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A group calling itself Coulee Region Concerned Citizens met with La Crosse Mayor John Medinger on Wednesday, accusing police and "Republican Party operatives" of violating their First Amendment rights and other acts.
The group asked U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., to investigate who paid for about 260 service members from Fort McCoy to attend the rally.
"In a democratic society, the police force is supposed to be an independent, nonpartisan force," said Guy Wolf of Stoddard, Wis., a member of the group. "Instead, they appeared to be acting on the behalf of the Republican Party."
"Citizens were physically pushed and shoved off sidewalks by police officers," Wolf said.
"They said we did not belong there," said Barbara Frank of La Crosse, who had gathered with other protesters on Copeland Avenue after the rally. They were waiting to protest when the president's bus drove by on the way to the airport.
"The way they videotaped us was extremely disconcerting," said Frank, a Sierra Club official. "The last time I was scrutinized like that was at Checkpoint Charlie in East Berlin. It was like we were enemies of the state."
"I know all these folks," Medinger said Wednesday. "They're good, upstanding people. They're not anarchists. They did a very American thing, protesting against their government."
The group wants to know whether it was the Secret Service or Bush campaign officials who told police how to handle protesters.
La Crosse County Republican Party Chairman Chris Muller said the complaints are "based on misunderstandings."
Muller said neither the local party or Bush-Cheney ‘04 officials were telling La Crosse police what to do. If anyone told the police what to do, it was the Secret Service, he said.
Muller said people were checked to make sure they were not wearing shirts with anti-Bush slogans under their clothing. "We didn't want to take the chance of people disrupting our rally," Muller said. "People wanted to throw a wrench into our rally."
Feingold issued a statement Wednesday saying he will check into the complaint about the soldiers.
"Currently our military has the difficult task of training for the ongoing military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. If the claim that Army reservists were used for a political reason is true, it would be troubling to think that valuable training time may have been spent at political rallies."
Medinger said he's unhappy the city attorney's office, the police department and the Bush campaign left him out of preparations for the rally at Copeland Park.
"Maybe I was kept out of the loop because I'm a Democrat," Medinger said.
"Who was calling the shots, the Republican Party or the Secret Service?" Medinger said. "If it was Bush-Cheney '04, that gives more credence to my belief that they should pay the bill for the city's expenses. I want to do the same thing when (Democrat) John Kerry comes."
Police Chief Ed Kondracki was out of town Wednesday attending a training session.
"They made a complaint, and we're investigating," said Assistant Police Chief Tom Jacobs. He declined further comment.
The request for an investigation was signed by attorney Maureen Freedland, a member of the La Crosse Police and Fire Commission; Democratic activist Karen Dahl of Viroqua, Wis.; retired businessman Hank Zumach of Stoddard, Wis.; and Wolf, who is involved in a number of peace, environmental and progressive causes.
Protesters' complaints
These are the allegations protesters made Wednesday about President Bush's campaign rally:
Despite arrangements made in advance, police denied protesters use of the Copeland Park shelter and electricity for a public address system.
Police "herded protesters far from the stadium and park, and off the public sidewalks."
Police told protesters they would be arrested for making noise, "citing a 55-year-old Supreme Court ruling on an irrelevant subject."
"Pro-Bush demonstrators were allowed to assemble and make noise in the same areas from which anti-Bush demonstrators were ejected."
Police misused police chaplains for crowd control, violating the "separation of church and state."
Police intimidated protesters by videotaping them "where there was no reasonable suspicion of criminal activity."
After the rally, police failed to protect anti-Bush protesters, who claim they were "shoved and spat at" by people leaving the Bush rally.
n Soldiers from Fort McCoy were bused to the rally and given tickets by the Republican Party, violating "the absolute prohibition against the military engaging in political activities."
Reid Magney can be reached at rmagney@lacrossetribune.com or (608) 791-8211.
