St Paul officials face lawsuit, violated rights of anti-war organizer leafleting at Obama rally

admin — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:41:39 -0400

For Immediate Release: July 1, 2008

Press Conference
July 2. 9am

In front of Federal Building,
300 S 4th St, Minneapolis

A lawsuit for damages totaling $75,000 will be filed in Federal Court, July 2, by attorneys representing Mick Kelly. Kelly, an organizer for the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War, was arrested outside the Xcel Center June 5 while passing out leaflets at the Obama rally. He was promoting the September 1 anti-war march at the Republican National Convention. Police placed him under arrest, then he was searched, put in a squad car and taken to the old police headquarters where he was cited for soliciting and peddling.

Mr. Kelly states, “The city of Saint Paul violated my right to speak out against the war and to encourage people to come to the march on the Republican National Convention. It is part of a larger pattern of the city attempting to suppress the right to dissent. For example, the city has refused to grant a workable permit for the September 1 protest. The blame needs to placed at the door of Mayor Coleman and the city administration as a whole.”

The suit names the City of St. Paul and the individual officers involved in the arrest. Kelly is represented by attorneys Ted Dooley, Gena Berglund and Peter Nickitas, all members of the National Lawyers Guild.

Attorney Ted Dooley states, “What happened to Mick Kelly was illegal. The mayor, the city and the police will have to explain it in Federal Court. This is a straight signal to St. Paul City officials: The people have the constitutional right to speak out against the war and injustice, even though the Republican National Convention happens to come to town.”

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St Paul officials face lawsuit, violated rights of anti-war organizer leafleting at Obama rally