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**NADALA** · 08-31-2008, 06:12 PM

50,000 expected to protest RNC
David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster
Published: Friday August 29, 2008

*****

Massive preemptive police raids on suspected protestors in Minneapolis

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. [continued]

*****

A complete search warrant and seizure list for one of the residences.

Some of the items sought:

Photographs and maps of downtown St. Paul
Paint and spray paint
Sticks and poles
Nails, screws
Bricks
...chicken wire, roofing tar, duct tape, PVC or metal piping
Computer systems, including but not limited to, the main computer box, monitors, scanners, printers, modems, and other peripheral devices.
Media in whatever form, including, but not limited to, magnetic (such as floppy disks, hard drives and magnetic tape), flash (such as media cards and USB thumb drives) or optical (such as compact disks and digital video disks).
Digital camera equipment.
Electronic devices, including but not limited to, MP3 players (including, but not limited to iPods), X-Box gaming systems, cellular phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs).
Programs and manuals related to operating systems or applications.
Notes and other documentation, including maps, charts, membership lists.
Data contained on either hard drives, electronic devices or removable media...
Data contained within any seized cellular phone, SIM card, PDA or electronic device to include, but not limited to, call logs, contacts, text messages, audio messages, images, internet cache and deleted data.

Some of the items seized:

Two foam padding rolls
Two jars of 9/16" staples from basement
Four boxes of literature, "propaganda"
Climbing equipment
US currency $670.00
Computer harddrive
Helmet, U-bikelock, two digital cameras, cellphone, goggles
Hatchet, wire cutter "tools"
"Filter mask" found in basement
Box or RNC propagands, spraypaint, cellphones
Laptop Apple I-book
St. Paul city maps/propaganda, books
Dell computer
silver "thumbdrive"
Two boxes of literature propaganda, two motorola two way radios, Verizon cellphone
Several 5gal buckets, two kryptonite bikelocks, 1 hacksaw, 2 long curtain rods, multiple bicycle innertubes
13 cans of paint in garage
6 vehicle tires in garage
Large red bolt cutter in garage
Hardware bolts, nails, screws in garage
Silver cable in garage
Pry-bar "stanley" "wrecking bar" in garage
propaganda banner in garage
Can of charcoal lighter in garage
Denatured alcohol in garage
1 can mineral spirits in garage

*****

Inside an RNC Raid

By: Lindsay Beyerstein Saturday August 30, 2008 12:59 pm

Thanks to the miracle of cellular technology, I was able to talk to a homeowner while his home was surrounded by police conducting an RNC-related raid. At approximatedly two-thirty this afternoon, I reached Mike Whelan, a waiter and army veteran, at his duplex at 951 Iglehart Ave. in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Whelan said he'd invited independent observers from the group LegalWatch stay in one half of his side-by-side duplex while they monitored RNC protests.

Whelan described himself as a supporter of the RNC demonstrations, but said he is not affiliated with any particular group. "I want to build a country that's based on good social values," he explained.

When I spoke to him, Whelan was waiting in one half of the duplex with his roommates, Dan and Julian. The three were afraid to go outside because the police were still there. Whelan said he thought that the police were inside the opposite side of the duplex, where the legal observers were staying. "I think they are detaining people," he added.

Whelan, who seemed remarkably calm for a guy whose flower garden had just been trampled by police with drawn automatic weapons, said he'd just returned from a morning of garage sale shopping when the commotion started. That would have been about one o'clock local time. He described what happened:

"About an hour and a half ago 20 to 30 heavily armed police officers surrounded the house," Whelan said. "One of my roommates said 'I want to see a warrant' and she was immediately detained."

"Are they still outside?" I asked.

"Oh, yes, they're still outside," Whelan replied cheerfully, "The streets are blocked off."

"How you did figure out there was a raid going on?" I asked.

"It sounded like people were falling down on my porch," he said, "Cops were running up both sides of the house onto the porch.

Whelan says his roommate, Erin Stalmaker, went out to talk to talk to the police. She asked the officers why they were there. The officers asked why people were running away from them. Erin reportedly told the officers that their drawn automatic weapons probably had something to do with it. She was detained after asking to see a warrant.

"Are you scared," I asked."

"No, I'm a veteran," he said, "I was in the army. I was a military police officer. I wouldn't have done this."

Whelan said it was especially perplexing that the police would target his home.

"There's nothing here," he said, "These are the "checking" people. They're not even going to be in the demonstration. Some are lawyers."

Whelan was watching a large crowd of legal observers gathering across the street, many wearing red or green hats. The police officers he could identify were from St. Paul, but he thought there might be other forces on the scene as well. The officers were wearing black uniforms. Their vehicles were "non-descript" vans, not police cruisers. TV cameras were also on the scene. Whelan couldn't be sure because a tree was blocking his view, but he thought City Council member Melvin Carter had arrived. Whelan called him when the raid started. (Talk about constituent service.)

"You figure this would be going on in South Africa, or Russia, not in St Paul," Whelan said, marveling at the incongruity of it all,"St. Paul is nice."

08-31-2008, 06:12 PM	#41
NADALA Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 379 Senior Member	50,000 expected to protest RNC David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster Published: Friday August 29, 2008 *** Massive preemptive police raids on suspected protestors in Minneapolis 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. [continued] * A complete search warrant and seizure list for one of the residences. Some of the items sought: Photographs and maps of downtown St. Paul Paint and spray paint Sticks and poles Nails, screws Bricks ...chicken wire, roofing tar, duct tape, PVC or metal piping Computer systems, including but not limited to, the main computer box, monitors, scanners, printers, modems, and other peripheral devices. Media in whatever form, including, but not limited to, magnetic (such as floppy disks, hard drives and magnetic tape), flash (such as media cards and USB thumb drives) or optical (such as compact disks and digital video disks). Digital camera equipment. Electronic devices, including but not limited to, MP3 players (including, but not limited to iPods), X-Box gaming systems, cellular phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Programs and manuals related to operating systems or applications. Notes and other documentation, including maps, charts, membership lists. Data contained on either hard drives, electronic devices or removable media... Data contained within any seized cellular phone, SIM card, PDA or electronic device to include, but not limited to, call logs, contacts, text messages, audio messages, images, internet cache and deleted data. Some of the items seized: Two foam padding rolls Two jars of 9/16" staples from basement Four boxes of literature, "propaganda" Climbing equipment US currency $670.00 Computer harddrive Helmet, U-bikelock, two digital cameras, cellphone, goggles Hatchet, wire cutter "tools" "Filter mask" found in basement Box or RNC propagands, spraypaint, cellphones Laptop Apple I-book St. Paul city maps/propaganda, books Dell computer silver "thumbdrive" Two boxes of literature propaganda, two motorola two way radios, Verizon cellphone Several 5gal buckets, two kryptonite bikelocks, 1 hacksaw, 2 long curtain rods, multiple bicycle innertubes 13 cans of paint in garage 6 vehicle tires in garage Large red bolt cutter in garage Hardware bolts, nails, screws in garage Silver cable in garage Pry-bar "stanley" "wrecking bar" in garage propaganda banner in garage Can of charcoal lighter in garage Denatured alcohol in garage 1 can mineral spirits in garage * Inside an RNC Raid By: Lindsay Beyerstein Saturday August 30, 2008 12:59 pm Thanks to the miracle of cellular technology, I was able to talk to a homeowner while his home was surrounded by police conducting an RNC-related raid. At approximatedly two-thirty this afternoon, I reached Mike Whelan, a waiter and army veteran, at his duplex at 951 Iglehart Ave. in St. Paul, Minnesota. Whelan said he'd invited independent observers from the group LegalWatch stay in one half of his side-by-side duplex while they monitored RNC protests. Whelan described himself as a supporter of the RNC demonstrations, but said he is not affiliated with any particular group. "I want to build a country that's based on good social values," he explained. When I spoke to him, Whelan was waiting in one half of the duplex with his roommates, Dan and Julian. The three were afraid to go outside because the police were still there. Whelan said he thought that the police were inside the opposite side of the duplex, where the legal observers were staying. "I think they are detaining people," he added. Whelan, who seemed remarkably calm for a guy whose flower garden had just been trampled by police with drawn automatic weapons, said he'd just returned from a morning of garage sale shopping when the commotion started. That would have been about one o'clock local time. He described what happened: "About an hour and a half ago 20 to 30 heavily armed police officers surrounded the house," Whelan said. "One of my roommates said 'I want to see a warrant' and she was immediately detained."** "Are they still outside?" I asked. "Oh, yes, they're still outside," Whelan replied cheerfully, "The streets are blocked off." "How you did figure out there was a raid going on?" I asked. "It sounded like people were falling down on my porch," he said, "Cops were running up both sides of the house onto the porch. Whelan says his roommate, Erin Stalmaker, went out to talk to talk to the police. She asked the officers why they were there. The officers asked why people were running away from them. Erin reportedly told the officers that their drawn automatic weapons probably had something to do with it. She was detained after asking to see a warrant. "Are you scared," I asked." "No, I'm a veteran," he said, "I was in the army. I was a military police officer. I wouldn't have done this." Whelan said it was especially perplexing that the police would target his home. "There's nothing here," he said, "These are the "checking" people. They're not even going to be in the demonstration. Some are lawyers." Whelan was watching a large crowd of legal observers gathering across the street, many wearing red or green hats. The police officers he could identify were from St. Paul, but he thought there might be other forces on the scene as well. The officers were wearing black uniforms. Their vehicles were "non-descript" vans, not police cruisers. TV cameras were also on the scene. Whelan couldn't be sure because a tree was blocking his view, but he thought City Council member Melvin Carter had arrived. Whelan called him when the raid started. (Talk about constituent service.) "You figure this would be going on in South Africa, or Russia, not in St Paul," Whelan said, marveling at the incongruity of it all,"St. Paul is nice."
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