Chris0nllyn
Well-Known Member
A cell phone video posted to YouTube this week shows a St. Paul police officer roughing up a black man who was apparently doing nothing more than sitting in the skyway, waiting to pick up his kids.
The man explains he was sitting in the skyway waiting to pick up his kids at 10 o'clock from the New Horizon Academy school. He says he had gotten off work at Cossetta at 9 a.m.
He tells the officer, "First off, that's a public area. And if there's no sign that [says], 'This is a private area, you can't sit here,' no one can tell me I can't sit here."
"The problem is..." the officer says, before she's cut off.
"The problem is I'm black. That's the problem," the man interjects. "It really is because I didn't do anything wrong."
Though that exchange was more conversational than confrontational, things escalate when another officer, Bruce Schmidt, arrives on the scene.
"What's up brother?" the man says to him.
"You're going to jail. You're not my brother," Schmidt replies.
The officer's version of events:
Squad 524, M. Johnson/ 526, B. Schmidt were called to the First National Bank Building (332 Minnesota) on a report of uncooperative male refusing to leave. Officers later made contact with this male... who refused to cooperate and would not give his name. He was later arrested for Trespassing, Disorderly Conduct, and Obstructing Legal Process (Citation #620900211109).
The man was charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct, and obstructing the legal process, but those charges were later dropped.
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/..._arrest_black_man_sitting_in_skyway_video.php
St.Paul PD's Facebook post:
Thank you for the discussion regarding the video that was has been circulated from a January 31, 2014 arrest.
As is often the case, the video does not show the totality of the circumstances.
Our officers were called by private security guards on a man who was trespassing in a private area. The guards reported that the man had on repeated occasions refused to leave a private "employees only" area in the First National Bank Building.
With no information on who the man was, what he might be doing or why he refused to leave the area, responding Saint Paul police officers tried to talk to him, asking him who he was. He refused to tell them or cooperate.
Our officers are called upon and required to respond to calls for assistance and to investigate the calls. At one point, the officers believed he might either run or fight with them. It was then that officers took steps to take him into custody. He pulled away and resisted officers' lawful orders. They then used the force necessary to safely take him into custody.
The man was charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct and obstruction of the legal process. Those charges were dismissed in July.
We have had a discussion with the man in the video and he was given information on how to file a formal complaint if that was his desire. At this time, no formal complaint has been filed.
We hope this helps to clear up some of the information our communities have been seeking.
As we told you about yesterday, Lollie was eventually charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct, and obstructing the legal process. Law enforcement kept his phone until the charges were dropped in July, meaning Lollie wasn't able to upload his footage to YouTube until quite recently.
Asked why the charges were dropped, Lollie says one of his daughter's teachers saw the entire incident and corroborated his version of events. Lollie says another woman who works near the First National Bank Building told investigators she would often sit and have lunch in the stretch of skyway where Lollie was arrested and had never been badgered by security guards or police.
With those two witness statements working in Lollie's favor, prosecutors decided to drop the charges, and Lollie was finally reunited with his phone.
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/..._lawyers_question_aggressive_use_of_force.php
If he had just complied, and given his ID....