Police Raids at RNC Rallys
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26471627/
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Republican National Convention protesters targeted in a series of police raids Friday night and Saturday say they won't back down from their plans to march on the event's opening day.On Friday night, Ramsey County sheriff's deputies raided an organizing site of a group - the RNC Welcoming Committee - that has publicized plans to disrupt convention activities. No one was arrested."They will not crush our spirit," said protester Lisa Fithian from Austin, Texas, at a gathering of about 300 people in a Minneapolis park Saturday afternoon. "Our organization will continue. We will be on the streets."
The raids drew criticism from other than the targets.
Dave Thune, a St. Paul city councilman whose district includes the theater building used as a hub for the protesters, denounced the raid, saying people had a legal right to assemble there.
"We spent so much time trying to welcome people to the city and now this is the way we start out," he said. "It pretty much sucks."
DNC protesters
http://blogs.tampabay.com/democrats/...-block-pr.html
http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/...g/26/arrested/
Earlier Tuesday, a group of about 50 anti-abortion activists unfurled a huge sign on a mesa west of Denver equating the Democratic National Convention with abortion, but later hiked back up to remove it at the request of authorities. County officials haven't decided whether to issue any citations. The sign was displayed for about three hours and group president Steve Curtis said the letters were visible from west Denver about 10 miles away.Terry's supporters said those arrested downtown included the Rev. Lee Hartley, a Baptist pastor, and two Catholic priests, the Rev. Norman Weslin, 78, and the Rev. Joe Klee of Portsmouth, Ohio. They identified some of the others as Clair Conley of Denver; Mary Colsch, 75, of Caledonia, Minn.; Ron Hartman, 65; Joseph Landry, 27, of Washington, D.C.; David Mitchell, 65, of New Albany, Iowa; Kim Samecki, 29, of Colorado Springs and Brian Sherwood, 35, of Kansas.
Before the convention, Terry met with Denver police and then publicly announced he planned to be arrested.
When Terry and about three dozen protesters arrived at a designated corner Tuesday, a dozen police were waiting on the opposite corner. Prostesters began to recite the rosary.
Terry then announced the plan. He told the group they were going to walk down the block to the DNC gate, sit down in the street and pray. He said the police would warn protesters three times that they would be arrested. Anyone who wanted to leave should do so after the third warning, he said.
He told the few children in the group to remain standing to the side, holding signs.
"You'll be part of a legal protest that may someday be covered in the history books," he said.
When the protesters first gathered at the gate, people with convention passes were able squeeze behind them to get through. When protesters sat down in the street, Terry asked an aide for the "red phone," a cell phone he used to call police. He could be heard saying "Lieutenant, we're here at the gate."
Then some of the protesters moved closer to the gate, blocking it. Secret Service officers shut it and directed convention-goers to another gate. Protesters sang a Catholic hymn, "Salve Regina." They said one Hail Mary for the police officers before a lieutenant approached them. Reading from a card, he cited the city ordinance they were violating and warned them they would have to leave or be arrested.So what do you think about these raids on RNC protesters. Two people were charged with consipiracy to commit riot. Every prosecuter knows that if you cant get them on a crime then consipiracy is the easiest charge to make stick.After he read the warning for a second time, things went slightly off script. Some bystanders began to call on police to arrest the protesters immediately. One man shouted that protesters were terrorists. A protester shouted back, "What do you call abortion?" An officer told the crowd the protesters would be gone in a few minutes.
The lieutenant read the third warning, and Terry reminded anyone who wanted to leave to do so.
As officers lined up to remove the protesters, they began to chant: "Deny Biden communion." Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Obama's vice presidential choice, is Catholic.
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Originally Posted by danzig
Especially with Denver protests the people running that publicly said they wanted to provoke a 60s style disruptive protest but yes I do have issues with police acting upon it to try and break it up before it happens. It isnt however a "police state".
