Posted by REID MAGNEY, La Crosse Tribune on 5/24/04

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Bush protesters want investigation of police
By REID MAGNEY, La Crosse Tribune

People who protested President Bush's La Crosse appearance
May 7 are asking for an investigation into police conduct
toward protesters and are questioning the presence of Fort
McCoy soldiers at the event.

A group calling itself Coulee Region Concerned Citizens met
with La Crosse Mayor John Medinger on Wednesday, accusing
police and "Republican Party operatives" of violating their
First Amendment rights and other acts.

The group asked U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., to
investigate who paid for about 260 service members from Fort
McCoy to attend the rally.

"In a democratic society, the police force is supposed to be
an independent, nonpartisan force," said Guy Wolf of
Stoddard, Wis., a member of the group. "Instead, they
appeared to be acting on the behalf of the Republican Party."

"Citizens were physically pushed and shoved off sidewalks by
police officers," Wolf said.

"They said we did not belong there," said Barbara Frank of
La Crosse, who had gathered with other protesters on
Copeland Avenue after the rally. They were waiting to
protest when the president's bus drove by on the way to the
airport.

"The way they videotaped us was extremely disconcerting,"
said Frank, a Sierra Club official. "The last time I was
scrutinized like that was at Checkpoint Charlie in East
Berlin. It was like we were enemies of the state."

"I know all these folks," Medinger said Wednesday. "They're
good, upstanding people. They're not anarchists. They did a
very American thing, protesting against their government."
The group wants to know whether it was the Secret Service or
Bush campaign officials who told police how to handle
protesters.

La Crosse County Republican Party Chairman Chris Muller said
the complaints are "based on misunderstandings."

Muller said neither the local party or Bush-Cheney ‘04
officials were telling La Crosse police what to do. If
anyone told the police what to do, it was the Secret
Service, he said.

Muller said people were checked to make sure they were not
wearing shirts with anti-Bush slogans under their clothing.
"We didn't want to take the chance of people disrupting our
rally," Muller said. "People wanted to throw a wrench into
our rally."

Feingold issued a statement Wednesday saying he will check
into the complaint about the soldiers.

"Currently our military has the difficult task of training
for the ongoing military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and
elsewhere. If the claim that Army reservists were used for a
political reason is true, it would be troubling to think
that valuable training time may have been spent at political
rallies."

Medinger said he's unhappy the city attorney's office, the
police department and the Bush campaign left him out of
preparations for the rally at Copeland Park.

"Maybe I was kept out of the loop because I'm a Democrat,"
Medinger said.

"Who was calling the shots, the Republican Party or the
Secret Service?" Medinger said. "If it was Bush-Cheney '04,
that gives more credence to my belief that they should pay
the bill for the city's expenses. I want to do the same
thing when (Democrat) John Kerry comes."

Police Chief Ed Kondracki was out of town Wednesday
attending a training session.

"They made a complaint, and we're investigating," said
Assistant Police Chief Tom Jacobs. He declined further comment.

The request for an investigation was signed by attorney
Maureen Freedland, a member of the La Crosse Police and Fire
Commission; Democratic activist Karen Dahl of Viroqua, Wis.;
retired businessman Hank Zumach of Stoddard, Wis.; and Wolf,
who is involved in a number of peace, environmental and
progressive causes.

Protesters' complaints

These are the allegations protesters made Wednesday about
President Bush's campaign rally:

Despite arrangements made in advance, police denied
protesters use of the Copeland Park shelter and electricity
for a public address system.

Police "herded protesters far from the stadium and park, and
off the public sidewalks."

Police told protesters they would be arrested for making
noise, "citing a 55-year-old Supreme Court ruling on an
irrelevant subject."

"Pro-Bush demonstrators were allowed to assemble and make
noise in the same areas from which anti-Bush demonstrators
were ejected."

Police misused police chaplains for crowd control, violating
the "separation of church and state."

Police intimidated protesters by videotaping them "where
there was no reasonable suspicion of criminal activity."

After the rally, police failed to protect anti-Bush
protesters, who claim they were "shoved and spat at" by
people leaving the Bush rally.

n Soldiers from Fort McCoy were bused to the rally and given
tickets by the Republican Party, violating "the absolute
prohibition against the military engaging in political
activities."

Bush protesters want investigation of police, 5/24/04, by REID MAGNEY, La Crosse Tribune.

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