By Mara H. Gottfried
Pioneer Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Nearly three weeks before Red Bull Crashed Ice’s main attraction, Black Lives Matter St. Paul said they would “shut it down” if seven demands were not met.
But some of what the group is asking would be impossible without changes to state laws, and some of the demands are things officials say they’ve already been looking into.
For BLM St. Paul, the demands are a matter of the “moral and ethically correct thing to do,” leader Rashad Turner has said.
The planned protest focuses on St. Paul police Sgt. Jeffrey Rothecker, who was on paid administrative leave from the St. Paul Police Department after an internal-affairs investigation into his conduct began last month. BLM St. Paul and other community groups had been calling on Rothecker to be fired; he resigned Wednesday. Turner said the protest would still go on.
Rothecker had apologized for posting “Run them over” on Facebook in advance of an unpermitted BLM St. Paul protest Jan. 18. In the post, Rothecker referred to protesters as “idiots” and detailed what drivers could do to avoid being charged with a crime if their vehicles struck someone during the protest.
BLM St. Paul said Feb. 8 that it would protest at the Feb. 27 Crashed Ice event unless its demands are met. Turner has said his group aims to disrupt “commerce in order to get the powers that be to wake up and take action.”
Crashed Ice drew 140,000 people last year, and Mayor Chris Coleman has said the event will go on as planned this year. As for the group’s demands, Coleman said recently that “there is no more important issue to me than addressing the persistent racial disparities in our community.”
BLM St. Paul plans to meet with Coleman, then the group will “evaluate where we are at and move forward from there,” Turner said Thursday.
Here is a look at the seven demands Black Lives Matter St. Paul listed in their initial protest announcement and whether those things could happen in Minnesota’s system as it currently stands:
Demand 1: Strip the officer of his pension, peace officer license
In addition to terminating Rothecker, the group asked for the former police sergeant’s pension to be taken and for him to stripped “of his license to be a peace officer anywhere for the rest of his life.”
Could it happen? No provisions in state law allow for an officer’s pension to be forfeited, including if he is terminated for misconduct or convicted of a crime, according to the Public Employees Retirement Association. Like all Minnesota public employees, police officers pay into their pension plan throughout their careers.
Minnesota state law says the only instance in which an officer automatically loses his peace officer license is if he’s convicted of a felony. If an officer is convicted of a gross misdemeanor or certain misdemeanors, the matter would go before the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) board for a disciplinary hearing about his license, said executive director Nathan Gove.
Demand 2: Reopen Rothecker-led investigations
“Re-investigate every case in which Rothecker’s investigation(s) contributed to a conviction,” BLM has said.
Could it happen? Rothecker investigated domestic violence cases from 2001 to 2005, and had been investigating crimes against elders since March 2013.
Since 2013, the Ramsey County attorney’s office filed charges in 11 cases for which Rothecker was the lead investigator. Eight people pleaded guilty, a jury convicted one and charges were dismissed against two people, according to Dennis Gerhardstein, the county attorney’s spokesman.
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi asked his staff last month to review certain criminal cases in which Rothecker was involved as an investigator, Gerhardstein said.
“While it is possible that Officer Rothecker’s involvement in past cases may warrant further prosecution review, it is too early to tell what the RCAO needs to do in the interests of justice as the initial case review is not yet complete,” Gerhardstein said in a statement.
Demand 3: Eliminate the police contract’s “progressive discipline” policy
“Mayor Coleman,” the group said, “initiate the process to eliminate the progressive discipline policy in the collective bargaining agreement.” They say progressive discipline is what allows officers like Rothecker to be disciplined seven times and keep his job.
Could it happen? During his 22 years as a St. Paul police officer, Rothecker was the subject of 15 previous investigations. Seven of the complaints were sustained, in cases involving Rothecker’s supervision of officers, improperly accessing private driver’s license data, and preventable squad car crashes. The most serious discipline Rothecker received was a two-day suspension, which came in 2010.
Progressive discipline is the notion of increasingly severe steps for repeated policy violations. An employee who clocks in 10 minutes late for work would not be suspended for a first violation, but could be if he’d previously been disciplined for repeatedly being late, said Jason Schmidt, St. Paul labor relations manager.
But progressive discipline does not mean a city could not fire an employee with no previous discipline, Schmidt said. If a first offense is serious, such as stealing at work, it could result in termination.
Progressive discipline ensures minorities and women will be treated fairly if someone is trying to discipline them for discriminatory reasons, said David Allen Larson, Mitchell Hamline School of Law professor of labor and employment law. It’s something most unions have in their contracts and they would not easily give it up, Larson said.
Tonya Tennessen, Coleman’s spokeswoman, said of BLM St. Paul’s demand for the mayor to take action about progressive discipline, “Removing that phrase from the union contract wouldn’t change a single protection afforded police officers. Employee protections in effect for St. Paul police officers are not determined by union contracts; they are determined by state and federal laws and even the U.S. Constitution.”
Demand 4: File criminal charges against Rothecker
Black Lives Matter called on City Attorney Samuel Clark and County Attorney John Choi to file criminal charges against Officer Rothecker “for a minimum of disorderly conduct and terroristic threats.”
Could it happen? Prosecutors generally aren’t investigative agencies; in most instances, a law enforcement agency investigates a case and presents it to a prosecutor’s office to consider whether criminal charges should be filed.
St. Paul police Sgt. Mike Ernster, a department spokesman, said he doesn’t know of a criminal investigation into Rothecker at this time.
City Attorney Clark said his office has “not ruled out anything at this point.” The county attorney’s office, which prosecutes more serious offenses, would review a case for charges if one were presented to them, Gerhardstein said.
Demand 5: Diversify the police-standards board
“Gov. (Mark) Dayton,” the group said, “appoint a new POST certification board to include black and brown people who reflect the communities with the most disparities in the criminal justice system.”
Could it happen? Persons of color have served on the Peace Officer Standards and Training board in the past, but not currently, Gove said.
State law specifies the 15 members’ backgrounds -- they are mostly peace officers, but some are from the realm of peace officer education programs and two are from the general public. They serve staggered, four-year terms.
“The governor believes that the board responsible for establishing standards and training protocols for Minnesota’s police officers should better reflect the diversity of our communities,” Dayton’s spokesman, Matt Swenson, said in a statement.
Dayton “has instructed his staff to actively seek out a more-diverse set of candidates for the upcoming vacancies on the board,” Swenson said. The governor asks anyone who is interested and who meets the eligibility requirements to apply by the April 13 deadline. More information is available by contacting the governor’s office at Andrew.C.Olson@state.mn.us.
Demand 6: Eliminate grand jury involvement in officer-involved assaults
“Gov. Dayton,” the group said, “follow the lead of Gov. (Jerry) Brown in California and author an executive order barring the grand jury process in police-involved homicides and assaults.”
Could it happen? In California, Brown signed a bill into law last year after it was passed by the Legislature. It bars using grand juries to probe police shootings, after a legislator said the process was too secretive.
A change could happen in Minnesota only with legislative action first, Swenson said. The House and Senate public safety and judiciary committees said they haven’t heard buzz about bills addressing grand juries for the upcoming session.
Demand 7: U.S. Department of Justice re-examine the Marcus Golden shooting-death case
In its demand, BLM St. Paul cited what it sees as inconsistencies in the St. Paul police officer-involved shooting of the 24-year-old in January 2015.
Could it happen? A grand jury determined last year that officers were justified in using lethal force against Golden. Police say Golden sped in his vehicle toward an officer, nearly striking him.
If the experience of others is an indicator, asking the DOJ to investigate seems to be an uphill battle. The attorney for Golden’s mother and the head of the St. Paul NAACP said they requested last year that the federal agency investigate the Golden case but received no response.
The DOJ did not respond to Pioneer Press inquiries about the Golden case.
Copyright 2016 Pioneer Press