Author
Skidmark Bob
Audio of video of an interview with a lawyer from the NLG about a police raid conducted on 08-30-2008
Watch streaming video of police raids, protest actions at the RNC at http://theuptake.org/
National Lawyers Guild: Police Raid "Preventive Detention"
Raid- 3240 17th Ave. South
Ken Avidor Reporting
When I arrived at the home at 3240 17th Avve. South in Minneapolis, the police and city inspectors were boarding up the house. The city said they had to board up the house because the owner wasn’t available, but the owner was in jail.
Bruce Nestor of the National Lawyers Guild was on hand to explain what happened.
“I got a phone call from our legal hotline that a raid was happening , that the occupants called the hotline . I live about four blocks away and I got in my office which is actually three blocks away and I said I would come over. So I got here about 8:15 (AM) and there were 20 to 25 officers present. One of the first things I saw there was an officer with an army helmut, automatic weapon, automatic rifle over his.. and flak jacket coming out. A number of other officers in bullet proof vests ... armed. And a number of undercover officers, “
Reporter: “ So you think the raid took place right around eightish?
Nestor: I assumed it happened right around eight. The warrant did not authorize a night time execution and I think off the top of my head I think that means they got to wait until 8 am.
Reporter: What did it say
The warrant, it wasn’t the application for the warrant to establish probable cause. It just describes what can be searched for. It was very broad. One category of stuff was political literature, computers, notebooks, that type of information. The second category would be common household items: paint, spray paint, twine, cardboard, and the it ran all the way up to Molitav cocktails or preparations for molitov cocktails . So very broad warrant, basically authrizing the sezure of all computers, mp3 players any electronic device, any political literature, many common household items.
Reporter: so they did take some things and left with
They did. They took cash from the home. I had a brief opportunity to review the inventory before we sent it off to be copied. They took foam mattresses. They took old tires. They took cans of paint thinner. I saw the truck it was loaded with stuff that’s in my garage right now.
I represent the homeowner Monica Bicking. So there were 13 people in the home. Ten were released within about an hour. They were all forced to lie face down. They were all handcuffed. They were handcuffed throughout the duration of the search. And then 10 of them were released one by one. Three people out of this home were arrested. I was told by Sgt. J. Maher of Ramsey County special investigations intelligence unit that those individuals those individuals were being charged with conspiracy to commit riot.
13 were detained and three were arrested. And according to the Hennepin County Jail records they’re being held on probable cause. Which means no formal charges have been issued. No complaint has been reviewed or signed by a prosecutor or a judge. But the police have detained these people. They can be held on probable cause until Wednesday at 12 noon. In my view this is a preventive detention action by the Ramsey County Sheriff’s department . It’s designed to keep people off the streets. It’s designed to scare people from participating in protest activity.
The single best thing that other citizens can do is to speak out against these violations of people’s rights and to come out in the streets and join people in a democratic exercise over the next week
Reporter: This raid warrranted or un warranted ?
Look if this raid was warranted people would be arrested on criminal complaints.
**http://the-uptake.groups.theuptake.org/en/videogalleryView/id/630/