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08-31-2008, 06:12 PM
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#41 |
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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:
Some of the items seized:
***** 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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09-02-2008, 05:45 AM
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#42 |
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 30 sec video of a woman being pepper-sprayed at close range by a marching legion of police while standing on the side of the road holding a flower. ***** Amy Goodman of Democracy Now -- the radio and TV broadcaster who has been a working journalist for close to 20 years -- was arrested on the street and charged with "conspiracy to riot."  Video of Amy Goodman being arrested. Read more. ***** Regarding my earlier post about the house raids: "The searches were led by the Ramsey County Sheriff's office. Deputies coordinated searches with the Minneapolis and St. Paul police departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation." [source]  "aided by informants planted in protest groups." [source] [background] More: The Minnesota Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild is seeking a judicial review into six activists arrested during a police raid on a group organizing protests against the Republican National Convention, The Minnesota Independent reported Sunday. A representative of the National Lawyers Guild said the police officers are simply trying to prevent the activists from their right to protest as no charges or official complaints have been filed. “If they have evidence of a criminal act, then they should charge them,” he says. “And if they can charge [my client, Monica Bicking] with a complaint, then we will go defend that in court. But right now they are just holding them. You can’t just hold [Bicking] to prevent her from exercising her free speech.” The activists were arrested when the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department stormed a rented meeting place of the RNC Welcoming Committee, a self-described “anarchist/anti-authoritarian” group, in St. Paul, Minnesota Friday night, CNN reported. As many as 30 police officers entered the building with guns drawn, temporarily detaining and photographing at least 50 people. St. Paul Police spokesman Tom Walsh said the men acted under a search warrant, but said “the cause for the search warrant is not public at this time.” Bicking's brother: "I've been told that the police have 36 hours to charge her, and that 36 hours starts after the labor day holiday, so they only have to charge her sometime Wednesday." |
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09-02-2008, 06:58 PM
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#43 |
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Marchers urge Republicans to halt Iraq war
16 hours ago ST PAUL, Minnesota (AFP) — They came in their thousands -- veterans, grandmothers, young families and even disgruntled Republicans bearing banners and peace flags, and calling in one voice to end the war in Iraq. Under the watchful eye of scores of police in riot gear, thousands of protestors marched through the streets of St. Paul urging Republicans gathered for the party convention to bring US troops home. Snipers looked on from nearby buildings and a helicopter hovered overhead, at times drowning out the shouts from the parade. Trouble flared when one group split away from the beginning of the march and tussled with police, who fired pepper spray on the crowd, including at an AFP photographer. Reports said five people were arrested. But the atmosphere was mostly festive with demonstrators keen to press home their message, even though they went unheeded as they funneled through a fenced-in walkway, barely within sight of the convention center. "I'm here for all the Iraqi women who can't be here," said 72-year-old Mim Olsen, from Texas, a veteran of some of the country's most powerful civil rights marches. "It can be very lonely out there, if you are grieving. So this kind of gathering is important for each other, to say to everyone that we are all members of the human family." As the march got underway, some demonstrators tried to taunt the riot police stationed at key intersections, visors covering their faces, long wooden truncheons braced at the ready. The mostly-women marshalls from the organizers of the "March on the RNC" rally anxiously shepherded people past potential flashpoints on the short parade from the capitol building. Iraq veterans against the war fell in step with mothers pushing prams and rowdy students shouting anti-government slogans. Some estimated there were about 10,000 people in the crowd. "We joined up with an altruistic vision of promoting freedom and justice around the world," said Vince Emanuel, a Marine lance corporal who did a tour of duty in Iraq from August 2004 to April 2005, explaining why he was marching. "Except we saw the killing of innocent people and the destruction of property ... for a lot of us it was very disenfranchising." The veterans group tried to hand a message to the campaign of Republican White House hopeful John McCain calling for a withdrawal from Iraq, reparations for the Iraqi people, and full medical benefits for veterans. No-one from McCain's campaign received them, Emanuel said. Earlier, demonstrators had gathered on the steps of the capitol building, listening to a giant rally. Families lounged in the hot sun in park. "This is a once in a lifetime chance," said Allysen Hoberg, 32, from Minneapolis, who had brought her six-year-old son Henry to the rally. "These days could go down in history if we elect a Democrat president." As two rappers wearing masks of McCain and President George W. Bush sang out their toe-tapping "Insane in the McCain-Brain" rap, other demonstrators mopped their brows with water from a melting ice-sculpture of the word "Democracy" Randy Harmen, from Colorado, was signing a giant poster bearing the preamble of the US constitution which starts with the words "We the people." Harmen, a supporter of former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul -- who McCain defeated in the nominating contest -- acknowledged he was an unlikely demonstrator. But he said: "The war was based on false premises. That's the thing we have in common with the peacenuts." Members of the group "Grandmothers for Peace" rubbed shoulders with "Psychologists for Peace" at the event. There were even a group called "Loons for Peace," referring to Minnesota's state bird. "Well I just think those lunatics in Washington are giving our state bird a bad name," said St Paul resident Barbara Peterson as she waved her home-made bird banner. ***** Mass show of peaceful dissent soon makes violent descent  By CURT BROWN, Star Tribune Last update: September 1, 2008 - 11:41 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." ***** Photo Gallery: Monday protests at the RNC |
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09-02-2008, 07:38 PM
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#44 |
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The Revolution Will Be Twittered
By: Jane Hamsher Tuesday September 2, 2008 6:17 am There's absolutely nothing interesting about what the GOP is doing here in Minnesota. The party itself is like an enormous cadaver whose funeral is being held in the Xcel Center, and the wakes thrown by its drunken hedonist powerbrokers bear more than a passing resemblance to Roman vomitoriums. Not that the Democrats in Denver were much more interesting -- more lifelike, to be certain, as the baton of power and pork passed over to them, but completely staged and lacking in spontaneity nonetheless. What happened on the streets of St. Paul yesterday was something else altogether. Whereas Denver was the site of young people clutching their blackberries and hustling passes to more and better parties, in St. Paul they were creating a whole new model for communication, documentation and activism. Members of the Coldsnap legal collective fanned out across the city and communicated with each other (and the world) openly on Twitter about what was happening during the protest, and were thus able to alert and steer journalists, observers and anyone else with an interest immediately to what was happening on the street throughout the day. Nothing that law enforcement did happened in secret, and ACLU lawyers and other observers were able to be quickly alerted to anything that was happening. When we first arrived we started following their bulletins in the wake of the weekend raids, and as more information came in verifying their reports it became clear that they were a highly trustworthy source of information. Meanwhile, the Uptake provided an army of video journalists with Qik cameras that broadcast live on the internet. You could track their whereabouts on a Google map, and they provided on-the-spot coverage of what was happening in real time. Really, I can't recommend enough going to their main page and taking a look at what they managed to do yesterday. They also provided a lounge where visiting bloggers could have internet and video editing space, and that's where we were headquartered yesterday. We were able to not only hear about what was happening all across the city virtually instantaneously, but see their reporters quickly diverted to anything that was happening and watch as their cameras went into action. It was like a million ants scurrying around the city, passing back bits of information that formed themselves into a whole in a completely decentralized manner. Its very nature defied efforts to control and spin and propagandize. It was the anti-Fox News. Today we're going to the Ron Paul convention, where the nascent pro-civil liberties, anti-war insurgency within the GOP is congregating in Minneapolis. Their use of the internet as a broadcast and organizational tool has been impressive (Glenn Greenwald and I are working with members of the Break the Matrix group on the Accountability Now project), and it should be interesting to hear what Ron Paul and Bruce Fein have to say today. Lindsay Beyerstein and I will be reporting throughout the day on the Campaign Silo. Denver, with its forced marches to the Pepsi Center, its Blue Dogs and its consultants jockeying for AT&T's money and party power made me ill. There's something happening here. |
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09-03-2008, 07:53 PM
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#45 |
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Does anybody get as absolutely sick to theri stomach watching Lieberman talk?
Not because he is an ex democrat taking stage at the RNC, but because he, more than ANYBODY, is the reason we ened up with that imbecile in the white house for 8 yrs. Boy, what was Gore thinking.... |
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09-03-2008, 09:45 PM
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#46 |
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It's one thing for Lieberman to back his friend John McCain, someone he has worked with on many issues and someone he believes will be the best choice to lead the country, even though he votes with Democrats 90% of the time. So what's up with his lavishing praise on Sarah Palin? He could have made obligatory courteous remarks about her charming personality, but he went over the top endorsing all she's done. Surely he disagrees with her on just about everything, and he has no personal history with her. Does he really think she too is equally up to the task? So he's just a schmuck.
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09-03-2008, 10:12 PM
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#47 |
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he cares about one thing, America continuing to do Israels dirty work in the Middle East and McCain Palin will do that. Im assuming he will be Secretary of State if McCain wins anyway so something even more powerful then VP is within his grasp, a way and position to control America's foreign Policy.
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09-04-2008, 12:51 AM
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#48 |
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... what was Gore thinking... Even considering the "troubles" there in 2002, Lieberman failed in that task. None of which takes away from the fact that I can't watch him for more than 3 seconds. I have this gag reflex. Lieberman as Secretary of State? OYYYYYYYyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy |
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09-04-2008, 01:18 AM
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#49 |
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09-04-2008, 02:09 AM
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#50 |
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^
That looks ugly. It's one thing for Lieberman to back his friend John McCain, someone he has worked with on many issues and someone he believes will be the best choice to lead the country, even though he votes with Democrats 90% of the time. So what's up with his lavishing praise on Sarah Palin? His over-the-top support of McCain has pissed off many senators, including Majority Leader Harry Reid. The Congressional elections will definitely give the Dems a clear majority, so the handwriting is on the wall for Lieberman. His best bet is that McCain gets elected and he's rescued with a Cabinet appointment. The bile must have been churning in his stomach yesterday, that after months of lavishing praise on McCain, he gets dumped for a political nobody, and then has to stand before the delegates responsible for blocking him, and praise his replacement. He should have hesitated a moment, and then said, "Never mind, screw all of you," and walked off. |
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