After holding Tyler Church’s backpack for almost 48 hours, UMPD returned his belongings around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Church was covering the Morrill Hall occupation when officers entered the building through the basement tunnels with their weapons drawn. Officers briefly detained Church and confiscated his backpack, which contained his laptop, schoolwork and reporting notes. They held onto his belongings for two days, changing their classification multiple times.
Church and the two other Daily reporters present were wearing vests with “PRESS” printed on the front and back in large, bold letters.
A statement from the University Department of Public Safety on their website read “In chaotic circumstances with many unknowns such as those experienced by officers in Morrill Hall on Monday, officers must sometimes temporarily detain those they encounter to ensure everyone’s safety before they are able to fully identify those involved.”
After being released from handcuffs, Church, two other Daily reporters and a reporter from the Minnesota Star Tribune were told to wait in the basement of Morrill Hall by police for around three hours before eventually being released through the GopherWay tunnels.
Officers on the scene told Church to go to the UMPD public safety office when it opened Tuesday morning, but it was closed. Church was unable to get in contact with anyone from the department about his belongings until after noon on Tuesday.
Officer Josh Betts told Church that his belongings were being held in “safe keeping” until UMPD came out of lockdown. No timetable was given for when this lockdown would end. Church was told his belongings were not considered evidence on Tuesday.
Early Wednesday morning, however, Betts emailed Church telling him his backpack and its contents were being moved into evidence and he would not get them back until after the arrested protesters went to trial. Hours later, Betts contacted Church again saying his belongings were no longer in evidence and he could retrieve them.
After much back-and-forth and reclassification and declassification, all of Church’s belongings have been returned to him, and he can continue his school and journalistic work.
Raven
Oct 25, 2024 at 1:38 pm
I’m sorry to be a party pooper Dennis- but I have a feeling that UMPD does not in fact care about ensuring the journalists’ ability to freely (detained), safely (did you see the handcuff marks Church had on his wrists??), carry out their responsibilities (reporting notes and laptop were confiscated so he couldn’t write the story till 3 days later). I wish it weren’t so, but people in positions of power tend to say whatever they need to in order to look good, not the truth.
Dennis Hejhal
Oct 24, 2024 at 12:41 pm
Glad MnDaily reporter Tyler Church got his stuff back.
In the midst of a chaotic, impassioned, and contentious situation, not just here at our university, but also ‘ongoingly’ on a national scale, small bits of _clarity_ are often welcome — if only for confirming where common ground exists. I found UMPD’s statement on its website about the Tyler’s matter well worth reading, especially its last paragraph. Take a look. [“The Department of Public Safety would like to reinforce that it greatly respects the role of the press and the importance of a free press in keeping the University and greater community safe. We are committed to ensuring journalists are able to safely and freely carry out their responsibilities of being the eyes and ears of the public and we will continue to keep that commitment at the forefront of our work.”] This statement by UMPD will undoubtedly be appreciated by many here.