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Journalists get confiscated property back
Minneapolis police had briefly detained three people from New York as they walked along a rail yard in northeast Minneapolis in the predawn hours Tuesday.
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They got back most of what they wanted. Sort of.
Three journalists from New York who were detained early Tuesday by Minneapolis police and whose personal property was confiscated got their things back Wednesday.
The three, members of the Glass Bead Collective, are in the Twin Cities to document police conduct during next week's Republican National Convention. One of them said Wednesday that they are relieved to have their video cameras, cell phones and laptop computer back, but also remain leery.
"We pretty much got everything back," Vlad Teichberg, the group's co-founder, said Wednesday. "We can actually do our work. In some ways, we are very, very happy.
"But it's not over yet."
They believe police violated their First Amendment rights by taking the items during a search in northeast Minneapolis.
But Deputy Chief Val Wurster told city officials Wednesday any violations could be further from the truth. She said officers spotted the group near a rail yard in the 2600 block of NE 6th St. about 1:40 a.m. Tuesday.
The group gave evasive answers to officers' questions, Wurster said. Trespassing in a rail yard, the frequent site of hazardous materials, could be considered a felony, she said.
Meanwhile, the group maintains that officers searched them without their consent. Their confiscated belongings were reviewed by the Joint Terrorism Task Force and later released.
"The only reason we got [them] back was because of all of the media attention this received," Teichberg said. "Otherwise, this might have been a different situation."
The case remains under investigation and will be forwarded to the city attorney's office for possible trespassing charges, Wurster said.
Bruce Nestor, the group's attorney, said that his clients might pursue legal action and that he intends to ask the city for any police dispatch audio and squad-car video related to the incident.
"I have no reason to believe they are facing any sort of charges," Nestor said. "Then again, would I believe that the Minneapolis police would stop people for walking down the street at 1:30 in the morning?
"To say there would be any charges, I have no idea."
Terry Collins • 612-673-1790
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