Clyde Bellecourt and others protest squad car trunk transport incident, Minneapolis Chief John Laux promises decision within one week. On April 17, 1993, Officers Michael Lardy and his partner Officer Marvin Schumer of the 4th Precinct encountered Charles Lone Eagle and John Boney, Native Americans who were apparently intoxicated and sleeping in front of an apartment building. According to the plaintiffs' civil complaint, the officers called for an ambulance and then canceled their request and dragged the men to the squad car. The men were then allegedly handcuffed and thrown in the trunk of the squad car; the trunk was closed on Lone Eagle's leg, injuring it. The two men in the trunk claimed that the ride to the hospital, which was only three blocks from where the men were picked up, took an unreasonably long time, and that the car's driver drove erratically, causing injuries. The officers later claimed that they used the squad car because they were worried about the well-being of the men and wanted to get to the hospital quickly, yet the dangerous and menacing confinement in the vehicle's trunk undermines this claim.
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MARY LOZIER: Both the Hennepin County attorney and the Minneapolis city attorney have declined to file charges in the case, which has outraged Native American activists and was one of the main reasons for the day-long protest. American Indian Movement national director Clyde Bellecourt led more than 100 demonstrators in a march along downtown Minneapolis streets to the city hall, where protesters' drum beats and chanting echoed in the marble halls.
[DRUMMING, SINGING]
They carried signs saying "stop police violence" and a staff with eagle feathers, the American Indian equivalent of the stars and stripes. Once in the city council chambers, activists made angry speeches as Mayor Don Fraser, City Council President Sharon Sayles Belton, Police Chief John Laux and other officials listened impassively. Bellecourt spoke angrily of police explanations of the incident.
CLYDE BELLECOURT: They're trying to tell us, trying to tell us, trying to tell this community in the city of Minneapolis, that they couldn't get ahold of an ambulance. We know that they could have called another squad. They could have called another ambulance. They could have treated these human beings as human beings and not as garbage, as they referred to them when they delivered them to Hennepin County General Hospital.
MARY LOZIER: Protesters also demanded that the old Hennepin County Detox Center not be reopened. The center was closed last year amid allegations of abuse and neglect of patients, many of whom are Native Americans. One of the options the county is considering is reopening the center. Other proposals include funding treatment centers run by and for Indians. Kathleen Messenger is a spokesperson for the Native American Coalition for Civil Rights, a group formed to protest abuses at the old detox center.
KATHLEEN MESSENGER: Hennepin County Detox will open over my dead body.
[APPLAUSE]
I have always been a peace-abiding, gentle woman. No longer. I have to listen, when I go to powwows-- my brother received his pipe this weekend, and all the Native Americans sat around and said, don't go to Minneapolis. It's pretty bad up there. You'll get a ride in the trunk of a police car, if nothing else.
MARY LOZIER: In a short statement, Minneapolis Police Chief John Laux said the case of the two policemen is in his office for review, and he will take what he considers appropriate action within one week. He also responded to charges by activists that the Minneapolis Police Federation has unduly intervened to protect the officers.
JOHN LAUX: The first point I'd like to make is that I am the chief of police in Minneapolis, and I am in charge of the Minneapolis Police Department, not the Police Federation. And I have taken action in the past. I have disciplined officers, and I have fired officers. And if you don't believe me, there's a whole lot of people that will take umbrage with you because they've been disciplined and fired since I have been chief.
MARY LOZIER: Mayor Don Fraser, City Council President Sharon Sayles Belton, and Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin also made short statements, but many of the activists left before the officials had finished speaking. I'm Mary Lozier, Minnesota Public Radio.