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Settlement won in lawsuit against police violence at Republican National Convention

By staff

_Mick Kelly states he will donate settlement money to anti-war activists fighting repression _

St. Paul, MN – The case of Mick Kelly, whose lawyers filed the first lawsuit resulting from police violence at the 2008 Republican National Convention on his behalf, was resolved in a settlement conference at the U.S. Courthouse here.

In a widely publicized incident, police, standing only feet away, shot Kelly in his belly with a high velocity marking projectile. Kelly was at the demonstration organized by the Anti-War Committee on the fourth day of the RNC, Sept. 4, 2008.

“This is a partial victory,” states Kelly. “Before, during and afterwards, the authorities attempted to quash dissent at the Republican National Convention. The settlement in this case indicates the police did something wrong. We had every right to speak out against U.S. wars at the Republican National Convention.”

Mick Kelly, one of the main organizers of the massive march and rally on the first day of the Republican National Convention, earlier prevailed in a separate lawsuit against the city of Saint Paul after his arrest for leafleting at a June 2008 Obama rally. He is also one of the Twin Cities anti-war and international solidarity activists whose home was raided by the FBI on Sept. 24, 2010.

While the exact dollar amount of the settlement is undisclosed, Kelly states that he intends to make a $5000 donation to the Committee to Stop FBI Repression – the organization that is defending the anti-war activists whose homes were raided on Sept. 24, 2010 and others served with subpoenas by the Chicago U.S. Attorney.

Kelly agreed to settle when the judge overseeing the case ruled against Kelly’s moves to subpoena a police infiltrator in the anti-war movement who went by the name of ‘Karen Sullivan.’ Officer Sullivan joined the Anti-War Committee in the months prior to the RNC and was present at the protest where the shooting took place. “We hoped to find out more about how Karen Sullivan, who helped target activists for FBI raids, was involved in the repression that took place at the RNC,” said Kelly.

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