[Onthebarricades] Republican National Convention protests, August-September 2008

[global resistance roundup]

* Despite repression, protesters "happy"
* Final peace march marked by smoke bombs, road blocks, arrests
* Police violence "disproportionate" - Amnesty
* Unmarked vans abduct protesters
* Mass arrests at RNC
* Arrests target Code Pink, protest concert
* Jailed protesters held for days
* Protesters clash with police at RNC
* Protesters charged as terrorists
* 2000 rally against war on the poor
* Protesters hit diner
* 10,000 on protest march
* Delegates find protests "unsettling"
* Protests at opening "turn violent"
* Father of fallen marine leads peace march
* Street medics tell of police violence
* Matthew DePalma news clippings
* Massive raids on suspected protesters ahead of RNC
* Thousands protest Amy Goodman arrest
* Banners over Madison support protesters
* Protesters disrupt McCain speech


http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=524075

Despite heavy police presence, protesters happy with RNC

MINNEAPOLIS -- For two years, demonstrators had been looking toward the 
first four days in September -- when they'd take to the streets of St. 
Paul to speak out against the war in Iraq, the Bush administration and 
the Republican agenda.
Now, tens of thousands of marchers later, organizers say they plan to 
use the momentum they gained from the Republican National Convention to 
fuel the anti-war movement and other causes. And, they say they got 
their messages across, despite a heavy police presence, destructive acts 
by anarchists and more than 800 arrests.
"We had a clear message that got out every day, especially on the first 
and last day of the convention, that people in this country are still 
against the war," said Jess Sundin, a member of the Anti-War Committee.
She pointed to Thursday night, when hundreds of people stayed on the 
streets of St. Paul, even after police told them to leave. Nearly 400 
people were arrested, including Sundin. "I think it made a very strong 
statement," she said.
The Republican National Convention was held at the Xcel Energy Center in 
St. Paul Sept. 1-4. Thursday's march, on the convention's last night, 
was designed to take some of the spotlight off Sen. John McCain's speech 
as he accepted the party's nomination for president.
"Our delegates and our guests were very focused on the speakers and 
Senator McCain and Governor (Sarah) Palin, and I think that our cheers 
definitely overshadowed anything else that was going on," said Joanna 
Burgos, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Convention.
But Anh Pham, an organizer for the Anti-War Committee, said she was 
pleased to see news coverage flip between what was happening inside and 
outside the convention hall.
"We think we were able to get our name out to a lot of people that might 
not have heard about us before," Pham said. "Our hope is to do what we 
can to try to catch the momentum from the last few days."
Members of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War say they 
had 30,000 protesters at their peaceful march last Monday. Police gave a 
crowd estimate of 10,000. About 2,000 people attended Thursday's rally, 
and about 1,000 people marched, Sundin said.
Pham said the four-day convention gave different groups a chance to 
organize on a national stage, rather than simply ride a bus to 
Washington, D.C., for a protest. It also gave different organizations in 
the Twin Cities a chance to network and build relationships.
"I was in jail with people who were at their first protest that day, and 
they were so proud of what they had done," Sundin said. "We talked with 
all of them about finding a way to get involved and stay involved."
Still, Hamline University professor David Schultz, who teaches classes 
dealing with politics, said the message of the peaceful protesters was 
eclipsed by the chaos caused by anarchists -- who he said were 
successful in their mission.
"For them, the whole purpose of their demonstrations or their actions 
was in fact to get the police to respond," Schultz said. For one, a 
response by police proves their point of how oppressive the government 
is, and, he said, "the belief is that the violence becomes the spark 
that then leads to revolution."
"For the anarchists, they were incredibly successful. They made their 
point. They got arrested. They forced the police to respond, to use 
force," he said.
He said in order for the peaceful protesters to be successful, they now 
need to translate their democracy on the street to democracy at the polls.
For now, the Anti-War Committee is now looking ahead to a potluck to 
talk about the convention, as well as new-member meetings and more 
demonstrations. They say there is a new energy, fueled by the events of 
this week.
"For me, this is one step forward, and we will continue," Pham said.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)




http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/05/america/NA-POL-US-Convention-Protests.php

Arrests mark last anti-war march of convention

The Associated Press
Published: September 5, 2008
ST. PAUL, Minnesota: Nearly 400 people were arrested in the final 
anti-war march during the Republican National Convention. At least 19 
journalists, including two reporters from The Associated Press, were 
among those held by police.
More than 800 arrests were reported during a week of sometimes peaceful, 
sometimes violent dissent.
Anti-war protesters rallied Thursday at the state Capitol in St. Paul, 
Minnesota, and then planned to march to Xcel Energy Center, where Sen. 
John McCain was due to accept the Republican presidential nomination. 
But their permit had expired, and police — in riot gear and using 
horses, snow plows and dump trucks — blocked their way.
For hours, police let the protesters amble from one blocked intersection 
to another. But then the arrests began in earnest. At least 19 
journalists, including two reporters from The Associated Press, were 
among those held by police.
Earlier in the march, the event was relaxed and even festive.
Younger people did cartwheels. Tourists came by to check out the 
spectacle. The chants, which were political at the outset, turned silly 
a couple hours in.
"You're sexy, you're cute, take off the riot suit," protesters serenaded 
those blocking their path.
When police blocked the path to Xcel, a cat-and-mouse game ensued as 
protesters moved around the Capitol area, splintered, and then organized 
into a marching force again. The crowd varied from a high of about 1,000 
down to a hundred and back to around 500.
About three hours into the standoff, about 300 protesters sat down on a 
major thoroughfare and police closed the four-lane boulevard. Officers 
then set off smoke bombs and fired seven percussion grenades, causing 
protesters to scatter.
Some of the scattering protesters entered a residential area north of 
the Capitol. Later, at least three smoke bombs were discharged in the 
area of apartments and houses.
The event ended with about 200 protesters, along with AP reporters Amy 
Forliti and Jon Krawczynski and other members of the media, trapped on a 
bridge. Officers ordered them to sit on the pavement on a bridge over 
Interstate 94 highway and to keep their hands over their heads as they 
were led away two at a time.
The arrests came three days after AP photographer Matt Rourke, also on 
assignment covering the protests, was arrested. He was released without 
being charged Monday after being held for several hours. Forliti and 
Krawczynski were issued citations for unlawful assembly and released.
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said the St. Paul police department 
and its police chief decided that members of the media would be issued 
citations and released.
Fletcher said he expected most of the charges would be for unlawful 
assembly.
"Whoever got arrested was whoever didn't disperse and was still on the 
bridge," Fletcher said. "The tactic of blocking people on the bridge 
could very well have prevented a lot of activity later tonight. Clearly 
there were a number of people with no intention of being law-abiding 
tonight."
___
Associated Press writers Amy Forliti and Jon Krawczynski contributed to 
this report.





http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/05/america/NA-P0L-US-Convention-Protests.php

Protesters arrested near Republican convention

The Associated Press
Published: September 5, 2008

ST. PAUL, Minnesota: Police arrested protesters Thursday night after a 
lengthy series of marches and sit-ins timed to coincide with Sen. John 
McCain's acceptance of the Republican Party's nomination for president.
The arrests came after protesters staged their march near the state 
Capitol even though their permit had expired.
Among the dozens caught up in the police sweep were two Associated Press 
reporters on assignment to cover the event. They were issued a citation 
and detained, along with more than a dozen other members of the media, 
but were expected to be let go shortly.
Marchers tried to cross two different bridges leading from the Capitol 
to the Xcel Energy Center, where McCain accepted his party's nomination 
for president. But they were stopped by lines of police in gas masks and 
riot gear who blocked the bridges after the marching permit expired.
A cat-and-mouse game followed as protesters moved around the Capitol 
area, splintered, and then organized into a marching force again. The 
size of the crowd varied from a high of about 1,000 down to a hundred 
and back to around 500.

About three hours into the standoff, about 300 protesters sat down on a 
major thoroughfare and police closed the four-lane boulevard. Officers 
then set off smoke bombs and fired seven percussion grenades, causing 
protesters to scatter.
Police surrounded about 200 people, including AP reporters Amy Forliti 
and Jon Krawczynski and reporters from other news outlets. Officers 
ordered them to sit on the pavement on a bridge and to keep their hands 
over their heads as they were led away two at a time.
The arrests came three days after AP photographer Matt Rourke, also on 
assignment covering the protests, was arrested. He was released without 
being charged Monday after being held for several hours.
A spokesman at an information center set up during the convention said 
12 people had been arrested so far but that number would increase as 
people were processed.
Some of the scattering protesters entered a residential area north of 
the Capitol. Later, at least three smoke bombs were discharged in the 
area of apartments and houses.
About two hours into the standoff, police began arresting a handful of 
people even as the crowd dwindled from around 1,000 to around a hundred.
"The important thing is even though we didn't have a permit to march, 
people have decided they want to keep protesting despite all these riot 
police," said Meredith Aby, a member of the Anti-War Committee.
Even as protesters were being arrested, the mood was much more relaxed 
than earlier in the week. It even turned festive at times.
Younger people did cartwheels. Tourists came by to check out the 
spectacle. The chants, which were political at the outset, turned silly 
a couple hours in.
"You're sexy, you're cute, take off the riot suit," protesters serenaded 
those blocking their path.
Brandon Thorson didn't find much to joke about. The 23-year-old factory 
worker from Minneapolis said he just wanted to go home — but he tried to 
do it through police lines.
"One officer used his club to push me away and another officer hit me in 
the back with his club," Thorson said. "A third officer came in and 
sprayed me right in the face."
Minutes after the skirmish, Thorson's right eye was nearly swollen shut 
from the pepper spray. He was not arrested.
More than 400 people have been arrested in the past week, most on 
Monday, when violence broke out at the end of another anti-war march.
___
Associated Press writers Amy Forliti and Jon Krawczynski contributed to 
this report.





http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/05/rnc.protests/#cnnSTCText

Protesters, police clash outside convention
• Story Highlights
• NEW: Arrests at bridge near meeting hall bring total for week to 818
• NEW: Most of 396 arrested are cited and released, police say
• NEW: No serious injuries reported from confrontations
Police use tear gas to disperse demonstrators

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) -- Police faced off with crowds of protesters 
outside the Republican National Convention, arresting 396 people after 
using tear gas and percussion grenades to turn them back.
As a line of police clad in riot gear and walking with bicycles 
approached a woman who refused to get out of their way, several sprayed 
her with a chemical agent.
She covered her eyes with one hand and gave the two-finger peace sign 
with the other.
A man standing nearby yelled, "I love you! Why are you doing this?" as 
the woman was shoved to the pavement. Watch police spray and shove the 
woman »
Police who were shown video of the encounter declined to comment.
Thursday's arrests brought the total for the week to 818, authorities said.
"Most of them were cited and released," police Lt. Tracey Martin said 
Friday morning. Most of the citations were for the misdemeanor charge of 
unlawful assembly, she added.
Martin said she didn't know how many protesters were jailed. A deputy at 
the Ramsey County Jail said "not many," but couldn't provide a number.
There were no reports of serious injuries, police said.
Protesters who had gathered near the state capitol, about a mile from 
the site of the convention, were repeatedly cut off as they tried to 
march to the convention center.
Don't Miss
• Police deny using excessive force
• Police, protesters clash in St. Paul
• Dozens arrested at convention
• iReport.com: RNC: Cop attacked
Police used tear gas when dozens of marchers -- most in their 20s, some 
chanting "F**k the police! F**k the police! F**k 'em!" -- tried to cross 
a bridge leading to the Xcel Center convention site after being warned 
not to. Watch the protesters march »
Minnesota State Public Safety Commissioner Michael Campion said the 
arrests were made at an interstate overpass that separated the marchers 
from the Xcel Center, where Sen. John McCain was preparing to address 
the GOP faithful.
He said the objective was to contain the protesters and keep them from 
reaching the convention hall.
Campion said the first night and the last night of the convention were 
expected to be big trouble, and they were.
Each time the protesters attempted to cross the interstate highway 
separating them from the convention center, police tried to stop them.
Police on horses, motorcycles and bicycles followed marchers on a 
street-to-street chase that led through a shopping mall parking lot.
A number of people wound up on the ground with their hands behind their 
heads. iReport.com: Cop attacked during protest
On Wednesday, the RNC Welcoming Committee, a self-described 
anarchist/anti-authoritarian organizing body that has been behind many 
of the protests, said authorities in the Twin Cities had created "a 
climate of intense police intimidation."
Holli Drinkwine, spokeswoman for the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department, 
denied Thursday that police used excessive force.

"The police showed great restraint in what they were doing," she said. 
"They were dealing with 300 criminals on the street while trying to 
protect the 10,000 peaceful protesters that were in St. Paul."
The American Civil Liberties Union said it was providing limited 
representation to many of those arrested.






http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2008-09/2008-09-05-voa8.cfm?CFID=84450071&CFTOKEN=19976121

Several Protesters Arrested in Standoff With Police in St Paul
By VOA News
05 September 2008


Protesters block an intersection during a rally at the Republican 
National Convention in St. Paul, 04 Sep 2008
Police in St. Paul, Minnesota have arrested several protesters who 
blocked a street near the Republican National Convention, refusing an 
order to disperse.

At least 1,000 protesters rallied in the city Thursday, the final day of 
the convention.

A VOA reporter on the scene saw about six people being arrested. 
Demonstrators were protesting the war in Iraq and other issues. The 
reporter says police told the crowed to disperse, and protesters refused.

Several hundred protesters have been arrested during the four day 
convention.






http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20080905001&lang=e

Use of Force Against RNC Protesters “Disproportionate,” Charges Amnesty 
International
[London]--Amnesty International is concerned by allegations of excessive 
use of force and mass arrests by police at demonstrations in St. Paul, 
Minnesota during the Republican National Convention (RNC) from September 
1-4, 2008. The human rights organization is calling on the city and 
county authorities to ensure that all allegations of ill-treatment and 
other abuses are impartially investigated, with a review of police 
tactics and weapons in the policing of demonstrations.
The organization’s concerns arise from media reports, video and 
photographic images which appear to show police officers deploying 
unnecessary and disproportionate use of non-lethal weapons on 
non-violent protestors marching through the streets or congregating 
outside the arena where the Convention was being held.
Amnesty International urges that an inquiry be carried out promptly, 
that its findings and recommendations be made public in a timely manner. 
If the force used is found to have been excessive and to have 
contravened the principles of necessity and proportionality, then those 
involved should be disciplined, measures put in place and training given 
to ensure future policing operations conform to international standards.
Police are reported to have fired rubber bullets and used batons, pepper 
spray, tear gas canisters and concussion grenades on peaceful 
demonstrators and journalists. Amnesty International has also received 
unconfirmed reports that some of those arrested during the 
demonstrations may have been ill-treated while held at Ramsey county jail.
Amnesty International is also concerned at reports that several 
journalists who were covering the RNC were arbitrarily arrested while 
filming and reporting on the demonstrations. They include host of 
independent news program Democracy Now!, Amy Goodman, and two of the 
program’s producers, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, who were 
both allegedly subjected to violence during their arrest. A photographer 
for the Associated Press (AP) and other journalists were also arrested 
while covering the demonstrations.
Kouddous described his arrest to media, “…two or three police officers 
tackled me. They threw me violently against a wall. Then they threw me 
to the ground. I was kicked in the chest several times. A police officer 
ground his knee into my back…I was also, the entire time, telling them, 
‘I’m media. I’m press….,’ but…that didn’t seem to matter at all.”
Amnesty International recognizes the challenges involved in policing 
large scale demonstrations and that some protestors may have been 
involved in acts of violence or obstruction. However, some of the police 
actions appear to have breached United Nations (U.N.) standards on the 
use of force by law enforcement officials. These stipulate, among other 
things, that force should be used only as a last resort, in proportion 
to the threat posed, and should be designed to minimize damage or 
injury. Some of the treatment also appears to have contravened U.S. laws 
and guidelines on the use of force. The U.N. standards also stress that 
everyone is allowed to participate in lawful and peaceful assemblies, in 
accordance with the principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights.
For more information, please contact the AIUSA media office at 
202-544-0200 x302 or visit our website at www.amnestyusa.org.






http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-73510

RNC: Cop Attacked

Posted by: theuptake // 4 months ago // viewed 101,584 times
St. Paul, Minnesota // embed media
Last updated: 4 months ago
More at http://www.theuptake.org. The UpTake captured video of a St. 
Paul police officer dragging a
"black bloc" protester away from a bus, only to get tackled from
behind. The officer sprayed a chemical agent all around him but
ultimately lost the suspect and called for backup. Video by Conduit.






http://www.newscloud.com/read/Cops_use_grenades_tear_gas_on_protesters?skipSplash

• Cops use grenades, tear gas on protesters
• Via Feeds.feedburner at 12:55 pm Sep 9, 2008
• At least one demonstrator tasered as he lay on the ground.






http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Activist_claims_unmarked_police_vans_abducting_0905.html

Activist claims unmarked police vans abducted protesters
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Published: Friday September 5, 2008


A half-dozen representatives of the so-called Republican National 
Convention Welcoming Committee met with the media in a St. Paul, MN 
press conference on Thursday to condemn the widescale police raids and 
arrests that have targeted protesters in that city this week.

The strongest accusations were made by RNC Welcoming Committee 
co-founder William Gillis, who has been among those planning the 
protests for the last two years.

"Police kicked down doors with guns drawn on families with their 
children at dinnertime," Gillis charged. "Reporters and the media at 
large have been repeatedly targeted for repression. Activists have been 
abducted off the street in unmarked vans and political prisoners held 
without access to medical attention."

The allegation about police use of unmarked vans was apparently first 
made on August 31 by RAW STORY contributor Lindsay Beyerstein, who was 
reporting on the convention for FireDogLake. She wrote that "ColdSnap is 
reporting 9 arrests downtown near the Excel center" and then added in an 
update, "One of the 9 protesters arrested was a nun, seen being loaded 
into an unmarked blue van. The 9 were apparently trying to climb a fence 
near a church." All nine were released later that day.

Other representatives of the protesters used the press conference to 
affirm that they were not terrorists. Betsy Raash-Gilman, a twenty-year 
veteran (doc) of non-violent activism, stated, "There are no terrorists 
up here. There are no terrorists in the Ramsey County jail. There are 
terrorists in the Xcel Center. There are terrorists in the White House."






http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/sep2008/rnc-s04.shtml

Mass arrests of protesters at Republican National Convention
By Jerry White
4 September 2008
Authorities have carried out a massive mobilization of federal, state 
and local police and military forces to cordon off the Republican 
National Convention from protesters opposed to the party’s program of 
militarism and social reaction.
Over the last few days, nearly 300 people have been arrested near and 
around the Xcel Energy Center and downtown St. Paul, Minnesota has been 
transformed into a virtual armed camp to intimidate demonstrators and 
silence dissent.
The police reported Wednesday that they had arrested 11 more people 
Tuesday, including three at an anti-poverty demonstration, but would not 
give any more details. As the march of an estimated 3,000 people ended 
near the convention center police fired tear gas and lobbed concussion 
or “flash-bang” grenades to disperse protesters, who police claimed were 
trying to get past security fences.

A total of 295 people have been arrested, including 137 charged with 
felonies such as “conspiracy to commit riot.” Many continued to be 
detained. The bulk of those arrested were seized during an antiwar march 
of 10,000 people on the Monday, the opening day of the convention. 
Demonstrators were forced to run the gauntlet of hundreds of 
riot-equipped and black-uniformed police, FBI agents and 150 National 
Guard troops carrying shields.
The police fired tear gas, beanbags and used tasers to arrest hundreds 
of protesters. Also targeted were independent journalists and 
photographers and groups that monitor police abuse against protesters. 
Among those seized by the police were an Associated Press photographer, 
a group of University of Kentucky student journalists and Amy Goodman, 
the host of the liberal radio show “Democracy Now!” Goodman was arrested 
for “interfering with peace officers” when she questioned police about 
the arrest and bloodying of her show’s two producers.
WSWS reporter Ron Jorgenson described the scene:
“A helicopter hovered over downtown St. Paul all day long. There were 
police and sheriff’s deputies from St. Paul, Minneapolis and other 
cities in Minnesota, as well as across the nation, including a large 
number from Arlington, Texas that I saw. The largest number were riot 
police with no identification who wore dark blue or black. They were 
armed with clubs and other weapons. There were also armored black 
trucks, filled with an assortment darting through the streets and police 
on bicycles and horseback.
“I honestly believed as I watched groups of riot police line up and rows 
of mounted police moved into position that there was a good chance that 
I might get caught up if I didn’t move. It appeared there were embedded 
press. I got the impression that established media could move in and out 
of police lines. I did that once and was sharply warned by a cop. Had I 
chosen the wrong moment to do that while taking a picture, I could have 
been thrown to the ground.”
Authorities later justified this disproportionate show of force and the 
mass arrests that followed by citing incidents of rock throwing and 
window-breaking by a small group—numbering no more than 150—of 
self-described “anarchists.” It is very likely this group included 
police agents and provocateurs whose job was to encourage violence in 
order to discredit political opposition and create conditions for a 
police repression.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, about a year ago the Ramsey 
County Sheriff’s Office began “regular surveillance” of one group, 
called the Republican National Convention Welcoming Committee, which 
included the use of “three people who posed as members—two informants 
and an undercover investigator. The informants monitored e-mails and 
conversations.”

The police produced affidavits from these informers accusing protesters 
of the most outlandish plans, including “kidnapping” delegates and 
throwing Molotov cocktails at the police. Geneva Finn of the National 
Lawyers Guild, which represents many of those arrested, said it was 
impossible to judge the veracity of the so-called evidence in the 
affidavit because “it’s all based on the testimony of people who are not 
identified, and that’s a real problem.”
Based on these claims, on the eve of the convention the police carried 
out raids at several protest headquarters—including I-Witness Video, a 
New York-based group that monitors police conduct during 
protests—detaining activists and seizing computers, political literature 
and other property. The raids, which produced no serious evidence to 
substantiate police claims of alleged violent plans, were aimed at 
preempting the planned demonstrations by intimidating and creating the 
pseudo-legal justification for mass arrests for “conspiracy to commit riot.”
Once again, as it did during the massive repression at the Democratic 
National Convention in Denver, the national news media has maintained a 
virtual silence about the police-state measures being employed against 
political opposition.
In many cases, the local media has enthusiastically praised the police 
crackdown. The Minneapolis Star Tribune published a September 2 
editorial, entitled, “An appropriate show of police force.”
The editorial noted that many citizens were dismayed by the presence of 
police in riot gear in downtown streets, adding that one onlooker the 
editorial writer passed by was heard saying, “This can’t be happening in 
Minnesota.”
“Thankfully, it was,” the editorial flatly stated, denouncing “rogue 
protesters who traveled to the Twin Cities for no other reason than to 
damage property, abuse the police and disrupt the business of the 
Republican National Convention.”
Thanks to the “extensive planning” of St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, 
Police Chief John Harrington, Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher and 
other law enforcement officials, the editorial concluded, “public safety 
have won out, so far, over anarchism in the streets.”
Police chief John Harrington commended the media for recognizing the 
“heroic efforts” of his officers. “I like the term that you in fact had 
coined, that what you saw today in the face of numbers and agitation and 
mass criminals, was a restrained use of force. And that I think is a 
very apt description of what the officers today did.”
Reacting to the police actions, Gina Berglund, an attorney and legal 
observer for the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, said, 
“We think it’s unconscionable. We think it’s out of control. The 
response by the police was completely out of proportion with what they 
were faced with.”
Both the Democratic and Republican conventions—designated as “National 
Security Events” under the jurisdiction of the Homeland Security 
Department—have been used to test out methods of widespread political 
repression. This must be taken as a somber warning of the way mass 
opposition to war, social inequality and attacks on democratic rights 
will be treated by the state, whoever wins the election in November.






http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=523530

4 Code Pink convention protesters arrested


ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Even as the most militant protesters vow to press on, 
police efforts at disrupting anarchist plans to crash the Republican 
National Convention appear to be largely successful.
Police have arrested nearly 300 people since Saturday in pre-emptive 
raids and at protests marred by violence. Most of the arrests, and the 
violence, happened Monday.
Today's only arrests so far came when four women from the peace group 
CODEPINK crawled under a fence a couple of blocks from the Xcel Energy 
Center.
Ramsey County Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin says those arrested are being 
processed as quickly as possible.
Total arrests have reached 294, and of those 16 felonies and 47 gross 
misdemeanors have been charged. All the others arrested were either 
cited for misdemeanors and released, let go pending further 
investigation, or released outright.
(Copyright 2008 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)






http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/04/america/NA-POL-US-Convention-Protests.php

Antiwar march planned for Republican convention

The Associated Press
Published: September 4, 2008


ST. PAUL, Minnesota: As John McCain accepts his party's presidential 
nomination Thursday night, protesters calling for an end to the Iraq war 
plan to march outside the Xcel Energy Center.
The Anti-War Committee, which is organizing Thursday's march, urged 
others to join in and denounced the increased presence of police in riot 
gear and acts of "intimidation" in the streets of St. Paul.
Tracy Molm, a member of Students for a Democratic Society at the 
University of Minnesota, urged students to get involved.
"Students in this country are angry. We're angry because it's us that 
are asked to fight and die in this immoral and unjust war," Molm said 
Wednesday. "Bring that anger to the streets, because that is how social 
change in this country happens."
Police arrested 102 protesters in downtown Minneapolis early Thursday 
following a concert by the political rock group Rage Against the 
Machine, according to the Joint Information Center. Of those arrests, 
100 were for misdemeanors and two were for gross misdemeanors.
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Police earlier had expressed concern about the possibility of trouble 
after the concert. A couple hundred people lingered outside the Target 
Center after the concert. Police eventually ordered them to leave. A 
smaller group chanting "Whose streets? Our streets" then headed toward 
the main part of downtown.
A downtown Minneapolis intersection was blocked off as police processed 
those arrested. Young people sat on a sidewalk, their backs against a 
building, or stood quietly in line, their hands in plastic cuffs behind 
their backs.
Including the Minneapolis protest, police have arrested 422 people since 
Saturday in pre-emptive raids and at protests in downtown St. Paul that 
were marred by violence. St. Paul was quieter on the convention's third 
day, when four women from the peace group CodePink were arrested after 
crawling under a fence a couple blocks from Xcel. They were released.
___
Associated Press writer Jeff Baenen contributed to this report.





http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=523876

More than 100 arrested after protest group concert
MINNEAPOLIS -- Police have arrested more than 100 protesters in downtown 
Minneapolis following a concert by the political rock group Rage Against 
the Machine.
The Joint Information Center says 102 people were arrested -- 100 for 
misdemeanors and two for gross misdemeanors. Of those arrested, 87 were 
tagged and released, and 15 were booked.
Police had expressed concern about the possibility of trouble after the 
concert. At least 422 people have been arrested in Minneapolis and St. 
Paul since Saturday in pre-emptive raids and at protests that were 
marred by violence from people hoping to interfere with the Republican 
National Convention.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)






http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/4/hundreds_of_jailed_protesters_held_for

September 04, 2008
Hundreds of Jailed Protesters Held for 2+ Days Following Mass RNC Arrests

The Ramsey County Court has begun to slowly process and release some of 
the nearly 300 people detained over the past few days. Democracy Now! 
producer Anjali Kamat reports. [includes rush transcript]
AMY GOODMAN: The Ramsey County Court has begun to slowly process and 
release some of the nearly 300 people detained over the past few days. 
These include medics, legal observers, journalists and anyone considered 
to be a protester. Democracy Now! producer Anjali Kamat filed this 
report with Elizabeth Press.
ANJALI KAMAT: Protesters have been camped out on a grassy pavement 
outside the Ramsey County Jail since Tuesday. Many are friends with or 
related to those inside. Some are medics and legal observers. And others 
are simply here in solidarity with the detainees. Armed with food, 
water, blankets and medical supplies, and surrounded by heavily armed 
police, they’re waiting for those inside to be released, cheering as 
each one exits the jail.
Larry Hildes is a legal observer with the National Lawyers Guild. He 
described the scene outside the detention center Wednesday afternoon.
LARRY HILDES: As we were outside the jail, where there’s a vigil going 
on for people who have been held now past the deadline to release them, 
a line of St. Paul cops just formed immediately in the area where the 
medics are treating folks who’ve been getting out of jail and standing 
there trying to stare at the people who are being treated.
ANJALI KAMAT: We called Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher about the 
police presence around the jail support group. He told us he wasn’t 
aware of it. Coincidentally, the police retreated after a few tense 
moments. And then a man from the sheriff’s office appeared with a cart 
full of brown bag lunches of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and apples.
UNIDENTIFIED: We’re just coming up the sidewalk, going to offer 
everybody a bag lunch. Alright?
PROTESTER: I’m a little confused and disoriented about the fact that I 
was told that it was from the sheriff department and they’re handing out 
bag lunches. And I’m wondering if they’re feeding people inside.
ANJALI KAMAT: The odd arrival of the sheriff’s happy meals lightened the 
mood but did nothing to mitigate the long wait. We spoke to one young 
man who had been waiting all afternoon with his mother for his sister to 
be released. She was a street medic who had been arrested Monday.
DETAINED MEDIC’S BROTHER: It’s St. Paul’s little Guantanamo.
ELIZABETH PRESS: What does that mean?
DETAINED MEDIC’S BROTHER: It means that there are a lot of people 
getting arrested and tortured and all that stuff, because, yeah, lots of 
people got beat in jail and tased, and basically that’s torture.
ANJALI KAMAT: As the sun began to set, people slowly began to trickle 
out of the jail. Arraignments scheduled for the morning were completed 
only by 6:30 in the evening. Rebecca Sang from California was one of 
those let out. She had been picked up Tuesday from the outskirts of the 
Poor People’s rally.
REBECCA SANG: I was watching them arrest somebody. And I don’t exactly 
know what happened, but the police started coming at me on their horses. 
And they just grabbed me. I really had no idea at the time why they 
could possibly want to do that. But I was really afraid, and I just went 
with them.
ANJALI KAMAT: We asked Rebecca Sang what she had been charged with.
REBECCA SANG: It was actually so ludicrous, I didn’t even believe it 
when I was—what they told me. They said I was under arrest for 
conspiracy for intent to use a poisonous substance.
ANJALI KAMAT: Rebecca’s partner, Jason Johnson, had also been arrested 
Tuesday after being tasered by the police.
REBECCA SANG: He was tasered three times and then wrestled to the 
ground. And he asked repeatedly for medical attention and didn’t get it 
for a really long time. His legs were paralyzed. It was really a bad 
scene. He needed the barbs from the tasers pulled out of his hips where 
he’d been hit. It was about an hour after we were first detained that 
that happened. And when he finally did get them removed, it wasn’t like 
they took him to the nurse or a doctor or anything like that. They 
actually just pulled them out of his side, like on the side of the cop car.
ANJALI KAMAT: Jason Johnson is still in prison. Elizabeth West is a 
Durham, North Carolina-based activist who had spoken to Johnson 
Wednesday morning.
ELIZABETH WEST: Jason’s huge and strong, and he’s this massive, 
wonderful, magical, beloved man. And he was tased with—he had four—he 
was tased with four handheld devices, three protrusion guns. He told me 
that he is still picking copper out of his hip injury. He has a four 
inch by one half-inch, about an eighth of an inch deep laceration on his 
ankle. He has lacerations on his face, his head, his torso. He has a 
black eye.
ANJALI KAMAT: Sheriff Fletcher stopped by the jail later, and we asked 
him about the use of tasers.
SHERIFF BOB FLETCHER: You know, I haven’t heard any reports of that. I 
mean, there certainly is a possibility that out of the 320—but you 
understand that the arrests were coordinated by the St. Paul Police 
Department with the assistance of Minneapolis. But, you know, we 
haven’t—I’m not aware of any tasings.
ANJALI KAMAT: Sheriff Fletcher also commented on the conditions inside 
the prison.
SHERIFF BOB FLETCHER: I don’t think you’ll get many complaints. We’ve 
worked closely with the ACLU, the National Lawyers Guild. In fact, they 
had National Lawyers Guild attorneys and ACLU in our facility prior to 
this event. We talked about food, medication, conditions. And on that 
front, I think we’re doing very, very well. It is the largest number of 
people ever arrested in a twenty-four-hour period, 300 or so.
ANJALI KAMAT: After spending over forty-eight hours in jail, Katherine 
Bonner-Jackson and Catherine Tolman were released Wednesday evening. 
They explained the charges against them and described what they had seen 
inside the Ramsey County Jail.
KATHERINE BONNER-JACKSON: We were on the sidewalk, walking down the 
street with a group of people. We were surrounded by cops, about twenty 
cops on bikes, pepper-sprayed and arrested. I have three misdemeanors.
CATHERINE TOLMAN: So do I.
KATHERINE BONNER-JACKSON: And they set our bail for $1,000, because 
we’re out-of-staters. People who are in-state with the same sort of 
crimes—actually, one girl with a felony, it got reduced, and she was 
released on her own recognizance without bail.
CATHERINE TOLMAN: We did talk to a few of the inmates who had been there 
before, and they were like, “We never”—we got bottled water. They had 
never got bottled water. And we actually heard one of the guards saying, 
like, “Well, screw these NL—the National Lawyers Guild and ACLU people, 
because if they weren’t here, then we could act normal,” basically 
saying, like, we could break everyone’s civil liberties if these people 
weren’t here watching us because of these dumb protesters.
ANJALI KAMAT: They also talked about a minor who had been questioned by 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents inside the prison and 
threatened with deportation proceedings.
KATHERINE BONNER-JACKSON: So, ICE—tell the ICE—
CATHERINE TOLMAN: Yeah. Oh, man, so one of our friends, who’s actually a 
minor, she got pulled out of the holding cell, and—
KATHERINE BONNER-JACKSON: She’s a Jane Doe, though; she didn’t give her 
name.
CATHERINE TOLMAN: Right. She got pulled out of the holding cell, and the 
ICE officer was interrogating her and saying, you know, “This is an 
investigation.” And she said, “I’d like to, you know, uphold my Fifth 
Amendment rights.” And he said, “Alright, if you’re going to play that 
game…” And then he asked her, “Where were you born?” And she said “I’m 
going to remain silent and uphold my Fifth Amendment rights.” And he 
said, “Alright, then you’re going to go to federal prison,” and he sent 
her back into the holding cell. I mean just blatant coercion and empty 
threats, but terrifying.
KATHERINE BONNER-JACKSON: She spoke to an immigration lawyer like 
immediately afterwards, and the lawyer said that it’s a completely 
illegal coercion tactic and that they’re probably going to be filing a 
lawsuit against the officers.
ANJALI KAMAT: When we asked the sheriff about this, he told us that ICE 
agents were at the Ramsey County Jail for an unrelated matter and was 
not aware of them questioning any of the RNC detainees.
Many people we spoke to complained about how they were treated by the 
police at the time of their arrest. Duncan Hardy from Raleigh, North 
Carolina was among the worst hit, with clear injuries to his arms, legs 
and face. He had gone straight to a health center after his release. We 
spoke to him when he returned to help with jail support for his friends 
inside.
DUNCAN HARDY: And there was, you know, maybe eighty men who were 
six-foot-two, weighed 180 pounds, in SWAT uniform marching down Kellogg 
at the people, you know, whose arms were locked. And I saw them mace a 
girl in the park, which is a permitted area to be in. And it really just 
set me off, so I wrapped my shirt around my eyes with water, and I 
walked out in front of them and just sort of stood there until they, you 
know, threw me to the ground, smashed my face in and maced me in my eye 
and my ear ’til I passed out.
I was actually told, because I passed out on the scene, you know, they 
had somebody from the hospital there. And I can’t—I couldn’t make a 
sentence. But I asked them, you know, “I think I hit my head, I think I 
need medical treatment.” And they said, “Well, it’s not on the front of 
your head. There’s nothing on the front of your head, so it must be on 
the back of your head.” And I asked them to check the back of my head, 
and they said there wasn’t anything there either. So, other than the 
person there, who—I couldn’t open my eyes, I couldn’t see—who told me 
that I had, you know, no injuries, I received no medical attention 
whatsoever.
ANJALI KAMAT: While some of those detained over the week have been 
released and had their charges reduced, eight individuals affiliated 
with the RNC Welcoming Committee were charged Wednesday morning, under 
Minnesota’s version of the PATRIOT Act, with conspiracy to riot in 
furtherance of terrorism. Jordan Kushner is a lawyer defending some of 
the RNC detainees at the Ramsey County Jail. We asked him about the 
terrorism charges as he came out of the courtroom.
JORDAN KUSHNER: This is a political prosecution in its purest form, 
because no one is actually accused of physically doing anything that 
would be violent or destroying property or doing anything. They were in 
jail when it happened. They’re accused—they’re being prosecuted 
specifically for their political activities and what they advocated.
ANJALI KAMAT: Longtime activist Lisa Fithian was also helping with jail 
support. She had been detained at gunpoint earlier in the day, along 
with fellow peace activist Laurie Arbeiter and Hal Muskat.
LISA FITHIAN: A lot of people have been hurt here, and a lot of people 
are continuing to be hurt in the jails, and I’m most concerned about 
them. I was not afraid when they pulled us over. But I just—I’m outraged 
at the blatant continued violations of people’s rights here, not that I 
ever thought we had tons of political rights in this country, but I’d 
never seen it quite as bad as I’ve seen it here. The St. Paul model 
really trumps the Miami model at many, many levels.
And so, my greatest concern right now, aside from people’s safety on the 
street, is getting people out of jail and ending the police brutality in 
jail and the beatings that are happening, is, I think, the critical 
priority. We need people’s help from all around the country to put 
pressure on the mayor here, Mayor Coleman, and the sheriff, and say end 
this brutality, cease and desist, and the harassment and the 
intimidation and the violence on the street against people, and let our 
people go. Drop those charges and let them go.
ANJALI KAMAT: For Democracy Now!, this is Anjali Kamat with Elizabeth 
Press in St. Paul.







http://www.workers.org/2008/us/rnc_0911/

Police repress convention protests
By LeiLani Dowell
St., Paul, Minn.
Published Sep 3, 2008 11:22 PM
Despite an onslaught of police terror and repression, protesters from 
across the country used a variety of tactics to march on the Republican 
National Convention here on Sept. 1. A mass march organized by the 
Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War was followed by youthful 
street actions to denounce the Republican policies of endless 
imperialist war and sweeping attacks on workers.

Photos: Troops Out Now Coalition
In an escalation of tactics used at the Democratic National Convention 
in Denver a week earlier, Minnesota police began the repression against 
RNC protesters days before the march. The cops raided community 
kitchens, meeting spaces and protesters’ homes; handcuffed and harassed 
activists; confiscated political literature; and arrested at least three 
people on bogus “conspiracy to riot” charges.
Despite this intimidation, organizers remained determined to move 
forward with what would turn out to be a highly successful, massive 
march as well as direct actions on Labor Day, Sept. 1.
Some 30,000 attended a rally that included representatives of the 
American Indian Movement; ANSWER Coalition; Appeal for Redress Campaign; 
Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War; Code Pink; Colombia 
Action Network; Green Party; Latinos Against War; Palestine Solidarity 
Group; Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign; Students for a 
Democratic Society; Teamsters 743; Troops Out Now Coalition; United for 
Peace and Justice; Venezuela Solidarity Network; Veterans for Peace; 
Welfare Rights Committee; and Women Against Military Madness.

The diverse crowd, led by the Iraq Veterans Against the War, then 
marched to the Xcel Center, site of the Republican convention, and back 
to the State Capitol for a closing rally. Various contingents included 
low-income people, youth and students, immigrant rights activists, 
labor, Palestine and Colombia solidarity activists, an anti-capitalist 
bloc and an anti-climate-change group.
While Republican Party leaders shied away from the conference so as to 
not seem insensitive in the face of Hurricane Gustav, activists 
remembered the neglect of the Bush administration in response to 
Hurricane Katrina. A Troops Out Now Coalition banner read “Bush—McCain; 
Katrina—Gustav: Criminal Neglect Continues.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of youth engaged in militant street actions. They 
were met by brutal attacks at the hands of the police, including being 
doused with pepper spray and tear gas. Fight Imperialism, Stand Together 
(FIST) activist and eyewitness videographer Elena Everett reported that 
a disabled man in a wheelchair was sprayed head-to-toe with pepper 
spray. Others were hit in the back with tear gas canisters.
The Coldsnap Legal Collective (coldsnaplegal.wordpress.com) reports that 
as of Sept. 1, the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office had announced 284 
arrests. Some 130 were charged with felony offenses, which most likely 
will be used to keep them in jail until the end of the convention. The 
collective says that the majority of those arrested are still being held 
in jail, and some are being refused proper medical attention. The 
collective is asking supporters to call the jail at 651-266-9350 to 
demand that these activists be released and given proper medical attention.

While the corporate media has focused almost exclusively on property 
damage sustained during the street actions, including windows being 
broken at a Macy’s department store, several eyewitnesses told this 
reporter that the person who began breaking the windows was clearly an 
agent provocateur working with the police. He approached the window in 
clear view of the cops, broke it and walked away without an arrest. A 
police car was also damaged.
However, at a press conference the following day, march coordinator Jess 
Sundin was quick to point out that any rage displayed by activists in 
the streets is completely justified and pales in comparison to the state 
violence committed on a daily basis by U.S. forces at home and abroad.
The joint press conference was held by the Coalition to March on the RNC 
and Stop the War, the RNC Welcoming Committee and the Poor People’s 
Economic and Human Rights Campaign—all of whom held fast in their 
solidarity with arrestees, despite attempts by corporate media reporters 
to bait them into denouncing “violence.” One man, representing the Poor 
People’s Economic and Human Rights Campaign, challenged the reporters: 
“You act like we’re having this press conference in a country that 
hasn’t practiced oppression for hundreds of years.”
A number of activities are planned to continue the protests through the 
end of the convention on Sept. 4, including free public music festivals, 
a “March for Our Lives” and a “solutions driven” peace conference. For 
updates on activities, visit dncrnc.wordpress.com.
________________________________________
Articles copyright 1995-2009 Workers World. Verbatim copying and 
distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without 
royalty provided this notice is preserved.






http://www.workers.org/2008/us/dnc_0711/

No letup in police intimidation as
Vets, immigrants protest at DNC
By Larry Hales
Denver
Published Sep 3, 2008 10:42 PM
During the five days of protests against the Democratic National 
Convention held here at the Pepsi Center, the media and the local Denver 
government grew fond of pointing out that the tens of thousands expected 
by organizers with Recreate 68 did not show up.

Iraq Veterans Against the War.
Photos: Troops Out Now Coalition
However, during the week the city of Denver did not appear to relinquish 
any of the cops it had garnered to prepare for tens of thousands of 
protesters. And in fact, thousands did protest during the week and the 
last few days showed no letup in numbers or spirit.
On Aug. 27, thousands marched in support of Iraq Veterans Against the 
War. The march covered four miles, from the Denver Coliseum to the Pepsi 
Center. There was no permit to march, but the route was negotiated with 
the police by IVAW.
IVAW had gone out of its way to work with the cops and applaud their 
efforts, even though cops had intimidated protesters throughout the week 
and had rioted on Monday, attacking and arresting protesters and other 
people just walking from work or shopping. Hundreds were entrapped and 
assaulted after cops chased protesters out of Civic Center Park, though 
a permit had been granted for use of the park.

Immigrant rights march.
Tuesday showed no letup as cops launched brutal assaults against 
Recreate 68 activist Carlo Garcia and Code Pink activist Alicia Forrest.
The cops did not respond to the overtures by IVAW with any respect. 
Instead, they brought out hundreds of officers in full riot gear on 
bicycles, motorcycles, horses and the riding boards of SUVs. The state 
forces lined the entire route of the veterans’ peaceful march, stopping 
it several times along the way for no apparent reason other than to 
assert their control.
However, this small army, meant to be intimidating, did not stop the 
march from growing. Onlookers and people getting off work joined in and 
swelled the ranks, despite the oppressiveness of a blazing August sun. 
Boots Riley of The Coup and members of Rage Against the Machine, both 
groups that performed at the Denver Coliseum, participated in the march 
as well.
Militant chants of “One, two, three four, what we need is class war! 
Five, six, seven, eight, end the war, smash the state!” alternated with 
“Troops out now!” and “Cops out now!”
The march ended up across from Auraria Parkway, the street that 
separates Auraria campus, the largest in the state, from the Pepsi 
Center grounds.
On Thursday, Aug. 28, more than 1,000 participated in a march for 
immigrant rights, shutting down one section of an overpass to Interstate 
25. The march ended in Lincoln Park near the public housing complex 
where Frank Lobato, a disabled Latino man, had been shot while lying in 
bed by Denver cop Ranjan Ford.
The five days of protests were designed to show the complicity of the 
Democratic Party in U.S. imperialism and to demonstrate that an 
independent movement free from either ruling class party is needed. The 
militancy did not wane.
On display as well were the repressive forces of the state, regardless 
of the nonviolent nature of the protests.
Larry Hales was an organizer with Recreate 68 Alliance.
________________________________________
Articles copyright 1995-2009 Workers World. Verbatim copying and 
distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without 
royalty provided this notice is preserved.






http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/09/footage-of-clas.html

Video of Clashes Between St. Paul Police and RNC Protestors Bubble Up 
Online
By Sarah Lai Stirland September 03, 2008 | 1:49:51 PMCategories: 2008 
Republican National Convention
As most of the on-air cable television personalities focus on the 
national politics of the Republicans' nomination of Alaska Gov. Sarah 
Palin for vice president, stories and footage of clashes between the St. 
Paul police and protesters at the Republican National Convention are 
turning up on the internet.
The Uptake, an online citizen-journalism training outfit in Minneapolis, 
has been at the forefront of documenting much of the unfriendly 
interaction between the police and the protesters.
In many of the live-streams, which can be seen on the organization's 
website, it's difficult to tell what's going on because much of the 
footage seems to have been recorded on an impromptu basis from the 
citizen-reporters' cellphone cameras.
Nevertheless, some of the video is dramatic.
In the clip above, police are in a stand-off with RNC protesters holding 
a black-and-red sign with the words "Against Capitalism," on it. One of 
the protesters provokes the black-clad, helmeted cops by shouting "Sieg 
Heil!"
The police, who look as if they've just stepped off the set of Brazil, 
didn't appear to find that funny. Shortly after the taunt, a group of 
people advance toward the police line, and the cops respond by firing 
off "flash bangs," which Tom Walsh, the St. Paul police department's 
public information officer, describes as a "percussive instrument" 
that's meant to disperse crowds.
In an interview, Walsh declined to comment on any specifics, but he 
pointed out the local media's favorable reports on the restraint that 
police are exercising against the "excesses of the rioters."
He pointed to the Poor People's March on Sunday (which was still going 
on yesterday), where he said the rioters co-opted the peaceful 
demonstrators' events and started hurling feces, urine, rocks and bottles.
"The peaceful protesters lost control of their march because of these 
rioters, and that continues to be the pattern," he said.
When asked about the arrest of Amy Goodman, the lefty Democracy Now 
journalist and the show's producers, Walsh declined to comment.
In both an online broadcast and during a press conference with St. Paul 
Police Chief John Harrington on Tuesday, Goodman says that she had 
approached the police to ask them about the arrest of the show's 
producers, and the police had simply arrested her despite seeing her 
press badge. Goodman's been charged with a misdemeanor.
"I would submit to you that there are thousands of journalists on the 
ground, and they're not being impeded on their ability to report," Walsh 
said.
In addition to footage from The Uptake and Democracy Now, The Minnesota 
Independent, a local blog run by the Center for Independent Media in 
Washington, D.C., has graphic photos and an account of a 17-year-old 
peaceful protestor being beaten up by police.
More documentation of some of the chaos is in the Kentucky Kernal, a 
student newspaper at the University of Kentucky, whose photo staff and 
an adviser got swept up in the arrests.
All-in-all, if you lived in a world without television and used social 
media applications exclusively to keep up with what's going on in St. 
Paul, your view of the convention would differ significantly from 
everyone else's.
For example, searches using the phrase "Republican National Convention" 
for the most recently uploaded photos on Flickr Tuesday night yielded 
hundreds of photos of authoritarian-looking police in their riot gear.
Similarly, searches for #RNC08 on Twitter on Tuesday night brought up a 
lot of messaging between protest organizers and by protesters themselves 
of the police's movements on the streets.
Free Press, a media reform group, is gathering online names and 
signatures to sign a letter protesting what the group says are 
intimidation tactics by the St. Paul police. As of Wednesday, the group 
had gathered more than 35,000 signatures. Free Press intends to deliver 
the letter to St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and the Republican National 
Convention host committee.






http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122048791794897339.html?mod=fox_australian

• SEPTEMBER 4, 2008
Republican Convention Sees Violent Demonstrations
• Article
• Comments
more in Politics »
By T.W. FARNAM
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Local prosecutors brought felony charges against 21 
people for protesting the Republican National Convention, and federal 
prosecutors announced that they have charged another man with possessing 
explosives he said were intended to bomb tunnels under the convention site.
Demonstrations this week have been the most violent at a national party 
convention in recent memory, with protesters smashing windows, slashing 
tires, throwing bags of urine and excrement and physically confronting 
Republican delegates in the streets.
Getty Images
Police in riot gear outside the Republican National Convention in St. 
Paul. Violent protests overshadowed a number of peaceful demonstrations, 
including an antiwar march of about 10,000 people.
Local authorities say much of the activity is linked to the Republican 
National Convention Welcoming Committee, a self-proclaimed anarchist 
group that released a statement Wednesday saying it was motivated by a 
range of issues, from the cost of the Iraq war to what it called 
inaction on global warming. The violence overshadowed a number of 
peaceful demonstrations, including an antiwar march that attracted a 
crowd of about 10,000 people.
Police are still looking to arrest one member of the group on charges of 
conspiring to riot. He and others attended two training retreats for 150 
to 200 people, according to a criminal complaint. The Ramsey County 
Sheriff's Office infiltrated the group with an undercover officer and a 
paid informant.
Police have responded to some of the demonstrations with pepper spray, 
tear gas, smoke canisters and what they called "distraction devices" 
that give a loud bang and a flash of light, said Doug Holtz, a commander 
with the St. Paul Police Department. Arrests this week have topped 300, 
with more than 100 felony arrests. Ramsey County prosecutor Susan 
Gaertner said her office declined to bring felony charges against 44 of 
those protesters.
Several journalists, including an Associated Press photographer and the 
radio host Amy Goodman, were also arrested, some charged with inciting a 
riot. The city attorney said the journalists were released pending 
further investigation.
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman praised the city's law-enforcement 
officers. "Obviously we're dealing with a very significant situation 
here, and our officers have responded appropriately to the threat," he 
said, adding about the journalists arrested, "I can't speak to the 
specifics of any one case."
The federal government provided grants of $50 million to cover security 
costs at each national party convention; more than 3,500 officers from 
more than 50 federal, state and local agencies, including the National 
Guard, have been on duty in St. Paul.
The U.S. attorney for Michigan charged Matthew DePalma, of Flint, Mich., 
with possession of an unregistered firearm after he was arrested last 
week with a flammable jelly. Mr. DePalma said he planned to use it in 
the tunnels under the convention site to burn electrical cables and 
cause a power outage, according to a complaint unsealed Wednesday.
Monday, protesters blocked members of the Connecticut delegation from 
proceeding to the convention, said Heath Fahle, executive director of 
the state party. The demonstrators spat on the delegates and squirted 
bleach on at least six of them. "There are some people out there that 
only care about being disruptive," Mr. Fahle said.
The Republican National Convention Welcoming Committee gathered at its 
theater headquarters Wednesday for a "spokescouncil," in which decisions 
are made by consensus. Group members were milling about on the sidewalk 
outside eating fried potatoes, but most refused to speak to reporters. 
Those who did complained about what they saw as a police crackdown.
"I think it really exposes that we live in a police state," said a woman 
who gave her name as Loaf Owls, her age as 20 years old, and said she 
was a professional clown. "Someone at the march said yesterday that 
anarchists are protectors of the people, and that pretty much sums up 
why I'm here."
"We'll protest the grass being green," shouted Robert Wilson, 45, who 
said he is homeless. "I love protesting. My favorite cologne is pepper 
spray."
Write to T.W. Farnam at timothy.farnam at wsj.com







http://www.roguegovernment.com/news.php?id=11740

RNC Protesters Charged As Terrorists Published on 09-03-2008 Email To 
Friend Print Version

Source: LA Times
Prosecutors in Ramsey County, Minn., have formally charged eight alleged 
leaders of the RNC Welcoming Committee -- one of the groups organizing 
protests at the GOP convention in St. Paul -- with terrorism-related 
charges, The Times' P.J. Huffstutter reports.
Monica Bicking, Eryn Trimmer, Luce Guillen Givins, Erik Oseland, 
Nathanael Secor, Robert Czernik, Garrett Fitzgerald and Max Spector, 
face up to 7 1/2 years in prison under the terrorism enhancement charge, 
which allows for a 50% increase in the maximum penalty they could face.





http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/09/rnc-protesters.html

Terrorism charges lodged against protesters at GOP convention
Prosecutors in Ramsey County, Minn., have formally charged eight alleged 
leaders of the RNC Welcoming Committee -- one of the groups organizing 
protests at the GOP convention in St. Paul -- with terrorism-related 
charges, The Times' P.J. Huffstutter reports.
Monica Bicking, Eryn Trimmer, Luce Guillen Givins, Erik Oseland, 
Nathanael Secor, Robert Czernik, Garrett Fitzgerald and Max Spector, 
face up to 7 1/2 years in prison under the terrorism enhancement charge, 
which allows for a 50% increase in the maximum penalty they could face.
It appears to be the first time criminal charges have been filed under 
the 2002 Minnesota version of the federal Patriot Act.
The RNC Welcoming Committee is a self-described anarchist group that has 
worked for months planning disruptions at the convention. Police blamed 
the group for sparking violence during Monday's antiwar protest in St. 
Paul. Although most of the estimated 10,000 people at the march were 
peaceful, police say a splinter group of about 200 people harassed 
delegates, smashed windows and started at least one fire.
Police have arrested nearly 300 people during the confrontations this 
week, according to the Associated Press. Huffstutter reported on the 
protests for the blog Tuesday. And this morning, we told the story of 
journalist Amy Goodman's arrest at Monday's march.
-- Kate Linthicum






http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/conventions/27782184.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUnciatkEP7DhUsX

2,000 rally to 'stop war on the poor'

Carlos Gonzalez, Star Tribune
A protester passed through a cloud of tear gas on St Peter St. in St. 
Paul on Tuesday night.
A third day of demonstrations outside the Republican National Convention 
drew smaller crowds. Police and marchers clashed again, but arrests were 
way down.
By RANDY FURST, CURT BROWN and HERÓN MÁRQUEZ ESTRADA, Star Tribune
Last update: September 2, 2008 - 11:54 PM


A vocal group of demonstrators took to the streets of St. Paul again 
Tuesday evening, voicing their anger about economic justice issues on 
Day 2 of the Republican National Convention.
The number of protesters and arrests were down from the 10,000 who 
marched and the nearly 300 arrested Monday, but police and demonstrators 
did clash briefly.
Chanting "Stop the war on the poor," about 1,000 people in the "Poor 
People's March" left Mears Park about 6 p.m. and marched through 
downtown. Their numbers swelled to 2,000 after the march passed an 
all-day activist event that had coincidentally just wound up on the 
State Capitol lawn at 7 p.m. The march ended near the Xcel Energy Center 
about 8 p.m.
A plan for civil disobedience fizzled with no arrests after protesters 
decided not to scale 8-foot fences near the arena. They poked a 
"citizens arrest warrant for crimes against humanity" for the 
Republicans through the fence and left.
The march disbanded, but a half-hour later hundreds of protesters and 
others, mainly young people, clogged an intersection at 7th and St. 
Peter streets, causing police, over a loudspeaker, to order them to 
disperse. They didn't and police fired several smoke bombs and tear-gas 
canisters into the crowd.
At least 10 people were arrested during the day, including four at a 
tense showdown with police officers on horseback just before the march 
started at the edge of the poor people's rally. The officers 
pepper-sprayed some demonstrators blocking the intersection after one 
man pulled on a police horse's reins.
Cheri Honkala, a leader of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights 
Campaign, which sponsored the demonstration, appealed to the rally 
participants to be nonviolent, pointing out that there were children in 
the crowd. She told anarchists intermingled in the crowd that she would 
hold them responsible if they interfered in the peaceful march.






http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/08/18534432.php

Fascistic New Normal in St. Paul
by Alice Woodward
Monday Sep 8th, 2008 9:22 PM
Reporter’s Notebook from the RNC
Reporter’s Notebook from the RNC
Fascistic New Normal in St. Paul

by Alice Woodward

August 29, St. Paul, Minnesota. Police in full riot gear raided the “RNC 
Welcoming Committee” (which described itself as “an 
anarchist/anti-authoritarian organizing body preparing for the 2008 
Republican National Convention”) This raid, referred to in the media as 
a “pre-emptive strike,” marked the beginning of a weekend of terror and 
intimidation brought down by the state on activists, organizers, 
protestors, and journalists throughout the four-day span of the 
Republican National Convention.

Leading up to the anti-war protests planned during the convention, 
police raided several houses in the St. Paul-Minneapolis area, 
surrounding them, and breaking down doors. The police told people to get 
down on the ground and shoved guns in their faces in the middle of the 
night while they were sleeping in their beds. Over the course of the 
weekend, five people were arrested in these raids, at least 100 were put 
in handcuffs and then questioned by police. At the Welcoming Committee’s 
convergence center, the police photographed people and held them for 
over an hour—no arrests were made, but materials were confiscated and 
the police issued a fire code violation.

Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, Minneapolis and St. Paul 
police, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies were 
involved. Police confiscated normal household items claiming they were 
going to be used for illegal activities. They searched through the 
houses and the welcoming center, taking computers, laptops and video 
cameras.

In the face of this outrageous harassment and intimidation thousands of 
people came out to protest. At Monday’s protest, police surrounded and 
detained hundreds of protestors arresting around 175 people including 
progressive journalist Amy Goodman and two of her producers (see “The 
RNC’s Outrageous Assault on Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!, and Alternative 
Media…This is What Imperialist Democracy Looks Like”). Tuesday police 
attacked a protest of over a thousand people, overwhelmingly youth, and 
which included children and disabled people. Eleven people were arrested 
that day, some targeted and searched out after being identified in video 
footage confiscated by the police. Wednesday night, 102 people leaving a 
Rage Against the Machine show were arrested.

More than a dozen medics have been arrested, as well as legal observers. 
On Thursday, police moved in and swept people up off the capitol lawn 
for no apparent reason, later claiming they were involved in breaking a 
window earlier that week. Then Thursday’s rally of over a thousand 
people was shut down, hundreds marched to the convention center and 
protestors sat-in at a bridge. Police blocked off the area with 
bulldozers, and after an intense stand-off, the police arrested 396 
people. Over a dozen of these were media, including AP photographers and 
people from the local TV station. By Friday, according to the 
authorities, 818 people had been arrested during the week.

Police came wearing helmets, padded vests, and shin guards; they used 
tear gas, pepper spray, Tasers, plastic handcuffs, billy clubs, and 
rifles that fired projectiles and “flash bombs.” The National Guard was 
present throughout the week in full riot gear.

Two minors who had been arraigned refused to give their names in 
solidarity with people in jail; they were charged with contempt on the 
spot and given a 30-day jail sentence without any trial. The Coldsnap 
legal collective reported brutality and abuse occurring in the jail 
including multiple police officers assaulting people, people being put 
in solitary confinement, and sick people not receiving medical 
attention. Over 24 people in prison began a hunger strike demanding that 
medical attention be provided to those who need it.

There has been ongoing harassment aimed at intimidating protestors and 
sending a message that political protest will not be tolerated. The 
anti-war group Code Pink reported that about 150 police surrounded a 
group of 10 Code Pink activists who were displaying banners against the 
Iraq war. Throughout Tuesday’s outdoor concert police cars lined the 
streets and officers arrogantly milled about the capitol.

On Tuesday riot cops lined the street at a Poor People’s march near the 
capitol. Later on, the police gathered three deep near the capitol where 
the Rage Against the Machine concert was scheduled. Rage arrived and 
wanted to play, but the power was shut off a half hour before the permit 
ended. Zack De La Rocha jumped into the crowd and started singing a 
cappella. People were chanting, “Let them play, let them play,” with 
their fists in the air. They turned toward police and chanted “Fuck You 
We Won’t Do What You Told Us.”

The march organized by the Poor People’s Campaign arrived at the 
capitol, people at the concert joined in and the whole atmosphere was 
energized. The march went to the Xcel Center (where the RNC was going 
on) and the Poor People’s Campaign presented a citizens arrest on the 
Bush administration for crimes against humanity.

At one point the police lined up with batons and started walking slowly 
toward the protestors, chanting, “Move. Move. Move.” A protestor 
described when the police moved in to attack: “People were walking back 
to the state capitol to get to their cars and go home and police said 
their presence walking back was an ‘unlawful assembly, you all need to 
keep moving’ and then opened fire with tear gas and concussion grenades. 
I saw clouds of smoke go up and I thought it was concussion grenades, 
then I saw the blue hint of the smoke and people started running and 
leaving very quickly and in front of us, another line of cops started 
firing....”

People were yelling out, “Don’t Run, Don’t Run,” helping each other get 
down the street, they were trying to get out and there were smoke bombs 
and mace. Loud explosions and screams punctured the atmosphere, people 
were screaming and running and others tried to help people stay calm, 
then more National Guardsmen in camouflage came in, sneaking out of a 
dark parking lot and threw tear gas into the crowd of people trying to 
run. One woman told Revolution, “There was a fucking asthmatic woman 
shouting ‘Medic,’ and the police guy was just like, ‘Get away from the 
sidewalk!’ and he shot a fucking tear gas, not at her, but past her, he 
was just like ‘Get away!’ She fucking couldn’t breathe.”

There were shoes and eyeglasses in the street. A woman in her twenties 
looked back at a line of police in the park and said, “I have never felt 
more unsafe in my life.” People were agitating that what the police were 
doing was illegal and unconstitutional; people were outraged.

The St. Paul Police Department has declared to the public repeatedly 
that their plans have been a success. At a press conference on September 
3, Police Chief John Harrington repeatedly claimed that “rioters” and 
“anarchists” were targeted because of their alleged plans to disrupt the 
convention. Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said in a statement that 
the “Welcoming Committee is a criminal enterprise made up of 35 
anarchists who are intent on committing criminal acts before and during 
the Republican National Convention.” Testimony and eye witness accounts 
from medics, legal observers, journalists, and protestors, as well as 
hours of video footage posted on YouTube and all over the internet, 
reveal a different story. What has actually occurred is targeted attacks 
on event organizers, legal observers, medics and journalists, as well as 
police indiscriminately coming down on protestors, as well as bystanders.

Many diverse youth and progressive people have been a part of mobilizing 
to protest at the RNC. The statement at the website of the RNC Welcoming 
Committee is endorsed by several chapters of the Students for Democratic 
Society, Campus Anti-War Network, and a number of anarchist 
organizations and grassroots groups like the Queer Action Network and 
Milwaukee Anti-racist Action. In addition, anti-war activists, unions, 
Iraq war veterans, and many others across the country mobilized to come 
to St. Paul to politically protest the crimes that have been committed 
by the Bush regime.

An affidavit filed by the police with the Ramsey County District Court 
states that police have infiltrated the RNC Welcoming Committee since 
August of 2007, employing both undercover investigators as well as 
informants. A May 2008 article in a local St. Paul weekly, City Pages 
exposed that FBI was seeking out informants to attend “Vegan Potlucks” 
in the Twin Cities. The article recalls how this occurred in the lead-up 
to the 2004 RNC in New York City, pointing out that “the NYPD’s 
Intelligence Division infiltrated and spied on protest groups across the 
country, as well as in Canada and Europe. The program’s scope extended 
to explicitly nonviolent groups, including street theater troupes and 
church organizations.” Similarly, surveillance and profiling occurred in 
Denver leading up to the DNC, carried out by what’s called “fusion” 
groups, consisting of federal as well as state authorities collecting 
information. An article on worldcantwait.org, titled “Gitmo on the 
Platte,” details this and other similar police state measures taken in 
Denver for the DNC this year.

The Minnesota Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild has pointed out that 
given this kind of history, the allegations towards organizers, which 
rely entirely on covert operations and no material evidence at this 
time, are highly questionable. They said in a statement, “Evidence read 
to date does not corroborate these allegations with physical evidence or 
provide any other evidence for these allegations other than the claims 
of the informants. Based on past abuses of such informants by law 
enforcement, the National Lawyers Guild is concerned that such police 
informants have incentives to lie and exaggerate threats of violence and 
to also act as provocateurs in raising and urging support for acts of 
violence.”

At the same time, new norms are being established. The Ramsey County 
prosecutors charged eight of the people arrested in the raids with 
second-degree furtherance of terrorism, conspiracy to riot, conspiracy 
to commit civil disorder, and conspiracy to damage property. This is the 
first time that charges have been issued under the Minnesota version of 
the Patriot Act, which was passed in the state in 2002.

This repression and police terror has been opposed by City Council 
member David Thune as well as Congressman Keith Ellison. Petitions and 
statements in support of protestors and those arrested have gone up on 
the Internet; one gathered over 35,000 signatures overnight. Many are 
demanding that people in jail be provided with medical care and the 
legal support they are entitled to, that they be released and charges be 
dropped.

Send us your comments.







http://www.kpho.com/politics/17383222/detail.html#-

Protesters Meet Politicians Near Landmark Diner
St. Paul Fixture Is Steps Away From Largest Protests
Jeff Parsons, Senior Director of News
POSTED: 1:55 pm MST September 3, 2008
UPDATED: 3:07 pm MST September 3, 2008

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Mickey's Diner is a fixture that people who visit 
downtown St. Paul can't help but notice.
There are no golden arches or double-lanes of drive-through windows 
though. It's an historic dining car pulled into downtown St. Paul in the 
late 1930s.
Its breakfast, burgers and baked beans are classic favorites for the 
maximum of 35 people who can cozy up to the counter for breakfast, lunch 
or dinner 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
"Our baked beans are the cult favorite here," said Bert Mattison, a 
member of the family that has owned and operated Mickey's since 1937. 
"We make them the same way as we made them in 1939."


This week, Mickey's Diner is at the crossroads of politics. It's located 
at the corner of West Seventh and St. Peter streets. Mickey's is just 
two blocks from the home of the Republican National Convention and just 
a sidewalk away from the most popular parade route for protesters.
"We are at the point where the demonstrations meet the delegates," 
Mattison said. ( Police Use Pyro To Break Up RNC Protests)
Tuesday night, more than 2,000 protesters marched by on their way to the 
Xcel Energy Center where the RNC speeches were under way.
"It's a sight to see," Mattison said. "Sometimes I think when they get 
riled up, we get nervous about the crew. But for the most part, I think 
everybody is being peaceful and good. Some of them have even come in and 
eaten."
More than 10,000 people are believed to have taken part in protests over 
two days with 280 arrests by police.
Mickey's is protected from the crowds by police barricades and fences. 
Tuesday night, protesters and police clashed just feet away from 
Mickey's dining car door. Smoke from bombs and tear gas floated along 
the street in front of the diner as if a low-lying fog has moved into 
the downtown. A police officer in riot gear sat on top of the diner car 
with his legs dangling over the front.
"There was a time when we weren't taking customers. But everyone was 
OK." Mattison said.
The landmark dining car has welcomed more than protesters this week. 
Presidential candidate Ron Paul, Comedy Central host Jon Stewart and CNN 
anchor John Roberts have taken a seat at the counter this week, 
according to Mattison.
They join the ranks of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Willard Scott, Bill 
Murray, Peter Jennings and many others who have discovered Mickey's over 
the years.
"I think it's our people and our mix of culture that keeps people coming 
here," Mattison said.







http://www.kpho.com/politics/17375360/detail.html#-

Violence Follows Second Day of RNC Protests
Police Use Grenades To Disperse Protesters
Jeff Parsons, Senior Director of News
POSTED: 8:14 pm MST September 2, 2008
UPDATED: 9:26 am MST September 3, 2008

A four-hour anti-poverty protest outside the Republican National 
Convention in St. Paul ended with police using flash grenades, smoke 
bombs and tear gas to disperse the crowd. ( Police Use Pyro To Break Up 
RNC Protests)
Police reported three arrests before the crowd was forced away from the 
downtown area. Seven additional arrests happened in the clash that followed.
More than 2,000 protesters rallied with the event organizers, the Poor 
People's Economic Human Rights Campaign.
The national organizer for the group, Cheri Honkala, told the protesters 
she would "march to the steps of the Xcel Center to serve the 
Republicans with a citizen's arrest."


Honkala's group believes the government fails to do enough to support 
the poor and homeless in America. Honkala shared the story of her 
6-year-old son who was told recently that he was not eligible for 
government support to fight a problem with his vision.
"When I found out, I just sat in my van and cried," Honkala said, 
choking back tears.
The group marched a winding 4½-mile path through St. Paul to the Xcel 
Energy Center, where RNC delegates were gathered. As the protesters 
marched, hundreds of people joined their rally, including those gathered 
for a concert that failed to happen near the state Capitol.
The march ended outside two panels of fencing that surrounded parts of 
the Xcel Center.
Honkala challenged the protesters to remain peaceful as she tried to 
deliver the citizen's arrest. A small group of supporters lifted her to 
their shoulders as they tried unsuccessfully to enter the fenced area. ( 
Protesters Take Peaceful March To RNC Gates)
Other protesters then started a standoff with about 20 police in riot 
gear. The remainder of the protesters retreated from the Xcel Center 
area. As they did, hundreds of police in riot gear stood arm to arm to 
form a route away from St. Paul's downtown.
Protesters refused to leave the area, at times taunting officers in riot 
gear. Police issued a final warning to leave the area before firing the 
smoke bombs and grenades.
Tuesday's protest came a day after more than 280 people were arrested in 
violence after an anti-war protest.
Meanwhile, inside the Xcel Energy Center, speeches and videos proceeded 
without any hint of disruption. Few had any idea of the protests and 
clash with law enforcement happening outside.
Russ Walker, a delegate from Oregon, arrived at 5:30 p.m. and did see a 
few protesters on his way in. Fellow Oregonian Ross Marzolf did not run 
into any demonstrations Tuesday but said his bus was hit by 
demonstrators in Monday's anti-war violence.
Marzolf urged protesters to "grow up," saying that the Republicans are 
"acting like adults, but the protesters are goons."
Pete Saxon, an alternate delegate from California, appreciates being 
protected from the demonstrations because "the GOP, any group, has the 
right to conduct business" even though the protesters should also have 
the right to demonstrate peacefully away from that business.







http://allafrica.com/stories/200809040068.html

Kenya: Anti-War Protests Rage On At Party Meeting
Samuel Siringi
3 September 2008
________________________________________

St. Paul — Three more people were arrested as police broke up violent 
protests near the venue where John McCain was to be officially nominated 
as Republican presidential nominee last night.
Police used tear gas and grenades to prevent the protesters from getting 
closer to the Xcel Energy Centre, venue of the Republican National 
Convention, as President Bush addressed delegates via satellite from the 
White House.
The protesters, about 2,000, were holding an anti-poverty demonstration 
just a day after another group caused damage to buildings as they 
marched against the Iraq war. A self-described anarchist group called 
The RNC Welcoming Committee claims it disrupted the convention. It hints 
at more trouble in the days ahead. The group is not officially connected 
to organisers of either of the marches on Monday or on Tuesday.
Cheri Honkala, a leader of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights 
Campaign that called the protests, asked marchers to be nonviolent.
She told anarchists in the crowd that she would hold them responsible if 
they interfered in the peaceful march. It was the third day of protest 
marches in downtown St Paul since delegates began arriving last weekend.
More than 3,500 police officers have been deployed in the city to handle 
security, with street protests their key brief.
Many streets in the city have been closed to traffic making many people 
accessing the city to travel long distances.
On Monday, more than 200 people were arrested following daylong protests 
at the city. The anti-Iraq war protesters smashed windows of shops and 
damaged a police car, but their plans to set it ablaze were stopped by 
police.









http://www.theledger.com/article/20080903/news/809030385

Almost 300 Protesters Are Arrested at GOP Convention

By MARTIGA LOHN
& JON KRAWCZYNSKI
Published: Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at 12:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, September 4, 2008 at 1:50 a.m.
ST. PAUL, Minn. | Police arrests tally nearly 300 following sometimes 
violent confrontations this week, and more protests were planned for 
Wednesday and Thursday, the final two days of the GOP National Convention.

Some protest organizers have promised to resume their often 
confrontational actions near where delegates are meeting in the Xcel 
Energy Center until the convention ends.
Police said Wednesday they had arrested 10 people throughout Tuesday, 
but they declined to offer specifics about each incident. Total arrests 
for the week were 294, including 137 felonies.
At least three of the arrests Tuesday came during a march against 
poverty. The march was tense but neither as widespread nor violent as 
events a day before, when nearly 300 people were arrested in numerous 
run-ins.
Police estimated about 2,000 people took part in the poverty march, 
which lasted about three hours. It ended near the arena with police 
using tear gas and flash-bang grenades to disperse protesters they said 
were trying to get past security fences, a police spokesman said.
The arrests Tuesday came a day after violence erupted following a 
largely peaceful anti-war march by some 10,000 people. Afterward, police 
blamed a splinter group of about 200 for harassing delegates, smashing 
windows, puncturing car tires, throwing bottles and starting at least 
one fire.







http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/04/america/CVN-Convention-Protests.php

102 arrested after GOP convention's third night

The Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn.: Police arrested 102 protesters in downtown Minneapolis 
early Thursday following a concert by the rock group Rage Against the 
Machine, raising to more than 400 the number arrested in demonstrations 
related to the Republican National Convention.
Police blocked off an intersection as they processed those arrested. 
Young people sat on a sidewalk, their backs against a building, or stood 
quietly in line, their hands in plastic cuffs behind their backs.
Protesters calling for an end to the Iraq war urged others to join their 
march Thursday night outside the convention as John McCain accepts his 
party's presidential nomination on its fourth and final night.
The Anti-War Committee denounced the increased presence of police in 
riot gear and acts of "intimidation" in the streets of St. Paul.
In a warmup to the main protest, about 50 college and high school 
students staged an anti-war rally at the Capitol at midday Thursday. 
Eight police officers watched the rally from afar, with most leaning 
against their cars. None wore riot gear.
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Organizers said they were trying to put on a safe, nonviolent event for 
the whole family. When a musician singing and playing a guitar uttered a 
profanity, she was chastised by the crowd and quickly promised to clean 
up her language.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty blamed the violence this week on a small 
group of "anarchists, nihilists, and goofballs who want to break stuff 
and hurt people."
"They need to be dealt with," Pawlenty said in an interview with WCCO-AM 
of Minneapolis. "When you want to break stuff and hurt people, you can't 
do that."
St. Paul was quieter on Wednesday, the convention's third day, when four 
women from the peace group CodePink were arrested after crawling under a 
fence a couple blocks from the Xcel Center where the convention is being 
held. They were released.
CodePink also took credit for disrupting Republican vice presidential 
candidate Sarah Palin's speech on Wednesday night. The group said two of 
its members were given tickets to the speech by a Republican delegate 
who was frustrated with the party and Palin.
The CodePink members, Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans, were escorted from 
the Xcel Center after yelling and displaying a banner. They said they 
were held until after her speech but not arrested.
Police said they broke up more serious plans to disrupt the convention.
Search warrants and other police documents made public this week claim 
that anarchists discussed plans to throw Molotov cocktails, sabotage the 
Xcel Energy Center or the St. Paul Downtown Airport, stretch metal 
chains across freeways and kidnap delegates.






http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/09/02-6

Published on Tuesday, September 2, 2008 by The San Francisco Chronicle
250 protesters arrested, including Amy Goodman
by Joe Garofoli
MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL - Police used pepper spray and tear gas to quell 
breakaway demonstrators from an otherwise peaceful anti-war 
demonstration Monday outside the Republican National Convention, after 
the splinter groups smashed department store and police car windows.
Police officers spray pepper spray at a group of protesters during an 
anti-war rally at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., 
Monday, Sept. 1, 2008. (Matt Rourke / AP)
More than 250 people were arrested - including Amy Goodman, host of the 
nationally broadcast television and radio program "Democracy Now"- as 
police clashed with roaming groups of protesters. Goodman was later 
released, and she was among those cited for various misdemeanors.
More than 2,000 federal, state, and local law enforcement officials, 
many in full riot gear, lined the parade route to keep the estimated 
10,000 marchers from straying from their permitted march. Later in the 
day, police motorcycles escorted buses carrying convention delegates to 
and from the Xcel Energy Center, as police shut down large sections of 
downtown.
Earlier Monday, several groups of demonstrators - many who identified 
themselves as anarchists and covered their faces with bandanas - broke 
from the main march. They set a fire in a garbage Dumpster, damaged five 
police squad cars and smashed three giant display windows at a Macy's 
department store, police said. Store spokeswoman Jennifer McNamara said 
the store will increase security for the rest of the week in response to 
the vandalism.
Activists and civil rights organizations had criticized police for a 
series of pre-emptive raids on Friday and Saturday on the homes of 
suspected demonstration organizers and at the meeting place for the "RNC 
Welcoming Committee," an umbrella organization of dozens of activist 
groups and individuals from around the country. It has been planning 
convention demonstrations for over a year.
Police seized several laptop computers, digital cameras, schedules and 
7,000 "welcoming guides" organizers planned to distribute to people 
coming to the Twin Cities for demonstrations. They also seized several 
gallons of urine and various tools activists use to link themselves 
together during protests.
"It wasn't chilling enough," said St. Paul Police Department spokesman 
Tom Walsh. "We had probable cause. We had obtained information in 
advance that some of these groups, maybe 10 or 12 of them, were planning 
to cause disruption and destruction. For us not to act on that would 
have been irresponsible.
"It made today less violent because of the action we took," Walsh said.
Asked whether law enforcement used undercover infiltrators to obtain 
information on the suspected demonstrators, Walsh said "that's an 
irresponsible question" and declined to answer.
"Certainly there were troublemakers (Monday), and they deserved to be 
arrested," said Teresa Nelson, staff attorney for the American Civil 
Liberties Union-Minnesota. "But we're very troubled that the police were 
using heavy-handed tactics. We heard reports from people who were 
listening to music in the park and who were surrounded and detained."
Nelson's organization will be in court today to try to regain some of 
the material seized in the raids. "That is constitutionally protected 
material," she said.
The vast majority of the participants in Monday's demonstration were 
peaceful. They filled the lawn outside the Minnesota state capitol 
building and listened to speeches at an 11 a.m. rally before marching 
roughly 20 blocks to the Xcel Center. In addition to the smattering of 
Socialists and supporters of a variety of left-wing causes, the majority 
of participants were local families and college students spending their 
Labor Day holiday protesting the GOP and the Iraq war.
"I'm here to be a part of history," said Marisha Weihe, a 38-year-old 
restaurant manager who rallied with her mother and 7- and 16-year-old 
sons. "It's good to be out here with people who feel the same way. Yeah, 
you can send e-mails to each other, but it feels good to physically be 
present."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.






http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/02/rnc.security/index.html?eref=rss_latest

Tue September 2, 2008

Police fire chemical agents, projectiles at RNC protesters
• Story Highlights
• NEW: Police: Officers trying to stop people from breaching security fence
• About 2,000 people took part in anti-poverty protest outside convention
• Hundreds of people arrested Monday after demonstrating near convention
• "Splinter group" broke windows, threw benches Monday, police say

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) -- St. Paul police fired chemical agents and 
projectiles into a large crowd of protesters outside the Republican 
National Convention on Tuesday night.

Police fire chemical agents after some protesters said they would breach 
a security fence.

Witnesses said the protesters marched from the grounds of the state 
Capitol after a concert there ended abruptly.
The protesters were noisy but peaceful as they approached the 
convention. Once they arrived, a police officer read an order to 
disperse, CNN reporters on the scene said.
But almost immediately, officers along the exit route opened fire with 
gas and projectiles. In one instance, a CNN producer said, an officer 
stepped out of line to hit a young woman with pepper spray as she ran 
for the exit. See police spray marchers »
Police said officers were trying to scatter protesters who they said 
\were trying to get past security fences.
Police told the AP that about 2,000 people participated in the 
anti-poverty march, which lasted about three hours.
Other officers used gas and pepper spray in the path of those attempting 
to comply with the disperse order, forcing some to stop in their tracks, 
a CNN crew reported.
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• Dozens arrested at convention
• Security plan going well, police say
• Convention cities turned into high-tech fortresses
• iReport.com: RNC: Cop attacked
The incident comes after almost 300 people were set to be formally 
charged in Ramsey County District Court on Tuesday after they were 
arrested during protests Monday at the Republican National Convention, 
police said.
On Monday, police arrested 283 people after firing projectiles, pepper 
spray and tear gas to disperse a crowd demonstrating near the convention 
site, St. Paul Police Department Chief John Harrington said.
Police used plastic handcuffs to detain 20 to 30 of them a few blocks 
from the security perimeter around the Xcel Energy Center in downtown 
St. Paul.
St. Paul police said that 120 of the 283 arrested were being held on 
felony charges. The rest were charged with various misdemeanors. 
iReport.com: Cops swarm bikers, protesters
A crowd of about 300 people conducted what appeared to be a sit-in in a 
parking lot near the Mississippi River on Monday. Watch police detain 
protesters »
Earlier in the day, a group of self-described anarchists threw park 
benches into streets and smashed windows, police said.
St. Paul police spokesman Thomas Walsh said Monday afternoon that some 
of those arrested are accused of property damage and conspiracy to riot.
The arrest of the "anarchists" came after almost 5,000 protesters 
marched peacefully outside the site of the convention. Walsh said they 
were part of a "splinter group" of the main body of protesters. He said 
he would not characterize their activity as a protest. Watch police use 
pepper spray »
"I think they did a disservice to those that came here to protest," he said.
Five police cars were among the property that was damaged, Walsh said.
Harrington said police arrested nine additional people overnight Monday.
Court proceedings were slowed Tuesday when 22 people facing misdemeanor 
charges refused to give their real names, Dave Gill, a Ramsey County 
public defender, told The Associated Press. Only two people out of all 
those arrested completed their initial hearings as of midday, the AP 
reported.
On Sunday, police saw little disruption ahead of the convention, which 
was scaled back because of Hurricane Gustav.
Despite Monday's disruptions, the security plan is working, Walsh said.
"We had some expectation that there may be some of this activity," he said.
The Republican convention, which began Monday, has been designated a 
"national special security event," which means the Secret Service is 
responsible for planning and implementing security.
But the primary responsibility for street-level security falls to local 
police agencies. St. Paul received $50 million in federal grant money to 
pay for additional security. View the convention security plan »

The St. Paul Police Department estimated that it would require $34 
million to pay 3,500 extra officers. The remaining money is for training 
and equipment, the department said.
Numerous federal agencies are helping provide security, including the 
FBI, the Federal Protective Service, Customs and Border Protection, the 
Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration.







http://www.mathaba.net/rss/?x=604853


10,000 anti-war protesters rally outside Republican convention site
Posted: 2008/09/03
From: MNN

An estimated 10,000 people of all ages walked slowly down the route from 
the Capitol to the convention site at the Xcel Energy Center, frequently 
singing, chanting, and shouting against Bush and the war in Iraq.

ST. PAUL, the United States, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Anti-war protesters 
promise on Tuesday more demonstrations and decry police tactics, as the 
Republican National Convention enters day two in St. Paul, Minn.

Cheri Honkala, a spokesperson for the protesters, told reporters that 
police arrested more than 280 people Monday during a series of 
skirmishes that ranged throughout downtown St. Paul, some within blocks 
of the Xcel Energy Center where the Republican National Convention began 
its four-day run.

In speaking with reporters Tuesday morning, a dozen protest leaders 
blamed the confrontations on police and their "intimidating" tactics.

Some of the 4,500 delegates, too, continue to feel harassed.

At a delegate breakfast in downtown St. Paul, the tires were slashed on 
two buses belonging to the Minnesota delegation, said state Republican 
Party chair Ron Carey.

On Monday, members of the Connecticut delegation told reporters they 
were attacked by protesters when they got off their bus near the Xcel 
Energy Center.

Of those arrested, 130 were booked on felony charges, including one 
assault on a peace officer.

The 51 people arrested for gross misdemeanors and 103 for misdemeanors 
had already been released or were expected to be released soon after 
they were booked.

As President George W. Bush will address the delegates Tuesday night via 
satellite, Police say they are prepared for violent protests to continue 
all week, though they are hoping the worst is over.

An estimated 10,000 people of all ages walked slowly down the route from 
the Capitol to the convention site at the Xcel Energy Center, frequently 
singing, chanting, and shouting against Bush and the war in Iraq.








http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/Kentucky-Students-Still-Jailed-After-Protest/baDuLY06c0O3ZClBThCnEg.cspx

Kentucky Students Still Jailed After Protest

Last Update: 9/02/2008 10:05 pm
Related Links
• Democracy 2008: WCPO Special Section
Web produced by: Neil Relyea
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Two University of Kentucky journalism students and 
their newspaper adviser remain jailed more than a day after they were 
swept up with nearly 300 others during protests in downtown St. Paul, Minn.
Police arrested students Edward C. Matthews and Britney D. McIntosh 
along with adviser Jim Winn on Monday afternoon. All came to the Twin 
Cities to document protests held in response to the Republican National 
Convention, meeting this week in St. Paul.
Matthews' father, Tom Matthews, heard about his son's arrest Tuesday 
morning, then saw him in an Associated Press photo that showed him 
turning away from a stream of pepper spray.
Matthews, of Lexington, Ky., spent much of Tuesday trying to learn 
whether his 21-year-old son would face charges or be released from the 
Ramsey County jail before being told he'd remain in jail for a second night.
The three arrested are affiliated with the University of Kentucky 
student newspaper, the Kentucky Kernel. Matthews is a photographer, 
McIntosh is the multimedia editor and Winn is the paper's photo adviser.
Editor Brad Luttrell said the three traveled to St. Paul for the 
experience of working with professional journalists on a big story, not 
to cover the convention for the college paper.








http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/03/america/NA-POL-US-Convention-Protests.php

Nearly 300 arrested at Republican convention

The Associated Press
Published: September 3, 2008

ST. PAUL, Minnesota: Police arrests tally nearly 300 following sometimes 
violent confrontations this week at the Republican National Convention, 
and more protests were planned for Wednesday and Thursday.
Some protest organizers have promised to resume their confrontational 
actions near the meeting site, Xcel Energy Center, until the convention 
ends its four-day run.
Police said Wednesday they had arrested 10 people Tuesday, but they 
declined to offer specifics about each incident. Total arrests for the 
week were 294, including 137 felonies.
At least three of the arrests Tuesday came during a march against 
poverty. The day before, nearly 300 people were arrested in numerous 
run-ins in downtown St. Paul.
Police estimated about 2,000 people took part in the poverty march, 
which lasted about three hours. It ended near the convention arena with 
police using tear gas and flash-bang grenades to disperse protesters 
they said were trying to get past security fences, said Tom Walsh, a St. 
Paul police spokesman.
The arrests Tuesday came a day after violence erupted following a 
largely peaceful anti-war march by some 10,000 people. Afterward, police 
blamed a splinter group of about 200 for harassing delegates, smashing 
windows, puncturing car tires, throwing bottles and starting at least 
one fire.
The RNC Welcoming Committee, a self-described anarchist group that has 
worked for months planning convention disruptions, claimed success in 
e-mails to its members and media. "The spectacle has been crashed!" read 
one.
That group wasn't officially connected with the organizers of either march.







http://newsok.com/oklahoma-delegates-find-protests-unsettling/article/3292153

Delegates find protests unsettling
Oklahoma delegates find protests unsettling
By Michael McNutt
Published: September 3, 2008

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Jason Reese recognized the odor of tear gas from Navy 
Reserve training, and told his companion to quickly roll up their taxi's 
windows.
Featured Gallery

Tom Montgomery was just trying to walk from his vehicle to the 
Republican National Convention when he found himself walking next to 
what looked like a parade.

Both members of Oklahoma's delegation to the Republican National 
Convention came face-to-face Monday with an anti-war protest march, in 
which some in the group got into a confrontation with police.

The Oklahomans were not harmed, but admitted Tuesday it was unsettling.

Reese, a delegate from Oklahoma City, and his guest, Brett Farley, left 
the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul, about 4 p.m. Monday to see 
some friends at a nearby hotel.

They got into a taxi and hadn't traveled far when the vehicle stopped.

Reese, attending his first national GOP convention, said he saw about 30 
people dressed in black carrying black and red flags. They wore 
bandannas or surgical masks and yelled at police who were equipped with 
riot gear.

They acted differently than anti-war demonstrators seen minutes earlier, 
protesters who were peaceful and chanting and singing "This Land Is Your 
Land."

"They (those dressed in black) start running across the street at the 
police and one or two of them actually made physical contact with the 
police, but the rest of them are just running up in a kind of menacing 
manner," Reese said.

"The police had their sticks out only for the ones who actually made 
physical contact with them to fend them off. But then they threw tear 
gas, a big billowing green smoke. And the protesters started falling 
back once that happened."

Reese said he smelled the tear gas and noticed the taxi's windows were 
rolled down.

"The green smoke starts coming in like a bad horror movie," Reese said.

"Our noses started running a little bit...and we start telling the 
cabbie, 'You need to go.'"

The cab driver was able to drive them out of the area, Reese said.

He said he didn't see anyone throwing benches or breaking windows.

Organizers of Monday's protest had said about 50,000 would attend the 
protest march. Published reports said protesters numbered about 10,000; 
police arrested about 250.

Going the same way

Montgomery, a delegate from Muskogee, said he drove from the 
delegation's hotel in Minneapolis to the Xcel Energy Center. More 
streets were closed than he originally was told, so he parked near 
Minnesota's state Capitol, which was near the beginning of the anti-war 
demonstration route.

As he walked toward the convention site about 2:30 p.m., he said he 
noticed the protesters and soon he was walking beside them.

"They were mostly nice," said Montgomery, although a few heckled him 
when they saw him wearing his straw cowboy hat with the bumper sticker 
for U.S. Sen. John McCain.

http://www.gnn.tv/headlines/18216/Black_bloc_protester_retaliates_against_police_repression_at_RNC_rescues_victim

Black bloc protester retaliates against police repression at RNC, 
rescues victim
Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:03:36 -0500
Summary:
Click the link below or click here for the Youtube version.
The video shows a police officer brutally dragging a protester through a 
crowd while threatening them with pepper spray. At 0:16 of the video, 
with his back turned, an unidentified black bloc protester body checks 
the officer, momentarily knocking him off balance and allowing the 
victim to flee into the crowd. The officer, after dousing everyone 
around him with pepper spray, also flees.
The image of the anonymous protester slamming into the guard is one of 
the few proud moments for the dissident movement over the last eight 
years. It should be replayed over and over again to remind us of what 
taking to the streets really means. In the first world, its hard to find 
backbone in the dissident movement, but this kid didn’t come to St Paul 
to wag a sign around and feel self-righteous: this kid came to fight back.
[Posted By stevenmartin]
By Conduit
Republished from The Uptake
Lone protester intervenes in act of police brutality during RNC, 
allowing victim to flee.
The UpTake captured video of a St. Paul police officer dragging a “black 
bloc” protester away from a bus, only to get tackled from behind. The 
officer sprayed a chemical agent all around him but ultimately lost the 
suspect and called for backup. Video by Conduit.







http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_story.aspx?storyid=97969

US Senate candidate from Kalamazoo County caught in RNC protest
• Updated:9/3/2008 8:05:53 AM - Posted: 9/3/2008 12:08:34 AM

MINNEAPOLIS, M.N. (KARE11) - It's an experience they probably will never 
forget.
US Senate Candidate Jack Hoogendyk and his wife were on their way to the 
Republican Convention in Minneapolis Tuesday night when they found 
themselves in the middle of a protest. Hoogendyk is currently a State 
Representative in the 61st District in Kalamazoo County. He's running 
against Democrat Carl Levin in November.
He says after parking their car, he and his wife began to walk to the 
convention but were faced by a wall of protestors. Unable to find their 
way out, a reporter from our sister station, KARE-11 in Minneapolis 
escorted them to the police line. They presented their credentials and 
were able to get away from the crowd.
About a half hour later, the crowd of protestors became unruly and 
police had to use tear gas to push the crowd back.
You can read the reporter's account of the situation by clicking on this 
link from Kare 11.







http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=523779&catid=2

Tuesday night: Two protest marches merge
Wednesday morning looking back Whew. Lookin' back on last night...how 
surreal was that?! A couple hind-sight observations: 1. Believe it or 
not - it's the truth - the vast majority of the people in these rallies 
are not about tearin' up the town. They're just not. They're folks who 
are trying to make a few key political statements - at a time when much 
of the nation is focused on politics & messaging. They're so effective 
at what they're doing that they create a critical mass, which is very 
useful for folks who are looking for cover - to make statements of their 
own. 2. Don't miss the chance to pull down the raw video. You really get 
the feeling of 'being there.' Craig Norkus, the photographer, working 
with me last night was top-shelf. Managing not just to keep his footing 
in that moving sea-of-humanity, while looking through a viewfinder, and 
trying to stay focused on the action anticipating what might be next. He 
was also fending off a few punks who just wanted to challenge him for 
taking video. As an aside, let me see if I understand this, correctly:
• You want to come downtown to stage a rally & protest march.
• You want your voice to be heard.
• In some cases you want to provoke the police.
• And if/when there's a teargas attack or a pepper spray issue. You 
would like the camera people to go away? What am I missing here? 3. 
Another guy working with us in the field was Taylor Carik, a new hire 
with MetroMix. He had been covering the "Rage Against the Machine" 
concert that wasn't and ended up running alongside the impromptu 
concert-goers-join-the-activist marchers. Carik is a young, smart guy 
and aggressive when it comes to getting the job done. In all the chaos 
(literally thousands of marchers), he'd point out two (or seven) folks 
in a pack moving to disguise their faces as we neared parts of the 
business district. He was good and very "on top of what was happening" 
as it was going down. I was kind of blown away at his ability to find & 
locate the would-be spoilers, out of such chaos, in real time. 
Impressive. 4. I still can't believe we found that Republican U.S. 
Senate candidate (Jack Hoogendyk, Kalamazoo, MI) and his wife but talk 
about picking out things in a sea-of-humanity that "don't look quite 
right." I grabbed Craig (photographer) & told him we needed to go after 
"that guy." Beyond the obvious risk of being in the middle of a crowd 
with so many armed police officers surrounding them, finding that guy & 
his wife in the middle of the pack was one place where it just seemed 
like there was a real opportunity for someone to get seriously hurt.
I got an email from a woman this morning who identified herself as an 
'Independent' who would 'Vote for Obama' -- and asked me to pass this 
onto the candidate: "If you get a chance to speak again to the 
Republican US senate candidate and his wife whom you escorted out of the 
crowd, please tell them that some people, such as I, a Saint Paul 
resident, are appalled at the way they have been received in our city. 
There is absolutely NO reason for that type of intimidation. They should 
feel safe and welcomed here." So, if you're out there Mr. Hoogendyk, I 
hope you got the message.
5. You have to have respect for the work of law enforcement in this 
thing. While we may well find cases of abuse (most in the media are on 
high alert for it; where found, it's reported aggressively), there's no 
getting around the fact that these folks themselves put their lives in 
danger simply walking head-long into sometimes very angry masses of 
people. In 20 years of reporting & anchoring in this town, I've come to 
know many of them.
I saw several faces in the crowd yesterday, only this time, the school 
officer was dressed in fully padded kevlar. Some of the traffic cops 
were completely decked-out in riot gear. One or two stopped to take off 
a mask & say "Hi." That's wild. It gives me (and hopefully you, too) a 
bit of a perspective for the real lives and people behind this thing.
This is their community too. Some spoke to me with pride about making 
sure those who want to "speak out" are able to do it safely - and 
without fear of other/unknown angry elements. Some spoke of their time - 
not just as cops - but in the military, literally, fighting for such 
rights. They live here, as do many of the protesters themselves. It'll 
be interesting to see where it goes Wednesday and the rest of this week.
8:57 p.m.
So, we get out of the thick of the protest and the couple who I'm trying 
to free, Representative Jack Hoogendyke of Michigan, who is running for 
U.S. Senate, and his wife agree to talk to me on camera...
When the interview is over, I realize we are surrounded by protesters on 
bikes trying to block us in. I try to get through the bikes and one of 
the kids says 'psych'...
We eventually get by and I'm leading Hoogendyke and his wife out when we 
run into four delegates... I know they are delegates because they are 
very well dressed and had a look of uncertainty and quiet desperation 
about them...
I tell them all (six total) there is no guarantee I'll get you out, but 
we'll see.
We double back to the corner of Mickey's diner and flag down a cop.. I 
explain who these six people are and where they need to go. They are 
asked to show their official RNC badges and the entire group is allowed 
through the baracade.
At the same time, several journalists rush our group and ask to get out 
too... None of them were allowed to leave... We had no intention to 
leave, but it was clear we wouldn't have been able to anyway.
Also caught up in the mayhem was KARE 11 photojournalist Craig Norkus 
who was tear gassed as he tried to cover the protest... and yes, he 
caught it all on tape.
This all happened if you can believe it.. quite surreal.
8:40 p.m.
The vast majority of the people involved are very peacefull people. A 
lot are disabled, some children, some seniors.. Then there are some who 
look liked they wanted to cause trouble, some with masks over their 
faces, some without.
It's an intersting and dynamic scene.
You have a sense you don't really know what is going to happen.
In this scene, near the end of the line where you have to turn around, 
people are being rallied by a woman with a blowhorn.
I see this guy in a business suit with his wife clutching her purse 
trying to pass everyone. He clearly does not belong. So I go try to talk 
to them.. and I say, what are you doing here. He says that's a good 
question....
He explains he is with the Michigan Delegation and he's trying to get to 
the 'X' ...
I say he's in the middle of a protest march and at the end of this road 
is an 8 foot fence and there is no way out. He says, what do we do? I 
say come with me.. I'm going to try to get you out of here.
8:25 p.m.
10th and Wabasha
The cops numbered this crowd at 4,000 people...
This was one large march. The group at Mears park marched to the State 
Capitol where they hooked up with 'Rage Against the Machine" march... 
They together continued on their march to the Xcel.
They went down Cedar from the capitol and were forced to hang a right on 
7th street by hundreds of police in riot gear and masks.
The protestors marched down 7th near Mickey's Diner and hit a dead 
end... an 8 foot fence... right across the street is the 'X'...
This is the same place protestors marched yesterday and they had to turn 
around in the 'cage' and go back the way they came.
7:35 p.m.
Thousands of protestors are making their way to the Xcel.
One of the protestors along the parade route says 'Rage Against the 
Machine'showed up at the concert and said they had a right to play. When 
they were denied access to the stage, they went in front of the stage 
and talked to the concert goers for about 20 minutes...
Shortly after, the entire crowd of several thousand people started their 
march down Cedar to the Xcel Energy Center.
Police in riot gear could be seen from all directions.
7:15 p.m.
We are at 7th and Cedar in downtown St. Paul. There are so many police 
officers it's difficult to count them all...
What we've heard is the Capitol declined to permit a prescheduled 
concert from continuing on.
'Rage Against the Machine', a political rap metal band formed in Los 
Angeles, showed up to perform Tuesday night at the Capitol. After their 
performance, the crowd of concert goers/protestors planned to march down 
Cedar to the Xcel Center.
However, 'Rage Against the Machine' was not allowed to get on stage and 
that's when protestors started to march down Cedar.
Police declared a code 2, high alert.
Officers in riot gear came in from all sides of the intersection at 7th 
and Cedar to meet the protestors.
We'll wait to see what happens.








http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/violence-breaks.html

Violence Breaks Out at Anti-War Protest in St. Paul
Email
Share
September 01, 2008 4:49 PM
UPDATE: As of Tuesday morning, police have arrested more than 280 
demonstrators throughout the downtown St. Paul area, according to the 
Associated Press.
ABC News' Lindsey Ellerson Reports: Waving signs and chanting in unison 
"troops out now", thousands of anti-war protesters took to the streets 
of St. Paul Monday for what is the largest anti-war rally scheduled 
during the week of the Republican Convention. Police estimated a crowd 
of 8,000-10,000 at the event organized by the Coalition to March on the 
RNC and Stop the War, despite initial predictions that up to 50,000 
demonstrators would show up.
The gathering kicked off at the State Capitol and soon gathered steam 
into a large march to the Xcel Energy Center, where Sen. John McCain is 
scheduled to accept the Republican nomination for president on Thursday.
Enthusiastic demonstrators screamed "war isn't the answer!", some 
inciting violence against police trying to control the march.
“Whose streets? Our streets!” yelled a young demonstrators who clashed 
with law enforcement.
As activists tried to push through police barricades to make their way 
down to the convention center, it appeared that police were using pepper 
spray to quell the chaotic activity.
"We do believe that some sort of chemical agent was deployed," said a 
representative from the RNC's Joint Information Center, when asked by 
ABCNews.
Officials are reporting that the protest activity resulted in 13 
arrests, seven misdemeanors, two gross misdemeanors and four felonies today.
For the latest on Hurricane Gustav, watch "Gustav Storms the Gulf" on a 
special edition of "20/20" at 10 p.m. ET
The St. Paul rally opened peacefully with various speakers addressing 
the large crowd about what they called atrocities committed by the Bush 
administration.
“When I say Bush, you say Liar. Bush! Liar! Bush! Liar!”roared the crowd 
in a call and answer session. “When I say Cheney, everybody duck!”
According to the organizers, the protest was officially endorsed by more 
than 125 national and local organizations.
Jay Marx, an avid activist who spent last week at the DNC in Denver, is 
visiting St. Paul to support impeachment of President George Bush and 
represent all forms of freedom.
“There might be various flavors and pieces of justice represented here, 
but fundamentally, we’re all here to stand for the same peace.”
Jerry Krause, a professor at a St. Paul University and member of 
Veterans for Peace, paraded through the crowd holding a large, bloodied 
flag.
When asked by ABC News if the RNC’s cancellation of evening events, 
which were scheduled to include President Bush and Vice President 
Cheney, deterred his desire to protest, Krause replied, “Bush didn’t 
cancel the war.”
Many activists came to support the cause from miles away. Matthew Jones, 
a 22 year old student who drove 950 miles to stand up against the Bush 
administration, was dressed in an orange jumpsuit with a black cloak 
over his head.
“I am here to represent the political prisoners, people locked in Gitmo 
without due process and the Iraq war impending Iranian conflict…because 
I don’t want my daughter to be affected by this capitalistic government, 
and then be left with nothing.”
The rally began at 11a.m. and continued throughout the afternoon.








http://www.whas11.com/topstories/stories/whas11_topstory_080903_UK_students_arrested_GOP.3ebe0d6a.html

2 UK students and advisor released after being arrested during 
Republican Convention protests
05:13 PM EDT on Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Previous Story: 2 UK students part of hundreds arrested
Two university of Kentucky journalism students and an advisor are out of 
jail after getting arrested along with hundreds of others during 
Republican Convention protests.
They are all affiliated with the UK student newspaper - Kentucky 
Kernel-in Lexington.
A photo taken by the Associated Press shows Kentucky kernel photographer 
Ed Matthews being doused with pepper spray.
According to the Kentucky Kernel, Matthews, fellow student Brittney 
McIntosh, and advisor Jim Winn were all released around noon Wednesday.
The newspaper says charges are pending further investigation.
The editor of the Kentucky Kernel told WHAS11 News that the three were 
not rioting.









http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_14450.cfm

RNC Protest Organizers Framed on Bogus Conspiracy Charges
• RNC 8 Charged with "Conspiracy to Riot in Furtherance of Terrorism"
Indymedia Twin Cities, MN, September 3, 2008
Straight to the Source
In what appears to be the first use of criminal charges under the 2002 
Minnesota version of the Federal Patriot Act, Ramsey County Prosecutors 
have formally charged 8 alleged leaders of the RNC Welcoming Committee 
with Conspiracy to Riot in Furtherance of Terrorism. Monica Bicking, 
Eryn Trimmer, Luce Guillen Givins, Erik Oseland, Nathanael Secor, Robert 
Czernik, Garrett Fitzgerald, and Max Spector, face up to 7 1/2 years in 
prison under the terrorism enhancement charge which allows for a 50% 
increase in the maximum penalty.
Affidavits released by law enforcement which were filed in support of 
the search warrants used in raids over the weekend, and used to support 
probable cause for the arrest warrants, are based on paid, confidential 
informants who infiltrated the RNCWC on behalf of law enforcement. They 
allege that members of the group sought to kidnap delegates to the RNC, 
assault police officers with firebombs and explosives, and sabotage 
airports in St. Paul. Evidence released to date does not corroborate 
these allegations with physical evidence or provide any other evidence 
for these allegations than the claims of the informants. Based on past 
abuses of such informants by law enforcement, the National Lawyers Guild 
is concerned that such police informants have incentives to lie and 
exaggerate threats of violence and to also act as provacateurs in 
raising and urging support for acts of violence.
"These charges are an effort to equate publicly stated plans to blockade 
traffic and disrupt the RNC as being the same as acts of terrorism. This 
both trivializes real violence and attempts to place the stated 
political views of the Defendants on trial," said Bruce Nestor, 
President of the Minnesota Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. "The 
charges represent an abuse of the criminal justice system and seek to 
intimidate any person organizing large scale public demonstrations 
potentially involving civil disobedience, he said."
The criminal complaints filed by the Ramsey County Attorney do not 
allege that any of the defendants personally have engaged in any act of 
violence or damage to property. The complaints list all of alleged 
violations of law during the last few days of the RNC -- other than 
violations of human rights carried out by law enforcement -- and seeks 
to hold the 8 defendants responsible for acts committed by other 
individuals. None of the defendants have any prior criminal history 
involving acts of violence. Searches conducted in connection with the 
raids failed to turn up any physical evidence to support the allegations 
of organized attacks on law enforcement. Although claiming probable 
cause to believe that gunpowder, acids, and assembled incendiary devices 
would be found, no such items were seized by police. As a result, police 
sought to claim that the seizure of common household items such as glass 
bottles, charcoal lighter, nails, a rusty machete, and two hatchets, 
supported the allegations of the confidential informants. "Police found 
what they claim was a single plastic shield, a rusty machete, and two 
hatchets used in Minnesota to split wood. This doesn't amount to 
evidence of an organized insurrection, particularly when over 3,500 
police are present in the Twin Cities, armed with assault rifles, 
concussion grenades, chemical weapons and full riot gear," said Nestor. 
In addition, the National Lawyers Guild has previously pointed out how 
law enforcement has fabricated evidence such as the claims that urine 
was seized which demonstrators intended to throw at police.
The last time such charges were brought under Minnesota law was in 1918, 
when Matt Moilen and others organizing labor unions for the Industrial 
Workers of the World [ed. correction-TCIMC] on the Iron Range were 
charged with "criminal syndicalism." The convictions, based on 
allegations that workers had advocated or taught acts of violence, 
including acts only damaging to property, were upheld by the Minnesota 
Supreme Court. In the light of history, these convictions are widely 
seen as unjust and a product of political trials. The National Lawyers 
Guild condemns the charges filed in this case against the above 8 
defendants and urges the Ramsey County Attorney to drop all charges of 
conspiracy in this matter.
Source: Bruce Nestor, President Minnesota Chapter of National Lawyers Guild









http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_14457.cfm

Republicans Secured Prior Insurance Coverage to Violate Civil Rights of 
Protestors at RNC
• Taxpayers Off The Hook For GOP Convention Lawsuits
By Ryan J. Foley
AP, via Common Dreams, September 4, 2008
Straight to the Source
Critics say the agreement has only encouraged police to use aggressive 
tactics knowing they won't have to pay damages
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Taxpayers should be off the hook for any damages 
stemming from claims of police misconduct related to the Republican 
National Convention under a first-of-its-kind agreement.
The deal required the Republican Party's host committee to buy insurance 
covering up to $10 million in damages and unlimited legal costs for law 
enforcement officials accused of brutality, violating civil rights and 
other misconduct.
Other cities who hosted conventions in recent years - including Denver, 
Boston, New York and Philadelphia - either covered those costs from 
their general budgets or used tax money to buy insurance policies.
But St. Paul officials, led by Mayor Chris Coleman, insisted the 
committee use its private donations to purchase the insurance policy. 
They had some leverage because the party had named St. Paul as the 
location for the convention before striking the city services agreement 
in January 2007.
"The negotiating team, with the mayor's encouragement, took the firm 
ground that we had to have the police professional liability insurance 
paid for by someone other than city taxpayers," said City Attorney John 
Choi. "Ultimately, and reluctantly on the host committee's part, we were 
able to secure that."
The deal could save taxpayers millions. Police have arrested nearly 300 
people, and many protesters are threatening lawsuits. New York City 
still faces more than 400 lawsuits from some of the 1,800 people 
arrested at the 2004 GOP convention, said Laura Postiglione, a 
spokeswoman in the city's law department.
In St. Paul, some critics say the agreement has only encouraged police 
to use aggressive tactics knowing they won't have to pay damages.
"It's an extraordinary agreement. Now the police have nothing to hold 
them back from egregious behavior," said Michelle Gross, who leads 
Communities United Against Police Brutality. She is considering filing 
suit after being handcuffed and searched last week during a raid of the 
St. Paul hub of an anarchist group.
© 2008 Associated Press








http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=523982

Police: Officers showed restraint, patience during RNC protests

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Police packed away body armor, gas masks and 
pepper spray on Friday -- but not the questions about their tactics 
during the Republican National Convention. Click here: Media advocates 
cry foul over journalists' arrests
They made more than 800 arrests related to the convention, including 
nearly 400 on Thursday as protesters blocked traffic on streets and 
bridges a few blocks from Xcel Energy Center. In Denver, site of the 
Democratic convention a week earlier, only 152 people were arrested.
Hundreds of officers in riot gear -- some on horses -- poured into St. 
Paul's streets starting on Sunday to hold demonstrators to approved 
routes and quell disturbances. They used tear gas, pepper spray, 
percussion grenades and sticks to control protesters who overstayed 
permits or veered into unauthorized areas.
Police Chief John Harrington said the 3,700 officers who worked the 
event showed patience and moved in when they had to. He said they 
focused on people they expected to cross the line into property damage 
or violence, and tried to contain other protesters without trampling on 
their free speech rights.
"Nothing burned in downtown St. Paul," Harrington said. "No one was 
injured in downtown St. Paul. With the exception of one or two windows, 
downtown St. Paul remained open for business."
But protesters and some observers said the show of force raised the 
tension level.
"You could literally go nowhere without being confronted by a Robocop in 
the most intimidating, threatening gear, who wouldn't give you 
directions, who wouldn't do anything except threaten you and tell you to 
move, move, move," said Dianne Mathiowetz, an anti-war activist from 
Atlanta.
Some showed injuries they said were caused by rubber bullets or rough 
handling during arrest.
Those caught up in chaotic mass arrests included journalists, legal 
observers and others who hadn't intended to commit civil disobedience -- 
including two Associated Press reporters and an AP photographer.
On Friday, an attorney for The Associated Press sent Harrington a letter 
asking for an accounting of police treatment of photographers Matt 
Rourke and Evan Vucci. Rourke was wearing AP credentials when he was 
arrested Monday while covering protest violence in downtown St. Paul, 
and was held for 10 hours before being released.
The ACLU of Minnesota is preparing to coordinate legal representation 
for some protesters, and is looking into the use of chemical irritants 
and mass arrests as it prepares a possible lawsuit against the city, 
executive director Chuck Samuelson said.
Another group of six protesters held a news conference Friday to show 
bruises, scratches and other injuries. Two said they planned to sue and 
others said they were contemplating legal action.
Pre-emptive arrests before the convention and the aggressive look of 
riot police heightened fear and anger among the protesters, said Demi 
Miller, who walked the demonstrations as a member of the Peace Team, a 
group in yellow vests that sought to defuse tensions.
Miller said the law enforcement strategy changed from day to day.
On Tuesday, the day after nearly 300 people were arrested during 
scattered acts of violence on the convention's opening day, police 
prevented the band Rage Against the Machine from playing at a free 
concert on the Capitol grounds.
Hundreds of angry concertgoers joined an anti-poverty march that had 
just come down the street.
"Suddenly we had this huge group of really enraged or upset people 
energized to go screaming into downtown with the poor people's march," 
Miller said.
By the end of the evening, 10 were arrested and police fired pepper 
spray and percussion grenades to disperse those who lingered after the 
march broke up.
But the officers also showed restraint. In some cases, they waited for 
hours and took verbal abuse. They gave several dispersal warnings before 
using more drastic tactics.
During a peaceful standoff on Thursday night at the intersection of John 
Ireland Boulevard and Rice Street near the Capitol, one man agitated the 
crowd by roaming through the protesters and swearing at them. After 
about an hour, police suddenly moved to arrest him. Then one officer 
used a bullhorn to tell protesters not to worry, that they were only 
arresting the man causing trouble.
"Continue to speak your minds," the officer told the crowd.
Protesters cheered and clapped.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)









http://www.startribune.com/politics/27736044.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUX

Estimated 10,000 protesters march on convention in St. Paul:

Antiwar demonstrators marched today from the State Capitol to the site 
of the Republican National Convention, despite the big-name 
cancellations, and following an earlier march by a smaller group.

The ad hoc group of protesters departed early from the Capitol and were 
met near the Xcel Energy Center, site of the convention, by 
counter-demonstrators and under the watch of police. Two news media 
photographers apparently caught pepper spray from law enforcement.

Protest organizers said their passion remains strong even though 
President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are skipping their 
convention speeches because of Hurricane Gustav.

Police put the initial number of marchers at about 10,000 as the formal 
trek from the Capitol began this afternoon.

"There's far too few people here," said Lennie Major, a teacher from 
Mounds View. "We should have 10 times this many. This will only be a blip."









http://www.myantiwar.org/view/161171.html

Mass show of peaceful dissent soon makes a violent descent

Richard Sennott, Star Tribune
Police arrest a group of protesters along Shepard Road in St Paul.
By CURT BROWN, Star Tribune
Last update: September 2, 2008 - 12:08 PM

Bolstered by emergency help from the Minnesota National Guard, police in 
St. Paul arrested 284 people Monday after outbreaks of violence and road 
obstructions linked to rogue bands of demonstrators among an otherwise 
peaceful throng estimated at 10,000 people.
The demonstrations, on a steamy first day of the Republican National 
Convention, began with block after block of marchers -- far fewer than 
the 50,000 some had predicted -- chanting and peacefully waving signs on 
downtown St. Paul's narrow streets. As the day wore on, the carnival 
atmosphere turned ugly.
Before most of the demonstrators had finished their march, a few hundred 
protesters splintered off and became confrontational and sometimes 
violent. Some smashed windows at Macy's and a downtown bank building. 
Others challenged police by blocking roads.
Late Monday, authorities said 130 of the 284 people arrested may face 
felony charges. Dozens were pepper-sprayed and tear-gassed. One police 
officer was punched in the back, and another suffered from heat 
exhaustion. St. Paul emergency rooms reported nine minor injuries and 
several heat-related cases.
Hundreds of police officers, sweltering in heavy riot gear, swept in to 
block streets and protect delegate buses. About 3 p.m., St. Paul police 
requested help from 150 National Guard troops.
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman said officers showed restraint as a small 
number of law-breaking demonstrators marred an otherwise peaceful day of 
free speech.
"Their efforts were nothing short of heroic," Coleman said. "They did 
not fail. They did not take the bait."
But observers from the National Lawyers Guild took issue with police action.
"We think it's unconscionable. We think it's out of control," said Gina 
Berglund, an attorney and legal observer coordinator for the guild's 
Minnesota chapter. "The response by the police was completely out of 
proportion with what they were faced with."
St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington said the troublemakers came from a 
half-dozen loosely organized groups totaling up to 180 people, a small 
fraction of Monday's turnout.
Some delegates attacked
Members of the Connecticut and Alabama delegations reported being 
attacked at one point by protesters. Connecticut delegate Rob Simmons 
told KMSP-TV that protesters tried to rip the credentials off delegates' 
necks and sprayed them with a toxic substance that burned their eyes. 
One 80-year-old delegate was treated for injuries, and several others 
had to rinse their eyes and clothing.
Also, retired Alabama Supreme Court Judge Terry Butts said about 100 
protesters approached a delegation bus and one threw a brick through a 
window. Butts said the bus driver suffered cuts.
A cross-section of dissent
Protesters had come from across the state and the country for what was 
expected to be the week's largest demonstration. They marched after a 
noon rally at the State Capitol, snaking down a route that circled in 
front of the Xcel Energy Center as delegates arrived for a session cut 
short by Hurricane Gustav.
Cu Nyugen, a Vietnamese native who lives in Minneapolis, brought his 
12-year-old daughter, Mai, on the eve of her first day of sixth grade. 
"It's important for the younger generation to see and learn about 
different points of view," Nyugen said.
Marie Williams, 77, of Minneapolis, carried a "Dissent Is Patriotic" 
placard. "I started coming to protests with Paul Wellstone," she said.
Some were disappointed by the turnout, wondering if the 90-degree heat, 
aggressive police and President Bush's cancellation thinned the crowd.
"I'm disappointed -- this is far too few people," said Lennie Major, a 
teacher from Mounds View. "We needed 10 times this many to make an 
impact; this will only be a blip."
Escalating violence
Harrington said the first illegal salvo happened about 11 a.m., when a 
Dumpster was shoved into an occupied squad car on W. 7th Street. "I'm 
not sure how anyone can say that's protest," Harrington said.
The peaceful mood started to change after 1:30 p.m., when several groups 
broke off and began resisting police. The biggest showdown occurred 
about 5:30 p.m., when police in riot gear cornered about 80 protesters 
near the Mississippi River below the Minnesota Science Museum. Daniel 
Streltz, a freelance photographer, said the protesters sat down when 
police ordered them to disperse. By early evening, police had arrested 
most of them.
About 3 p.m., about 250 people locked arms to block delegate buses near 
Robert Street and Kellogg Boulevard. They were in a standoff with 100 
police officers, and authorities warned them to disperse. Minutes later, 
when the group refused to move, officers tossed in a dozen tear-gas 
canisters, prompting the crowd to retreat.
Some demonstrators then attempted to line the street with obstacles. 
Witnesses said police also used concussion grenades and smoke bombs.
"Most of [the demonstrators] were pretty good," said CarolLee Folsom, a 
bystander who used to work for the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office. "But 
you don't know what any of these people are going to do. And they warned 
them, so anybody that wanted to get out could have gotten out."
Demonstrator Andrew Sigmundik, 18, disagreed, saying that the police 
went overboard and that he witnessed "one guy in a wheelchair getting 
Maced and some other people getting hit by police batons.
"Nobody was trying to cause destruction or violence," he said. "The idea 
was to just block the streets. We were just trying to disrupt the 
delegation, and I think we succeeded."
At about 2 p.m., protesters dropped bent nails into the intersection at 
6th and Wacouta Streets. A group of more than 200 tossed garbage cans 
and newspaper kiosks into the road. A few marchers broke off and threw 
objects, shattering three windows in a bank building at 4th and 
Minnesota Streets.
Others continued up 6th, pursued by more than a dozen slow-moving police 
cars. A few officers walked in front of the cars, clearing the barriers 
the marchers had thrown in the street. By the time they reached 6th and 
Cedar, many of the marchers began to disperse. Some smashed three 
windows at Macy's. One person jumped up and down a few times on the roof 
of a parked police car before breaking its windows.
An alternative broadcaster, "Democracy Now" host Amy Goodman, was among 
an estimated 40 people arrested about 5 p.m. near the corner of 8th and 
Jackson. She was arrested as she tried to prevent the arrests of two 
colleagues, a producer for her show said.
Associated Press photographer Matt Rourke also was arrested when he was 
swept up with a group of protesters. He was released without charges.
Staff writers Randy Furst, Anthony Lonetree, Heron Marquez Estrada, 
Maria Elena Baca, Tony Kennedy, Paul McEnroe, H.J,. Cummins, Rodrigo 
Zamith, Pat Pheifer, Allie Shah, Richard Meryhew, Kevin Giles, Thomas 
Lee, David Shaffer, Jean Hopfensperger and Pam Louwagie contributed to 
this report, along with the Associated Press.










http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/02/america/NA-US-Convention-Protests.php

Some turn violent in US convention protests

The Associated Press
Published: September 2, 2008

ST. PAUL, Minnesota: Demonstrations near the Republican National 
Convention site turned violent, as protesters harassed some delegates, 
smashed windows, slashed car tires and threw bottles. Police using 
pepper spray arrested more than 250 people.
The trouble happened not far from the Xcel Energy Center convention site 
where the Republican Party was starting its four-day meeting. And many 
of those involved in the more violent activities identified themselves 
to reporters as anarchists. These protesters, some clad in black, were 
operating on the streets in addition to a peaceful anti-war march, 
wreaking havoc by damaging property and setting at least one fire. Most 
of the trouble was in pockets of a neighborhood near downtown, several 
blocks from where the convention was taking place.
The main anti-war march was peaceful, police said, estimating about 
10,000 people participated. Late Monday afternoon, long after the 
anti-war marchers had dispersed, police requested and got 150 Minnesota 
National Guard soldiers to help control splinter groups near downtown.
Members of the Connecticut delegation to the convention said they were 
attacked by protesters when they got off their bus near the Xcel Center, 
KMSP-TV reported. Delegate Rob Simmons told the station that a group of 
protesters came toward his delegation and tried to rip the credentials 
off their necks and sprayed them with a toxic substance that burned 
their eyes and stained their clothes.
One 80-year-old member of the delegation had to be treated for injuries, 
and several other delegates had to rinse their eyes and clothing, the 
station reported.
Five people were arrested for lighting a trash bin on fire and pushing 
it into a police car, St. Paul police spokesman Tom Walsh said.
Of the arrestees, 119 faced possible felony charges, authorities said.
At least four journalists were among those detained, including 
Associated Press photographer Matt Rourke and Amy Goodman, host of 
Democracy Now!, a nationally syndicated public radio and TV news 
program. Goodman was intervening on behalf of two producers for her 
program, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, when she was 
arrested, said Mike Burke, another producer.
St. Paul police spokesman Tom Walsh said Rourke was held on a gross 
misdemeanor riot charge. Goodman was arrested on a misdemeanor charge, 
Ramsey County sheriff's spokeswoman Holli Drinkwine said. Neither Walsh 
nor Drinkwine had information on the other two journalists.
The anti-war march was organized by a group called the Coalition to 
March on the RNC and Stop the War, whose leaders said they hoped for a 
peaceful, family friendly event. But police were on high alert after 
months of preparations by a self-described anarchist group called the 
RNC Welcoming Committee, which was not among the organizers of the march.
About 20 people dressed in black tried to block a key intersection. 
Police quickly broke up the group, then shot two tear gas canisters at 
them as the fled.
Pictures taken by Associated Press photographers showed officers using 
pepper spray on people who appeared to be trying to block streets.
Up to 200 people from various groups marched in a noisy "Funk the War" 
march. Wearing black clothes, bandanas and gas masks, some individuals 
smashed windows of cars and stores. They tipped over newspaper boxes, 
pulled a big trash bin into the street, bent the rearview mirrors on a 
bus and flipped heavy stone garbage bins on the sidewalks.
One member of the group carried a yellow flag with the motto "Don't 
Tread on Me." The group chanted: "Whose streets? Our streets!"
At one point, people pushed a trash bin filled with trash and threw 
garbage in the streets and at cars. They also took down orange detour 
road signs. One of them used a screwdriver to puncture the back tire of 
a limousine waiting at an intersection and threw a wooden board at the 
vehicle, denting its side. Another hurled a glass bottle at a charter 
bus that had stopped at an intersection. The bottle smashed into pieces 
but didn't appear to damage the bus.
After the official march ended, police spent hours dispersing smaller 
groups of protesters, employing officers on horses, smoke bombs and 
pepper spray.
Protesters put eye drops in each other's eyes after police used chemical 
irritants. Some wore bandanas and masks to protect themselves.
Protesters were seen lying on an interstate exit ramp to block traffic 
in downtown St. Paul and linking arms to block other roads.
Terry Butts, a former Alabama Supreme Court justice who is a convention 
delegate, was on a bus taking delegates to the arena when a brick thrown 
through a window sprayed glass on him and two others. Butts said he 
wasn't hurt.
"It just left us a little shaken," he said. "It was sort of a 
frightening moment because it could have been a bomb or a Molotov cocktail."
___
Associated Press writers Ryan J. Foley, Martiga Lohn and Jon Krawczynski 
in St. Paul and Desiree Hunter in Montgomery, Alabama, contributed to 
this report.






http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080902/pl_politico/13067

Two delegations attacked by protesters

Bob Shaw - St. Paul Pioneer Press, Tom Webb - St. Paul Pioneer Press Bob 
Shaw - St. Paul Pioneer Press, Tom Webb - St. Paul Pioneer Press – Mon 
Sep 1, 9:24 pm ET
Featured Topics:

Protesters harassed two state delegations in St. Paul to attend the 
Republican National Convention Monday. Someone threw a rock through the 
window as delegates from Alabama rode their bus to the Xcel Energy 
Center, where Republican National Convention events took place. And 
masked protesters confronted and harassed the Connecticut delegation — 
several of them were spat upon, roughed up and doused with a mixture of 
water and bleach.
Heath Fahle, director of the Connecticut Republicans, said the incident 
happened on Kellogg Boulevard about 2 p.m. “It was frightening,” he said.
He said the delegation of more than 100 got off their chartered buses 
near the Xcel Energy Center. As they walked on the sidewalk, a group of 
masked protestors chanting anti-war slogans appeared in front of them.
They linked arms, attempting to create a human barricade. As police on 
horseback arrived, Fahle and other members of the group tried to push 
through.
Most of them escaped unscathed, but the protesters splattered the last 
group of delegates with the liquid.
“Two got doused, and several more got sprayed with it,” said Fahle. 
Former Rep. Rob Simmons was hit on the face with the liquid.
Delegate Rob Simmons was outraged. “We were attacked by a mob,” he said. 
“We were subjected to violent and anarchist behavior by a bunch of thugs."
Fahle said two people were spat upon: Lila Healy, the mother of 
Connecticut party chairman Chris Healy; and 83-year-old Fred Biebel.
Beibel was reportedly shoved, and his credentials were torn off. One 
protester grabbed the purse of the state party finance director, who 
tussled with the protester to save it.
“They had cameras, backpacks and bandanas covering their faces. They 
were prepared for pepper spray or whatever,” said Fahle.
According to the St. Paul Joint Information Center, the liquid was shown 
to be diluted bleach and salt.
About 1 p.m., a rock was thrown through the windshield of a delegate bus 
carrying Alabama delegates to the Xcel center. It penetrated the 
windshield, and shattered glass on the bus driver, cutting him and 
sending glass on several delegates.
One of those showered with glass was retired Alabama Supreme Court 
Justice Terry Butts.
“They were dressed all in black, black pajamas, kind of a black hat and 
mask on, except for their eyes — a Ninja look,” Butts said.
He said about 30 protesters swarmed the bus. The area was supposed to be 
secured, he said, “but this was a breech in security, obviously.”
Police intercepted the protesters, and the protesters swarmed the 
police. At that point, one of the protesters threw a very large rock, 
according to Butts.
“I happened to be sitting in the front seat right behind the bus driver, 
and it literally hit eye level between the bus driver and myself,” he said.
Another Alabama delegate, Randy McKinney, was also on the bus. He 
attributed the attack to “a couple dozen Ninja-wannabes, and I didn't 
see any taxpayers in the group.”
Suze Butts, wife of the retired justice, added: “Be sure to point out 
that we know they weren't from Minnesota. We are just enthralled with 
Minnesota.”

Bob Shaw and Tom Webb are political writers for The St. Paul Pioneer 
Press. Politico and the Pioneer Press are sharing content for the 2008 
election cycle and during the Republican National Convention.








http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=523573

RNC protestors raise signs, voices in opposition

The State Capitol has long been the epicenter of Minnesota politics, but 
rarely has the discourse been as loud or impassioned as the voices 
carrying across the grounds Monday afternoon.
For two hours speakers from a number of activist organizations took the 
stage, assailing what they call the failed policies of the Bush 
administration, and trying to link them to Republican Nominee John McCain.
"The working class and the middle class are being completely 
misrepresented, and the RNC needs to hear that people are angry," opined 
23 year old Duluth resident Chelsa Nelson after the speakers had 
finished. She was one of an estimated ten thousand or more that marched 
down Cedar Street en route to the Xcel Energy Center, site of the RNC.
Most of the signs dealt directly with the war in Iraq, and the moral, 
political, and financial objections of protest groups. "This war has 
really got to end, it's the worst thing to ever happened in American 
foreign policy. Unbelievably stupid," said veteran protester Mark 
DeZiel. "You've got people who are diverse in their philosophies, what 
they're coming here for, but we're all against the war."
Organizers of the march on the Republican National Convention estimated 
there would be a crowd of 50,000 people. According to the official 
numbers from the Minnesota State Patrol and Capitol police, the crowd 
numbered approximately 10,000 people.
They marched from the capitol grounds to as close to the Xcel Energy 
Center as they could get. Along the way, police mobile field forces 
dressed in riot gear blocked roads as protesters and marchers passed by.
For the number of people, this large, organized protest remained 
relatively peaceful.
"We think it's time for a change and?we're here to support everything 
that's going to be happening," says Marta McIntyre of Roseville.
"I am not in favor of the war. I believe that it's about time that we 
should stop," says Denisse Spencer, who marched among the crowd through 
downtown St. Paul.

By Dana Thiede, KARE 11 News









http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/politics/story/8794AAB60E17CE6E862574B700164C4D?OpenDocument

ST. PAUL, MINN.

01/09/2008

Police arrested nine people taking part in an antiwar march at the 
Republican National Convention on Sunday after they crossed a security 
fence into a restricted area near Xcel Energy Center.

The nine were arrested for trespassing, said Doug Holtz, a St. Paul 
police commander.

Eight of the nine protesters were taken away in handcuffs. The ninth, a 
78-year-old nun, was not cuffed. The protesters had planned ahead of 
time to cross the fence, and organizers had announced it ahead of the 
march, which drew about 250 people.









http://www.wtov9.com/politics/17362028/detail.html?rss=steu&psp=nationalnews#-

Protests Turn Violent Amid RNC's Open
Police Estimate Crowd At 8,000 To 10,000
Monday, September 1, 2008 – updated: 8:54 pm EDT September 1, 2008
As Republicans began their shortened convention, thousands of protesters 
rallied outside on nearby streets.
Convention organizers scaled back their agenda, but 8,000 to 10,000 
protesters went ahead with their march, mostly peaceful.
However, some protesters attacked delegates, smashed windows, punctured 
car tires and threw bottles during an anti-war march to the site of the 
RNC. Police used pepper spray in confrontations with demonstrators and 
arrested at least 56 people. ( Watch: Police, protesters clash outside 
RNC. | Read: Reporter's notebook of protester chaos.)
Instead of the single coherent march that organizers had hoped for, 
fringe groups of anarchists and others wrought havoc along the streets 
between the state Capitol and the Xcel Energy Center where the 
convention was taking place. Protesters attempted to block several main 
bridges and streets leading to the center. Police were positioned to 
stop protesters and push them back. The clashes brought parts of St. 
Paul's downtown to standstill for about two hours.
Five people were arrested on suspicion of lighting a trash bin on fire 
and pushing it into a police car, St. Paul police spokesman Tom Walsh said.
About 20 anarchists who had allegedly started the trash bin on fire 
later tried to block the intersection of St. Peter and Exchange streets. 
Police quickly dispersed the group, then shot two tear gas canisters at 
the fleeing anarchists.
Pictures taken by Associated Press photographers showed officers using 
pepper spray on protesters who appeared to be trying to block streets.
"There are people who are committing violations of law and they're being 
arrested," Walsh said.
About 200 people from a group called Funk the War noisily staged their 
own separate march. Wearing black clothes, bandanas and gas masks, some 
of their members smashed windows of cars and stores. They tipped over 
newspaper boxes, pulled a big trash bin into the street, bent the 
rearview mirrors on a bus and flipped heavy stone garbage bins on the 
sidewalks.
One man who seemed to be the leader of the group carried a yellow flag 
with the motto "Don't Tread on Me." The group chanted: "Whose streets? 
Our streets!"
Meanwhile, a group of about 100 anarchists pushed a trash bin filled 
with trash and threw garbage in the streets and at cars. They also took 
down orange detour road signs. One of them used a screwdriver to 
puncture the back tire of a limousine waiting at an intersection and 
threw a wooden board at the vehicle, denting its side. Another hurled a 
glass bottle at a charter bus that had stopped at an intersection. The 
bottle smashed into pieces but didn't appear to damage the bus.
Closely following the anarchists were teams of riot officers carrying 
batons, rifles and guns that could be used to shoot tear gas.
Police estimates of the crowd shifted several times during the event, 
ranging from 2,000 to 10,000. The crowd was clearly in the thousands. 
Late this afternoon, long after the anti-war marchers had dispersed, 
police requested and got 150 Minnesota National Guard soldiers to help 
control splinter groups near downtown.
The day's march was organized by a group called the Coalition to March 
on the RNC and Stop the War, whose leaders said they hoped for a 
peaceful, family-friendly march. But police were on high alert after 
months of preparations by a self-described anarchist group called the 
RNC Welcoming Committee, which wasn't among the organizers of the march.









http://www.wtov9.com/politics/17362087/detail.html#-

Notebook: Police, RNC Protesters Clash
Reporter's Notebook: 'Chaos' Can Be Reality
Jeff Parsons, Senior Director of News
Monday, September 1, 2008 – updated: 11:09 pm EDT September 1, 2008
ST. PAUL -- As I made my way toward the Xcel Energy Center where the 
Republican National Convention just got under way, I came across several 
blocked streets in downtown St. Paul. At one intersection, protestors 
collapsed to the ground to block a tour bus.
Police used plastic zip ties to detain those protestors. The streets 
quickly reopened. The stand-offs with police appeared almost routine. No 
doubt police on duty here in St. Paul this week took part in riot 
training. ( Protesters Detained Near RNC | Read: Protests Turn Violent 
Amid RNC's Open)
But that was just the beginning of an afternoon where I found myself 
blinded by the effects of tear gas and trapped inside a protest group of 
thousands.
That particular duel between police and protesters started at the 
intersection of Kellogg Boulevard and Wabasha Street, about two blocks 
from where RNC delegates started their official business on the first 
day of their convention.
As I walked toward the stand-off, I heard the loud beating of drums and 
saw police standing strong in iron-clad formation. They stood in a pose 
ready for battle. There were police in riot gear, police on horseback 
and police inside their cars.
I noticed police lined up arm and arm and starting to slowly reposition 
along the side of Kellogg Boulevard. They were attempting to keep the 
protesters off the street.
The protesters were undeterred, though. They kept moving along Kellogg 
Boulevard as much as 10 yards in front of police. I kept trying to move 
ahead of the 5 to 10 yards that separated the front lines of police and 
protesters.
Everyone moved step-by-step toward another major intersection two blocks 
away at Robert Street. Midway through the two-block standoff, protesters 
seemed to start more dramatic taunting of police with words and physical 
challenges.
In the video I shot, you’ll see a woman holding a single yellow flower. 
She moved out of the protest group toward police in riot gear. They 
answered with appears to be tear gas. ( Police, Protesters Clash Outside 
RNC)
I watched that through my camera lens but quickly started to feel the 
effects. My eyes teared up. My forehead and cheeks began to burn. I felt 
a choking feeling from the gas.
For no significant reason a few hours before, I stuck several paper 
napkins from lunch inside my camera bag. I grabbed them to cover my 
mouth and nose. It was still difficult to breath. I was at least 10 to 
15 yards from that confrontation.
For a moment, my fear surfaced as I wondered if I was trapped in the 
middle. But, as a news person, I felt compelled to stay in place. We 
never know when inflamed situations like this burst into full riots. I 
took a moment to wipe the tears from my eyes… and kept recording.
Seconds later, I watched through my camera as another young protester 
taunted police. He surged once but retreated. He surged again but was 
captured in the grips of police.
For the next five to 10 minutes, protesters rallied. They pulled 
barricades into the street and stopped cars at that intersection of 
Robert and Kellogg. I turned quickly to see one passing car hit with 
what appeared to be green paint. I’m not clear who threw that.
No, this was not the out-of-control protests from the 1960s. But it was 
a highly tense time for St. Paul Monday… and a scary time to be a 
reporter caught in the middle.
Oddly enough, just hours before, a co-worker said a police officer told 
her that “the city is in chaos.” At the time, I chuckled. After my 
experience, I should have taken the warning more seriously.









http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/01/uselections2008.republicans2008?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews

Protestors march at GOP convention to denounce Iraq war
• Groups walked mile-and-a-half rout in protest
• 'Let our troops win' group conducts counter protest
• 8,000-10,000 took part in peaceful march
• Daniel Nasaw in St Paul
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 1 September 2008 21.32 BST
• Article history

Carlos Arredondo takes part in a march against the Iraq war in St Paul, 
Minnesota. Arredondo’s son was killed in the war. Photograph: Eric 
Thayer/Getty Images
Thousands of anti-war protesters marched on the site of the Republican 
convention in St Paul today, in an effort to force John McCain and the 
Republican party to confront lingering popular opposition to the US 
engagement in Iraq.
The protesters were a diverse coalition of veterans of wars in Iraq and 
Vietnam, pink-clad feminists, shaggy-headed anarchists, a group of 
"grandmothers against the war," and more than 130 other liberal groups.
Although united in their opposition to the continued presence of the war 
in Iraq, they marched for causes as diverse as better pay for 
firefighters and less restrictive immigration policies.
The Republican party staunchly supports the US presence in Iraq. John 
McCain, an early backer of the war and a proponent of the recent surge 
in US troops there, has said he will withdraw US troops only as 
conditions on the ground permit. Democratic nominee Barack Obama has 
pledged to withdraw US combat forces within 16 months.
Under a bright clear sky, the largely peaceful protesters walked a 
roughly mile-and-a-half route from the state capital building to the 
Xcel Energy Centre, were convention proceedings are being held. The 
overwhelming demand, heard from speakers at the rally preceding the 
march and in chants along the parade route, was that the US invest the 
roughly $12bn per month it spends in Iraq on pressing domestic 
priorities like healthcare and education.
"There are so many things going wrong in this country, certainly the war 
in Iraq, but on the domestic front, healthcare is in shambles," said 
Katherine Fuchs, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. "I really don't see how we can 
allow political parties to have essentially a party without raining on 
their parade a little bit and reminding them that all is not hunky-dory."
Stefan Haire of Los Angeles said, "We're tired of fighting a war while 
we are tripping over homeless people." He and three friends wore 
pastel-coloured sailor hats adorned with anti-war messages.
The protesters beat drums, danced, and carried giant puppets and 
effigies of McCain, Bush, secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and former 
defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, one of the architects of the war in 
Iraq.
The Republican party cancelled much of today's activity in order to 
allow its members to focus on dealing with hurricane Gustav on the Gulf 
of Mexico. But as the march neared the convention site, they were met by 
a small group of counter-protesters demanding "let our troops win" in Iraq.
"The war goes on Iraq everyday, and thousands and thousands of people 
made plans to be here," said Jess Sundin, a march organiser. "We will 
bring our message to the delegates that are here today and those that 
are coming along later I'm sure will hear all about it. Our united goal 
is to stop the war in Iraq, but we're linking that with our 
understanding of the need to spend money on human needs instead of war, 
to demand peace, justice and equality, and say no to the Republican agenda."
Stickers and shirts emblazoned with Barack Obama's image, name and 
campaign slogans were aplenty among the marchers, although the 
Democratic party was not among the official organisers.
March leaders had obtained a permit for 50,000 protesters. Police 
estimated the crowd at between 8,000 and 10,000.
Compared to the Democratic convention last week in Denver, where 
protesters were largely confined to pens known as "freedom cages", St 
Paul was more welcoming. Demonstrators converged and mingled freely on 
the grounds of the state capital building, and police cleared streets 
along the parade route to accommodate them. Fearsome looking officers in 
full black riot gear guarded intersections to ensure the crowd stayed 
along the permitted route, but save of isolated clashes with young 
rioters who broke a few shop windows and caused minor mayhem, officers 
and demonstrators stayed clear of one another. Police arrested at least 
five people, including some who lit a dumpster on fire and pushed it 
into a police car.
Among the protesters Monday was Melida Arredondo, who pulled a mock 
coffin draped with an American flag behind her. Her stepson Alexander, a 
Marine, was killed in 2004 in Najaf, Iraq.
"I am very much angered, as a gold star mom, that John McCain is saying 
that he will continue the occupation of Iraq to vindicate the fact that 
my son was killed there," she said. "My son loved the Iraqi people, 
believed in the Iraqi people, was fed by the Iraqi people and he would 
not want the occupation to continue."








http://www.kndu.com/global/story.asp?s=8932933

Some protests turn violent

Associated Press - September 1, 2008 4:53 PM ET
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Some protests near the site of the Republican 
National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, have turned violent.
Police say protesters smashed windows, punctured car tires and threw 
bottles during an anti-war march. Police used pepper spray in some 
confrontations with demonstrators and arrested five. They're accused of 
setting fire to a trash bin and pushing it into a police car.
Police estimate there were 8,000 to 10,000 protesters.
Instead of the single coherent march that organizers had hoped for, 
fringe groups raised havoc along the streets between the state Capitol 
and the Xcel Energy Center where the convention is taking place.
The arrests occurred several blocks from the arena.
Some marchers smashed windows of cars and stores, tipped over newspaper 
boxes, pulled a trash bin into the street, bent the rear view mirrors on 
a bus and flipped heavy stone garbage bins on the sidewalks.
They were followed by teams of riot officers carrying batons, rifles and 
guns that could be used to shoot tear gas.








http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=523701

Protesters vow to continue, police hope for peace
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Self-described anarchists vowed Tuesday to hit the 
streets of St. Paul every day this week, even as police were hoping for 
calm after violence near the site of the Republican convention led to 
more than 280 arrests.
"We are excited about what the next few days may bring now that the 
illusion of business as usual has been shattered," said Rose DaBarr, 
spokeswoman for a group called the RNC Welcoming Committee.
About 10,000 people marched Monday in an anti-war protest, most of them 
walking peacefully on a route from the state Capitol to the convention 
arena, Xcel Energy Center, and back. A splinter group that police 
estimated at about 200 people was blamed for attacking delegates, 
smashing windows, puncturing car tires, throwing bottles and starting at 
least one fire.
Another march on Tuesday organized by a different group, the Poor 
People's Economic Human Rights Committee, was going ahead as planned.
"We are not going to be stopped," said the group's spokeswoman, Cheri 
Honkala.
She said their march would deviate from the permitted path to go by the 
county jail, where some of the people arrested Monday remained. Honkala 
also promised multiple acts of civil disobedience.
Police said they were ready.
"We are prepared for this type of activity to continue all week, 
although we certainly hope that the violence is done and the rest of the 
week will be peaceful," said Minneapolis Police Capt. Amelia Huffman. 
Minneapolis is one of many agencies working with St. Paul on security.
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman called on protesters to "engage in proper 
political dialogue."
"We will send a very loud and clear message to those who choose to break 
the law and endanger the safety of others," he said. "We will pursue 
you, and we will not let this stand."
Authorities said 130 of those arrested faced possible felony charges. At 
least four of those arrested were journalists who were later released.
Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner said she expected her office to 
consider charges on Tuesday against those arrested. She said she 
couldn't speculate on how long they would be held before having a chance 
to post bail.
The anti-war march was organized by a group called the Coalition to 
March on the RNC and Stop the War, whose leaders said they hoped for a 
peaceful, family friendly event. But police were on high alert after 
months of preparations by the RNC Welcoming Committee, which wasn't 
among the organizers of the march.
The violent protests in St. Paul were a contrast with a relatively 
peaceful Democratic convention in Denver, where only 152 people were 
arrested during the four-day convention and the preceding weekend.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)









http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/259119/RNC_Convention_Protesters_and_Journalists_Alike_Beware_Of_Police

RNC Convention: Protesters and Journalists Alike Beware Of Police
Published Sep 2, 2008, by ■ Sadiq Green
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Fascist state tactics at RNC?

RNC Convention: Protesters and Journalists Alike Beware Of Police
by Sadiq Green.
The peaceful tone the RNC Convention turned into on day one inside of 
the Xcel Center in Minnesota apparently did not reach outside. The 
Minneapolis police used physical force to subdue what they called 
violent protesters and at least three journalists.
Buy an ad on DigitalJournal.com

As the Republican Party convened the opening day of its convention 
turned telethon, protesters turned violent in the streets surrounding 
the convention hall, as DJ’s own SueD reported. When police intervened, 
Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman was unlawfully arrested in downtown St. 
Paul, Minnesota at approximately 5 p.m. local time. Police violently 
manhandled Goodman, yanking her arm, as they arrested her.

Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! 
producers, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, who were being 
unlawfully detained while attempting to carry out their journalistic 
duties covering street demonstrations at the Republican National 
Convention. Goodman, one of the most well-known and well-respected 
journalists in the United States, was clearly credentialed at the time 
of her arrest. She appears to be guilty of defending her colleagues and 
the freedom of the press.

According to the Democracy Now! website, all three were released late 
Monday night. Kouddous and Salazar face pending charges of Felony Riot, 
while Goodman is charged with Obstruction. Consequently, another 
Democracy Now! reporter, Elizabeth Press, was detained during one of the 
preemptive house raids over the weekend.

The arrests of Goodman, Kouddous, Salazar and hordes of protesters, 
continues a recent trend of police in riot gear at conventions, 
Democratic and Republican alike, to subdue protesters and media. This 
began in 2004 at the DNC convention in Boston, where police set up a 
designated free speech zone for protesters, limiting where and when 
protesters could exercise their first amendment rights.

Police arrested an ABC producer for filming video of Democratic Senators 
and donors leaving a private meeting in Denver during last weeks DNC 
convention. Asa Eslocker was charged with trespassing, failure to follow 
a lawful order, and interference with a police officer. Since his 
release ABC is demanding that all charges be dropped.

In New York City, site of the RNC Convention of 2004, a 10,000 strong 
uniformed police force in full riot gear, body armor, equipped with 
submachine guns and rifles were deployed to the areas surrounding 
Madison Square Garden.

2004 was the first year of a Department of Homeland Security directive 
designating both conventions as National Special Security Events. This 
years conventions also carry that designation, so it is no surprise this 
is occuring.

It will be interesting to see what day two has in store. The Convention 
should take on a more traditional tone with the Hurricane not being as 
devastating as was feared. President Bush is already scheduled to 
address the convention via sattelite from the White House.









http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/latest-world-news/2008/09/02/scores-arrested-in-us-anti-war-protest-91466-21654524/

Scores arrested in US anti-war protest
Sep 2 2008 WalesOnline
Demonstrations near the Republican National Convention site turned 
violent as protesters harassed delegates, smashed windows, slashed car 
tyres and hurled bottles.
Police using pepper spray arrested more than 250 people.
The trouble happened not far from the Xcel Energy Centre convention site 
in St Paul, Minnesota, where the Republicans were starting the four-day 
meeting.
Many of those involved in the more violent activities identified 
themselves to reporters as anarchists. These protesters, clad in black, 
were operating on the streets in addition to a mostly peaceful anti-war 
march, wreaking havoc by damaging property and starting at least one 
fire. Most of the trouble was in pocket of a neighbourhood near downtown 
St Paul, several streets from where the convention was taking place.
Police estimates of the crowd shifted several times during the event, 
ranging from 2,000 to 10,000.
Yesterday afternoon, long after the anti-war marchers had dispersed, 
police requested 150 Minnesota National Guard soldiers to help control 
splinter groups.
Members of the Connecticut delegation said they were attacked by 
protesters when they got off their bus near the Xcel Centre, KMSP-TV 
reported. Delegate Rob Simmons told the station that a group of 
protesters came towards his delegation and tried to rip the credentials 
off their necks and sprayed them with a toxic substance that burned 
their eyes and stained their clothes.
One 80-year-old member of the delegation had to be treated for injuries, 
and several other delegates had to rinse their eyes and clothing, the 
station reported.
Five people were arrested for setting a rubbish bin on fire and pushing 
it into a police car, St Paul police spokesman Tom Walsh said.
Of those arrested, 119 faced possible felony charges, authorities said.
At least four journalists were among those detained, including 
Associated Press photographer Matt Rourke and Amy Goodman, host of 
Democracy Now!, a nationally-syndicated public radio and TV news 
programme. Ms Goodman was intervening on behalf of two producers for her 
programme, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, when she was 
arrested, said Mike Burke, another producer.
St Paul police spokesman Tom Walsh said Mr Rourke was held on a gross 
misdemeanour riot charge. Mr Goodman was arrested on a misdemeanour 
charge, Ramsey County sheriff’s spokeswoman Holli Drinkwine said. 
Neither Mr Walsh nor Ms Drinkwine had information on the other two 
journalists.
The anti-war march was organised by a group called the Coalition to 
March on the RNC and Stop the War, whose leaders said they hoped for a 
peaceful, family-friendly event. But police were on high alert after 
months of preparations by a self-styled anarchist group called the RNC 
Welcoming Committee, which was not among the organisers of the march.
About 20 people dressed in black tried to block a key junction. Police 
quickly dispersed the group, then fired two tear gas canisters at them 
as they fled.
Up to 200 people from a group called Funk the War noisily staged their 
own march. Wearing black clothes, bandanas and gas masks, some of their 
members smashed windows of cars and stores. They tipped over newspaper 
boxes, pulled a big rubbish bin into the street, bent the rear-view 
mirrors on a bus and flipped heavy stone bins on the pavements.
One member of the group carried a yellow flag with the motto “Don’t 
Tread on Me”. The group chanted: “Whose streets? Our streets!”
At one point, people pushed a bin and threw rubbish in the streets and 
at cars. They also took down orange detour road signs. One of them used 
a screwdriver to puncture the back tyre of a limousine waiting at a 
junction and threw a wooden board at the vehicle, denting its side.
Another hurled a glass bottle at a charter bus that had stopped.
After the official march ended, police spent hours dispersing smaller 
groups of protesters, employing officers on horses, smoke bombs and tear 
gas.
Protesters put eye drops in each other’s eyes after police used chemical 
irritants such as pepper spray and tear gas. Some wore bandanas and 
masks to protect themselves.
Protesters were seen lying on an interstate exit ramp to block traffic 
in downtown St Paul and linking arms to block other roads.
Terry Butts, a former Alabama Supreme Court justice who is a convention 
delegate, was on a bus taking delegates to the arena when a brick 
through the window sprayed glass on him and two others.
“It just left us a little shaken,” he said. “It was sort of a 
frightening moment because it could have been a bomb or a Molotov cocktail.”









http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/35875

Boston Father of Fallen Marine Leads Protest
Submitted by Chip on Mon, 2008-09-08 04:50.
• Activism
• General Discussion
• Nonviolent Resistance
• Organizing Locally
Boston father of fallen Marine leads protest
By Brian Bender | Boston.com
The father of a Boston Marine killed in Iraq led thousands of antiwar 
protesters in a boisterous but largely peaceful demonstration outside 
the Republican National Convention, while riot police and National 
Guardsmen clashed separately with a collection of small fringe groups 
that smashed windows and damaged public property.
Police using pepper spray arrested a total of at least 56 people.
In one dust-up, police fired what appeared to be tear gas canisters to 
disperse a dozen members of the so-called RNC Welcoming Committee, a 
self-described anarchist group that has vowed to shut down this week's 
events and was targeted in police searches over the weekend that 
resulted in six arrests.
Elsewhere, members of another group called Funk the War smashed the 
windows of storefronts and cars trying to enter the tight security 
perimeter.
But the scene outside the convention on the opening day was largely a 
cacophony of peaceful voices - many of them supporters of Democrat 
Barack Obama - calling for an end to the war in Iraq and linking 
Republican presidential candidate John McCain with the policies of the 
Bush administration.
Leading the throng of up to 10,000 marchers was Carlos Arredondo of 
Boston. He pushed a flag-draped coffin bearing the uniform, dog tags, 
and Purple Heart of his 20-year-old son Alexander, a Marine lance 
corporal who was killed in Iraq in 2004.
"All these people know what this is about: ending this war," Arredondo, 
who drove from Boston with his wife, Melida, said as he motioned to the 
sea of people marching from the Minnesota State Capitol to the Xcel 
Energy Center.
Arredondo grabbed national headlines when he clambered inside the van of 
the Marines who came to inform him of his son's death and then set the 
vehicle on fire. He suffered severe burns. Since then, he has become a 
high-profile member of Military Families Speak Out, a nonpartisan 
antiwar group, and has traveled to at least 25 states.
Yesterday's march was organized by The Coalition to March on the RNC and 
Stop the War, a collection of antiwar groups.
Along with the Arredondos, dozens of Iraq veterans marched at the front 
of the crowd, including about 10 from the Boston chapter of Iraq 
Veterans Against the War, who tried unsuccessfully to meet earlier in 
the day with representatives of the McCain campaign to air their concerns.
Michael Spinnato, 24, of Mission Hill, is a student at the University of 
Massachusetts who was a machine gunner in Iraq and decided to miss the 
start of classes to participate. "I listened to what President Bush had 
to say," he said. "I believed Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass 
destruction, I believed the connections to Al Qaeda. I feel betrayed."
Liam Madden, 24, of Boston, who is co-chairman of the group's board of 
directors, said he hoped the rally would impel Americans to take greater 
action, saying he believes voting against McCain won't be enough. "We 
think it is about time that the people of this country realize that it 
is not just voting that will end this war," said Madden. "It's about 
people participating by turning off the TV. Obama is repackaging the 
same occupation, not ending it."
Yet while the main message yesterday was the need to end the US military 
involvement in Iraq, there was also a political one: that McCain will 
bring the same policies as President Bush.
Amid cheers and catcalls at a morning rally on the grounds of the State 
Capitol, a pair billed as Mr. Bush and Ms. McCain were married in a mock 
ceremony.
The crowd represented a broad cross-section, including veterans, 
students, teachers, nurses, mothers with their children, and senior 
citizens. Sister Eunice Antony, 72, of St. Joseph, Minn., a member of 
the Benedictine order, waved a placard saying "No to War" and "No to 
Torture."
"I believe the war is immoral," she said. "It bankrupts us financially 
and spiritually."








http://www.wbir.com/news/national/story.aspx?storyid=63098&provider=rss

Protestors outside Republican National Convention turn violent
The Associated Press Updated: 9/1/2008 9:45:40 PM Posted: 9/1/2008 
9:44:27 PM
Some protests outside the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, 
Minnesota, have turned violent.
Protesters attacked delegates, smashed windows, punctured car tires and 
threw bottles. It was a violent counterpoint to an otherwise peaceful 
anti-war march.
Police wielding pepper spray arrested at least 56 people.
The trouble happened not far from the Xcel Energy Center convention 
site. Many of those involved in the more violent protest were clad in 
black and identified themselves to reporters as anarchists. Police 
estimates of the crowd shifted several times during the event, ranging 
from 2,000 to 10,000. The crowd was clearly in the thousands.
Late Monday afternoon, long after the anti-war marchers had dispersed, 
police requested and got 150 Minnesota National Guard soldiers to help 
control splinter groups near downtown.









http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=523340

First big protest of the RNC underway in Minneapolis

The first of the big protests planned for the Republican National 
Convention in St. Paul kicked off Friday night at Loring Park in 
Minneapolis.
The'Critical Mass' bike ride coincides with the countdown to the 
convention.
Another critical mass ride ended in more than a dozen arrests last year.
So far, the protest has been a peaceful one.
(Copyright 2008 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)








http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/local_news/epaper/2008/09/02/0902rnclocal.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=76

Local activists to join protests at Republican National Convention in 
Minneapolis
By TONY DORIS
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
South Florida activists have joined the front lines of protesters at the 
Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.
Panagioti Tsolkas, co-chairman of the Palm Beach County Environmental 
Coalition, said today that he will head to Minneapolis on Wednesday, to 
lend solidarity and "jail support" to activists who've been confronting 
delegates at this week's convention.


"To say you don't want people protesting in the streets is the same as 
saying you didn't want the Boston Tea Party to happen," Tsolkas said. 
"People have every reason to be upset and to be standing their ground."
About a dozen people from Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties 
have joined the protests at the convention, where more than 100 people 
have been arrested, he estimated. The county coalition has 200-300 
people who participate "to some degree," and about 20-30 who regularly 
attend its monthly meetings, he said.
The South Florida participants in Minneapolis include environmental, 
social and anti-war activists, he said.
The Environmental Coalition, when it protested FPL's western Palm Beach 
County power plant construction in February, received support from 
groups around the country, Tsolkas said. In Minneapolis he hopes "to 
provide jail support and keep public awareness and public interest on 
the protest and the reason people are protesting," he said.
He supports those who have tried to block Republican Party delegates 
from attending the convention, he added. "It fits the course of history 
for people who are responding to urgent situations. ...I wish they could 
shut the whole convention down. The Republicans have turned this country 
into an empire."







http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/DN-protesters_15pol.ART.State.Edition2.4daf17b.html

Protesters diverse, some peaceful, some not
12:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, September 2, 2008
By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News
eramshaw at dallasnews.com
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Holding hands in their wedding finest – and wearing 
matching George W. Bush and John McCain masks – Texans Heidi and Jim 
Turpin braved gas-masked riot police, window-smashing anarchists and the 
hem of Heidi's lacy floor-length gown on Monday to protest the 
Republican convention.

MELANIE BURFORD/DMN
A police officer sprayed protesters who pushed him over and surrounded 
him as they became violent while marching through the streets of St. 
Paul, Minn., on Monday. They were among the several thousand demonstrators.
"We're outlandish to try to draw attention," said Heidi, 47, who, along 
with her husband, 49, is a member of the DayGlo-clad anti-war group 
CodePink. "This has been a long war. It's hard to keep that energy up 
for years and years. We need the public to know that McCain will just be 
a continuation of Bush's failed policies – four more years of the same."
The Turpins, from Austin, were among the several thousand protesters who 
paraded through downtown St. Paul on the convention's opening day – a 
far cry from the tens of thousands expected. Organizers said Monday 
morning that they didn't think Hurricane Gustav had an effect on turnout.
It was a diverse crowd, from elderly veterans in military uniforms and 
sneakers, to teamsters in blue baseball caps, to dreadlocked young 
anarchists with their faces wrapped in black handkerchiefs
Most protesters were spreading the message of peace – and acted 
accordingly. They marched for higher wages, benefits for veterans and 
bringing home the troops. They called for an end to torture and global 
warming. A few simply carried Obama-Biden posters.
But about two dozen protesters grew unruly on Monday afternoon, breaking 
windows at downtown banks and prompting riot police to use pepper spray 
and ride crowd control horses into the fray. National Guard troops were 
called in. More than 250 people were arrested Monday.
Their intentions seemed clear from the get-go. At a pre-march rally, 
young anarchists doused surgical masks with vinegar to block the effects 
of pepper spray, tucked their "violence level" colored flags into their 
knapsacks, and wrote attorneys' phone numbers and whether they had 
asthma on their legs in black permanent marker.
David Martinez, a filmmaker and University of Texas graduate who 
protested Monday, said violence defeats his purpose: "to put the radical 
left on the map."
"We're here protesting, and not because we want Obama to be president," 
Mr. Martinez said. "We disagree with what both of the parties stand for. 
The point is to say, 'There's a bunch of people to the left of the 
Democratic Party who see you all as the fools you are.' "








http://www.worldnetdaily.com/?pageId=74122

'Peace' protesters at RNC welcomed anarchists
Violent rampage grabs spotlight during anti-war demonstration

________________________________________
Posted: September 02, 2008
3:53 pm Eastern
By Art Moore
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Anarchists Colin, left, and Cameron, right, who declined to give their 
last names, gather at the Minnesota capitol building with anti-war 
protesters (WND photo)
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The spokesman for the coalition of 130 groups engaged 
in a "peace" protest outside the GOP convention yesterday told WND he 
had no problem joining forces with activists as extreme as anarchists, 
but it was anarchists who, nevertheless, grabbed the headlines with a 
violent rampage resulting in at least five arrests.
"We're glad they have come to speak out at the RNC," Mick Kelly told WND 
prior to the anarchists' attacks, which included smashed cars, punctured 
tires and bottles hurled at police, who arrested at least five.
"A diversity of views is, in fact, welcome when we're united about 
opposing the occupation of Iraq and demanding peace, justice and 
equality," said Kelly, spokesman for the Coalition to March on the RNC 
and Stop the War, which included a Teamsters union branch, the ANSWER 
Coalition and Iraq Veterans Against the War.
You're concerned about how extreme some of these groups are?
"Not at all," he replied before the march, as a group of anarchists 
milled about near his media tent in front of the Minnesota capitol building.
(Story continues below)

At least one anarchist – or "anarchist-syndicalist" to be precise – told 
WND before the march he was, well, kind of against using violence to 
accomplish his aims.

Protesters gather in front of the capitol building in St. Paul (WND photo)
Cameron, a 20-something barista from Mankato, Minn., who laughed as he 
was asked for his last name, explained he subscribes to a branch of 
anarchist philosophy that takes a more pragmatic approach, regarding 
anarchy as utopia but recognizing it probably will never be achieved.
"It's kind of the activist anarchy," he explained. "Basically it's 
saying you make immediate changes when and where you can. I might 
advocate universal health care; the next day I might advocate immigrant 
rights. It's social Darwinism is what it is.
Recalling the anarchist rampage at the World Trade Organization in 
Seattle in 1999, Cameron was asked if he advocated violence to help 
bring about his ideal world.
"No sir," he replied.
But he qualified his answer when asked if he identified with the Eugene, 
Ore., anarchists that smashed storefronts in unprepared Seattle, 
bringing an ugly, early end to the WTO meetings.

St. Paul police prepare for the worst ahead of a planned protest march 
yesterday (WND photo)
"A little bit," he said. "I understand their anger.
"I don't think destruction of property is violence," he quickly 
elaborated. "Hurting other people, that's violence … when you make a big 
deal about smashing windows when there's a big war going on, or killing 
tens of thousands of civilians, if not hundreds of thousands, it's the 
pot calling the kettle black."
Starbucks was one of the targets of the Seattle rampage, but Cameron 
said he serves coffee at an independent local shop in Mankato.
In St. Paul yesterday, with police on high alert with a fully equipped 
riot team, some anarchists reportedly started a trash bin fire and later 
tried to block a major intersection. Police dispersed the group, firing 
two tear gas canisters at the fleeing anarchists. Another mob, of about 
100, threw garbage in the streets and at cars from a trash bin they 
commandeered. Blogger Jim Holt of Gateway Pundit reported his bus was 
hit by sandbags thrown from a highway overpass.

Anarchist prepares for the day's activities in St. Paul yesterday (WND 
photo)
While destroying property is a simple, straightforward endeavor, 
describing what an anarchist America would look like proves more difficult.
For starters, there would be no president or Congress.
"There's no hierarchy," Cameron said.
How do people, uh, organize themselves. Can you get sewer and water?
"You work together," he said. "Groups of people all over have been 
providing basic services for each other before creating a military 
state. Always, people who don't understand it compare it to total chaos 
and a lack of organization and community. But it's really an absence of 
the state, and allowing people to collectively organize among themselves."
Cameron's colleague standing nearby, Colin from Milwaukee, chimed in, 
pointing to the Rotary Club as a helpful example.
"The last time I checked, they don't have a military presence, and they 
seem to organize just fine," Colin explained.
Asked if there's an example from history of a successful anarchist 
community, Cameron pointed to the Spanish Civil War, when thousands of 
anarchists in Catalonia and Barcelona rebelled against the regime before 
being dismantled by the communists.
Cameron said that while he has many communist friends, he isn't one, 
because "they don't have such a great track record."
What's your track record?

Book table at the anti-war protest in St. Paul yesterday (WND photo)
"Well normally the anarchists tend to be the soldiers, like the Russian 
revolution – that was mainly fought by socialists and anarchists, and in 
the end, the Bolsheviks took us over, and they threw us in jail and they 
killed us," he replied.
"The same thing happened in Catalonia … and in all of Europe during the 
1800s," he said.
Is that an inherent problem – that the neighbors who are more organized 
are always going to wipe you out?
"That does tend to be a problem," he said. "We just hope to get stronger.








http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?at_code=435381

'Street Medics' Describe RNC Protests
Volunteers among those who were pepper sprayed and arrested

Kathlyn Stone (kstone)

Published 2008-09-08 17:41 (KST)

Street medic assisting RNC protester.

Many dozens of volunteers -- activists as well as doctors, nurses, 
emergency medical technicians, psychologists and other health workers -- 
stepped in to serve as "street medics" during the Republican National 
Convention demonstrations in St. Paul, Minn., which concluded with more 
than 800 arrests.


Political events, particularly national conventions, are a big draw for 
demonstrators because of the national and international focus placed on 
them. And the heavy police presence promised at the RNC this past week 
was like honey to a bee for those who sought altercations with police. 
In almost all cases, tensions mounted between demonstrators in the 
evenings following permitted marches and other events such as rallies 
and concerts.

Many who volunteer as street medics are themselves activists or are at 
least sympathetic to demonstrators wishing to exercise their right to 
free speech or commit civil acts of disobedience.

Sometimes groups of nonviolent protesters were caught between police and 
violent protesters with no avenue of escape. And sometimes nonviolent 
protesters simply refused to leave and were sprayed with chemicals or 
rubber bullets. (See "First Time Protester Tear Gassed," Fox 9.)

Michael Cavlan, a registered nurse from Apple Valley, Minn., was one of 
those who volunteered to be on hand to offer medical help where needed. 
In a report of the injuries and the arrests described in an article 
published at OpEdNews.com, Cavlan, a Green Party candidate for the US 
Senate, describes numerous injuries from chemicals, rubber bullets and 
concussion grenades, as well confiscation of medical equipment and 
arrests of health care volunteers.

Here is an excerpt from Cavlan's account of the Poor People's March on 
Sept. 2:

"At this time, the police gave a dispersal order. We knew what that 
meant. They threw gas and concussion grenades into the crowd and then 
opened up with rubber bullets, wooden baton rounds, tear gas, etc.

"My team treated another young lady who had been maced in the face and 
delivered her to the clinic, to get cleaned up from the burning 
chemicals in her face, eyes, arms and clothes. By the way, this stuff 
hurts even when you only put your exposed skin on someone who was hit by 
it."


Cavlan was also called upon to document injuries sustained by protesters 
who had been beaten by police.

The Twin Cities' North Star Health Collective (NSHC), a local group that 
coordinated media response during the protests, began training sessions 
for street medics weeks before the convention. On Sept. 5, NSHC 
representatives held a press conference denouncing the "police detention 
and abuse of medical volunteers." They also shared examples of the types 
of weapons used on protesters.

"My medic partner and I were treating a handicapped male in a wheelchair 
for pepper spray to the face at the parking lot of Jackson Street," 
recounted Sean McCoy, an EMT and a Navy veteran. "In the process of 
treating the patient, we were surrounded by several police officers in 
riot gear and forcibly thrown to the ground and told we were under 
arrest. We were then forcibly removed from our patient, handcuffed, and 
forced to lay face down on the ground while the officers proceeded to 
cut our bags off of us and remove all of our medical gear by dumping it 
on the ground."

NSHC said McCoy was held for 55 hours in the Ramsey County jail before 
being released.








http://www.kpho.com/politics/17384376/detail.html#-

Man Arrested, Accused Of Plotting To Bomb RNC
Michigan Man Charged With Possessing Molotov Cocktails
POSTED: 3:46 pm MST September 3, 2008

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A 23-year-old Michigan man accused of trying to set 
off a bomb at the Republican National Convention has been arrested.
RNC Coverage

Matthew B. DePalma, of Flint, Mich., has been charged with illegally 
possessing Molotov cocktails. He was arrested Saturday in south Minneapolis.
According to a news release from the FBI, DePalma allegedly plotted to 
set off either Molotov cocktails or a chemical bomb in the tunnels near 
the Xcel Energy Center, hoping it would cause a power outage. The news 
release said that according to an FBI affidavit, DePalma also described 
a plan to use napalm-filled Molotov cocktails on the streets against 
police officers.


DePalma said he wanted to bomb the Xcel on the first or last day of the 
convention. DePalma said if he bombed the Xcel on the first day, 
officials might call off the convention because "a power outage would 
say a lot," according to the affidavit.
DePalma said if he bombed the Xcel on Thursday, the last day of the 
convention, it would "end with a bang," the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, DePalma became known to the FBI in July, 
when he attended the CrimeThinc Convergence near Waldo, Wis. During that 
event, DePalma allegedly said he was going to attend the RNC, and also 
expressed his desire to "make some bombs" and “blow up” things during 
the convention.
The affidavit states that DePalma discussed with a FBI source his desire 
to make Molotov cocktails, describing in detail the use of ingredients 
that would make the flammable liquid more viscous so that it would stick 
to a target and burn longer and hotter than an ordinary gasoline-based 
Molotov cocktail.
The affidavit states that DePalma went to a library in Minnesota on Aug. 
18 and spent 90 minutes researching recipes for explosive devices.
DePalma's next court appearance is Friday in Minneapolis.










http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/5105

Matthew DePalma's rant posts fill blog, online journal
Submitted by worker on Tue, 2008-09-23 22:32.
Tags:
• Anarchist People
• Prisoners
• The Media
 From The Flint Journal - by Shannon Murphy
Tuesday September 23, 2008, 11:52 AM
DePalma
Eerie postings fill an online journal -- entries that become 
increasingly angry as the writer vents about being a misunderstood 
anarchist.
"Now I'm ready to watch the world burn," a post dated April 18 reads. "I 
always tried to give people the benefit of the doubt about how they 
understand me. Most people don't, hell, even I had to figure out myself 
from scratch."
The online musings are believed to be written by Matthew DePalma, a 
Flushing native who has been federally charged in a plot to bomb the 
site of September's Republican National Convention. The journal is 
written by a person who uses the name "Shades Mcgee" on MySpace, which a 
friend confirmed is DePalma.

"Now, I don't relate to about 90 percent of Americans," he writes. "That 
tells me I'm doing something right. But one thing is abundantly clear to 
me now, something I had been denying for far too long. The people, do 
not deserve to be saved. At least not by me."
Those who know DePalma describe him as a loner, extremely intelligent 
and slightly impulsive. He often wore black and gothic-style clothing -- 
but friends were shocked to think of DePalma being involved in anything 
violent.
"Usually, he was one for not liking the government," said high school 
friend Richard Coote, 24, of Flint. "Mostly he talked about not liking 
things. ... He never made any threats."
Coote said DePalma didn't have a lot of friends and was not popular in 
school. He said he was somewhat misguided about things and followed his 
mind, regardless of what other people thought.
DePalma also was described as a strong anarchist. The MySpace page is 
filled with video clips of fires, riots and bombings.
As he switched schools at least three times in as many years, even 
students who went to the relatively small Flushing High School had 
trouble remembering him.
"I heard he was in my class, but I didn't really know him," said 
Flushing High School graduate Jessica Tedesco. "A couple of people said 
he was a trench coat kind of kid."
For many locals, the first they heard of DePalma was in August, when his 
arrest made national news. He faces federal charges of possession of 
firearms for allegedly making Molotov cocktails, or gasoline firebombs, 
to bomb the Xcel Energy Center, the site of the Republican convention in 
St. Paul, Minn.
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
DePalma remains in federal custody. His public defender could not be 
reached for comment.
A teenage boy who answered the door at the DePalma home in Flushing said 
members of the family "were not interested" in talking to the media.
DePalma was charged by federal authorities Aug. 30. According to a 
Department of Justice release, the FBI began investigating DePalma in 
July after he attended an anarchist convention, called CrimethInc., in 
Wisconsin. While there, he told an FBI informant he wanted to "makes 
some bombs" and "blow up" things during the convention, according to the 
release.
DePalma spent his freshman and sophomore years at Flint's Central High 
School before he transferred to Flushing High School for his junior year.
In his senior year, he transferred again and enrolled in Mott Middle 
College, a school for at-risk students that allows them to take high 
school and college classes. He graduated from there in December 2003.
"He's got an above-average (grade-point average, and) there's nothing 
significant in his record. That's all that I can tell you," said Thomas 
Svitkovich, Genesee Intermediate School District Superintendent.
DePalma didn't appear to have a criminal record in Genesee County 
juvenile or circuit courts.
Although little is known about him, his family is well-known in the 
community. His younger brothers attended Flushing High School, and his 
mother has taught music at St. Robert Catholic School in Flushing and 
for Flint schools.
It is unclear where Matthew DePalma went after graduation, although his 
blog indicates he spent some time in Georgia. Public records and his 
MySpace page indicate he also spent about a year in Portland, Ore.
Coote said his friend loved to travel and also had spent time in New 
York and Oklahoma before he returned home to Flint for a short time in 
the past year and then left town again.
According to the MySpace page believed to be his, he had been training 
to be an emergency medical technician, although he still clearly stuck 
to his anarchist beliefs.
"I wash my hands of this world. I am not an American, I hardly want to 
be human at this point," the author writes in his blog. "I am an 
Anarchist. I am my own Island. I will not fear the consequences. I will 
avoid detainment, (ie prison) to be the best of my ability. I'm out, I 
quit this **** game. I'll take a hammer to this whole worthless state."
The blogs stop at the end of April, after DePalma writes a letter to his 
16-year-old self.
"The fact that you never give yourself credit for anything, makes you 
think your capabilities are limited, the irony is, they are because you 
believe this way," he wrote.
Journal staff writer Ron Fonger contributed to this report.








http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/10/flushing_native_matthew_depalm.html

Flushing native Matthew DePalma enters plea in Republican National 
Convention case
by The Associated Press
Wednesday October 22, 2008, 10:22 AM
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota -- A Flushing native who allegedly came to 
Minnesota to attack the Republican National Convention has pleaded 
guilty in federal court to possessing Molotov cocktails.
The U.S. attorney's office in Minneapolis said 23-year-old Matthew B. 
DePalma entered a guilty plea to possession of destructive devices on 
Tuesday.
DePalma had made at least five Molotov cocktails by the time he was 
arrested on Aug. 28 in a Minneapolis apartment.
He had allegedly told an FBI informant he planned to attack the Xcel 
Energy Center in St. Paul, where the convention was held, and had 
described a plan to use the fire bombs on police.
U.S. District Judge John Tunheim will sentence DePalma at a later date. 
He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
DePalma remains in custody.








http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/11/uselections2008.republicans2008

Republican convention protesters investigated for arson at Texas 
governor's mansion
Officials won't confirm whether the men are suspects in the June 8 arson
• McClatchy newspapers
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 11 September 2008 16.43 BST
• Article history
Two protesters accused of taking explosive devices to Minnesota to 
disrupt the Republican National Convention are being investigated for 
possible links to this summer's still unsolved blaze at the Texas 
governor's mansion.
Department of Public Safety officials won't say whether the men - 
22-year-old David McKay and 23-year-old Bradley Crowder - are suspects 
in the June 8 arson, which gutted the governor's mansion.
But a high-ranking state law enforcement official said today that the 
men, who remain in custody in Minnesota and stand accused of 
manufacturing Molotov cocktails for use at last week's convention, are 
under investigation in Texas.
Texas officials have video surveillance of a young man lighting a 
Molotov cocktail and using it to set the governor's mansion on fire.
The official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the probe 
is on-going, said there were "enough similar characteristics in the two 
cases to justify a review".
Minnesota attorney Jeff Degree said he hasn't heard of any Texas 
investigators meeting with McKay, his client, and that they haven't 
spoken about the governor's mansion case. When asked whether McKay 
admitted to producing Molotov cocktails for the Republican convention, 
Degree declined to answer.
"It's early on in the case and we haven't been able to review a lot of 
it," he said. "It seems pretty clear, however, that law enforcement 
undertook a lot of pretty aggressive actions (during the convention), 
not just on the street but undercover informants."
McKay and Crowder, who investigators say are connected to an 
Austin-based anarchist organisation called the Affinity Group, were 
charged in US federal court in Minnesota last week with illegally 
possessing Molotov cocktails.
According to a federal affidavit, the FBI in Texas began investigating 
the group in February 2007, and group members left Texas last month for 
the convention site.
Investigators allege that McKay and Crowder stopped at a Wal-Mart in St 
Paul to purchase Molotov cocktail supplies, which they stored at a local 
residence.
On an FBI audio recording taped by an informant, McKay allegedly 
discusses plans to throw the explosive devices at vehicles in a parking 
lot used by law enforcement vehicles. During the same conversation, 
McKay is heard saying it was "worth it if an officer gets burned or 
maimed", authorities allege.
When St Paul police raided the residence on September 3, officers seized 
gas masks, slingshots, helmets, and containers of a gasoline and oil 
mixture. They found eight assembled Molotov cocktails.
McKay was arrested in that raid. Crowder, whose attorney and family 
members could not be reached, had been arrested two days earlier for 
disorderly conduct.
Crowder's MySpace page where he uses the screen name Thoughtrebel, 
includes pictures of himself, one of which shows him crouching in front 
of three men carrying what appear to be Molotov cocktails. His page says 
he is a member of the Anarchist Collective and Anarchy in the USA groups.
On McKay's web page, which is titled Go Away, he posts pictures of 
himself protesting and getting arrested by the Midland county, Texas, 
sheriff's department.
His most recent log-in was on August 27, four days before the Republican 
National Convention.
The men will remain in custody in Minnesota until that state's 
investigation is complete, said David Anderson, a spokesman for the US 
Attorney's Office.








http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/30/police_raids/index.html?source=newsletter

Saturday Aug. 30, 2008 12:44 EDT
Massive police raids on suspected protesters in Minneapolis
[updated below (with video) - Update II - Update III - Update IV]
Protesters here in Minneapolis have been targeted by a series of highly 
intimidating, sweeping police raids across the city, involving teams of 
25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering 
homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing 
them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the 
homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets. Last night, 
members of the St. Paul police department and the Ramsey County 
sheriff's department handcuffed, photographed and detained dozens of 
people meeting at a public venue to plan a demonstration, charging them 
with no crime other than "fire code violations," and early this morning, 
the Sheriff's department sent teams of officers into at least four 
Minneapolis area homes where suspected protesters were staying.
Jane Hamsher and I were at two of those homes this morning -- one which 
had just been raided and one which was in the process of being raided. 
Each of the raided houses is known by neighbors as a "hippie house," 
where 5-10 college-aged individuals live in a communal setting, and 
everyone we spoke with said that there had never been any problems of 
any kind in those houses, that they were filled with "peaceful kids" who 
are politically active but entirely unthreatening and friendly. Posted 
below is the video of the scene, including various interviews, which 
convey a very clear sense of what is actually going on here.
In the house that had just been raided, those inside described how a 
team of roughly 25 officers had barged into their homes with masks and 
black swat gear, holding large semi-automatic rifles, and ordered them 
to lie on the floor, where they were handcuffed and ordered not to move. 
The officers refused to state why they were there and, until the very 
end, refused to show whether they had a search warrant. They were forced 
to remain on the floor for 45 minutes while the officers took away the 
laptops, computers, individual journals, and political materials kept in 
the house. One of the individuals renting the house, an 18-year-old 
woman, was extremely shaken as she and others described how the officers 
were deliberately making intimidating statements such as "Do you have 
Terminator ready?" as they lay on the floor in handcuffs. The 10 or so 
individuals in the house all said that though they found the experience 
very jarring, they still intended to protest against the GOP Convention, 
and several said that being subjected to raids of that sort made them 
more emboldened than ever to do so.
Several of those who were arrested are being represented by Bruce 
Nestor, the President of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers' 
Guild. Nestor said that last night's raid involved a meeting of a group 
calling itself the "RNC Welcoming Committee", and that this morning's 
raids appeared to target members of "Food Not Bombs," which he described 
as an anti-war, anti-authoritarian protest group. There was not a single 
act of violence or illegality that has taken place, Nestor said. 
Instead, the raids were purely anticipatory in nature, and clearly 
designed to frighten people contemplating taking part in any 
unauthorized protests.
Nestor indicated that only 2 or 3 of the 50 individuals who were 
handcuffed this morning at the 2 houses were actually arrested and 
charged with a crime, and the crime they were charged with is 
"conspiracy to commit riot." Nestor, who has practiced law in Minnesota 
for many years, said that he had never before heard of that statute 
being used for anything, and that its parameters are so self-evidently 
vague, designed to allow pre-emeptive arrests of those who are 
peacefully protesting, that it is almost certainly unconstitutional, 
though because it had never been invoked (until now), its 
constitutionality had not been tested.
There is clearly an intent on the part of law enforcement authorities 
here to engage in extreme and highly intimidating raids against those 
who are planning to protest the Convention. The DNC in Denver was the 
site of several quite ugly incidents where law enforcement acted on 
behalf of Democratic Party officials and the corporate elite that funded 
the Convention to keep the media and protesters from doing anything 
remotely off-script. But the massive and plainly excessive preemptive 
police raids in Minnesota are of a different order altogether. Targeting 
people with automatic-weapons-carrying SWAT teams and mass raids in 
their homes, who are suspected of nothing more than planning dissident 
political protests at a political convention and who have engaged in no 
illegal activity whatsoever, is about as redolent of the worst tactics 
of a police state as can be imagined.

UPDATE: Here is the first of the videos, from the house that had just 
been raided:



Jane Hamsher has more here, and The Minnesota Independent has a report 
on another one of the raided houses, here.

UPDATE II: Here is the video we took from the second house as the raid 
was occurring. We were barred from entering but spoke with neighbors 
outside as well as with Bruce Nestor, the President of the Minnesota 
Lawyer's Guild, regarding these raids:



Over at FDL, Lindsay Beyerstein spoke with the property owner whose 
house -- the fourth one we now know of -- was being raided while the 
raid was in progress, and Lindsay has details here ("About an hour and a 
half ago 20 to 30 heavily armed police officers surrounded the house. 
One of my roommates said 'I want to see a warrant' and she was 
immediately detained"). Meanwhile, Indy Media of Twin Cities -- an 
association of independent journalists in the area -- just told me that 
several of their journalists have been detained while trying to cover 
these raids. Their site, with ongoing updates, is here.
The Uptake also has several reports of the various raids, including 
video of the raid at the property whose owner Bernstein spoke with as 
the raid occurred. That video includes an interview with a lawyer from 
the National Lawyer's Guild who was detained and put in handcufffs, 
explaining that the surrounded house is one where various journalists 
are staying. Additionally, a photojournalist with Democracy Now was 
detained at that house as well. So, both journalists and lawyers -- in 
addition to protesters -- have been detained and arrested even though 
not a single violent or criminal act has occurred.

UPDATE III: FDL has the transcript of part of my discussion about these 
raids with the National Lawyer Guild's Minnesota President -- here.
The Uptake has this amazing video interview with the Democracy Now 
producer who was detained today. As the DN producer explains, she was 
present at a meeting of a group called "I-Witness" -- which videotaped 
police behavior at the 2004 GOP Convention in New York and helped get 
charges dismissed against hundreds of protesters who were arrested. The 
police surrounded the St. Paul house where they were meeting even though 
they had no warrant, told them that anyone who exited the house would be 
arrested, and then -- even though they finally, after several hours, 
obtained a warrant only for the house next door -- basically broke into 
the house, pointed weapons at everyone inside, handcuffed them, searched 
the house, and then left. Here is a blog post from one of the members of 
I-Witness asking for help during the time when they were forced to stay 
inside the house (see the second post -- it reads like a note from a 
hostage crying out for help). This is truly repugnant, extreme police 
behavior designed to intimidate protesters, police critics and others, 
and it ought to infuriate anyone and everyone who cares about basic 
liberties.

UPDATE IV: More here, including on the Federal Government's role in 
these raids.
http://www.truthout.org/article/police-break-down-doors-night-raid-protesters-meeting
Police Break Down Doors in Night-Time Raid on Anarchist Meeting
Saturday 30 August 2008
»

by: Mary Turck, Twin Cities Daily Planet


Sammy Schutz and Gabe. (Photo: Mary Turck / Twin Cities Daily Planet)
"I heard somebody saying, 'They're coming, they're coming!' And feet 
pounding on the back stairs, pounding on the door saying they had a 
search warrant. They busted through the door. They've got their guns 
cocked at people." Sammy Schutz held tightly to five-year-old Gabe, who 
had been watching a video with his mother and father and about 20 other 
people when the police stormed into 827 Smith Avenue in St. Paul, 
ordering everyone down on the floor.
"All I could feel was Mama Bear - do whatever you want to do to me, but 
I need to get my son out safe. He was watching his dad get handcuffed. 
And he's saying, 'Mommy, mommy, why did they crash through the door?'"
Gabe's question remained unanswered. Ramsey County sheriff's deputies 
said they were executing a search warrant, but would not show a copy of 
the warrant to lawyers or reporters. More than a dozen police vehicles , 
almost all unmarked, and more than 20 sheriff's deputies and St. Paul 
police arrived at the building about 9:45 Friday night and were still 
there at 1 a.m., when I left.
After handcuffing the people in the building (occupants said there were 
about two dozen on the second floor and "about 40 or 50" on the first 
floor), police processed them one by one. Each person was asked for 
identification, name and address, and then photographed.
People who had been inside the building told similar stories of police 
entering with guns drawn. They said police rushed past the security desk 
on the first floor, and used a battering ram to crash through the second 
floor back door.
"They said if you don't show us ID and get your picture taken, we will 
arrest you and take you away," said Michelle Gross, president of 
Communities United Against Police Brutality, who had arrived five or ten 
minutes before the raid began, planning to attend a meeting. "They never 
said what the basis for arrests would be. We were waiting for a meeting, 
for God's sake! I cannot tell you how much like a police state that felt 
to me."
After each person was released after being photographed, exiting the 
building and crossing between police cars to a crowd of cheering friends 
on the sidewalk across from the building. No one was arrested, but 
sheriff's deputies remained inside the building.
Eventually, a city contractor arrived to board up the building, 
allegedly for unspecified code violations.
St. Paul City Council member Dave Thune said he was trying to find out 
who ordered the building locked up and on what grounds. "This isn't the 
way we do things in St. Paul," Thune said. "I don't want the city to get 
sucked into something that the sheriff's office is concocting."
Thune said that someone had called in the city contractor and ordered 
him to secure the building, but this was not done according ot St. Paul 
city procedures.
"Normally," said Thune, "we only board up buildings that are vacant and 
ramshackle. The fire inspector has no idea what's going on. He hadn't 
been called. The person who is on 24/7 call was not called. I talked to 
him trying to fid out who did issue that order and why."
The building at 827 Smith Avenue had been rented by the RNC Welcoming 
Committee as a "convergence space," open to activists for meetings, 
eating, and just hanging out. Earlier in the week, a large downstairs 
room in the former theater held tables of literature and about a dozen 
computers, set up for free wi-fi access for visitors. Large maps showed 
downtown St. Paul streets. The kitchen was spotless, with stainless 
steel refrigerators and a gas range, looking like a commercial kitchen 
in a church basement. The second floor room, where Sammy and her family 
were watching a video on consumerism Friday night, had comfortable 
theater seats and space for meetings.
A young man who would not give his name said that many people had asked 
to see the search warrant. After "what seemed like a long time," someone 
was allowed to read the warrant aloud. His recollection, affirmed by at 
least two others, was that the warrant was very long and listed many 
items, including soap flakes, X boxes, paint, computer operating support 
manuals, caltrops, bleach, floppy disks with digital information, 
Molotov cocktails and many other items.
Dave Thune reported that sheriff's deputies hauled out literature and 
other items in boxes. Literature available in the Convergence Center 
earlier in the week included "The Struggle is Our Inheritance: A History 
of Radical Minnesota," "Anarchy: A Pamphlet," "a guide to 2008 antiRNC 
organizing," and "Need to Know Basics: Coldsnap Legal Collective's 
Minnesota Legal Primer for the RNC."
Police loaded confiscated items into a police vehicle.
The activists had studied their legal rights, and said they repeated 
asked to see the search warrant, said they did not consent to searches, 
and asked to see their lawyers. At least one person on the second floor 
managed to dial a number for the National Lawyer's Guild (NLG) as the 
police burst through the door. Though NLG lawyers arrived on the scene 
early, they were not allowed to enter the building and no one in the 
building was allowed access to lawyers.
"Here we are in this country trying to fight terrorism," said one 
activist, "and I experience it - a gun in my face!"
Photo URL: 
http://tcdailyplanet.net/article/2008/08/30/police-break-down-doors-night-time-raid-anarchist-meeting.html&print=1 
Unique/Short Title: Sammy Schutz and Gabe Caption: Sammy Schutz and 
Gabe. (Photo: Mary Turck / Twin Cities Daily Planet) ===========








http://www.nowpublic.com/world/35-000-people-sign-letter-protesting-arrest-us-journalist

35,000 people sign letter protesting arrest of US journalist
by mtippett | September 3, 2008 at 09:19 am
220 views | 24 Recommendations | 6 comments

by mtippett

by mtippett
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The uproar surrounding the arrest of Amy Goodman and other journalists 
in Minneapolis continues to grow. Now over 35,000 people have reportedly 
signed a petition demanding an end to media intimidation.
http://www.truthout.org/article/pre-emptive-strikes-against-protest-rnc

Pre-Emptive Strikes Against Protest at RNC
Tuesday 02 September 2008

by: Marjorie Cohn, t r u t h o u t | Report


Marcus Washington, a producer from Tennessee who was documenting the 
antiwar protest, grimaced in pain after he was hit with pepper spray. 
(Photo: Jim Gehrz / Minneapolis Star Tribune)
In the months leading up to the Republican National Convention, the 
FBI-led Minneapolis Joint Terrorist Task Force actively recruited people 
to infiltrate vegan groups and other leftist organizations and report 
back about their activities. On May 21, the Minneapolis City Pages ran a 
recruiting story called "Moles Wanted." Law enforcement sought to 
pre-empt lawful protest against the policies of the Bush administration 
during the convention.
Since Friday, local police and sheriffs, working with the FBI, conducted 
pre-emptive searches, seizures and arrests. Glenn Greenwald described 
the targeting of protesters by "teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, 
with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of 
planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, 
while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, 
journals, and political pamphlets." Journalists were detained at 
gunpoint and lawyers representing detainees were handcuffed at the scene.
"I was personally present and saw officers with riot gear and assault 
rifles, pump action shotguns," said Bruce Nestor, the president of the 
Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, who is representing 
several of the protesters. "The neighbor of one of the houses had a gun 
pointed in her face when she walked out on her back porch to see what 
was going on. There were children in all of these houses, and children 
were held at gunpoint."
The raids targeted members of "Food Not Bombs," an antiwar, 
anti-authoritarian protest group that provides free vegetarian meals 
every week in hundreds of cities all over the world. They served meals 
to rescue workers at the World Trade Center after 9/11 and to nearly 20 
communities in the Gulf region following Hurricane Katrina.
Also targeted, were members of I-Witness Video, a media watchdog group 
that monitors the police to protect civil liberties. The group worked 
with the National Lawyers Guild to gain the dismissal of charges or 
acquittals of about 400 of the 1,800 who were arrested during the 2004 
Republican National Convention in New York. Pre-emptive policing was 
used at that time as well. Police infiltrated protest groups in advance 
of the convention.
Nestor said that no violence or illegality has taken place to justify 
the arrests. "Seizing boxes of political literature shows the motive of 
these raids was political," he said.
Further evidence of the political nature of the police action was the 
boarding up of the Convergence Center, where protesters had gathered, 
for unspecified code violations. St. Paul City Council member David 
Thune said, "Normally we only board up buildings that are vacant and 
ramshackle." Thune and fellow City Council member Elizabeth Glidden 
decried "actions that appear excessive and create an atmosphere of fear 
and intimidation for those who wish to exercise their First Amendment 
rights."
"So here we have a massive assault led by Federal Government law 
enforcement agencies on left-wing dissidents and protesters who have 
committed no acts of violence or illegality whatsoever, preceded by 
months-long espionage efforts to track what they do," Greenwald wrote on 
Salon.
Preventive detention violates the Fourth Amendment, which requires that 
warrants be supported by probable cause. protesters were charged with 
"conspiracy to commit riot," a rarely-used statute that is so vague, it 
is probably unconstitutional. Nestor said it "basically criminalizes 
political advocacy."
On Sunday, the National Lawyers Guild and Communities United Against 
Police Brutality filed an emergency motion requesting an injunction to 
prevent police from seizing video equipment and cellular phones used to 
document their conduct.
During Monday's demonstration, law enforcement officers used pepper 
spray, rubber bullets, concussion grenades and excessive force. At least 
284 people were arrested, including Amy Goodman, the prominent host of 
"Democracy Now!," as well as the show's producers, Abdel Kouddous and 
Nicole Salazar. "St. Paul was the most militarized I have ever seen an 
American city to be," Greenwald wrote, "with troops of federal, state 
and local law enforcement agents marching around with riot gear, machine 
guns, and tear gas cannisters, shouting military chants and marching in 
military formations."
Bruce Nestor said the timing of the arrests was intended to stop protest 
activity, "to make people fearful of the protests, but also to 
discourage people from protesting," he told Amy Goodman. Nevertheless, 
10,000 people, many opposed to the Iraq war, turned out to demonstrate 
on Monday. A legal team from the National Lawyers Guild has been working 
diligently to protect the constitutional rights of protesters.








http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/35795

Banners Over Madison Support RNC Protestors
Submitted by Chip on Tue, 2008-09-02 07:23.
• Activism
• General Discussion
• Nonviolent Resistance
Banners appeared in Madison, Wisconsin overpasses Monday morning in 
solidarity with the blockades and protests against the Republican 
Convention in St. Paul, MN.
As of 9/1/2008, there are a total of 256 arrests; 119 felonies, 48 gross 
misdemeanors; 89 misdemeanors.
CNN reported that police used pepper spray and tear gas against 
protestors. St Paul received $50 million in federal grant money to pay 
for additional security.








http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/09/04/mccain_protesters/index.html?source=rss&aim=/politics/war_room

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008 22:40 EDT
Protesters disrupt McCain speech
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- If you're at home watching John McCain's speech at 
the Republican Convention and wondering why he made a few odd pauses and 
why the crowd broke into the occasional chant of "USA! USA!" it's 
because a few antiwar protesters got into the hall and started heckling 
him during his speech.
The first hecklers were off-camera, located conveniently above the press 
stands. Two men, carrying banners that read "You can't win an 
occupation," began shouting questions for McCain. They managed to divert 
the attention of the press and a substantial portion of the crowd; 
McCain, who couldn't see what was going on from his vantage point, 
seemed confused. It seems as though both men have been removed, though 
it's hard to be sure from where I'm sitting.
Later, a second protester, this one on the floor and not far from the 
podium, broke into the speech, leading to more chants from McCain's 
supporters and more disruption of the speech. This time, McCain was able 
to figure out what was going on. "Please don't be diverted by the ground 
noise and the static," he quipped, earning himself a big round of 
applause. "Americans want us to stop yelling at each other."
― Alex Koppelman









http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/USA/Anti-war_protestors_disrupt_McCain_speech/articleshow/3446920.cms

Anti-war protestors disrupt McCain speech
5 Sep 2008, 0804 hrs IST, AFP
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Text:

ST PAUL, Minnesota: Several anti-war protestors disrupted John McCain's 
primetime convention speech on Thursday minutes after he had accepted the

Republican presidential nomination.

One protester who sneaked into the crowd held up a black sign reading 
"You can't win an occupation," and started chanting, but was quickly 
drowned out by the crowd cheering "USA, USA."

Moments later a protestor in another part of the arena also started 
shouting slogans, but was bustled out by security, sparking angry chants 
from Republican delegates, and another chorus of "USA, USA."









http://codepink4peace.org/blog/2008/09/codepink-activists-interrrupt-sarah-palins-rnc-speech-at-side-of-the-stage/

CODEPINK activists interrupt Sarah Palin’s RNC speech at side of the stage!
Posted by Jean -
Wed, Sep 3, 2008
Bust McCain, CPHQ, Citizen Diplomacy, Give Peace a Vote, PeaceRoom 2008, 
Rock the Parties!, Uncategorized, War is Not Green
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT
Jodie Evans, co-founder, 310-913-4821
ST. PAUL — Two activists of the women’s peace group CODEPINK disrupted 
Sarah Palin’s speech tonight at the Republican National Convention when 
they approached the stage where Palin was speaking, adjusted their 
clothes to reveal pink slips that read “Palin is not a woman’s choice,” 
stood there at the side of the stage for about a minute and yelled 
“Women say no to war!” and “Women need a vice-president for peace!” They 
also removed banners that read “Women need a peace vice-president.”
Co-founders Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans, who were given their tickets 
to the speech by a Republican delegate who was frustrated with the 
Republican party and Sarah Palin, caught the attention of Palin with 
their banners and shouting about 15 minutes into her speech. Palin 
stopped talking for a moment to turn to look at them. (Read a Washington 
Post description of the incident here: 
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/03/inside_the_convention_hall.html).
After another moment, security then grabbed Benjamin and Evans and 
escorted them one at a time out of the St. Paul Xcel Center, where they 
were held until the end of the Palin’s speech and told they would be 
arrested if they tried to reenter. They were told they’d committed an 
arrestable offense but they were not charged.
“Sarah Palin is not a woman’s choice,” said Jodie Evans, co-founder, 
moments after being released. “That’s it.”
CODEPINK is a nonpartisan women’s peace group. They vehemently oppose 
Palin’s pro-war, anti-environment, anti-choice positions. More details 
to come. For questions, please call Jodie Evans at 310-913-4821.