Police Raid Headquarters of RNC Protestors

[mactastic]

Link (http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/30/rnc.protest/index.html)
Police raided a rental hall used by a group organizing protests at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Friday.

The RNC Welcoming Committee, which describes itself as "anarchist/anti-authoritarian," accused St. Paul police of trying to disrupt their protest planned for Monday, the day the GOP convention is set to begin.

While no one was arrested, the group said police temporarily detained and photographed at least 50 people who were inside the building.

St. Paul Police spokesman Tom Walsh said they were executing a search warrant.

"The cause for the search warrant is not public at this time," Walsh said.

As many as 30 police officers entered with guns drawn, according to witnesses in the building.

"The convergence center is simply a gathering place and is not used for illegal actions -- it is a place for workshops and trainings," a statement from the protest group said. "Tonight, we were watching films and sharing food."

"We are now accused of a simple fire code violation," the statement said.
I'll hazard a guess that the cause for the search warrant will not be made public until after the convention is over...

[iGary]

Damned hippies.

[stubeeef]

such a republican thing, hassling folks

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Conventions/story?id=5678763&page=1


from the link above, bold is mine
Civil rights groups also reacted today saying Eslocker's arrest is the latest in a series of incidents at the DNC that exemplify an assault on the First Amendment.


"Arresting a reporter for simply doing his job is both unconstitutional and un-American," said Anthony Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union. "That free speech is curtailed during the Democratic National Convention underscores the need for continued protection of civil liberties, regardless of the party in power."


Reporters Without Borders echoed calls for the charges to be dropped.

[mactastic]

Who said anything about it being a Republican thing? Paranoid much?

[obeygiant]

Who said anything about it being a Republican thing? Paranoid much?

Uhh, I think you did the moment you mentioned that the "search warrant will not be made public until after the convention is over...". Otherwise what was the implication of that statement? Partisan much? :);)

[Dont Hurt Me]

I wonder what law they broke and why the police photographed 50 people? what law is it that you must be photographed even if you have done nothing wrong? Something doesnt smell right here.

Why are they not making the warrant public? police had guns drawn when they went into this building?

[leekohler]

I wonder what law they broke and why the police photographed 50 people? what law is it that you must be photographed even if you have done nothing wrong? Something doesnt smell right here.

Why are they not making the warrant public? police had guns drawn when they went into this building?

I'd like to know the same thing.

[mactastic]

Uhh, I think you did the moment you mentioned that the "search warrant will not be made public until after the convention is over...". Otherwise what was the implication of that statement? Partisan much? :);)
That if the cops sit on this for a week, they'll likely not have to explain why they did what they did. I know in your mind (and unlike you, I'll refrain from any attempt at diagnosing your mental state in public and in derogatory tones), any statement not completely pro-Republican is automatically anti-Republican, but sometimes cops can be a little overzealous all on their own.

[SMM]

All I have seen on the thread, is the 'scrubbed' version of what has taken place in Minneapolis. The actual story is much worse than what has been linked here (unless I am failing to see it.) From Glenwald and Salon.Com (http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/30/police_raids/index.html):



Massive 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. 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.

Jane Hamsher and I were at two of those homes this morning -- one which had just been raided and one which was in the process of being raided. Each of the raided houses is known by neighbors as a "hippie house," where 5-10 college-aged individuals live in a communal setting, and everyone we spoke with said that there had never been any problems of any kind in those houses, that they were filled with "peaceful kids" who are politically active but entirely unthreatening and friendly. Posted below is the video of the scene, including various interviews, which convey a very clear sense of what is actually going on here.

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.

Nestor indicated that only 2 or 3 of the 50 individuals who were handcuffed this morning at the 2 houses were actually arrested and charged with a crime, and the crime they were charged with is "conspiracy to commit riot." Nestor, who has practiced law in Minnesota for many years, said that he had never before heard of that statute being used for anything, and that its parameters are so self-evidently vague, designed to allow pre-emeptive arrests of those who are peacefully protesting, that it is almost certainly unconstitutional, though because it had never been invoked (until now), its constitutionality had not been tested.

(much more available when reading the entire story, and watching the videos). (http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/30/police_raids/index.html):





An updated story by From Glenwald and Salon.Com. (http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/31/raids/index.html) It deals with the federal governments role in this sordid affair.




Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of privacy, freedom of seizure ....... they do not mean a damn thing in the Country anymore. Some of you, and millions like you, had better wake-up and quit blindly following the fascist regime the US has become. I think the vast majority of you know, in your heart of hearts, this is happening. But, you just cannot bear to 'pull the trigger' and admit to the truth. For that, I understand. It is very difficult to mentally cross that bridge. It completely alters the safe, comforting views, which have sustained us our whole lives. But, things have become so bad, we no longer have the luxury of sitting idling as the parade marches by. The three branches of government have betrayed us, although there are some quality people in Congress trying to make a difference. Even our last resort, the media, has been corrupted. This story is not even being reported by most of the corporate media. Citizens who get all their news from TV, do not even know about this.

The only thing that is helping to possibly save us, is what we are doing right here. The Internet and the blogosphere provides us with a wealth of great news and a forum to exchange information and ideas. Thank you for that.

[Mav451]

While I would love to put this on the conservatives...I have quite a bigger beef with police in general.

Who watches the watchmen? My question is who polices the police? Even today they are no logical checks and balances for power-tripping cops. Whether or not the orders came from ultra-right wings is another topic entirely...but cops get away with **** all the time with no accountability.

Shoot someone b/c of racial profiling? Oops, cop is of course off the hook. Break into wrong house during raid? Oops, cops are off the hook.

When's the last time a cop was actually ON the hook for ****ing up?

*on second thought, reading more into the article posted above I found a real jewel:
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.

Sounds like the same sneaky tactics employed by ultra-right wing organization, the NRA.

[Dont Hurt Me]

We need to be vigilant about liberty & freedom. The police state wants more control,more $$ and more laws stripping away our basic rights.

Protesting War, the military industrial complex cant have any of that now can they? We would still be pissing away lives in Vietnam if these morons had their way.

This is why there are organizations like the ACLU.

[r.j.s]

Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of privacy, freedom of seizure ....... they do not mean a damn thing in the Country anymore. Some of you, and millions like you, had better wake-up and quit blindly following the fascist regime the US has become. I think the vast majority of you know, in your heart of hearts, this is happening. But, you just cannot bear to 'pull the trigger' and admit to the truth. For that, I understand. It is very difficult to mentally cross that bridge. It completely alters the safe, comforting views, which have sustained us our whole lives. But, things have become so bad, we no longer have the luxury of sitting idling as the parade marches by. The three branches of government have betrayed us, although there are some quality people in Congress trying to make a difference. Even our last resort, the media, has been corrupted. This story is not even being reported by most of the corporate media. Citizens who get all their news from TV, do not even know about this.

The only thing that is helping to possibly save us, is what we are doing right here. The Internet and the blogosphere provides us with a wealth of great news and a forum to exchange information and ideas. Thank you for that.

Which is why I'm voting Libertarian, but anyway, I don't even know what to say about this. It's ridiculous.

The problem with sharing our great ideas on the internet is that while we're doing that, the real world is collapsing all around us. How long before they kick in your door for protesting online?

[Dont Hurt Me]

Isnt the UK on that path, telling people what they can and cant say? scary indeed.

[stubeeef]

Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of privacy, freedom of seizure ....... they do not mean a damn thing in the Country anymore. Some of you, and millions like you, had better wake-up and quit blindly following the fascist regime the US has become. I think the vast majority of you know, in your heart of hearts, this is happening. But, you just cannot bear to 'pull the trigger' and admit to the truth. For that, I understand. It is very difficult to mentally cross that bridge. It completely alters the safe, comforting views, which have sustained us our whole lives. But, things have become so bad, we no longer have the luxury of sitting idling as the parade marches by. The three branches of government have betrayed us, although there are some quality people in Congress trying to make a difference. Even our last resort, the media, has been corrupted. This story is not even being reported by most of the corporate media. Citizens who get all their news from TV, do not even know about this.

The only thing that is helping to possibly save us, is what we are doing right here. The Internet and the blogosphere provides us with a wealth of great news and a forum to exchange information and ideas. Thank you for that.
Now you are beginning to understand why many want to own guns, nothing like a local militia. (except they have all been wacko's of late!)
Police I think are run by the mayor, and the mayor to Minneapolis (R.T,Rybak) is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, Like Mondale and Humphrey (two past VP's). You would think that either he would be involved or fighting it, I guess we will find out soon.
Has this group made any aggressive statements or threats of violence? They do describe themselves as "anarchist/anti-authoritarian," which is of itself no crime. Funny how they called themselves the RNC Welcoming Committee, wonder if they are affilitated with welcome wagon? (http://www.welcomewagon.com/?cc=1)

[stubeeef]

Protesting War, the military industrial complex cant have any of that now can they?
I know, protesting socialism, wanting to own a gun, wanting to film rich democrats lunching (http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Conventions/story?id=5668622), I mean meeting, with lobbiests. It is a wacky world.Maybe it would help if there was a smaller less powerful government not in every aspect of our lives?

I do think that the libertarian position is becoming more and more viable. There needs to be a major defection from both parties, some conservative dems and liberal repubs or whatever it takes, to the Libertarian party to give a serious bump, otherwise by the time it is most needed it will be too late.

[Queso]

Isnt the UK on that path, telling people what they can and cant say? scary indeed.
We've always had quite strict anti-libel laws, but recent developments have included such wonders as the banning of protests outside Parliament. I mean, how DARE the people of this country question our pathetic excuse for politicians and divert their attention from feeding at the trough? :rolleyes:

At the risk of a visit from Special Branch I believe Guy Fawkes had the right idea, he was just a few centuries too early :cool:

[BoyBach]

We've always had quite strict anti-libel laws, but recent developments have included such wonders as the banning of protests outside Parliament. I mean, how DARE the people of this country question our pathetic excuse for politicians and divert their attention from feeding at the trough? :rolleyes:

At the risk of a visit from Special Branch I believe Guy Fawkes had the right idea, he was just a few centuries too early :cool:


Whilst completely off the original topic, the text of Cromwell's dismissal of parliament should be stapled to the foreheads of the current lot:

"It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonoured by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.

"Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barter'd your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?

"Ye sordid prostitutes, have you not defil'd this sacred place, and turn'd the Lord's temple into a den of thieves by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; you were deputed here by the people to get grievances redress'd; your country therefore calls upon me to cleanse the Augean Stable, by putting a final period to your iniquitous proceedings, and which by God's help and the strength He has given me, I now come to do.

"I command ye, therefore, upon the peril of your lives, to depart immediately out of this place! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors. You have sat here too long for the good you do. In the name of God, go!"

[leekohler]

Now you are beginning to understand why many want to own guns

Completely agreed on that point. It's precisely why gun ownership rights are in the Constitution. Why so many liberals don't get that I'll never understand.

[solvs]

Why so many liberals don't get that I'll never understand.

Other than a lot of talk, most Dems don't actually do much about the gun issue, so I would say they do.

I could have sworn I posted something about what the Dems were doing about their protesters, which was not good and I was very disappointed with (all in the name of "security"... sound familiar?), but it was nowhere near as bad as this. This is despicable. And exactly the same thing they have been doing, like with the liberal church that was under investigation for reasons we still don't know because there was no warrant. Proving why we need oversight, to stop just this type of thing.

Always thought the GOP was the party of personal rights. Against the gov doing exactly this type of thing. Wonder where those who were calling the Dems Big Brother are to decry this.