Community leaders call out St. Paul police actions at Nov. 25 ICE raid

Community leaders call out St. Paul police actions at ICE raid [FULL]

Community leaders gathered in St. Paul Monday to call out the St. Paul Police Department's actions in response to a federal raid on Rose Avenue last week. The arrest of a Honduras man sparked a protest, and gathering residents say they were unlawfully pepper-sprayed, hit with chemical munitions and rubber bullets. They say journalists were also attacked, and are calling for a full investigation.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Community leaders and activists in St. Paul on Monday called for a full review of the police department’s response and actions against protesters at a Nov. 25 federal raid on Rose Avenue, where two natives of Honduras were arrested.

‘What do we want? Justice’

What they're saying:

Leaders from several community groups spoke at a news conference Monday to condemn the actions of the St. Paul Police Department officers on the scene of the raid that day. Local police cannot enforce immigration law, but they are often on scenes of raids so ICE and federal agents can do their jobs, and protesters can express their rights.

Community leaders said on Monday called the actions of St. Paul police that day "inhumane and outrageous."

Michelle Gross, the President of Communities United against Police Brutality, said officers violated policy in four different ways. Residents and protesters who were not violating the law were pepper-sprayed in the face. Chemical munitions were used as a form of punishment, being thrown in the street to create a fog. Officers then threw pepper balls, and fired rubber bullets through the smoke, not knowing who they were hitting.

They also targeted members of the media there covering the event lawfully.

"This is an attack not only on people who were engaged in protected First Amendment activities, but also an attack on the right of the community to know about those activities and to know about the conduct of ICE in our neighborhoods," Gross said. "We are demanding that something be done about this."

Gross is calling for the St. Paul City Council to have an open discussion about the incident at its next meeting, and that police should launch a full investigation. Mayor Melvin Carter has said body cam footage of the incident will be released.

"We’re waiting," Gross said. "This should never happen again."

‘This community will forever be traumatized’

Dig deeper:

Toshira Garraway Allen with Family Support and Families against Police Violence also spoke Monday. 

"I watched the videos on November 25, and I watched our community get completely humiliated. I watched our community get mistreated as human beings, get tear-gassed, get things thrown at them," Allen said. "Completely inhuman behavior. This community will be forever traumatized by what happened on November 25, and it can’t be swept under the rug."

3 journalists attacked

What we know:

Georgia Ford is an independent journalist who documented some of the events of Nov. 25. She said she stayed in the background after, in her words, three journalists were attacked by St. Paul officers. 

"The continued attack on journalists which has meant to cause harm, fear and intimidation makes even some of the most brave frontline journalists want to just stay home. At the end of the day when I’m done doing my job, I also deserve to go home to my children," Ford said. "I made a strategic decision to back away. It’s not just unacceptable, it sends a message that St. Paul police does not care about our rights. To the St. Paul Police Department, your taxpayers deserve better. It’s almost as if our protections under the First Amendment don’t exist."

Ford said she was on the front lines of protests after Daunte Wright was killed by police, and was shot at.

"No one did anything about it," Ford said.

Rose Avenue arrest sparks protest

The backstory:

Federal agents were at a residence on Rose Avenue near Payne Avenue with a warrant for the arrest of Victor Molina Rodriguez, a Honduras native who had re-entered the U.S. illegally and had previous convictions for domestic abuse and disorderly conduct.

Rodriguez was taken into custody, and during that process, another man was arrested for allegedly ramming an ICE squad car. Jeffrey Josuee Lopez Suazo has since been charged in that incident, and is being held in the Sherburne County Jail.

Community leaders say jail officials have been pressuring him to sign deportation documents, and he’s being mistreated.