Based on a warrant signed by a Ramsey County judge, police were rifling through his home. Neighbors gathered in support, with one even letting reporters through her house to see Whalen. Democracy Now! journalist Amy Goodman jumped over a short fence and stuck a microphone in his face.
For Whalen, it was an unusual turn of events. The longtime progressive activist is well-known around the city -- including at City Hall. He counts among his extended circle of acquaintances the family of St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman.
And he is not known as a criminal.
But on Aug. 30, he was surrounded by cops with guns and a gaggle of independent media as St. Paul police searched inside the Summit-University duplex he owns, looking for "packages and their contents"; guns; ammunition; weapons; hazardous materials; cell phones, computers, pagers and other communications devices; and "the electronic data contained within (those) devices."
"It was surreal: things I'd only heard about happening in other countries," Whalen said.
Of all the raids carried out in advance of the 2008 Republican National Convention, the one on Iglehart Avenue sticks out for several reasons. While police displayed alleged instruments of mayhem in front of television cameras after other raids in Minneapolis and St. Paul, no one was arrested and no property was confiscated from Whalen's property.
And the raid didn't appear to involve the Ramsey County sheriff's office, which led many of the pre-RNC raids. Some at the residence say an FBI agent and a Wisconsin sheriff's deputy visited the property earlier in the day, before St. Paul police showed up with a warrant.
No one has been charged in connection with the search, and an affidavit supporting the warrant has not been made public. A lawyer for Whalen said he hasn't been able to find it and is pledging a lawsuit.
"This is all bull----," said Ted Dooley, Whalen's lawyer, adding that he would welcome the chance to fight any charges.
Some believe the target to be New York-based I-Witness Video, a group Whalen was allowing to stay at the duplex during the RNC.
That group, led by Eileen Clancy, helped exonerate 400 people charged in connection with protest activity at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York.
The group films protest activity and uses the footage to verify or disprove police claims about protesters' conduct. In New York, the videos plainly contradicted sworn testimony of police officers and, in one case, appeared to show that police manipulated video in favor of the prosecution.
Clancy -- whose treatment in St. Paul has drawn a letter of protest from a Northern Irish group she worked with to document police tactics there -- said she films the interactions in order to make it easier for protesters to rally without police interference.
"The policing of demonstrations has changed a lot in the last 10 years, and it's a lot harder for people to get their message out," Clancy said. "We think the public streets should be available to people to redress their grievances."
St. Paul Assistant Police Chief Matt Bostrom, who was in charge of convention security planning, said he wasn't informed of the search until after it had taken place.
After checking, Bostrom said the case remains an ongoing investigation and suggested calling federal authorities.
"We'll release information as soon as we can in accordance with the rules of public information," Bostrom said.
FBI spokesman Paul McCabe declined to comment.
Adding to suspicions that Clancy's group was being targeted is a Sept. 3 near-raid on offices I-Witness Video was using on Selby Avenue. Police say they rushed to the address based on a call that someone was being held hostage there. It turned out to be bogus.
"Based on (the fact) that our house was raided and our office was raided, it would appear that way," Clancy said when asked whether she thought police were targeting her group because of its work. "We were not organizing demonstrations. ... It's mysterious to me, that's for sure."
Whalen said I-Witness was staying at his property because a roommate has connections to members of the group. He now believes they were the target.
"They weren't coming into my home to look for bombs and guns. They were going after I-Witness, I think," Whalen said.
What gnaws at him still, Whalen said, was that the search of his residence appeared to be slipshod. Police seemed more interested in searching through a stack of boxes a roommate recently had delivered than anything else, Whalen said.
The boxes contained stacks of pamphlets titled "Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating." Whalen said his roommate earns $15 an hour distributing them to college campuses for a group called Vegan Outreach. On the cover is a picture of a piglet and a chick.
Furthermore, the search warrant lists one address -- Whalen's, at 951 Iglehart Ave. I-Witness was staying in the neighboring unit, 949 Iglehart Ave.
That didn't stop police from entering 949 Iglehart through an attic and a locked door, according to numerous witnesses. Video posted on YouTube plainly shows those staying at the unit pointing out the error to police.
Whalen said he was told he would receive an addendum for the 949 Iglehart search. He said this week he still hasn't received it.
When Dooley, Whalen's lawyer, was asked who he thought the true target of the search was -- Whalen, his roommates or his I-Witness Video guests -- he said it was none of the above.
"I think it was freedom of the press, and that's not cute," Dooley said.
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