Help secure the legal rights of demonstrators!

The Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild Legal Observer Program is seeking volunteer videographers and legal observers. Volunteers are required to attend one training session.

The next NLG videographer/legal observer training is:

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For more information on the legal observer program and future training dates visit: www.nlgminnesota.org

Coldsnap Legal Collective is working closely with the National Lawyers Guild to provide a full spectrum of legal support during the Republican National Convention, and will be posting updates about future videographer/legal observer trainings and other events as they come up.

RESTORE OUR PROTECTIONS AGAINST POLICE REPRESSION OF DEMONSTRATORS!

— Rubber bullets
— Confiscation and destruction of cameras and film
— Harassment of journalists and legal observers
— Targeting of organizers and leaders for arrest
— Compiling files on activists
— Intentional delays in medical assistance

Previously, Minneapolis had a policy prohibiting the above kinds of actions by police at political demonstrations. On Friday, June 20, we LOST those protections by a vote of the Minneapolis City Council. Based on the historical behavior of the Minneapolis Police Department, we NEED those protections!

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Please come to the upcoming meeting of the Public Safety and Regulatory Services Committee:

• When: Wednesday, July 16th, at 1:00pm

• Where: Room 317 (Council Chambers) of Mpls City Hall, 350 South 5th St

We won´t have a chance to speak, but our presence will be obvious, and experience shows that it does matter. Bring markers and paper to make signs to hold up.

Also, if you haven’t already done so, please contact your councilmember today, especially if he or she serves on the Public Safety and Regulatory Services Committee.

(If you don’t know who your councilmember is, you can find out here: http://apps.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/AddressApp/SearchByAddress.aspx?AppID=WardFinderApp)

If your councilmember does not serve on the committee, please make a call or two anyway. Minneapolis City Councilmembers rarely receive constituent phone calls or e-mails, so even a small number of calls will have a significant impact.

Committee members:

Don Samuels, President 673-2205 Don.Samuels@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Paul Ostrow 673-2201 Paul.Ostrow@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Cam Gordon 673-2202 Cam.Gordon@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Diane Hofstede 673-2203 Diane.Hofstede@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Barb Johnson 673-2204 Barbara.Johnson@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Gary Schiff 673-2209 Gary.Schiff@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Please continue reading for more information about this issue…

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

It IS true that such a policy is only words on a piece of paper and that it is not always followed by police. For example, at the Critical Mass event in August 2007, the police confiscated and destroyed cameras and harassed observers. HOWEVER, having a good policy is still important to provide a standard by which to hold police accountable. It serves as a basis for citizen complaints and it makes lawsuits against police misconduct easier.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

These protections were won in November, 2000, following the outrageous behavior of Minneapolis police at the ISAG demonstration downtown that summer. Hundreds of people engaged in a major political and legal struggle to win those protections. We must now mobilize to restore those same protections, so that our future demonstrations, including during the RNC, are not viciously attacked and disrupted in the manner of the ISAG protest.

The Minneapolis City Council has been working for over a year to put in place a policy to respond to the upcoming Republican National Convention. Their rhetoric has been about guaranteeing free speech, but their actions have mostly been about regulating and restricting that speech.

At the last Public Safety and Regulatory Services Committee meeting on June 11, a surprise amendment was proposed by Council President Barb Johnson, and passed by the committee. It stated, “this Resolution shall supersede the action of the City Council on November 22, 2000, adopting a Policy Regarding Police Conduct at Political Demonstrations.” That short amendment wiped out all the provisions fought for and won 7 years earlier.

When the amended resolution came to the full Council meeting on June 20 for final action, Council member Cam Gordon was prepared with a further amendment that would add back in the important provisions from the 2000 policy. Other Council members complained that this was a whole lot of new language that they hadn´t had the chance to review, so they rejected Cam´s amendment and passed the resolution in the form that wiped out all the provisions from 2000. Cam´s amendment was sent back to Committee — that is why we are urging you to attend that committee meeting this Wednesday and contact the members of that committee. When you call or write, you can simply state that you are a resident of Minneapolis and a constituent (if that’s the case) and you urge the council to pass Cam Gordon’s amendment to the “Policy Regarding Police Conduct at Political Demonstrations.”

Coldsnap Legal Collective

coldsnap(a)riseup.net

Jail support hotline: 651-356-8635

Thanks to all who attended our recent training or who picked up one of our cards!

To find out about future meetings, trainings, and other events and announcements, subscribe to the…

Coldsnap Legal Collective announcement listserv

If you did attend our training and have any thoughts for us about what you liked, think could be improved, or would like to see in the future, please let us know! We’re new at this and, though we know our stuff, we’re still figuring out the best way to present that to folks. Leave a comment, or e-mail us at coldsnap(a)riseup.net! We’d like to hear from you!

If you’d like to get involved in the collective, let us know too! We’re open to any and all skills and commitment levels, and we can’t wait to see what you have to offer to this collective effort to empower our community with legal skills and support!

For those of you who are interested in getting more involved in, here’s some more information for you. As a collective, we are open to any sort of involvement that people are interested in. Basically, if you have skills, share them!

Here are some things you can get involved with to give you a few ideas:

• Jail support hotline staff!

  • During the RNC and other large events, we will need a strong network of folks to help staff the phone hotline so that we can best serve those who have been arrested

• Technology stuff

  • We are particularly looking for help developing a wiki page and a database or two, but are open to suggestions about other things that would make all of our lives easier and more effective

• Training facilitators

  • Help out with our upcoming trainings–great for anyone who likes public speaking and engaging groups of people

• Publicity crew

  • Coldsnap needs a logo, posters, flyers, etc. Let’s get our word out there!

• Help with zines, training materials, handouts, etc.

  • Help us design, organize, and compile information in various formats to educate and empower our friends and communities!

• Comic illustrator

  • We would like to put out a know-your-rights comic, but none of us can draw. Can you?

• Media staff

  • Not all media is good media, so that’s why we need media spokespersons, press release writers, etc. for upcoming events and demonstrations

• Legal research crew

  • Help us stay updated on local laws, ordinances, and specific regulations and changes for the RNC. Keep your ears to the ground (and your favorite independent media source)!

• Jail support organizers

  • Help coordinate actions to support those who have been arrested

• Legal observers

  • The National Lawyers Guild is coordinating legal observers and legal observer trainings for the RNC; contact Bruce from the NLG at nestor(a)denestlaw.com to get involved

If you’re not from the Twin Cities area or would just like to find out how you can network with us, here are a few ideas as well:

• Form a legal collective in your area

  • If you’re from out of town, you can help support your local community with legal rights information by starting your own legal collective. Need ideas? We can help you get started!

• Be a legal support person for your affinity group

  • Learn how to do jail support for your own group, and network with us to form a strong web of jail support and solidarity for all activists

Send us an e-mail at coldsnap(a)riseup.net if you want to get involved!

We could use a comic illustrator for a one-page handout that we would like to publish for our Know Your Rights trainings. If you or someone you know would be able to help out with this, please e-mail coldsnap(a)riseup.net

Coldsnap Legal Collective is a new legal collective formed in the Twin Cities to share knowledge and foster solidarity for the upcoming RNC and beyond.

We will be involved in the following:
* Conducting trainings on knowing your rights, jail solidarity, and options and consequences if you are arrested
* Organizing jail support for demonstrations and events as needed
* Coordinating with other national law collectives to make all of our work more effective

If you have any questions or to get involved, e-mail coldsnap(a)riseup.net

Our jail support hotline is (651)356-8635.