RNC Protesters // Current

Assessing RNC police tactics: missteps, poor judgments and inappropriate detentions

The spying began late in the summer of 2007, after police in St. Paul discovered an... more

peoplesmovement
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terrorism charges against rnc 8 are dropped

The defendants still face other felony charges, and the county attorney denied that... more

donkeyfly69
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7 months ago
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Amy Goodman Interviewed about RNC Arrests

Personal account of misbehavior of police and secret service toward accredited... more

contactkatrinaford
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1 year ago
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US: RNC cops brutally suppress press freedom

You need to watch this video. Warning: it may make you cry (it did for me). A... more

willbpayne
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1 year ago
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Citizens being randomly nabbed off the streets by Police in St Paul

At 4:00 with music playing at the rally at the Capitol a team of one to two dozen... more

asherp
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1 year ago
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8 Members of RNC activist group charged with terrorism

Ramsey County prosecutors have formally charged eight members of a prominent activist... more

asherp
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1 year ago
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65 comments

Dead Prez Rap at The RNC

The politically confrontational, underground hip-hop duo, Dead Prez makes an... more

DailyFix
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1 year ago
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RNC: Police brutality

..."He explained that almost immediately five police officers surrounded him and... more

lecoke
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1 year ago
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Scores arrested as protests turn violent outside GOP convention

Police used pepper spray and tear gas to quell breakaway demonstrators from an otherwise peaceful antiwar demonstration today outside the Republican National Convention, after the splinter groups smashed department store and police car windows.

At least 78 demonstrators were arrested - including Amy Goodman, host of the nationally broadcast television and radio program "Democracy Now"- as police clashed with roaming groups of protesters. Nearly half of the arrests were for misdemeanor charges.

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 the downtown.

Earlier today, several groups of demonstrators - many with bandanas covering their faces who identified themselves as anarchists - 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 would 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 trouble-makers (today), 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 retain 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 typical of many antiwar demonstrations, 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."Police used pepper spray and tear gas to quell breakaway demonstrators from an... more

CaptSutter
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1 year ago
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Confirmed: Democracy Now's Amy Goodman arrested at RNC, now released

Democracy Now's Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar were arrested by... more

asherp
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1 year ago
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Protesting on the Mean Streets of St. Paul

Talk about a time warp. On the streets of St. Paul, a pair of anti-war activists... more

jessilee23
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1 year ago
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5 arrested in protests at GOP convention site

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Thousands of protesters descended on the city hosting the Republican National Convention Monday, some smashing cars, puncturing tires and throwing bottles in a confrontations with pepper-spray wielding police who arrested at least five people.

Police said the size of the crowd shifted during the day before estimating it in the range of 8,000 to 10,000, many of whom marched peacefully. The arrests occurred in confrontations several blocks from the Xcel Energy Center where the GOP gaveled its convention to order in late afternoon. A handful of people were arrested for lighting a dumpster on fire and pushing it into a police car, said St. Paul police spokesman Tom Walsh.

Instead of a 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 convention site. Some anarchists who had started the trash bin fire later tried to block a major intersection. 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 its 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 rear view 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 dumpster filled with trash and threw garbage in the streets and at cars. They also took down orange detour road signs. In hot pursuit were teams of riot officers carrying batons, rifles and guns that could be used to shoot tear gas.

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.ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Thousands of protesters descended on the city hosting the... more