RNC Fallout: Police raid dorm room
By: Peter Wright, Managing Editor
Issue date: 3/13/09 Section: News
The 2008 Republican National Convention (RNC) is a half a year old memory for most Macalester students, but for one sophomore fallout from the event showed up at his doorstep when his room was searched in February. That search is now raising questions about ongoing RNC investigations and the college's reaction.
Bassam Khawaja '11 was taking a test in his 10:50 class on February 13 when he was called from the room and told that the St. Paul Police Department (SPPD) wanted to search his Wallace basement dorm room. He left the test to return to his room where the police had already gathered.
"I got back to Wallace and there was a squad car outside and inside there were two uniformed officers and two [in plain clothes]," Khawaja said.
The officers had subpoenaed Macalester for Khawaja's room number and were waiting for a search warrant for the room itself when he got there. Khawaja said that the officers refused to tell him why they were there until the warrant arrived.
What they initially did not tell Khawaja is that he had been indicated as a person of interest in an investigation stemming from the first day of protests at the RNC, nearly five and a half months earlier.
According to the application for the warrant filed by the SPPD, the search was part of an effort to find a person who, along with two others, damaged a Minneapolis police car in a group that split off from the main group of protesters on September 1. The squad car, with its shattered glass and flattened tires, became one of the most well known images from the RNC protests.
Using photographs of protesters breaking the car's windows, police drew a general description of the suspects. One of the vandals was dressed in blue jeans with a torn right pant leg, a black shirt and a black head wrap, a description fitting many members of the Macalester chapter of Students for a Democratic Society during the protest.
Using other photos and his appearance in a protest related Facebook group, officers identified Khawaja as appearing similar to the vandal, mostly based on his clothing, the standard SDS outfit.
Bassam Khawaja '11 was taking a test in his 10:50 class on February 13 when he was called from the room and told that the St. Paul Police Department (SPPD) wanted to search his Wallace basement dorm room. He left the test to return to his room where the police had already gathered.
"I got back to Wallace and there was a squad car outside and inside there were two uniformed officers and two [in plain clothes]," Khawaja said.
The officers had subpoenaed Macalester for Khawaja's room number and were waiting for a search warrant for the room itself when he got there. Khawaja said that the officers refused to tell him why they were there until the warrant arrived.
What they initially did not tell Khawaja is that he had been indicated as a person of interest in an investigation stemming from the first day of protests at the RNC, nearly five and a half months earlier.
According to the application for the warrant filed by the SPPD, the search was part of an effort to find a person who, along with two others, damaged a Minneapolis police car in a group that split off from the main group of protesters on September 1. The squad car, with its shattered glass and flattened tires, became one of the most well known images from the RNC protests.
Using photographs of protesters breaking the car's windows, police drew a general description of the suspects. One of the vandals was dressed in blue jeans with a torn right pant leg, a black shirt and a black head wrap, a description fitting many members of the Macalester chapter of Students for a Democratic Society during the protest.
Using other photos and his appearance in a protest related Facebook group, officers identified Khawaja as appearing similar to the vandal, mostly based on his clothing, the standard SDS outfit.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
Brendan Rogers
posted 3/13/09 @ 7:46 PM CST
I'm sorry, but since when is wearing all black "the standard outfit" of Students for a Democratic Society at Macalester? I was a member of that organization, in its various incarnations, for 2 1/2 years and there are a lot of people involved it in who sport a variety of different fashions. (Continued…)
Matt
posted 3/14/09 @ 11:43 AM CST
Brendan,
Yes, there were other ways he could have phrased this sentence, but Peter Wright is not the guy who will intentionally color reporting to fit his personal views. (Continued…)
stefan
posted 3/15/09 @ 1:51 PM CST
ha the writer makes it sound like everyone in SDS was rolling with a black bloc - dude just sounds really confused. every article related to MAC and the RNC was equally confused (or stupid), so I guess thats just the trend
Hmm
posted 3/16/09 @ 11:25 AM CST
It seemed pretty clear to me that the SPPD told Peter Wright that the standard SDS outfit was "dressed in blue jeans with a torn right pant leg, a black shirt and a black head wrap. (Continued…)
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