Continued: St. Paul goes to court to keep gangs from Rondo festival

The city of St. Paul has filed two lawsuits against street gangs in an effort to limit their presence at the Rondo Festival and Parade this month.

The suits, filed Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court, name as defendants the Selby Siders and East Side Boys, as well as nine alleged members of each. All alleged gang members have been notified.

District Judge Michael Monahan has been assigned the case and needs to sign off on the city's request.

The injunctions come two months after a similar action during a Cinco de Mayo celebration. Although officials were pleased by the success at that event, Tuesday's action was met with reluctance by Rondo organizers.

"We're not expecting anything, but we have to go along to get along," said Nick Khaliq, president of the St. Paul chapter of the NAACP and head of security for the event.

A 2007 state law allows for criminal gangs that engage in regular gang activity to be declared public nuisances. If that declaration is made, authorities have the right to pursue injunctions, according to the law.

The lawsuits list several claims of assault, weapons and drug crimes by each gang.

The injunction would be in effect from 9 a.m. July 18 -- the day of the event -- to 6 a.m. July 19. A "safety zone" would be from Summit Avenue on the south to University Avenue on the north to Hamline Avenue on the west and Rice Street on the east.

If the injunction is approved, the alleged gang members named in the suit would not be allowed to associate in the safety zone with other gang members. They also could not intimidate people, use gang signs, wear gang clothing or recruit others.

The Rondo event has been violence-free in recent years, Khaliq said, and community members have put gang members on notice not to act out. He said, however, that the city strongly suggested using the injunction.

Khaliq said he has heard people ask why an injunction wasn't used for Grand Old Day, an annual festival on Grand Avenue. "We would hope it's not what some people think it is," he said.

The city attorney, John Choi, said gang injunctions require a lot of time and resources because the city must prove its case against the defendants. He said the decision whether to use the gang injunction depends on previous incidents and collaboration with the police.

The city has reached out to the organizers of many festivals, he said.

Cmdr. Tina McNamara, head of the Police Department's gang and gun unit, said that the city was pursuing the Rondo Days injunctions partly because of recent gang-related crimes that fell within the festival's footprint.

About two weeks ago, an alleged East Side Boys gang member fatally shot an 18-year-old man in the head in the area after the victim flashed what one witness believed to be a Selby Siders gang sign.

The city filed the injunction during Cinco de Mayo against the Sureno 13 gang. It was the first such injunction approved in the state.

McNamara said that the Cinco de Mayo injunction was deemed a major success.

The Sureno 13 members identified in that injunction appeared to have stayed away from the event. There were no gang signs, she added, nor any of the gang wear -- jerseys, belt buckles and hats -- associated with the Sureno 13.

"It was just really peaceful," McNamara said.

"We hope and expect that this proactive effort will work again," said Choi, the city attorney.

Similar injunctions have been used in California and Texas. Los Angeles currently has in place nearly 40 gang injunctions involving 57 gangs. Authorities say the legal actions have reduced crime and improved neighborhoods.

Critics say the injunctions violate individuals' constitutional rights and aren't as effective as other measures.

"We're really concerned about the continuing use of banishing people when they haven't been convicted of a crime or based on what they might potentially do," said Chuck Samuelson, executive director of the ACLU of Minnesota. "They're using civil law for criminal law purposes."

Choi countered that there are only consequences if people violate the injunction.

The case against the Selby Siders will be heard at 9 a.m. July 15. The case against the East Side Boys will be heard at 1:30 p.m. July 15.

Chris Havens • 612-673-4148 Anthony Lonetree • 612-673-4109