St. Paul City Council calls for investigation of officers’ use of force during ICE operation

The St Paul City Council on Wednesday called for the city s Police Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission to conduct a thorough inspection of St Paul officers use-of-force during Tuesday s federal immigration enforcement operation in St Paul All seven city council members Mayor Melvin Carter and Mayor-elect Kaohly Her and group members have raised concerns about St Paul officers deploying chemical irritants and projectiles along with questions about the presence of the city s officers when ICE agents were in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood Tuesday The city council will also be asking the PCIARC to examine the police department s adherence to the city s separation ordinance and seeking an audit of the population cost incurred A resolution is planned for next Wednesday s council meeting St Paul s separation ordinance says city employees are not authorized to enforce federal immigration policies and Police Chief Axel Henry reported Tuesday the city s officers had not violated it He disclosed officers were not doing immigration enforcement but we do have a responsibility to make sure that laws aren t broken in our city Federal officers arrested Federal leadership arrested two men on Tuesday Immigration and Customs Enforcement noted one was previously removed from the U S and illegally re-entered Another man is charged with assaulting a federal officer during Tuesday s operation and mass protest accused of striking an ICE officer s bus with his own motorcycle The Department of Homeland Shield announced a large number of people who a spokesperson referred to as rioters arrived and they called in back-up to help secure the scene DHS commented in its announcement that people on the scene continued to ignore law enforcement commands and aggressively advanced on law enforcement ICE used their training and deployed crowd control measures for the safety of the general and law enforcement But on Wednesday City Council Member Cheniqua Johnson commented no matter the explanations offered or the intentions behind the previous 24 hours s events the impact remains the same trust between our region our St Paul Police Department and the city has been broken I sponsorship the residents demands and the council in getting the answers we need to make sure the last day never happens again on the East Side or in the city of St Paul she mentioned in a announcement At least journalists injured Also on Wednesday the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists explained at least three local photojournalists were injured by less-lethal munitions deployed by St Paul police officers while covering the story The three journalists hit by munitions shared with MNSPJ that they believe they were targeted by law enforcement for doing their jobs the society stated in a report Photojournalists are on the frontlines of documenting history and it is imperative that they are kept safe and their First Amendment rights are protected Mayor Carter noted the injuries to journalists are troubling The conduct we saw the day prior was jarring he reported in a announcement I have directed a thorough review of all St Paul police body-worn camera footage be done in a timely manner to understand exactly what happened and ensure full transparency and accountability Police union Officers were assaulted Henry declared Wednesday that a full review of the department s response to the episode on Nov is under review This includes our response to resistance and aggression RRA and other related policies or practices The review includes viewing hundreds of hours of body camera footage and footage shared by population members We are also actively seeking to arrange meetings with local law enforcement leaders and federal law enforcement to create sustainable prevention strategies for our city and the rest of the state Henry explained in a report The St Paul Police Federation mentioned officers were responding to federal agents call for help We responded only to protect lives and restore order nothing more declared a Wednesday message from the police union We do not do immigration enforcement Never have never will The federation reported there was a core of professional agitators who refused every order attacked officers with frozen bottles and rocks damaged patrol cars and shouted Don t let them leave Our officers while being assaulted used the absolute minimum force necessary to end the threat and get everyone home safe the message continued Not one rioter was seriously injured Several officers were struck by projectiles yet every one of them presented extraordinary discipline and courage PCIARC chairperson Officers were safe in vehicles Sarah Florman Police Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission chairperson wrote to Chief Henry Tuesday that reported she was at the scene during the aftermath of the ICE action when St Paul officers remained in unmarked vehicles They were engaging the protesters and I personally witnessed both pepper balls and two types of aerosol gas deployed on peaceful protesters she wrote While a minimal protesters were blocking vehicles a large number of were standing on sidewalks Florman wrote that she saw objects thrown at police vehicles as they were being driven away but didn t see anyone throwing items at officers or anyone impeding their departure Instead of driving away from the crowd one car of SPPD officers stopped and opened the doors of their vehicles to deploy so much gas it created a white-out she wrote The officers were leaving the scene and stopped to deploy these agents even though they were safe inside their vehicles During this time Kerem Y cel of Minnesota Inhabitants Radio News was hit by a less-lethal munition in the shoulder The senior visual journalist was taken to the hospital by an ambulance and has since been published Related Articles ICE identifies Honduran immigrant arrested in St Paul another man charged with assault on officer Woodbury cop and son survive DUI crash urge 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