The RNC '08 Report notes:
Arrested during Day 1 of the RNC, Elliot Hughes, while under the care of the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department, alleged he was starved, beaten unconscious, hooded and gagged, and ultimately denied medical treatment.
In this video from The Uptake—found at http://theuptake.org—hear Elliot's full testimony before a special meeting of St. Paul's council members, on Wednesday September 24th, 2008.
Be warned. What Elliot has to report happened to him tells a disturbing story of unwarranted and unjustifiable police violence. By the end of his testimony, you'll see how St. Paul provided us with echoes of Abu Ghraib during the RNC.
The Ramsey County Sheriff's Department, headed by Bob Fletcher, felt it necessary to hold a press conference today before the public meeting to trash Council Member David Thune who had arranged the "Community Conversation".
Bob Fletcher undertook many out-of-jurisdiction actions before, during, and after the RNC—including harassment of independent videographers who have remained in town to finish editing a documentary on the RNC protests.
Fletcher unreasonably attacked David Thune—the City Council member responsible for Ward 2 (Downtown & Lowertown St. Paul where the RNC and protests took place)—simply for holding a public meeting so that the very freaked out and disturbed locals can finally vent at the city.
Previously the mayors of both cities had been wishy washy about navel gazing, and had tried to pass off a couple of appointed federal investigators with a mandate not to investigate police behavior, as an "investigation".
Elliot Hughes' testimony was the final straw that broke the camel's back. The deputy mayor of St. Paul rang Thune after the meeting to promise they would consider (an important word) expanding the investigation team from two members to a larger commission and having them and the Mayor attend the second meeting Council Member Dave Thune is calling.