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I took part in a call this morning with Commissioner John Harrington, about last night's terrible law enforcement response to the protest on I-94.
He made clear that the call to kettle the protest and arrest everyone was his.
He did not acknowledge that it was a mistake.
He made clear that the call to kettle the protest and arrest everyone was his.
He did not acknowledge that it was a mistake.
I had - naively, it seems - expected that the folks who were responsible for this awful outcome would acknowledge that it was a bad call, and we could move on from there.
Instead Harrington defended LE actions last night and claimed it was their normal practice.
Instead Harrington defended LE actions last night and claimed it was their normal practice.
Several elected officials pushed back on that characterization. Arresting people without giving an order to disperse and a clear path to exit is new. It was, rightly, described by a few electeds as an escalation, and a provocation. I agree.
Several also pointed out that if the concern was the public safety implications of having people on the freeway, the law enforcement response last night extended that "danger" from something like 20 minutes to over five hours.
It seriously undermines the public safety rationale for the action. If you're so worried about people on the freeway, LET THE PEOPLE GET OFF THE FREEWAY.
Elected officials pointed out that the City and State budgets are in serious trouble, and the last thing we need is another raft of lawsuits stemming from law enforcement activities. And they raised serious concerns about how many officers were unmasked, as COVID spikes.
I heard no particularly good answers to any of these concerns. I heard no acknowledgement that this was an eminently avoidable debacle.
Whatever confidence I had in Harrington's judgment is pretty much gone.
Whatever confidence I had in Harrington's judgment is pretty much gone.
