Minnesota Activists Win $50,000 from Local Police, FBI

Sarah Coffey, Erin Stalnaker and Kris Hermes, three activists from Saint Paul, Minnesota, won a $50,000 settlement in their lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Saint Paul Police Department on Thursday. The lawsuit was filed in August 2009 and stated that the FBI and police violated the plaintiffs' First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

The homes of the three activists were raided on the eve of the massive demonstrations against the 2008 Republican National Convention. The police carried out several other operations to repress other left-wing activists in the days leading up to the Convention. This is the largest settlement related to the RNC protests.

"The City of Saint Paul and the federal government were forced to pay for their politically-motivated attack on organizers," said Sarah Coffey. "Rather than spend years in court fighting the government over its political surveillance program, we decided to use settlement money to invest in projects that oppose such repressive tactics."

The trio of plaintiffs is donating most of the $50,000 to the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, the Institute for Anarchist Studies, the Impact Fund, and to create a national legal defense fund for political activists.

The raid drew national attention when the police tried to enter the living quarters of the 10 activists and residents without a search warrant. They were refused entry, leading to a several-hours-long standoff. After getting a verbal go-ahead from a judge, the police forcefully entered one of the homes and detained everyone inside including the owner, tenants and the activists. Nobody was arrested, no illegal items were found, and nothing was seized, but computers and cameras were searched.

The police accused the owner of a nearby home of receiving weapons in the mail and illegally searched that home as well. They attempted to tie that home owner to the now defunct Symbionese Liberation Front (an "urban guerrilla" group from the 1970s). No weapons were found.

"We hope this sends a message to law enforcement officials who would enter homes illegally or suppress political dissent," said Coffey, "there is a cost to their actions."

The police and FBI are still continuing their work to stifle political dissent in all its various forms across the political spectrum. Although this is a significant victory, there is still much work to be done.