The torture, sadism, and abuse the Minneapolis Police, St. Paul Police, Ramsey County Sheriffs (and out of town departments) unleashed upon protesters, press, passers-by, and community members took place while Homeland Security and the Secret Service they control were in direct command of all area "law" enforcement and had final authority over all decisions about protests and protesters. In other words, what we saw in the Twin Cities shows us how American local "law" enforcement act in broad daylight when the Feds are on the scene and supervising their work.( Has anyone from Homeland Security and the police read our Bill of Rights, lately? )
Over the last week, we had a chance to observe de facto professional cultural norms in America's local, state, and Federal enforcement. This is what democracy looks like?
What happened to people in local communities of color who weren't even associated with the protests? Here's what Rebecca Trotzky-Sirr, a fourth-year Univ. of Minnesota medical student learned when she interviewed a local resident on behalf of United Communities Against Police Brutality:
While much attention has been paid to arrests of prominent journalists & protesters harsh treatment during arrests, in the streets of St Paul many community members feel invisible as they live out the RNC protest repercussions. Undocumented families, refugees have been staying away from their homes in highly patrolled areas near downtown St Paul in fear of encountering police by accident. I visited and documented a gentleman of color who had no prior criminal history, who was detained without cause near central St Paul. During his arrest, while handcuffed he was beat by a police officer. The victim had recently had major surgery, released from hospital less than a week prior. Later, during booking, the same officer punched him repeatedly in the head and neck in front of other officers who looked on without concern. When police realized that this man was severely injured, they drove him one block away from the hospital and let him limp his way to the ER.
People of color, those most marginalized in our community, have faced severe consequences because of RNC protests. Police riled up, frustrated with protesters are taking out their anger on those without large wallets, or skin privilege.
To put it bluntly, uniformed "law" enforcement in St. Paul and Ramsey County:
* torture with electroshock weapons (Tasers)
The Ramsey County Jail officials did this in plain earshot of other detainees: that's a pretty strong sign they don't see anything to hide. Which-when one's been doing the same thing over and over for years-is a common assumption.
* torture with chemical weapons
* stomp on a young man's chest
* cruelly (perhaps fatally) deny medical care to a victim spitting up blood (the fancy medical name is hemoptysis) from thoracic trauma
* respond to calls for food with torture by beating, Taser, and chemical weapons: the same chemical weapons known to cause respiratory arrest and death in victims with pulmonary disease. "Spitting up blood" is a symptom of pulmonary disease so severe as to require emergency medical evaluation.
* then tie up the victim in "restraint chairs" known to exacerbate pre-existing breathing difficulties in some victims of thoracic trauma.
St. Paul police chief John Harrington outlined his policy towards reporters covering demonstrations in a September 3 press conference. Arrest first, ask questions later: Harrington told Amy Goodman that the police can't possibly be expected to differentiate between protesters and credentialed journalists covering protests. He added, generously, that the police would do their best to identify journalists after the fact and expedite their release.
Dozens of journalists were arrested while covering demonstrations on the final night of the Republican National Convention, according to a statement by the Committee to Protect Journalists. When police blocked off both ends of the Marion Bridge on Thursday, approximately two dozen journalists were trapped along with demonstrators, legal observers, medics, and bystanders. Among working press arrested on the bridge were photographer Boyd Huppert of KARE 11, reporter Paul Demko of the Minnesota Independent.
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Police detained hundreds demonstrators on the final night of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Approximately 250 people were arrested shortly before John McCain took to the stage to accept the presidential nomination. That's in addition to the 422 people who had already been arrested earlier in the week.
Riot police held approximate 300 people, including journalists and observers for nearly an hour on an overpass spanning Interstate 94. Police instructed the crowd to get on the bridge, then announced that everyone on the bridge was under arrest.
The Joint Information Center offered conflicting accounts about the status of the assembly permits for last night's gatherings. When I called at 4pm, a spokesman told me that the organizers of the March were slated to march from the capitol, through downtown, around the xCel Center and back to the capitol and that the protest was set to go until 7pm.
By 5pm, CNN was reporting that the cops on the ground were telling protesters that their permit had expired. According to some reports, Sheriff Bob Fletcher announced that he was rescinding permits at news conference late Thursday afternoon, but when I called to confirm, the Joint Information Center told me that no permits had been revoked.
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Taxpayers should be off the hook for any damages stemming from claims of police misconduct related to the Republican National Convention under a first-of-its-kind agreement.
The deal required the Republican Party's host committee to buy insurance covering up to $10 million in damages and unlimited legal costs for law enforcement officials accused of brutality, violating civil rights and other misconduct.
...
In St. Paul, some critics say the agreement has only encouraged police to use aggressive tactics knowing they won't have to pay damages.
"It's an extraordinary agreement. Now the police have nothing to hold them back from egregious behavior," said Michelle Gross, who leads Communities United Against Police Brutality. She is considering filing suit after being handcuffed and searched last week during a raid of the St. Paul hub of an anarchist group.
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Melissa Smith-Tourville says her 17-year-old son Keith is a pacifist and “he’d never hurt anyone.” But yesterday he was the target of violence by police, she says: Trying to leave Monday’s march on the Republican National Convention, Keith was wrestled to the ground by five officers, according to his mother, who were “repeatedly kicking, beating, dragging and hitting him.” [Read Smith-Tourville's account of what happened.] Bloody, he was taken into custody by police for two hours and, his mom says, his release by St. Paul police was in violation of Minnesota law.
Smith-Tourville is seeking legal advice from Coldsnap Legal Collective. They told her that as a minor, state law says that Keith should’ve been put in contact with his parents. “Keith repeatedly asked to call his parents,” she says. “He said he can’t even count how many times he said, ‘Can I call my parents?’”
MORE pics and stories
Hundreds of police (and dozens of media personnel) greeted concert-goers as they left the Rage Against the Machine concert at the Target Center in Minneapolis. No violence or property damage was observed, but 102 people were arrested for “blocking traffic.”
Police blocked vehicle traffic on 1st Avenue in front of the Target Center and many Rage fans simply sat on the curb waiting for something, anything, to happen. It would be half an hour before police ordered people to disperse or be arrested, and police on horseback had assembled a line on 6th Street.
Palin: "As for my running mate, you can be certain that wherever he goes, and whoever is listening, John McCain is the same man."Steve's list of McCain flip-flops is here. See for yourself whether constancy is, in fact, John McCain's middle name.
Palin: "I told the Congress "thanks, but no thanks," for that Bridge to Nowhere. If our state wanted a bridge, we'd build it ourselves."Just to reiterate what others have said: Congress' requirement that funds be spent on that bridge (aka the 'earmark') were removed before Sarah Palin became governor. She was therefore in no position to tell Congress anything about the bridge, one way or the other. During her campaign, she said she supported funding for the bridge. Brad Plumer, citing the Anchorage Dialy News via Nexis:
"5. Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges? Yes. I would like to see Alaska's infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now--while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist."Later, she accepted the money -- now not restricted by an earmark -- and used it for other infrastructure projects. Here's her statement about why she wasn't building the bridge (also via Plumer.) Decide for yourselves what role a principled opposition to earmark funding plays in it. Hint: here's what residents of Ketchikan AK said when they heard her recent remarks:
"In the city Ketchikan, the planned site of the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere," political leaders of both parties said the claim was false and a betrayal of their community, because she had supported the bridge and the earmark for it secured by Alaska's Congressional delegation during her run for governor. (...)MORE"People are learning that she pandered to us by saying, I'm for this' ... and then when she found it was politically advantageous for her nationally, abruptly she starts using the very term that she said was insulting," Weinstein said."
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kali921 They had come in their thousands – grandmothers, veterans, young families and even disgruntled Republicans bearing banners and peace flags, to demand an end to the five-year conflict. And for the most part, the demonstrations passed off peacefully.
But once the main antiwar march had finished, splinter groups embarked on a violent rampage, smashing windows, slashing car tyres, throwing bottles and even attacking Republican delegates attending the nearby Xcel Centre.
Many of those involved identified themselves to reporters as anarchists. These protesters, some clad in black, wreaked havoc by damaging property and starting at least one fire.
...
The anti-war march was organised 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 event. But police were on high alert after months of preparations by a self-described anarchist group called the RNC Welcoming Committee, which was not among the organisers of the march.
Most of the trouble was in pockets of a neighbourhood near downtown, several blocks from where the convention was taking place. Police fired tear gas canisters and used pepper spray on protesters who tried to block key streets.
Up to 200 people from various groups marched in a noisy “Funk the War" march. Clad in black, protesters smashed windows of cars and stores, tipped over rubbish bins, pulled down street signs and bent the rear-view mirrors on a bus. Some wore gas masks and bandanas to protect themselves from smoke bombs and other chemical irritants. MORE
janradder sums it up:So a small group of idiots managed to make sure that the message of 10,000 played second fiddle to theirs. Now, if you're going to tell me that's the fault of the media, stop. You (the anarchists) know just as well as I do that that's what the media does. Of course people breaking stuff and trying to start a riot is going to get more ink and more air time than people marching peaceably in the streets, holding signs and chanting. You know that and I know that and to pretend otherwise is just making excuses for yourself. Sure, it's fun to run wild in the street, but tell me, how is what you did any different from the college kids who riot after their team wins a national title? Because I really don't see a difference. You may have a point to all this, but what is it? And how are your methods getting it across? How does slamming a dumpster into the side of an occupied squad car show you want the war to end? How does smashing the windows of a Macy's tell people you want a change in government? How does assaulting Republican delegates (including an 80 year old man who had to be treated for injuries) help convince people that what the Republicans are doing is wrong? How does throwing a brick through a bus window and injuring the blue collar driver let people know you care about unions and living wages? How does throwing bent nails, newspaper kiosks and garbage cans in the street show that you care about the environment? Because to me, your actions make you no better than the people you're "protesting" against. As many have said, the ends don't justify the means, but what exactly are your ends? To prevent the Republican delegates from attending their convention and thus suppressing their right to free speech because your rights are more important or valid than theirs? Maybe you do have a valid point to all this but I certainly don't see it. All I see is a bunch of self-righteous thugs using political action as an excuse to break the law.
In one of the stories yesterday about Palin's hiring of a lawyer -- which we now find out she's having the state of Alaska pay for -- I noted that her new counsel, Thomas Van Flein, asked the lead investigator in the case to turn over all witness statements and documents produced so far in the probe. That struck me not as a good-faith request but rather an effort to get into a fight over process and thus gum up the investigation until after the election.
And sure enough, today's Anchorage Daily News provides plenty of evidence that that is what's happening in spades. Though to this point Palin has said she would cooperate fully with the investigation, Van Flein is now challenging the standing of the entire inquiry. He claims that any investigation should be handled not by the legislature but by the state Personnel Board which, conveniently, is made up of the governor's appointees.
Van Flein is also charging that the state senator charged with overseeing the investigation is on a partisan witch-hunt. "Our concern is that Hollis French turns into Ken Starr and uses public money to pursue a political vendetta rather than truly pursue an honest inquiry into an alleged ethics issue," Van Flein told the ADN. To which French rather persuasively responded that the charge of partisanship rang at least a little hollow since the investigation was instigated and authorized by a committee dominated by Republicans (though it's only fair to note that Palin is not beloved by all Republicans in the state).
For example, on James Dobson's Focus on Family website( who is apparently a huge supporter of Palin's stances of abstinence and pro-life) he says the following about abstinence and purity:In the Christian worldview, we have no right to sex.....In other words, chastity is a fact of gospel life. The New Testament makes clear that sex beyond the boundaries of marriage--the boundaries of communally granted sanction of sex----is simply off limits. To have sex outside those bounds is to commit an offense against the body. Abstinence before marriage, and fidelity within marriage--refraining from sex with somone other than your husband or wife--is just one of those basic rules that keeps you inside the Christian community. Any other kind of sex is embodied apostasy.
Most important for Palin, an elder statesman of the movement, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, released a statement lauding the Palins for acting in keeping with the group's policies and practices:
"We have always encouraged the parents to love and support their children and always advised the girls to see their pregnancies through, even though there will of course be challenges along the way. That is what the Palins are doing, and they should be commended once again for not just talking about their pro-life and pro-family values, but living them out even in the midst of trying circumstances.
"Being a Christian does not mean you're perfect. Nor does it mean your children are perfect. But it does mean there is forgiveness and restoration when we confess our imperfections to the Lord. I've been the beneficiary of that forgiveness and restoration in my own life countless times, as I'm sure the Palins have," Dobson said. MORE
So, without further ado, what we know so far (all the information, and much, much more can be found here, here, here, and here):
* As user Liz Arnett first informed us yesterday morning, the AIP is a political party in Alaska whose motto is "Alaska First." It's goal is to have a vote on Alaska's state status so that Alaskans may decide whether the state should secede, become a territory, become a commonwealth, or remain a state.
* The AIP has what most Americans would qualify as radical views on the relationship between the federal government and Alaska, including a belief that the federal government should be dissolved if gun rights are ever abolished or curtailed, a belief that the federal government is in breach of the Constitution, and complete opposition to environmental regulations and public ownership of Alaskan land.
* Yesterday night, it was is confirmed that Sarah Palin and her husband were members of the AIP at least in 1994. Indeed, Palin reportedly attended the AIP convention.
* In 2007, the Vice Chairman of the AIP, Dexter Clark, not only referenced Palin's membership, but also said that since she joined the GOP, "she is pretty well sympathetic to her former membership." Clark also goes on to discuss the need to "infiltrate" the major parties.
* In 2008, Palin recorded a message for the AIP's annual convention, stating that Alaska has "a great promise to be a self-sufficient state" and encouraging them to "keep up the good work."
jsl points out, since Michelle Obama was slammed as unpatriotic for saying that this was the for "the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country",and Sen. Obama got slammed because he wouldn't wear a freaking flagpin, one wonders precisely what are we to make of this? The lady was part of a secessionist party several years ago, and as late as this year, as governor of Alaska, was sending encouraging messages to them. Where, precisely, is HER PATRIOTISM??? Do we get breathless pundit speculation for weeks on end? DO we get screaming headlines? Do we get smug Dems. shaking their heads and ponyificating righteously that unpatriotic peeps really shoulkd be VP nominees? And DON'T tell me that her actual membership was 14 years ago, the mainstream media and rightwing media have gone to TOWN over Michelle Obama's college thesis (ohmigod!scary!black militant!) written in 1985 (22 years ago) and started a thankfully brief kerfuffle over Sen. Obama's missing thesis, written freaking 25 years ago! So now, ladies and gentlemen, what's sauce for the goose, had better fucking well be sauce for the gander.What I want to flush out is the DOUBLE STANDARD in this political campaign.
For the last year, I’ve watched Senator Barack Obama run a campaign equivalent to guarding Fort Knox, and yet, the Mainstream Media would rather continue to pick on him, his friends (face it, he’s losing them because every time the media digs up something stupid or controversial they say, he gets rid of them), his wife and family because of the obvious.
Yet, Senator John McCain; his drug-addict heiress wife, their many homes upon which no taxes were being paid until it was exposed in the media; the hiding out of their Bangladeshi daughter like she was dirty laundry; the demise of McCain’s first family and wife so he could marry the heiress who claims she is an only child - while there are three women who are biologically related to her - ALL OF THIS GETS A FREE PASS IN THE MEDIA.
I am sorry for any child of a politician because they didn’t sign on for their parent’s ambition to run for elected office. Not only does that include Malia and Sasha Obama, but that includes Bristol, Willow, Piper, Track and now, baby Trig Palin; as well as includes Bridget McCain.
But I am compelled to point out that the ReThugs started the mess of bringing children into the mix of political contests, starting with Rush Limbaugh’s attack on a twelve year old Chelsea Clinton.
Follow that up with McCain’s own jokes regarding Chelsea:
John McCain made this odious joke about Chelsea Clinton back in ‘98.
Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno.”
– Sen. John McCain, speaking to a Republican dinner, June 1998.
I will be the first to agree that the children should be off limits on both sides of the aisle. But, My God, I’m fast getting tired of the expectation that the Democrats play by the rules when the ReThugs continue to demonstrate their approach to a political election is worthy of Malcolm X, “By Any Means Necessary.”
I want to discuss the DOUBLE STANDARD - you know; the one where if Bristol Palin was Malia Obama, the media would be all over how Barack and Michelle Obama are incompetent parents who taught Malia loose morals. While I am happy that the Palin family is supporting Bristol, and they should, let’s not allow the waxing poetic of what warm family values this represents. Sarah Palin is a woman added to McCain’s ticket that points to her five children as a virtue of being pro-life; but what gives her the right to tell me what to do with my reproductive organs?
I want to talk about the DOUBLE STANDARD - you know; that one where Mary Cheney, lesbian daughter of Dead-Eye Dick Cheney, is allowed to live freely and openly with her partner, Heather Poe, and even is allowed to procreate; while the administration her father serves in (hell, operates and runs since 2001) is busy outlawing gay marriage and making it illegal for gay people to become parents through adoption or artificial insemination. And the media has gone silent on her, and all the ReThugs outed from their comfortable closets, preaching on the vileness of being gay, and yet engaging in what is considered in many circles, a depraved lifestyle. But with the exception of Mark Foley, many of these SOBs are still holding public office; but $80 million dollars in taxpayer money was spent on publicly humiliating Bill Clinton for a blow job.
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Today Jane and Lindsay -- together with Glenn Greenwald, Twin Cities Indymedia, and Pacifica -- gave us compelling reports from the Twin Cities: frontline du jour in corporatist America's seemingly endless War On The Commons. Congress - with eager support from Senator Amy Klobuchar - put out a trough of 50 million dollars to pull local "law" enforcement into the RNC feeding frenzy. As Amy K helpfully pointed out, Congress also set out 50 million troughs for local cops before the nominating convention in Denver last week and those in Boston and New York in 2004. That's on top of the tens (hundreds?) of millions for the Federal "Fusion Centers" and the FBI,Today in the Twin Cities and last week in Denver—just as in New York and Boston in 2004 and LA and Philly in 2000—the nominatingFatherlandHomeland Security, Secret Service, and our very own Pentagon's Northcom -- the domestic strong arm of General Smedley Butler's enforcement racket—to criminalize public assembly and speech during yet another major party coronation. Why do America's corporatist controlled organs of "State Security" need to pay hundreds of millions every four years to keep paper maché puppets off the streets and out of the parks?
What the hell were Ramsey County sheriff's department people doing invading houses in Hennepin-fricking-County? That last question, as it turns out, helps to answer some of the others.
Bob Fletcher is the sheriff of Ramsey County. Bob Fletcher is a Republican from the formerly lily-white St. Paul suburb of Maplewood, which has for decades had an uneasy relationship with its southern neighbor. Bob Fletcher is also on the verge of losing his job, as a long-standing FBI corruption probe that has already taken out two of his buddies is drawing its net around him; he may well feel that he has nothing to lose and everything to gain by using extralegal methods to please his RNC pals.
Sheriff Fletcher justified his tactics by amping up the alleged threat posed by the media groups and protesters whose lodgings were invaded:
Some folks begged to differ:In a statement Saturday morning, Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said the St. Paul raid targeted the RNC Welcoming Committee, a group he described as "a criminal enterprise made up of 35 self-described anarchists...intent on committing criminal acts before and during the Republican National Convention."
"These acts include tactics to blockade and disable delegate buses, breaching venue security and injuring police officers," Fletcher said. Deputies seized a variety of items that they believed were tools of civil disobedience: a gas mask, bolt cutters, axes, slingshots, homemade "caltrops" for disabling buses, even buckets of urine.
But the raids drew immediate condemnation from activists and St. Paul City Councilman Dave Thune, whose district includes the former theater at 627 Smith Avenue South, which was rented by activists as a gathering space.MORE
"This is not the way to start things off," Thune said Saturday morning. "This is sending the wrong message. Regardless of how you feel about these people...they had a right to be there."
[...]
Thune was especially critical of Fletcher for taking action within St. Paul city limits.
"I'm really ticked off...the city is perfectly capable of taking care of things," Thune said. "If they had found anything that could have been used to commit a crime they would have arrested somebody."
Said Thune: "Unless they come up with anthrax or weapons of mass destruction, I think they came up short."
permibus reports:POLICE SEIZE PERMIBUS
Please Post Far and Wide including any Media Contacts You May Have
At approximately 6:25 pm on August 30, 2008 Minneapolis Police, Minnesota State Troopers, Ramsey County Sheriffs, Saint Paul Police, and University of Minnesota Police pulled over the Earth Activist Training Permaculture Demonstration Bus (Permibus) by exit 237 on Interstate 94. Initially the police told the people on the bus to exit. When the people on the bus asked if they were being detained they were told that they were but police were unable to provide justification. When asked why they pulled the bus over they refused to answer. After repeated requests to explain why the bus had been stopped Officer Honican of the Minneapolis Police explained that this was just a routine traffic stop though he did not explain the reason for the traffic stop. The police then told Stan Wilson, the driver and registered owner of the Permibus, that they were going to impound the bus in case they wanted to execute a search warrant later. After more than an hour of being questioned by Stan and Delyla Wilson as to the legalities of their detainment and the impoundment of the Permibus, the police then informed Stan that the bus, which is legally registered as a passenger vehicle in the state of Montana, was being impounded for a commercial vehicle inspection. Shortly afterward Sergeant Paul Davis, a commercial vehicle inspector arrived on scene. Despite the polices insistence that the reason for impoundment was for a commercial vehicle inspection the Permibus crew were not allowed to remove anything from the bus including computers, toiletries, and 17-year-old Megan Wilson's shoes. The police finally allowed the animals to be removed from the Permibus before it was towed, leaving the Permibus family standing beside their chickens and dogs, homeless on the highway.
The Permibus was relocating from the Bedlam Theatre in Minneapolis, where they had spent the day teaching Urban Permaculture, to a friend's house in Saint Paul for a well deserved break. The Permibus has been in the Minneapolis area since August 2nd when the crew appeared at the Midtown Farmers Market for a morning of Permaculture education including Permaculture 101, chicken care, seed ball making for kids, and the Permi-puppet show. During the past month the Permibus has parked at several local businesses and, as a neighborly gesture of respect for local police, Mr. Wilson contacted the appropriate precincts just to let them know the Permibus was in the area and had permission from the business owners to be parked on their lot. Through this, as well as other casual discussions with Minneapolis and Saint Paul police officers, the Permibus crew found the local police to be interested and respectful. However on August 30th all that changed when, for no apparent valid reason the police pulled over and seized the Permibus. After the incident Stan Wilson said, "If the combined law enforcement of Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Ramsey County, and the State of Minnesota can pull over and impound a vehicle and home used to teach organic gardening and sustainability, one has to wonder what it is our government really fears. After all, we seek to teach people that the real meaning of homeland security is local food, fuel and energy production. For that we have had our lives stolen by government men with guns."
As of now, after repeated requests to be present at any vehicle inspection, with an list of what they are inspecting for, as well as requests to be served any warrants for searches of the vehicles prior to a search and to be present during the search the Permi-family has been unable to ascertain the current status of the Permibus. On site Mr. Wilson was told that Officer Palmerranky was the inspector in charge of the case and would determine if the Permi-family's rights protecting them from unreasonable search and seizure would be respected. Neither Officer Palmerranky nor his supervisor has yet to return Mr. Wilson's calls.MORE
September 01, 2008
Update: Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar Released After Illegal Arrest at RNC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2008
Contact: Mike Burke
UPDATE
Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar Released After Illegal Arrest at RNC
Goodman Charged with Obstruction; Felony Riot Charges Pending Against Kouddous and Salazar
ST. PAUL--Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar have all been released from police custody in St. Paul following their illegal arrest by Minneapolis Police on Monday afternoon.
All three were violently manhandled by law enforcement officers. Abdel Kouddous was slammed against a wall and the ground, leaving his arms scraped and bloodied. He sustained other injuries to his chest and back. Salazar's violent arrest by baton-wielding officers, during which she was slammed to the ground while yelling, "I'm Press! Press!," resulted in her nose bleeding, as well as causing facial pain. Goodman's arm was violently yanked by police as she was arrested.
On Tuesday, Democracy Now! will broadcast video of these arrests, as well as the broader police action. These will also be available on: www.democracynow.org
Following up on this weekend's extreme raids on various homes, at least 50 people were arrested here today in St. Paul, Minnesota. Beginning last night, St. Paul was the most militarized I have ever seen an American city be, even more so than Manhattan in the week of 9/11 -- with troops of federal, state and local law enforcement agents marching around with riot gear, machine guns, and tear gas cannisters, shouting military chants and marching in military formations. Humvees and law enforcement officers with rifles were posted on various buildings and balconies. Numerous protesters and observers were tear gassed and injured. I'll have video of the day's events posted shortly.
...
UPDATE IV: The Washington Post has a few more details on the arrest of Goodman and the two Democracy Now producers. In addition to them, a photographer for Associated Press was also arrested today while covering the protests (h/t Edward Champion). An AP spokesman said of the arrest: "covering news is constitutionally protected, and photographers should not be detained for covering breaking news." Democratic strategist and CNN commentator Donna Brazile was hit by pepper spray on her way into the Xcel Center. Just as was true for the despicable home raids this weekend, there will be no shortage of people defending all of this (browse through the comment section here to see many such people). The fact that there were some criminals engaged in some destructive acts (who, needless to say, should have been arrested), apparently means that whatever the Police do both before and afterwards is justifiable (just as the existence of some Terrorists justifies whatever the Government does in many people's minds).">MORE
As the police attacks on protesters in Minnesota continue -- see this video of the police swarming a bus transporting members of Earth Justice, seizing the bus and leaving the group members stranded on the side of the highway -- it appears increasingly clear that it is the Federal Government that is directing this intimidation campaign. Minnesota Public Radio reported yesterday that "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."
Today's Star Tribune added that the raids were specifically "aided by informants planted in protest groups." Back in May, Marcy Wheeler presciently noted that the Minneapolis Joint Terrorist Task Force -- an inter-agency group of federal, state and local law enforcement led by the FBI -- was actively recruiting Minneapolis residents to serve as plants, to infiltrate "vegan groups" and other left-wing activist groups and report back to the Task Force about what they were doing. There seems to be little doubt that it was this domestic spying by the Federal Government that led to the excessive and truly despicable home assaults by the police yesterday.
Isn't it that mentality which very clearly is the cause of virtually everyone turning away as these police raids escalate against citizens -- including lawyers, journalists and activists -- who have broken no laws and whose only crime is that they intend vocally to protest what the Government is doing? Add to that the fact that many good establishment liberals are embarrassed by leftist protesters of this sort and wish that they would remain invisible, and there arises a widespread consensus that these Government attacks are perfectly tolerable if not desirable.
...
After all, if you don't want the FBI spying on you, or the Police surrounding and then invading your home with rifles and seizing your computers, there's a very simple solution: don't protest the Government. Just sit quietly in your house and mind your own business. That way, the Government will have no reason to monitor what you say and feel the need to intimidate you by invading your home. Anyone who decides to protest -- especially with something as unruly and disrespectful as an unauthorized street march -- gets what they deserve.
During the Olympics just weeks ago, there was endless hand-wringing over the efforts by the Chinese Government to squelch dissent and incarcerate protesters. On August 21, The Washington Post fretted:Six Americans detained by police this week could be held for 10 days, according to Chinese authorities, who appear to be intensifying their efforts to shut down any public demonstrations during the final days of the Olympic Games. . . . Chinese Olympic officials announced last month that Beijing would set up zones where people could protest during the Games, as long as they had received permission. None of the 77 applications submitted was approved, however, and several other would-be protesters were stopped from even applying.On August 2, The Post gravely warned:Behind the gray walls and barbed wire of the prison here, eight Chinese farmers with a grievance against the government have been consigned to Olympic limbo. Their indefinite detainment, relatives and neighbors said, is the price they are paying for stirring up trouble as China prepares to host the Beijing Games. Trouble, the Communist Party has made clear, will not be permitted.Would The Washington Post ever use such dark and accusatory tones to describe what the U.S. Government does? Of course it wouldn't. Yet how is our own Government's behavior in Minnesota any different than what the Chinese did to its protesters during the Olympics (other than the fact that we actually have a Constitution that prohibits such behavior)?
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First they came for the Muslims, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Muslim. Then they came to detain immigrants indefinitely solely upon the certification of the Attorney General, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't an immigrant.
Then they came to eavesdrop on suspects consulting with their attorneys, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a suspect.
Then they came to prosecute non-citizens before secret military commissions, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a non-citizen.
Then they came to enter homes and offices for unannounced "sneak and peek" searches, and I didn't speak up because I had nothing to hide.
Then they came to reinstate Cointelpro and resume the infiltration and surveillance of domestic religious and political groups, and I didn't speak up because I had stopped participating in any groups.
Then they came for anyone who objected to government policy because it aided the terrorists and gave ammunition to America's enemies, and I didn't speak up because...... I didn't speak up.
Then they came for me....... and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Stephen Rohde, a constitutional lawyer and President of the ACLU of Southern California, is indebted to the inspiration of Rev. Martin Niemoller (1937).
It's notable that as of this writing, at midnight, I see nothing on the NY Times front page or on their US page about the RNC harassment, arrests and snatch squads. I see nothing on the Washington Post's front page, or its Politics page. As best I am aware no major Democratic politician has made a statement that warrants should be required before busting down doors, or that protesters have a right to protest, or that people even have a right to see a warrant.
Why is that? Is it that there's a bipartisan consensus that civil liberties are just for talk, but when the handcuffs get slapped on people who have done nothing, when people are punished for crimes they haven't commited, that it's no big deal as long as they aren't anyone important? Is it that Democrats stirring words about civil liberties were as sincere as many of their promises to vote against warrantless wiretapping?MORE
Update: ColdSnap is reporting 9 arrests downtown near the Excel center and police massing all over the downtown core.
The National Lawyers Guild and Communities United Against Police Brutality have filed an emergency motion to stop the seizure of cell phones and cameras during the RNC.
The groups will hold a joint press conference at Hennepin County Government Plaza to discuss their application for an emergency injunction, according to a tweet issued by the ColdSnap Legal Collective.
he 6 activists arrested during police raids in advance of the Republican National Convention are being held without charge by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office, the Minnesota Independent reports.
The arrestees are being held on probable cause holds. These holds give the authorities 36 hours to charge them or let them go. Holds are typically used to give investigators more time to gather evidence before filing formal charges.
Holds allow police to charge first and ask questions later. Sometimes that's a good thing. Arrest opportunities are unpredictable. A suspect could slip away in the time it takes to turn a solid suspicion into sufficient evidence to file charges. A probable cause hold buys the police some time to dot the i's and cross the t's.
However, it doesn't take a genius to see how the power to detain people without charge can be abused. For example, unethical police officers have been known to use frivolous holds as quickie jail terms. Piss off the police, spend 3 days in jail—no trial required. MORE
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. Last night, members of the St. Paul police department and the Ramsey County sheriff's department handcuffed, photographed and detained dozens of people meeting at a public venue to plan a demonstration, charging them with no crime other than "fire code violations," and early this morning, the Sheriff's department sent teams of officers into at least four Minneapolis area homes where suspected protesters were staying.
...
In the house that had just been raided, those inside described how a team of roughly 25 officers had barged into their homes with masks and black swat gear, holding large semi-automatic rifles, and ordered them to lie on the floor, where they were handcuffed and ordered not to move. The officers refused to state why they were there and, until the very end, refused to show whether they had a search warrant. They were forced to remain on the floor for 45 minutes while the officers took away the laptops, computers, individual journals, and political materials kept in the house. One of the individuals renting the house, an 18-year-old woman, was extremely shaken as she and others described how the officers were deliberately making intimidating statements such as "Do you have Terminator ready?" as they lay on the floor in handcuffs. The 10 or so individuals in the house all said that though they found the experience very jarring, they still intended to protest against the GOP Convention, and several said that being subjected to raids of that sort made them more emboldened than ever to do so.
Several of those who were arrested are being represented by Bruce Nestor, the President of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers' Guild. Nestor said that last night's raid involved a meeting of a group calling itself the "RNC Welcoming Committee", and that this morning's raids appeared to target members of "Food Not Bombs," which he described as an anti-war, anti-authoritarian protest group. There was not a single act of violence or illegality that has taken place, Nestor said. Instead, the raids were purely anticipatory in nature, and clearly designed to frighten people contemplating taking part in any unauthorized protests.See videos and more reports here
haddyr has come up with a possible pretext for the raids, the fact that an organization calling itself the RNC Welcoming Committee was planning to disrupt the convention. However, other organizations such as Food, Not Bombs, to say nothing of members of I-Witness, a group that has the bad habit of filming the police doing rather illegal things (like arresting people without cause and lying about the circumstances) were also targeted and held in place until the raids were finished. fengi adds even more context to the story: Now, there are some people I consider confrontational idiots among the protesters. I don't like dealing with them in Chicago either. It should be pointed out their plans to disrupt traffic was just one part, one page of the anti-RNC organizing site. They were not, in fact, the organizers of all protests. Nor is a public discussion of such tactics necessarily count as a criminal conspiracy. In fact, that's why it's public. The police used their plans as an easy excuse for their behavior, but that makes it no less of an excuse and no more legal.
Meanwhile, this flimsy pretext has been stretched to justify a general crackdown on activists. Including surrounding a house where a video activists which specialize in monitoring police behavior, this raid without a subpoena may have had FBI involvement and ended without any arrests.
Earlier this week, Minneapolis police officers detained three filmmakers from the New York based Glass Bead Collective and confiscated their cameras:According to a statement from the collective, the officers refused to file an official incident report or fill out a receipt inventorying seized property, claiming that they were allowed to conduct the search and seizure under the jurisdiction of Homeland Security due to security risks leading up to the Republican National Convention.The Glass Bead Collective was one of the groups involved in lawsuits against cops who assaulted Critical Mass riders.
Afterwards, the three journalists/artists were released without receiving any charges or tickets. (Police kept their belongings.) Teichberg said he recently learned that the Minneapolis Police Department is claiming they are being investigated for trespassing on train tracks. “We were targeted. They knew who we were. This was an attempt not to let us document what is happening at the convention… They’re taking away the media’s ability to protest,” he said.
There were incidents and rumors of police intimidation of reporters and protersters leading to the Society of Professional Journalists to issue a statement of concern.And that breathless police report?
Ethics:
o Used the power of her office to try to get her ex-brother-in-law fired, then fired the uncooperative Public Safety Commissioner and replaced him with a known sexual harasser. Yep, she's a Republican, all right.
o Shares the Bush/Cheney approach to government accountability and transparency.
o Broke state law by publicly advocating against a clean water ballot initiative. But she took her governor's hat off first, so it's okay.
o Refused to call for Ted Stevens' resignation after his indictment, even though she had previously done so with an indicted state senator (also Republican).
o Was for the Bridge To Nowhere before she was against it.
o Employed lobbyists to obtain earmarks as both mayor and governor.
Religion & Ideology:
o The Religious Right - and Grover Norquist - love her. This was exactly the kowtow from McCain that they were looking for.
o Totally anti-choice, even in cases of rape or incest.
o Opposes gay marriage and healthcare benefits for gay domestic partners.
o Skeptical of evolution and believes that creationism should be taught, or at least "discussed," in the classroom.
o Huge Pat Buchanan fan. (Apparently it's not mutual.)
o Didn't like Hillary Clinton's "whining." (What is it with Republicans and whining?)
Of course, there's MORE
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