Jason Johnson is tackled and tasered by several police officers on Sept. 2, 2008 in downtown St. Paul. Johnson is suing the city of St. Paul for $1 million, alleging excessive and unreasonable force was used on him when he was detained. (source: Minnesota Daily)
It was only a matter of time before civil suits would be filed against Minnesota police for its overly aggressive and unconstitutional tactics during the 2008 Republican National Convention.
Several lawsuits were filed last week, according to the Minnesota Daily. I’m betting there will be more to come.
The suits, the first major action since the September convention, request damages ranging from $100,000 to $1 million, and name Ramsey County and its sheriff’s department, St. Paul and its police and Minneapolis and its police as defendants.
For example, a University of Minnesota employee alleges that she was singled out by law enforcement officers and strip-searched in front of men. Others claim unlawful suppression of both individuals and independent media.
One of the plaintiffs is Wendy Binion, an independent journalist who was arrested on felony rioting charges and had her video camera confiscated. Her charges were eventually dropped but when police returned her camera several weeks later, it was damaged.