A 70 minute video. In a dramatic public meeting, former United States Attorney Tom Heffelfinger and former Assistant United States Attorney Andy Luger present the findings from their review of public safety planning and implementation during the Republican National Convention. Introduction by Mayor Chris Coleman. Among other classic moments includes Tom Heffelfinger claiming that "urine and feces was utilized as a weapon against the police" and Andy Luger advising other cities planning to have a similar convention to "prepare" the population by showing them pictures of riot police.
36:00 - Tom Heffelfinger claims that "urine and feces was utilized as a weapon against the police".
40:45 - Andy Luger advises other cities planning to have a similar convention to "prepare" the population by showing them pictures of riot police.
48:43 - Heffelfinger claims that anarchists attached to the end of the Poor People's March on September 2nd "engaged in confrontation with police at Mickey's Diner." Eyewitnesses on the day report an aggressive police presence using tear gas and percussion grenades that was not related to any "confrontation".
51:45 - Heffelfinger confirms that police badge IDs were obscured by riot equipment.
55:00 - Heffelfinger talks about the "allegation" of mass arrests, focusing primarily on the Marion Street Bridge mass arrest on September 4th.
57:25 - Heffelfinger shows raw footage from local news station WCCO which precedes the Marion Street Mass Arrest. The footage shows police ordering around 350 people southbound, so that anyone who complied with the police order was driven into the Marion Street Bridge trap and arrested.
60:45 - While showing video footage of the Marion Street mass arrest, Heffelfinger emphasized, "While you're watching the footage, I want to remind you that this was taken by a WCCO reporter". The Marion Street Bridge mass arrest was one of the events which the Commission was unable to whitewash, due to the undeniably indiscriminate nature of the arrests and no shortage of footage.
What is interesting about Heffelfinger's statement is the subtext that reveals his bias towards corporate news in this single sentence. While Andrew Luger made lip service to the Commission having watched the independent documentary Terrorizing Dissent, as reported in a January 10th St. Paul Pioneer Press article, the implication here is that this Marion Street Bridge video was footage taken by a real journalist as if only corporate journalists' cameras do not lie and everyone else's video record is suspect.
What Heffelfinger failed to mention is that the WCCO camera man who shot the footage, Tom Aviles, was himself subsequently arrested on the Marion Street Bridge, despite carrying numerous press credentials and a large, professional-grade video camera. Aviles reported that he attempted to argue his case with police officers to no avail. Similarly, City Pages journalist Matt Snyder reported overhearing a policeman on the bridge say to a colleague who was arguing his credentials were legitimate that "Well, I heard that press are going to jail tonight anyway, so it doesn't matter."
62:00 - Luger talks about the police interactions with the media.
64:55 - Heffelfinger talks about how "anarchist violence" obscured the message of the "peaceful protesters", that this was a "tragedy".
Please note: Submissions of additional time code observations are welcomed.
Presentation of the Heffelfinger-Luger Commission report at the St. Paul City Council |