News and Politics | September 01, 2008 | 14 comments

Riot police defend the Mall of America from workers

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SushiBandit
Starbucks workers and their supporters, 50 to 70 of them, converge for a rally today at the rail station at Lake and Hiawatha in downtown Minneapolis. The crowd comes to stand in solidarity with Starbucks workers in their fight to organize a union, the Starbucks Workers Union (SWU), with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and to escort Erik Forman back to work at the Mall of America.

One stop before the Mall of America, at Bloomington Central, the train is greeted by officers from the Bloomington Police and the Minnesota Department of Criminal Apprehension, armed with guns, tasers, and videocameras. After a liaison explains the nature of the visit—no pickets, no signs, no protest, just a group of workers accompanying a fellow worker to work—the train is allowed to pass.

Fast forward to the Mall of America station: “Get back on the train! Anyone exiting the train will be arrested for trespassing.” This is what greets all passengers as they enter the Mall of America rail station. It is spoken by armed riot police here to protect the Mall from its workers and their friends. Deployed by the Bloomington Police Department and backed up by other agencies, the riot police run to block the exits of the train.

They proceed to pen in all passengers inside the train. Legal observers attempt to negotiate, reporters attempt to document—all are forced back onto the train.

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14 comments // Riot police defend the Mall of America from workers

  • ACrisisinAmerica
    • 0
      ACrisisinAmerica  
    • NATIONAL STRIKE DAY PROPOSED!

      Dear Americans,

      I would like to propose a "NATIONAL STRIKE DAY" for every American that is able. I have heard France has been doing this with great success. Please let us get everyone engaged here and anywhere we can post this message or one of your own.

      The Questions I would ask here are as follows: What day should it be and when and how often? Once a month to start or? I believe this would really give the people back their power in this country. It is time to take action! If we do not take some action now as our Declaration of Independence says we have the right and obligation to, it looks like our country will fall.

      People are losing their homes by the millions, and jobs of course with it, and our government with the media's help are trying to hide it from us. They are going to let us just fall, we have to save ourselves, to many good people's lives are being ruined.

      This is the responsibility of a free people. Be sure the world bankers have a diabolical plan for us and unless we truly want to be slaves, we have to do something. I am open to other ideas, or maybe someone is already doing this (I heard something). I plead with each American here on Twitter to get involved and support this idea, and everywhere else we can get this message out.

      This will be a peaceful way to get our government's attention, while we take back our country. Trust me if George Washington and the many honorable men and women who fought our war of Independence were here today, they would have already taken action years ago, many years ago, and I doubt it would be very peaceful.

      Thus, no one works until our demands are met. Start with say five or ten demands. So my idea, proposal is that Americans just go to the street, your city hall, or what is ever appropriate in your state. No one works until our demands are met. But absolutely No violence, no vandalism, no matter what please. That will destroy our honest political cause afforded us by our constitution. In fact, we should make, in my opinion that it is a very somber and quite sit in, almost complete silence until our demands are met, so they cannot try and intimidate people or arrest them unlawfully as they have been doing. I believe this is very important point, no conflict what so ever, just freeze everything. We are all allowed to stay home from work. We need to get employers involved obviously.

      My list of demands start as follows:

      1.) No more bail outs, but instead money is to be given directly to the American people.
      I heard some experts are saying that this is the only real cure, some 450,000.00 to each American is the answer to our financial crisis. http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?=26321

      2.) Abolish the IRS, period!

      3.) Reinstate our fourth Amendment rights.

      4.)

      5.)

      I hope others will give their suggestions. I would recommend we elect a board and thus work to organize our first AMERICAN NATIONAL STRIKE DAY, or if someone has already started this, please if anyone is aware of this let me know.

      Sincere hope for our beloved nation,
      Stephen Paine

    • 3 years ago
  • ddd3ddd
    • 0
      ddd3ddd  
    • a short history lesson about how big biz.was in full;; support of nazi politics of oppression against the workingman and efforts to unionize for a fair living wage should echo true to these times with the multi-nationals outsourcing all they can to the lowest bidder[wages] and exercising heavyhanded gestapo antics using the blueshirts as thier personal lackeys; henry ford at least spent his own money to hire pinkerton guards to do his union busting,but pinkerton's shot into the crowd' beware private security-blackwater, custer-battles

    • 3 years ago
  • SuncatcherEyes
  • EdKnowsAll
    • 0
      EdKnowsAll  
    • Image
    • You might have one last chance at this on Nov. 4th 2008. Make sure you get it right.
      "Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have... The course of history shows that as government grows, LIBERTY DECREASES."-Thomas Jefferson
      Both McCain AND Obama are "Big Government" politicians.
      Write-in Ron Paul!

    • 3 years ago
  • justright
    • 0
      justright  
    • Ever notice how there's one on ever corner? Better watch your step GOP, theres more starf*ck employees than police and military combined in the U.S.

    • 3 years ago
  • joe_shaffer
  • Dmitri_Molotov
  • Saber2011
    • 0
      Saber2011  
    • Dmitri_Molotov:

      Becuase corrupt unions destroyed the USA's industrial power.

      GMC now spends more money on healthcare than it does on steel.

      Unions were once useful, but now it seems that they exixt only to greedily suck all the money away from American companies.

      The reason we are losing our blue-collar jobs is because the companies can no longer compete in the global economy.

    • 3 years ago
  • Dmitri_Molotov
  • jh64487
    • 0
      jh64487  
    • mmm, one day, hopefully quite soon, americans will again find their revolutionary spirit and tear these pigs apart (and of course, the entities backing them)

    • 3 years ago
  • 1percent
    • 0
      1percent  
    • The mall must be protected at all costs!

      Beware of the baristas....

      I can see from here out all police will be getting decaf whether they know it or not... heheheh

      Ride on!

    • 3 years ago
  • ihateyou
    • 0
      ihateyou  
    • everybody is protesting , except the neocons, dont worry when there is peace you will get you chance to protest.
      i can see them now chanting, no more peace....no more peace......no more peace

    • 3 years ago
  • EdKnowsAll
    • 0
      EdKnowsAll  
    • ihateyou:

      Your user name says it all. Take your hatred elsewhere. Your shallow partisan accusations only serve to illustrate your ignorance of the bigger picture. All "mainstream" politicians are the problem, not just Republicans or Democrats.

    • 3 years ago
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