Sunday, August 31, 2008

RNC Protestors Under Search & Seizure Raids



Raids by the County Sheriff have obtained warrents to invade protest hubs for the Repub. Ntl Convention, before the convention has even started.

Check out the Salon.com site here for the full story

8 comments:

Spadoman said...

A complete update will be forthcoming after today's peace march on the RNC. The raids and harassment are real. Anyone is susceptable to being stopped who is showing any kind of protest other than a T-shirt. Large signs, peace sign painted expatriated school buses and gatherings of thin vegetarians wearing traditional hippy garb are the targets, but they arrest the old ex-nuns as they stand for peace.

Check out the Youtube videos and the Indy News site:

Indymedia.org

Simply search March on the RNC at Youtube

Could be an interesting day.

Spadoman said...

PS... Here is an e-mail I received this morning as i was typing the above comment. It is posted on my Round Circle Blog if anyone cares to see what Democracy looks like.

Thanks.

http://spadoman-roundcircle.blogspot.com

Fran said...

Spado: This is more like Communist China than the USA. I know they have clsoed their town hall meetings to allow only those who agree, but to shut down protests before they ever start is an assault to free speech.
It is such a shame as the majority of protesters are non violent people, calling for peace & justice. They are treated as criminals and a threat, of terrorist like proportions. From what I have witnessed, it is the police that are over reacting & escalating what would otherwise be peaceful protests.
The irony is the REAL criminals are the ones being protected.

Unknown said...

Fran,

I don't understand!

Seizure? Which judge delivered the seizure warrants? Unbelievable! You'd think that the State is in a state of rebellion.

Can this really be happening in the US? I mean, I thought this sort of thing only happens in 3rd world countries.

Fran said...

Not much in the media about this-- The series of clips say the warrant allowed the SWAT team to take laptops & computers, personal journals & any & all print materials from the house those conducting the raid deemed questionable.
They were also searching for anything that could be used to make incindiary devices (malatov cocktail style bombs???). These are PEACE activists!

Welcome to the Republican Convention.

Fran said...

The Minnesota Independent reports: 9/1
As of 8 p.m. this evening, 163 protesters had been processed through the Ramsey County Jail. This includes 73 felony arrests, 42 gross misdemeanors and 48 misdemeanors, according to the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office. Arraignments will be held beginning at 8 a.m. tomorrow. Police estimate the crowd at today’s protest rally was between 8,000 and 10,000.

Coldsnap Legal Collective, which has been diligently monitoring police activities throughout the day, reports different arrest figures. They’re reporting that 256 people have been arrested, with 119 felonies, 48 gross misdemeanors and 89 misdemeanors.

Spadoman said...

St. Paul police chief, John Harrington, mentioned "tens of thousands" of people marching peacefully on a permitted legal march route. The media focused on those that caused trouble.

Included in the arrests were Amy Goodman of democracy Now and 2 of her staffers. Many of the arrests were of this nature, but they lumped them all together to make it seem as though anyone who protested was an anarchist and was causing trouble or agreed with those that decided to illegal violent acts against person or property. Civil disobedience, ie: crossing a line to get arrested, is not the same as breaking windows of a department store, but still are included in the tally of arrests.

A full report of my personal involvement will be on my blog later today, 09/02/2008.

Fran said...

Good to get a first person accounting, Spado.
I tried to go to the Indy Media site to get independent reporting as MSM gave a laess than one minute snippet of a crowd scene, saying it was out of control. No details about raids & seizures & the police state tactics, like arresting or detaining journalists.