Secrets of the City

Metafilter thread. Police confiscate reporter’s notes. Video from police raid. Twitter updates.

Add more if you know of anything.

It seems they were saving their pee

Developing coverage at:

The UpTake
MPR’s “New Cut”
Twin Cities Indymedia
Minnesota Independent

Buckets of urine, slingshots, anti-bus weapons seized in raid on anti-RNC protesters
Map of RNC police action

Authorities seize weapons, devices to disrupt RNC in raids Friday, Saturday
Ramsey County Sheriff issues statement on raid
Police surround St. Paul house housing activists, protesters
Video: St. Paul police raid convergence space
Warrant at Food Not Bombs house sought bombs, feces, razor wire

Report from Salon.com.

David Brauer sums up who to follow on Twitter if you want live updates.

Transmissions list of protest info.

Scholtes’ list.

This all goes back to improper toilet training.

From local blogs:
Breaking Down: Alarm: Police State
Metroblogging: Ramsey County Sheriff Raids in Saint Paul and Minneapolis Ahead of RNC
The Deets: The RNC Welcoming Committee Receives a Preemptive Visit

Johnny Northside: Uh-oh.

At 11:30 this morning, members of the RNC Welcoming Committee and allied groups met in South Minneapolis Powderhorn Park for a community meeting to regroup after law enforcement raids last night and early this morning. MnIndys Andy Birkey was there.

Reports of additional pre-RNC raids in St. Paul still arriving.

PDF of warrant for Minneapolis raid. Included on list: “Hollowed out puppet.”

Snatch squads grabbing people in the streets?

Well, this was sadly predictable.

Again, you trade tangible liberty for fake security, this is what you end up with.

What I’m wondering why they need to take hollowed out puppets.

I mean, we already have George W. Bush.

So how much of the RNC Welcoming Committee’s plans did you want to see succeed, Zenrhino?

How about the “free to assemble and protest without jackbooted thugs crying 9/11!9/11!9/11! hauling them in without probable cause.”

Your basic 1st Amendment stuff.

If RNCWC (or anyone else) decides to act like douchebags while protesting, haul them in, I say.

But these raids reek of hauling in the political dissidents before the important visitors show up. And I think we can act better as a country than say, China or Cuba or Iran.

You didn’t answer the question. That’s OK.

I say yes on the puppetry, no on the urine.

You did note that it isn’t just the RNC Welcoming Committee that has been targeted by the police, yes, rat?

According to Chuck, a bus from Earth Justice just got pulled over by the cops. Ang and Jeremy saw the bus, said at least seven cars surrounded it, and more were on the way. Sounds like they may have pulled over a bus full of lawyers.

I was out for a while this afternoon and was not confronted by law enforcement.

OMG, this just goes too far:

Were you carrying a puppet?

Bus impounded, riders left on ramp to highway.

Group Plans To Deter, Document Police Abuse At RNC
St. Paul all battened down for hubbub at GOP ‘corral’
Welcome to Minnesota: Out of town activists pulled over by police at gunpoint

Were you carrying a puppet?

When don’t I?

It’s going to get uglier.

Yeah, The UpTake has been live on the scene to as many of these raids and incidents as possible, while working on editing taped pieces. I’ve got some great interviews with people on the hippy earth bus, which they described as “Three chickens, three dogs, and three people.” A box of superworms was also involved. State troopers and MPD declared the bus a commercial vehicle and impounded it, leaving the occupants stranded and homeless.

Minnov8 has a nice post about our live coverage. I’m really proud of what we’ve pulled of today, it’s really what we’ve envisioned and hoped we could accomplish. Not that I want to judge the quality yet, but people have come out of the woodwork using Twitter, phones, etc. to accomplish some kind of ad-hoc networked journalism.

(obligatory link to our webbed sight)

It is important that this is being discussed in as many venues as possible. I don’t see how anyone can be surprised that it is happening. I’m just wondering where they are going to find a recently closed bus depot large enough to house all the protesters.

Oh, and there will always be moral retards whose idea of protest is to break things or throw urine. Throw the book at them when they have actually done something, or tried to do it. But if history is an indicator, this will not be the case. Instead there will be mass blanket arrests of as many people as they can pack into their temporary jails, just to intimidate people into submission. These people will be held for the length of the convention and then released without charge.

I am making a sign right now that will say:

Up with Puppets
Down with Urine

I think it’s very important to emphasize that the police were not just raiding houses and other spaces where there are people who were thought to have plans to protest. (I don’t think that’s right, either, but won’t get into it here.) I was on my way to the State Fair with a group when we heard about the raid–we all know the owner of that house. We went over to there right away in case they needed witnesses and watched along with everyone else until the end. Lots of press showed up.

The people in the house who were being detained were journalists, one a news producer from Democracy Now! and others were videographers from I-Witness. TC Daily Planet has an excellent story about the raid.

I happened to watch KARE11 tonight, and based on what I witnessed–including press interviews–they completely misrepresented that raid. The story emphasized that the police were only going after people who were planning on disruptive and violent protest. Though they showed footage of the people being detained at the house on Iglehart they did not mention that the people shown on camera were journalists. That footage was quickly followed by the announcer saying yet again that the police were narrowly targeting “protesters,” a term that in my view is not accurate because nobody has actually engaged in that act yet. But they weren’t “protestors” in any case.

We ended up going to the Fair after all that. What a strange day.

More proof what Fascist Pigs these “powers that be” are.

Rather than be ashamed The Rat defends the pigs and Kevin no doubt waxes his dolphin to these reports.

Funny how some people take such delight in our eroding civil liberties.

But not surprising.

More proof we are living under a dictatorship. Impeach bush!

Thanks for keeping us updated, Max. This is really scary and f.. up. Seriously. Puppets? Where are we? Russia?

Even if the pigs didn’t violate their civil rights and the anarchists wrecked havoc, neo-con bums deserve to get pissed on for being the lying scum they are. I mean what is worse, getting piss thrown on you or sending our boys to die in a war for nefarious interests.

I have outrage fatigue. Yeah, I am extremely considered about rapid deterioration of civil liberties and rights but at this point, I’ve come to the realization that no one steps in a does anything. I mean, given all the shit that’s gone down in the past few years, I’m not surprised this happened nor am I going to be surprised when the rights violations get insanely egregious in the future (not just pertaining to OMGWTFGOPBBQ (SOSACLU) 08. SCOTUS can’t even seem to be able to curb this type of behavior. Really, what are you going to do about this? Protest it?

*”considered” should say “concerned”

The Star Tribune commentary is reasoned and enlightening as always.

Welcome to The Occupation!

National Lawyers Guild: In pre-RNC raids, urine was not a weapon
Pre-RNC police raids: reporters notebook
Police seize propaganda literature, staples, curtain rods, and caltrops from raided home on 17th Avenue
Big Green Bus arrested!
Police crackdown: Rolling out the raid carpet

“urine was not a weapon.”

I just read about that as well. Apparently gray water systems are terrorist weapons now.

Treehuggers beware! You’re on our list now. We are watching you!

This is just getting silly.

And by silly, I mean depressing.

One wonders if any of this would have happened without the RNC WC announcing their intentions to disrupt the convention on their website?

http://www.nornc.org/

I’m also just wondering how many ways people must say they are against violent demonstration and still be for the right to demonstrate? How many times do people have to qualify their support of the right to protest with “but of course that does not include violence”?

It seems apparent that those conducting the raids are lumping all potential protesters and demonstrators in with the Welcoming Committee. If the powers that be can legally arrest those members of the Welcoming Committee for planning to harm to others, then by all means they should do so. But that is not what convention security is doing. They are instead performing mass raids on anyone and everyone they can get their hands on in an overt attempt to intimidate and frighten legitimate protesters and demonstrators.

Well, Bob Fletcher said that they were only going after the RNCWC. For whatever it’s worth, which I know ain’t much. It’s not like I’ve seen the information they had, and the fact my friend Cris (see above) knows some of these guys makes me think they had bad information indeed.

Cops and protesters are amassing on Lake and Hiawatha.

Bixby, you ask what we can do. Here are some things:

1.) Let people know about it. This is a violation of the constitution. Send out an email to people who may not have heard about it. Call people.

2.) contact your state legislator and your city council representative. The more people like city council member gary schiff who speak out against this, the better.

3.) Show up to the protests. absolutely. Take your pick on which ones you agree with. they need to see that these kinds of tactics are not going to stop free speech from happening.

Yesterday in Russia a website producer was killed. that’s the end of the trajectory. That’s where we are headed if we keep allowing our rights to be taken away from us.

I didn’t see anything happening at Lake/Hiawatha when I went to the Y.

1. Demonstrations at the RNC will accomplish … what? You won’t change their policies; you won’t change their candidate; you won’t change the minds of any fence-sitters … Hillary’s PUMAs included;

2. Sheriff Fletcher’s office needs to be investigated for violations of state and local laws. The Ramsey County Sheriff has absolutely no authority to decide if a structure is deemed a fire hazard. This is so much show-boating by a fellow already in serious political doo-doo;

3. Caught a bit of the Ron Paul parade through downtown Mpls this afternoon. YES! Street theater beats demonstrations every time.

“Demonstrations at the RNC will accomplish … what? You won’t change their policies; you won’t change their candidate; you won’t change the minds of any fence-sitters …“

I don’t think changing people’s minds is why most people demonstrate. If you don’t tell the people in power that you are pissed at them, how will they know? Especially now our leaders are so completely removed from reality, so walled off from everything, that (if they wish) they can easily go through their terms without ever interacting with anyone in the real world who disagrees with them. If demonstrations and protests do not make it into the periphery of their vision, they might never really know how completely fucked up and worthless they really are.

I kind of agree with Chomsky on this one. Speaking truth to power is based on the preconception that the powerful give a damn about the truth.

@ceci:

1. See SCOTUS comment I made and everything along those lines.

2. I find it troubling if City Council doesn’t know already and, even if they do, I’m not quite sure what them speaking out is really going to do in light of my first point.

3. Yeah, we technically have the right to protest but, much like other rights that have been going down the drain, me showing up isn’t going to do jack.

Additionally, I’m with Noodleman, what the hell protesting at the convention is supposed to accomplish is unclear. Yes, you confirmed you have the right to speech and…yeah, that’s pretty much it. Free speech in and of itself is not an end.

I will always defend free speech, even for issues I disagree and, while I’m pretty sure I agree with what the protesters are protesting. I can’t say that I see the significance of their protests at this event.

4. Clearly, there are times when peaceful protest works. Obviously, the main one would be the civil rights movement. The thing is, it was not just a parade at a week long convention or a bunch of people gathered to voice their opinion for a week. It was a prolonged event that also involved significant, albeitpeaceful, disruptions for society by a large group of people who had a *direct* interest in the issue at hand. Given America today, I can’t see that occurring. We *should* care about the war but it doesn’t affect many of our lives. We *should* care about the economy but either its not a big deal to us or we’re too busy trying to get our own shit together to worry about other people’s.

Regardless, I’m still fatigued. I’ll muster up the energy to get outraged as soon as someone can tell me a point to protesting OMGWTFGOPBBQ. They know we don’t want the war any more, that we’re pissed about the economy and that they’ve exercised poor decision-making. What is a couple more people yelling at them about it from outside their party supposed to do?

Pick your battles, people.

I’m not going to DTSTP tomorrow as I had planned. Too hot. Plus it sounds like a lot of media have bailed out. I was hoping to get high on the-place-to-be-factor. Now the RNC is just that other thing that was supposed to happen.

Plus ar eyou watching this Djokovic match? How could I go to bed and miss this great tennis?