As chainsaws buzzed and huge yellow tractors pushed mature tree to the ground, some protesters wept or screamed, as if to give voice to the agony of the oaks. A young man named Huck attempted to lock-down on a bulldozer, only to be tackled and beaten by four officers. Madeline Gardner, a juvenile protester, was captured, handcuffed and dragged several times, sustaining a leg injury. Gardner was taken away in an ambulance an hour later. Because of the delay in care, says her family, she may now need a hip replacement. Gardner says she sustained the injury after being tackled by police. Police contend the injury occurred when Gardner, "slipped under a fence."

"I don't think people understand how brutal the police have been," says Huck.

The Star-Tribune, who protesters say is bought and paid for by the same corporate monster that insists on destroying the park, reported Huck's arrest as follows: "One man broke through police lines shortly after a front-end loader arrived, and he tried to attach himself to the machine with a bicycle lock. He was wrestled to the ground and subdued."

Huck maintains a much more draconian version of events. His story is corroborated by at least a dozen witnesses. "I was about to lock down," he says. "Three of them grabbed me by the feet and dropped me about four feet onto my face. They grabbed my by the throat, ripped my shirt open, and I went limp. I was thrown on my face and handcuffed with such excessive force I dislocated my shoulder. One officer had his knee on my spine, another pushed his shoe into the back of my neck. One of them begged his superior to let him pepper spray me. His superior said 'No, the cameras are here.' The whole time I said nothing while they continually antagonized me, calling me a 'tree-hugging, pot smoking hippy.'"

After spending the night in jail, Huck says he was forced to sign a statement that said "he would not do anything to impede the progress ofHwy.55" as a condition of release. Two days later he was back at the park watching as giant trucks tore up the land. "We held signs, circulated petitions, held tree sits. The machines were moving dirt, there wasn't much else we could do," he says. Huck took a lock box and locked-down on a hydraulic arm on the underside of an earth grater. He says he was verbally abused by police for two hours as they worked to release him. "The police said things like: 'If you don't unlock we're going to drop the hydraulic arm on your head...You're lucky you weren't in Vietnam. You should have seen what we did to those chinks...The problem with America is that people have too many rights. I've got sixteen rights here in my ammo belt...I'd shoot you in the head but you're not worth the bullet.'"

The twenty year old protester, who someday would like to study sustainable agriculture, says the police then cut the laces off his boots with a hunting knife, cuffed his ankles and wrists, "then they tossed me face first into the back of the police van. It smashed my head, pulled muscles in my back, and dislocated my shoulder. They let me see the nurse at the jail. She said my shoulder wasn't dislocated. She said I had a bone deformation. She gave me two Advils. I relocated my shoulder myself back in the cell. It was very painful."

"The hardest thing I've had to face so far is seeing a lot of our youth getting beat-up by the police," says Bear. "But at the same time, seeing that has given me more strength. I love the kids for what they're doing."

"Non-violence is working here," says coalition supporter and neighborhood resident Debra Storbakken. "They're arresting all these nice people. It reveals who the real criminals are, and people are taking notice." Storbakken says she received a citation in the mail two days after honking her car horn in support of the protesters.

Leo Ronneng says that while he and the Mendota Dakota continue to be committed to non-violence, but, he says "There are very different people here with very diverse attitudes. We're trying to keep this a non-violent coalition, but on a daily basis there are people who come to me who think otherwise. When it gets down to destroying our sacred sites the Mendota may step back and allow these other voices and other tactics take over. We'll never give up. That land will always be sacred to us. Just because the road is there doesn't mean the struggle is done."

WHY?

By MnDot's own estimation the only benefit of the reroute of Highway 55 will be a time savings of 2.5 minutes on a trip from downtown to the Mall of America. MnDot claims to need the additional corridor if it is to build light rail, a claim coalition members say is bunk and designed to divide the movement. Many of those opposed to the reroute are for light rail. Coalition members say MnDot knows full well that it can rebuild Highway 55 in its existing corridor for much less than the half a billion dollars the state is spending on the reroute. During the past year MnDot has spent more than $450,000 on Minneapolis Police and state patrol officers' time to arrest opponents. Given all the opposition and all the costs why is MnDot intent on destroying parklands, historic and sacred sites? Susu Jeffrey says it's simple, "Follow the money. This is a pork barrel project for the benefit of the wealthy suburbanites who fled the city twenty years ago yet still want easy access to jobs and sporting events downtown. This project is going forward because highway construction companies have powerful lobbies and stand to make a boat load of money."

ONE YEAR LATER

The Highway 55 coalition celebrated the Free State's one year anniversary with a pow-wow, August 8th, and a party near the oaks two days later. Around a thousand people joined the festivities to dance, visit, listen to live music, eat, and reflect on the struggle. There are plans to hold a 6000 person march from North Minneapolis to the Free State on Sept. 25th.

"We've got a lot more hope now than we had at the beginning. We've stalled them for a year. We have more strength every day. I think we're going to win it. It's going to be a long struggle but we're going to win it," says Bear. "The oaks and Coldwater Springs are still here."

Both celebrations were peaceful but for an incident that occurred at the Free State while most of its inhabitants were across the street at the pow-wow. A white male and his wife drove into the camp and parked near the sacred trees. He got out of the car and began shooting indiscriminate photos while ranting:

"Dope smoking faggots. I'm an American, I can do whatever the hell I want. You want to try and stop me? This is where the road will be." When are porter took his picture, the man attacked, kicking the him in the leg. "Eric," his wife screamed, "get in the car." He gave the reporter the finger and drove off shouting: "Commie faggots, I'm an American, I can build a road where ever I want to." Assault charges are pending. Those who have been in the camp for some time say incidents like this happen frequently. Some suspect the police of trying to provoke a fight as a pretext to raid the camp.

Huck sighs deeply as he watches Eric retreat from the Free State. "You know," he says, "sometimes it's so hard to be non-violent."