Police excesses from the RNC extend to Rage Against the Machine Concert
Tony Webster is a Minneapolis photojournalist who went to the Target Center to document the end of the Rage Against the Machine Concert Wednesday night. St. Paul Police Chief and the Ramsey County Sherrif had been telling the media that the concert was going to be wild and that protests would surely ensue.
When Webster arrived 45 minutes before the concert ended, there were already police in riot gear, mounted police, police with wood batons all waiting for the concert to end. Exactly the sort of thing the a crowd of Rage against the machine fans will take in stride coming out the concert.
When the concert ended, a small crowd (out of all the thousands of concert goers) gathered--around itself not around the police--and was yelling expletives about republicans. Three people were clearly trying to create chaos. As the protest crowd got wilder, peace activists and Target Center employees tried to separate them from the police. The police back off and then led the protesters down a path where they were soon surrounded.
Tony Webster, despite having all his press credentials out and repeatedly telling the police officers, including Police Chief Dolan, was arrested and flicked off by an officer. By his account, this protest was CREATED by the police forces present.
His account is intense and links to photos he took that night. He explains that in the past, he's been highly supportive of local police efforts to make the city more livable, making him all the more disgusted at these events.
This an another very unfortunate example of police escalation and disregard for the presses role.
When Webster arrived 45 minutes before the concert ended, there were already police in riot gear, mounted police, police with wood batons all waiting for the concert to end. Exactly the sort of thing the a crowd of Rage against the machine fans will take in stride coming out the concert.
When the concert ended, a small crowd (out of all the thousands of concert goers) gathered--around itself not around the police--and was yelling expletives about republicans. Three people were clearly trying to create chaos. As the protest crowd got wilder, peace activists and Target Center employees tried to separate them from the police. The police back off and then led the protesters down a path where they were soon surrounded.
Tony Webster, despite having all his press credentials out and repeatedly telling the police officers, including Police Chief Dolan, was arrested and flicked off by an officer. By his account, this protest was CREATED by the police forces present.
His account is intense and links to photos he took that night. He explains that in the past, he's been highly supportive of local police efforts to make the city more livable, making him all the more disgusted at these events.
This an another very unfortunate example of police escalation and disregard for the presses role.
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- tags:
- Protest, RNC, Rage Against the Machine, St. Paul + add
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- frenchfly4
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