Minnesota Police Gave Occupy Protesters Drugs? Cops Launch Investigation

Minnesota police are facing increasing pressure over claims that officers got Occupy protesters high as part of a program designed to help law enforcement identify the symptoms of drug use.

The Guardian reports that the program has now been suspended while public safety officials conduct a criminal investigation into the claims.

CBS Minnesota reports that one local officer has come forward to tell authorities that he saw a fellow cop giving out marijuana.

The controversy began after video surfaced showing alleged participants, including one who claims, "They [the police] come into downtown... and basically pick up random people, and ask them to do drug evaluations."

When the story first broke, Lt. Eric Roeske, public information officer and spokesperson for the Minnesota State Patrol, denied the accusations in a statement sent to The Huffington Post.

"It is against our policies and against the law to provide people with any sort any sort of illegal drugs or to allow them to use them in our presence," he said. "We have found no evidence or information that substantiated the allegations made in the video."

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Comments

[HoAW]

02:11 PM on 06/11/2012

D.A.R.E. taught me that it is dangerous to use marijuana or any illegal drug even once. I hope the families will be getting large settlements now that these people are likely to become marijuana addicts as the result of this research.

I suppose if that doesn't happen all it will do is prove that what D.A.R.E. teaches is incorrect. Either way it would be nice to see this result in some kind of backlash against the cynicism and hypocrisy with which law enforcement approach recreational drug use.

[TINKER6]

03:35 PM on 05/15/2012

That stuff ain't no good, to many dry eyes in the house/garage.

[p-niz]

11:21 AM on 05/14/2012

Weren't these especially dirty neo-hippies high already?

[nevaehs mama]

02:49 PM on 05/14/2012

yeah, im pretty sure they were already high...i think that they are probably high a good majority of the time...cops providing the drugs was probably something that they imagined. sometimes, when your high, making up stories is funny.

[CherryDDs]

11:02 AM on 05/14/2012

Is anyone really surprised?

[Tom Hn]

10:41 AM on 05/14/2012

Yeah, blame the cops. If they are dumb enough to take drugs from cops, they should be arrested.

[WiscFighter]

11:28 AM on 05/14/2012

Right, because its okay for the cop to even have the drugs to offer them in the first place? Please... Should the cop not be arrested either? Sounds like you may have been the one partaking is this illegal activity.

[nevaehs mama]

02:50 PM on 05/14/2012

yeah, Tom HN was TOTALLY out there with the cops handing out all kinds of drugs...thats exactly what happend.

[Fattonecat]

03:45 PM on 05/14/2012

idiocy

[LiberalLee]

04:02 PM on 05/13/2012

It might explain Bachmann...

[Kvothe]

12:49 PM on 05/13/2012

I'm not sure that I'm tracking the headline here... "High as fork?"

[WiscFighter]

11:55 AM on 05/14/2012

Lol are you perhaps, high as fork?

[nevaehs mama]

02:51 PM on 05/14/2012

hahaha, i wish i was "high as fork" right now!

[ronp121]

10:27 AM on 05/13/2012

Stands to reason for whom would have the best in drugs than the ones that confiscate it.

[Whyalwaysme]

09:59 AM on 05/13/2012

They must take the best from what they take from growers, even cops break the laws,

[NativeHorn]

09:48 AM on 05/13/2012

HuffPost uses pictures of the best looking weed whenever they do a pot-related article. Ah, to be 21 again...

[LiberalLee]

04:03 PM on 05/13/2012

Oh to be 41 again! lol

[mosuro]

09:34 AM on 05/13/2012

all i got was a donut brownie with bunk weed..what a ripoff

[sdave]

06:25 AM on 05/13/2012

What are they complaining about? They should be grateful.......I would.

[djuno1966]

01:34 AM on 05/13/2012

I find that the weed cops always give me is very potent.

I have found myself speeding down the highway shouting
"Where'sy car ? Where are my keys?"

I even got stopped by a cop, he asked me "You know why I'me here?"

I replied " You got all Cs in school?"

[LiberalLee]

04:03 PM on 05/13/2012

Best laugh of the day.
Thanks :)

[Adam Anthony]

12:53 AM on 05/13/2012

Snitches!If a cop wants to get me smoked out that's great.It would be nice to have a cop give me weed to smoke instead of taking my weed and smoking it them selfs.Though I'm still cool with the cops stealing my weed rather then arresting me are giving me a ticket....

[SamEasy]

01:22 AM on 05/13/2012

And cops have the BEST drugs, since they are busting people all the time.

[mgresist]

12:12 AM on 05/13/2012

As one of the investigators involved in exposing this conduct, the story misses some of the context. Large numbers of young people (some under 18) were being picked up by police, given drugs and observed/studied, then dropped off at the Occupy encampment in Peavey Plaza in an impaired state, creating a serious public safety risk. Some were offered drugs to spy on Occupy. In the midst of this, the Minneapolis city council is trying to shut down the plaza due to "drug problems." In other words, this "program" is ostensibly about training cops but is being used to discredit Occupy. Now that the one cop has come forward and admitted this conduct was happening, every public official is backpedaling, trying to distance themselves from this "program." Yet the city council still hopes to pass a ban to shut down Peavey Plaza at their meeting this Wednesday. Stay tuned.

[Margaret Cadogan]

10:16 AM on 05/13/2012

Good job. This is a very important story. The gullibility of those kids (and people commenting here) is stunning.

[mgresist]

01:39 PM on 05/13/2012

Yes, that's another piece of this issue. As a long-time activist, never in my life would I voluntarily get in a cop car, let alone engage in illegal activity in front of or with cops. I also counsel activists against drug use as it impairs our judgement and gives the police another way to come after us.

There are a lot of new, young activists involved in Occupy and we senior activists have not done a good job of educating them about the role of police and the dangers they pose to the movement.

[CherryDDs]

11:01 AM on 05/14/2012

Good synopsis. I'm surprised so many people need you to spell it out for them...