Protesters sue St. Louis city, police over arrests at ag forum

[struggle4progress]

Posted on Tue, May. 17, 2005

JIM SUHR
Associated Press

ST. LOUIS - <snip>

"We think the city needs to be called into account for (infringing) on the right of people to voice political views in a peaceful manner," said Rory Ellinger, an attorney for those suing. <snip>

On May 16, 2003, police arrested 15 people for allegedly occupying a condemned building - charges that the lawsuit says kept them jailed for 20 hours. Police also detained nine bicyclists who said they planned to attend the protests days later at the World Agriculture Forum's World Congress. <snip>

"The charges against the plaintiffs were either based on repealed law, were legally impossible or were not supported by the facts or law," according to the lawsuit, which also names as defendants various police officers and members of the city's Building and Zoning Commission. "At all relevant times, defendants had the willful, malicious and deliberate intention to deprive plaintiffs of their liberty and constitutionally safeguarded civil rights."

Even with the arrests, the protests went on peacefully outside the site where scientists, agriculture experts, educators and farmers from more than 20 countries gathered. The protesters have argued that genetically modified seeds and foods are harmful to consumers and the environment. <snip>

http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/local/11668419.htm


This is Nixon's "preventative detention" theory, which was shouted down thirty years ago, put into practice by the generation of "conservatives" he mentored ...