Police asking RNC assault victim to come forward

The St. Paul Police and Ramsey County Sheriff's Office are asking the public for help in identifying a man who was apparently assaulted on the first day of the Republican National Convention.

Police believe the man was trying to stop a protester from smashing a window in downtown St. Paul when a group of rioters assaulted him. A picture found on the Internet shows a protester grabbing the man from behind while another person kicks him in the side. He apparently had been carrying a sign that read: "Let our soldiers win."

Police Chief John Harrington said investigators would like to pursue the case, but the man has not contacted police.

"I don't know that the young man was injured badly enough that he felt the need to make a police report, but whether he believes he was assaulted, or whether he understands it was a criminal assault, we understand it is," Harrington said. "And we would like to encourage him to come forward. We'd like to encourage anyone else who was assaulted or who was mistreated during the RNC, any other victims, to come forward so we can get their information."

Police and sheriff's deputies have formed an RNC investigative unit. They're also looking for motorists whose cars were damaged by rioters later that afternoon on Shepard Road.

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