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September 2, 2008 (MINNEAPOLIS) – The City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department have been working diligently to defend the First Amendment speech rights of those who wish to protest and peaceably assemble in Minneapolis. In Minneapolis, we have recently had two large demonstrations on Friday August 29 and Sunday August 31, as well as several smaller assemblies. All have been nonviolent, and the Minneapolis Police Department has been there to make sure that people could safely exercise their rights free from intimidation and harassment.

Also over last weekend, searches were done in Minneapolis and Saint Paul as part of an ongoing investigation led by Ramsey County. The Minneapolis Police Department assisted in these searches, which had my support. I understand people’s real concerns that raids like these can be used to intimidate and stifle free speech and personal expression, and when this happens we must reject this tactic. However, this was not the case with the searches this weekend. The warrants obtained by the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office were reviewed both by a Hennepin County Judge as well as the Hennepin County Attorney. These warrants allowed searches for weapons that could be used to hurt people or damage property, as well as for material that might contain evidence on the planning and preparations for illegal activities. The searches resulted in seven arrests, and they recovered many items that could be used as weapons against people and property. The items recovered during the searches included:

• Metal pipes, axes, sledge hammers, glass bottles and flammable liquid

• Buckets of human waste in houses that had fully functioning plumbing systems

• Caltrops, which are nails welded together into a device designed to puncture vehicle tires

• Wrist rockets and caches of rocks, BBs and other devices that can be used as ammo for the wrist rockets

In addition, information posted on the Internet and provided publicly by organizers communicated that they intended to violently disrupt convention proceedings.

On Tuesday, Saint Paul hosted a large demonstration and parade that included approximately 10,000 marchers. Almost all of the protesters demonstrated peacefully. A very small number of people took off into splinter groups that engaged in violent and illegal behavior – breaking windows on storefronts and squad cars, throwing bricks through the windows of delegate busses, starting small fires, and assaulting police officers. The Saint Paul police, supported by about 200 Minneapolis police officers, did an excellent job of protecting demonstrators and the free speech rights of everyone in downtown Saint Paul while also dealing with those that were violent and destructive. This was a very challenging day, but I was proud of the professionalism of our officers in a very difficult situation.

In the coming days, we will learn more about exactly what happened yesterday. I am concerned about some reports that journalists were arrested while covering the demonstrations, and will continue to monitor this issue.

Overall, in challenging and emotional circumstances, Minneapolis remains focused on doing everything in our power to protect the freedom of speech during the RNC and every day. We reject tactics that put a chill on free speech. At the same time, we have a serious responsibility to protect people and property from violent attacks, and we will fulfill that responsibility as well. As I have said many times, Minneapolis welcomes and encourages a diversity of opinions, but we will also make sure that Minneapolis is safe for everyone.