Activists want New Hope officer fired for asking light rail rider's immigration status

Community activists are demanding that a New Hope police officer be fired after he asked a light-rail passenger from Mexico his immigration status during a routine fare check. A cellphone video of the encounter went viral last month.

Andy Lamers was working as a part-time officer for the Metro Transit Police Department on May 14, when he asked a 23-year-old passenger on the Blue Line if he was in the country legally. Another passenger caught the exchange on video and posted it on Facebook, generating more than a million page views.

Since then, Lamers voluntarily resigned his position at Metro Transit, which said its officers are not trained to act as federal immigration authorities. The transit agency launched an investigation into the matter.

The passenger, Ariel Vences-Lopez, was charged with suspicion of fare evasion, obstructing the legal process and providing a false name. He remains in Sherburne County jail. He was turned over to federal immigration authorities and ordered deported, although his attorney says that action is on hold.

Lamers still works full-time for the New Hope Police Department as a K-9 officer. But the dozen or so community activists who attended Monday's New Hope City Council meeting want officials to fire him, as well as several people who attended Wednesday's meeting of the Met Council, which oversees Metro Transit.

Michelle Gross, founder of Communities United Against Police Brutality, said Lamers "is still the same person engaged in racial and ethnic profiling" whether he's working for New Hope or Metro Transit.

Two New Hope residents told the council that they, too, were living in the country illegally and that Lamers' behavior traumatizes people like them. "This is huge if someone here can attack us and hurt us and our communities," said one woman, who gave only her first name.

At Monday's meeting, New Hope Mayor Kathi Hemken read a statement that said the city has requested the video and reports related to the incident from Metro Transit to better understand what happened. Council members did not engage with the speakers Monday, saying they preferred to listen to their concerns instead.

"Please understand that although the council is not able to respond directly to your comments tonight [it] does not mean that we are not listening," Hemken said.

Lamers has declined to comment through his union representative, Sean Gormley, executive director of the Law Enforcement Labor Services. Gormley said police departments throughout the state have different rules about asking people about their immigration status.

Danielle Robinson Briand, the attorney representing Vences-Lopez, said a court recently reopened his removal proceeding, which means he won't be deported as long as the case is pending. She is also preparing for a bond hearing.

Vences-Lopez entered the United States illegally in 2013 and worked for a roofing company. He said he was robbed of $2,000 at knife point in early May, so he couldn't afford the light-rail fare. He didn't report the crime to police until recently "because he was very afraid," his lawyer said.

Robinson Briand said "most people if they don't pay their fares are kicked off the train or cited." In contrast, officers used a Taser on Vences-Lopez three times.

"We cannot accept this kind of behavior from police officers," Robinson Briand said at the New Hope meeting.

She said that, as a victim of a crime, Vences-Lopez might qualify for a "U visa," a category reserved for crime victims who cooperate with law enforcement. But, she conceded, it is a very slow legal process.

During Wednesday's Met Council meeting, Chairman Adam Duininck said he planned to meet with representatives from the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition next week.

Janet Moore • 612-673-7752 @MooreStrib