and it bears repeating now
Sep 7, 2008 @ 11:28
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/2_Texas_men_charged_in_RNC_0906.html
I'm sorry, but "lefty anarchist terrorists" would never ever ever EVER buy their molotov cocktail supplies from a Walmart.
some good questions
Sep 7, 2008 @ 11:26
A recap of the munitions used against protesters at the RNC:
http://www.minnesotaindependent.com/7923/crowd-control-at-the-rnc-fifty-million-unanswered-questions
A few things to consider here:
1. The RNC paid the premiums on a $10 million insurance policy for the police in St. Paul to pay for any lawsuits against the police brought by protesters. This has many implications.
2. If the police had let Thursday's march proceed undeterred to the prescribed "free speech zone" by the convention instead of blocking the protesters' path across the bridge would the protesters have been committing any crime other than petty misdemeanor jay-walking?
3. Is St. Paul's protest permitting law constitutional? Even if it is, if you view the protest crowd as individuals who all just happened to be attempting to walk peacefully to the designated "free speech zone" outside the convention, then didn't the police violate these people's First Amendment Rights?
It sure seems to me that preventing protesters from reaching a police and city sanctioned cage where citizens are supposed to exercise their First Amendment Rights by using Unlawful Assembly citations before the protesters can reach the cage is dubious.
first amendment implications
Sep 6, 2008 @ 10:50
"Mayor Coleman must salvage the damaged reputation of the state and the city by dropping charges against all journalists immediately." -Huffington Post
I see this charge again and again: Journalists demanding that all charges against journalists be dropped immediately. Why are journalists not demanding all charges be dropped against the protesters as well?
Whatever charges are dropped against journalists, be it Conspiracy to Riot or Unlawful Assembly, any protesters with the same charges must also have those charges dropped. It can be no other way.
Why? Because the exact same SENTENCE that the journalists are standing on to make these demands also and equally protects the protesters:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
an rnc video
Sep 6, 2008 @ 10:32
http://the-uptake.groups.theuptake.org/en/videogalleryView/id/722/
The last minutes of this video are like something out of Children of Men... explosions, crowds running, general panic and confusion in downtown St. Paul, MN.
rnc live on twitter
Sep 4, 2008 @ 18:50
this is not good
Aug 30, 2008 @ 18:12
police advised to stay clear of i-94 "because of 5 pointed stars on freeway." UNCONFIRMED
This kind of thing is going to justify the police in escalating violence against protesters and some stupid "anarchist" kid is gonna wind up with a manslaughter charge when a car crashes on 94.
I'm guessing there are no road spikes and this is an information war tactic.
representation
Aug 30, 2008 @ 15:01
If you are in Minneapolis, you can find the phone number for the offices of your city council representative here:
http://apps.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/AddressApp/SearchByAddress.aspx?AppID=WardFinderApp
All Minnesotans can find the phone number of their state and federal congressional representatives here:
http://geo.commissions.leg.state.mn.us/districts/start.html
Call and leave a message, remember to be polite! Ask your representatives to show a strong community presence this week to defend the First Amendment rights of their constituents. We need to make phone calls top to bottom on this, not just the mayor or your federal senator.