Two suits filed over RNC arrests, raid

Both lawsuits allege the city of St. Paul and law officers violated civil rights in the detentions and a separate raid on a duplex.

By PAT PHEIFER, Star Tribune

Last update: September 1, 2009 - 9:13 PM

Twenty-seven of the people who claim they were herded by police into a riverfront park and arrested on the first day of the Republican National Convention have sued the city of St. Paul and 20 unnamed law enforcement officials for allegedly violating their civil rights.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of the start of the GOP convention, held at the Xcel Energy Center. The 27 named plaintiffs hope to represent what they claim were about 200 people arrested along Shepard Road on Sept. 1, if and when the lawsuit is certified as a class action. That could take six months or more, said Bob Kolstad, the plaintiffs' attorney.

At a news conference Tuesday, Kolstad said many of those arrested were trying to get to a concert being held across the river on Harriet Island. Others were on their way to work or gathering in the park. People were detained for hours in the hot sun and some of those arrested were held in jail for 72 hours, he said.

"We do not believe that any of the people who were herded into this park did anything illegal," Kolstad said. All charges filed against those arrested have been dismissed, he said.

He said the fact that convention organizers took out a $10 million insurance policy to indemnify the city and its employees against lawsuits "proves that they intended to violate people's civil rights in order to secure the city in the manner they found to be acceptable."

City Attorney John Choi said he could not comment on the specifics of the lawsuit because the city attorney's office will not be handling the defense of the city and the insurance company's interests. But Choi said Kolstad's comments about the insurance policy were "flawed logic."

"We have insurance 365 days a year for the same thing that was covered by this $10 million insurance policy," he said.

A second lawsuit

A separate federal civil rights lawsuit related to the convention also was filed Tuesday. Erin Stalnaker, Sarah Coffey and Kris Hermes are suing the city of St. Paul, the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office, the FBI, 15 named police officers and seven unnamed officers in connection with a police raid Aug. 30 on a duplex on St. Paul's Iglehart Avenue.

Attorney Rachel E.B. Lang said Stalnaker was renting half of the duplex owned by Mike Whalen when more than a dozen law enforcement officers "stormed" the duplex without a search warrant. No one was arrested and no charges have been filed. Whalen filed a federal lawsuit months ago regarding the same raid, said his attorney, Ted Dooley.

Wisconsin women plead guilty

Christina R. Vana, 20, of West Bend, Wis., and Karen M. Meissner, 23, of Menomonee Falls, Wis., pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree assault charges, the Ramsey County attorney's office said. They were accused of throwing metal road signs off the Interstate 94 bridge onto the freeway on Sept. 1, 2008, during the convention. The plea deal calls for stayed prison sentences and no more than 90 days in jail. They will be sentenced Nov. 11. Pat Pheifer • 612-741-4992

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