St. Paul Activists Awarded $50,000 for Repressive 2008 Government Raids

In 2008, the FBI and St. Paul Police raided the home of an activist before the Republican National Convention.  Three years later, righteous victory against repression.

In 2008, just before the Republican National Convention, the home of Sarah Coffey, Erin Stalnaker and Kris Hermes–all activists–was raided by the FBI and St. Paul Police.  The police arrived at the home without a warrant and the three activists denied the task-force entry, which was well within their rights.

The police then sought and received a warrant from a judge.  The motivation?  A box said to contain weapons, but which actually housed (dramatic pause) vegan literature.  The Theater of the Absurd rearing its ugly political head yet again.  According to Infoshop News, that was only a bit of the absurdity surrounding this illegal raid.

The search warrant affidavit, which was under seal until a month after the raid in a likely attempt to avoid media scrutiny, relied solely on a confidential informant who made the claim that weapons were being shipped to 951 Iglehart using the U.S. Postal Service. In a sensationalist move, the police also tried to tie property owner Michael Whalen to a defunct 1970s political group, the Symbionese Liberation Army, in order to bolster the warrant’s outrageous claim of arms shipments. However, once inside 951 Iglehart, police discovered that the boxes contained only vegan literature. Unsatisfied, police broke through a locked attic door to enter the neighboring but separate 949 Iglehart, which plaintiffs claimed was the operation’s true objective.

In 2009, Coffey, Stalnaker and Hermes filed a lawsuit against the FBI and the St. Paul Police for violating their First, Fourth and Fourteenth amendment rights.  The First Amendment obviously deals with free speech and assembly.  The Fourth guards against unwarranted searches and seizures.  And the 14th amendment, of course, ensures Due Process.

The three activists decided to settle with the authorities for $50,000 and then donate the money to the Committee to Stop FBI Repression and the Institute for Anarchist Studies.  And some funds will also help set up a national defense fund for political activists.  The plaintiffs’ attorneys are also donating a portion of their fees to the Impact Fund, which, according to its website, provides “funds for impact litigation in the areas of civil rights, environmental justice, and poverty law.”

The settlement won’t stop government meddling in political protest and activist circles, but at least it brings a degree of awareness.  Naturally, this isn’t being covered by national media.

But, as Hermes noted, “This is a pattern.  We were hoping to put a stop to it. But we realized that it was probably not going to happen, even if we pursued the case for years. Even with injunctive relief, it may not be enough to push the federal government on this issue, who insist on meddling with political protests. It’s going to take a lot more to end this pattern and practice.”