Video Evidence Contradicts Police Chief’s Claim About SPPD Attacks on Nov. 25

(UPDATE: *New videos added as of Dec. 17 - 1:34pm)

It has been three weeks since journalists and protesters were violently attacked during the November 25 federal raid on Saint Paul’s East Side.

And still, nothing substantial has happened.

No discipline. No transparent investigation. No public accountability. No acknowledgment of wrongdoing. Just a resolution that basically says we will look into this, which I will detail more later.

What we do have however is silence, deflection, and the slow normalization of state violence against people doing constitutionally protected work.

The Evidence Is Clear, And Publicly Available For Anyone To See All Over The Internet

More than two dozen videos document what happened on November 25. Taken together, they remove any plausible doubt about who was responsible for the violent attack on three journalists and several protestors.

SPPD claims they did not cooperate with Federal agents. I offer you this video before the protest grew showing SPPD communicating with agents. Then later, it is the officers in that same white van that brutalized an individual with a cane.

Officers from the Saint Paul Police Department were the only law enforcement agency visibly present during the use of force that occurred on Payne Avenue which is where MPR reporter Kerem Yucel was shot with a rubber bullet and taken to the hospital by ambulance. And there are multiple videos that document their excessive use of force and deployment of chemical agents without any dispersal orders or clear commands.

No federal agents appear in the footage engaging the press. No ICE or DHS officers are seen issuing commands or using crowd-control weapons. The violence did not occur in a fog of multi-agency confusion. It occurred under the authority of Saint Paul Police.

This has been established. Repeatedly. Visually. Publicly.

Excessive Use of Force by SPPD

While there are multiple examples in the videos above, this incident alone underscores the pattern that day. Captured from two angles, it documents an excessive use of force that has yet to result in any reprimand. How can this level of force be justified against an unarmed person with a cane?

SPPD Appears to have violated its own body camera policy

This officer was recorded macing people several times. It appears that his body camera is missing. Was he or will he be disciplined for that or what exemption was he given? Was his use of chemical irritants on protestors who were not violent and who were compliant justified?

SPPD Violated the City’s Own Separation Policy

Saint Paul’s separation ordinance prohibits local police from assisting federal immigration enforcement.

On November 25, SPPD did not merely “maintain order.” Officers used force including chemical agents and less-lethal munitions to clear space for a federal operation.

That is assistance. That is facilitation. That is a violation of city policy.

Weeks later, there has been no meaningful response to that violation even after more than a dozen community leaders, impacted residents and members of the press have demanded answers at council meetings.

There's been no explanation of how the department’s actions complied with the ordinance. No public release of operational orders. No acknowledgment that the policy was breached. Instead, a resolution was passed to tally the cost of the operation, to investigate SPPD's use of force and to hold a hearing in January to determine if the separation policy should be strengthened.

Those advocating for more say this is just kicking the accountability can down the road. Especially because the evidence is clear, and it includes eye witness accounts from multiple elected officials who witnessed and experienced the use of force first hand.

Journalists Were Targeted. That Is Not in Dispute.

Three journalists were attacked that day. 

We were clearly identifiable. We were not interfering. We were documenting a matter of urgent public interest. That work is protected under the First Amendment.

Yet, Saint Paul Police fired on press, deployed tear gas without sufficient warning, and forced journalists out of public space.

That is not accidental harm. That is suppression of documentation. And still, there has been no disciplinary action.

Deflection Is Not Leadership

Rather than confront the evidence, SPPD leadership has chosen to question perception instead of conduct. Two weeks after the Nov. 25 federal raid, I asked the Saint Paul Police chief Axel Henry, "For the journalists who were attacked, will the officers be held accountable?".

His response, "That pre-assumes they were attacked".

This framing is deeply concerning. It suggests that documented violence is merely presumed.That eyewitness accounts are unreliable.That video evidence is open to reinterpretation when it implicates the department.

Investigations do not require indefinite time when the evidence is already public.

The delay itself has become the issue. Every week without accountability, journalists still have to go out and do their jobs under the "pre-assumption" that violence against them will be tolerated and that their rights will not be protected by federal agencies or local officials in Saint Paul.

Real Updates About What Happened

These videos show more than just the arrest of the individual in the red sweater at the height of the protest. For the video on the left my question is, has any elected official identified these other three individuals who are in cuffs to ensure that their rights were not violated? Were they U.S Citizens? Are they facing charges? For the video on the right, why is a SPPD officers communicating with federal agents before the protest happened but then claiming that they didn't have information that this was happening? Is it a coincidence that this is the same white van that is seen later, driven by the officers who violently assaulted an individual with a cane?

What Accountability Requires Now

Accountability requires:

• A public acknowledgment that SPPD used force against journalists and protesters on November 25.

• Release of the un-redacted body camera footage from that day. (I filed a request)

• Immediate release of all SPPD operational plans, commands, and use-of-force authorizations from that day.

• A truly independent investigation with a firm, public timeline.

• Disciplinary action for officers and command staff who authorized or carried out unlawful actions.

• Structural safeguards to prevent SPPD from acting as enforcement support for federal immigration operations in the future.

  
  

The people of Saint Paul did not imagine what happened on November 25. The evidence exists. The harm occurred. The law is clear. What is missing, now, is accountability.

Saint Paul must decide whether its laws mean what they say and whether press freedom and civil liberties will be defended or quietly abandoned.