Three people accused of picking up a large road sign and throwing it off a bridge during the Republican National Convention were charged Friday. The Ramsey County Attorney's Office charged Bradley Crowder of Austin, TX, Karen Meissner of Menomonee Falls, WI and Christina Vana of West Bend, WI. All three are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree assault.
According to a criminal complaint, on September 1, convention protesters picked up sandbags used to hold a large street sign in place and used them to try to stop buses carrying delegates to the Xcel Energy Center.
Crowder, Meissner and Vana are accused of lifting the metal sign, no longer weighed down by sandbags, and throwing it off the Marion Street bridge over Interstate 94 and the 5th Street exit ramp.
The sign landed three feet from an officer who was trying to remove a sandbag thrown by a protesters from the middle of the road.
Meissner, 23, and Vana, 18, are not in custody.
Crowder, 23, is being held in the Sherburne County Jail awaiting sentencing on a federal charge. On January 8, Crowder pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting possession of an unregistered firearm.
Prosecutors allege Crowder and co-defendant, David McKay, were part of an Austin-based protest group that planned to use incendiary devices to destroy property or injure police during the convention.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
New charges filed in RNC assault |