Socialist Action /January 1999
Minneapolis Police Assault Highway Protesters
By CYNTHIA BURKE
MINNEAPOLIS-In the largest police action in Minnesota history, 600 Minneapolis
police Minnesota state troopers and sheriff's deputies laid siege a few
hours before dawn on Sunday, Dec. 20 to seven state-owned houses occupied
by a few dozen protesters peacefully assembled to oppose the state's reroute
of Highway 55 for construction of light rail and to shorten driving time
to the airport.
Protesters led by Earth First and the American Indian Movement had been
challenging the construction through south Minneapolis. They have pointed
to the destruction of sacred Native American sites and the neighborhood
destabilization it will cause.
The houses were bulldozed down within a few hours after the raid but
not until at least 33 protesters were tear-gassed, pepper sprayed, and brutalized.
They were then hauled away in police vans to be booked.
One protester, dressed as Santa Claus, mounted the roof of a house and
chained himself to the chimney. Police used a fire truck ladder and lowered
him into the arms of waiting cops, after the repeated use of pepper spray
on him.
The hundreds of uniformed police, troopers, and deputies established
a 3600 foot cordon around the houses, with officers posted every 10 feet.
The state and city armada included a two-story backhoe, a front end loader,
a bulldozer, a State Patrol helicopter, five buses, several ambulances,
100 squad cars, and seven Ryder trucks.
Outgoing Gov. Arne Carlson visited the scene, commending the officers
and charging that the protesters were not normal demonstrators but "anarchists."
Democratic Party Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton, the darling of
the downtown business interests, also supported the raid, as did Jesse Ventura,
the "independent" governor-elect,who had received a prior briefing
on the plans to attack the protesters.
This violent assault on non-violent protesters was motivated by the bi-partisan
authorities' determination to assert their right to use any means they choose
to impose their will regardless of the potential consequences to the population
at large.
Socialist Action /January 1999 |