcement officials worked for nearly two years leading up to the RNC to determine the realm of potential threats to public safety and were firmly committed to preventing them from becoming reality. Thanks to their efforts, FBI, county and local agents executed search warrants at specific locations prior to the convention, and seized items intended to harm and harass police, visitors and businesses, from buckets of urine to explosive materials.

Saint Paul took a decidedly different approach to its police presence than other cities had in previous conventions, including the Democratic National Convention in Denver the previous week. We made a strategic decision to deploy the minimum amount of force necessary to ensure public safety. Instead of greeting visitors with police dressed in full riot gear, we employed officers dressed in ordinary police uniforms, riding bicycles and on horseback, and directed them to remain in small groups so their presence would be less prominent.

Our hope was that this strategy would suffice for the duration of the convention and the police presence on the streets of Saint Paul would be friendly and minimally visible. However, on Monday, our officers were confronted by rioters, intent on doing harm to persons and property in our city and thwarting the convention. At that time we had no choice but for our officers to wear protective riot gear as the escalated threat required a greater show of force and protection.

Law enforcement professionals were spit on, taunted, hit, kicked, and otherwise provoked. They were patient and exercised restraint by not responding unless and until necessary to ensure public safety. Many of the suspects of crimes committed early in the week were apprehended in subsequent days, thus the arrests were not random but due to their alleged misconduct in previous incidents.

Those who chose to riot not only damaged property in the city, but they interfered with peaceful protesters legitimately attempting to express their opinions and right to free speech. Our efforts ensured that, despite rioters’ attempts, tens of thousands of people were able to exercise their first amendment rights in the form of legal protest marches and demonstrations and a free speech stage, all within sight and sound of the convention, an unprecedented achievement – and something we are very proud of.

Throughout the convention, our officers performed with professionalism, maintaining high integrity in the face of agitators, rioters intent on causing damage, and constant press scrutiny. At the time of an incident, police are trained to control the situation. They err on the side of caution and make their best individual judgments in doing so; however, officers are human. That is why we have a process in place to ensure that we prosecute only those for whom we can provide proof beyond a reasonable doubt of criminal wrongdoing. Without question, there were those who came to the RNC to express themselves peacefully and were pulled into the middle of chaotic scenes and arrested, which is regrettable. We are working diligently with the police and the City Attorney’s office to expedite the legal process as best we can to ensure that justice is served for everyone involved.

This experience is a learning opportunity for our city. We will thoroughly evaluate all of the public safety practices and policies we implemented. An independent review, led by former U.S. Attorney Thomas Heffelfinger and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy Luger, is already underway to help us discover the opportunities seized and lessons learned. If the review reveals evidence to substantiate any instances of police misconduct, the individuals involved will be held accountable. Any individuals with firsthand knowledge of specific incidents should contact the Police-Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission as soon as possible at [phone].

Overall, the 2008 Republican National Convention was a success. We were able to showcase our city to 45,000 visitors, including 15,000 members of national and international media. Thousands raised their voices of dissent while the convention successfully conducted its business and delegates were left with a positive experience and impression of our region. In hosting an event of global significance, we planted a seed. We have told our story to the world and positioned Saint Paul well to host future events. On a national and international stage, our city shone in the spotlight, and Saint Paul stands to reap the rewards for years to come.

Thanks again for taking the time to contact my office. Your feedback is invaluable as we work to make Saint Paul the Most Livable City in America .


I told him what I thought of that statement. It is a load of crap!!!

I'm boycotting St. Paul - they are not getting any of my money

[Tigress DEM]

14. There were journalists and at least one total pacifist who were brutalized

I can see with the journalist being in the wrong place that she risked arrest along with everyone else, but then arrest her don't knock her to the ground and what the hell is up with these police not talking to people at all?

If they pull you over for a traffic stop and you get out of the car like a dummy, they'll shout "Assume the position!" or Hands on the car where I can see them!" and proceed to cuff you - at least when they're on "COPS". It's a safety issue for the cop because that person could be creating a diversion while someone else is getting ready to take out the cop. I understand basic police procedure.

But the video of the pacifist shows a line of police 50 strong and she and 1 other girl calmly waiting to be arrested - they were standing, but the whole group had sat in 2 spots for 1/2 and hour at a time and weren't arrested. Could not 4 officers have moved to them and with one covering each and the other two arresting calmly while the line readjusted?



NOT IN ALL CASES CHRIS

They were patient and exercised restraint by not responding unless and until necessary to ensure public safety.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. Bless you for doing that!

:thumbsup: