More than eight hundred people were arrested in St. Paul during the Republican National Convention.

I’m hoping for more than 800 full-blown jury trials…

Nice evidence for the lawsuits.

The whole thing look like a rehearsal for a Wim Wenders take on the next holocaust.

Do you think lawsuits will have a deterent affect?

Shades of the sixties, which I remember all too well.

When the Big push comes to the Bigger shove, do you think the po-lice will side with ‘the people’ or ‘the poweres that be’?

Interesting times … dakine, interesting times.

When the Big push comes to the Bigger shove, do you think the po-lice will side with ‘the people’ or ‘the poweres that be’?

When it came down to that when the Soviet Bloc was falling, the people won and there was very little actual violence. I think that will be the case here, too, unless they get lots of Blackwater personnel from outside the country…

When the taxpayers in St Paul are slapped with increased tax bills to pay the multi-million dollar settlements coming down on them from this sh*t, yeah it will get attention.

And the cops in charge who facilitated it should (not saying they will) be held personally liable for a good chunk of the funds as well.

Money seems to be all they understand so hit ‘em hard in the wallet.

Um, the Rs indemnified the city up to $10 million in lawsuit settlements, iirc. I interpreted it as a liscense for StP to brutalize demonstators. Besides Rs learned from NYC and I’ll bet you a dollar for a donut that there are NO settlements in StP. Rs escalate every time.

I’ll bet you a dollar for a donut that there are NO settlements in StP.

oh, I think that there will be a whole bunch of cases in which the actions of the police (or whoever the hell they were) were so illegal and egregious that attorneys will step forward and take the cases on a contingency-fee basis.

And if they have to go to trial – who cares?

is there a defense fund for peaceful protesters and bystanders arrested in the Twin Cities during the Republican National Convention?

That’s a good question. I know the I-Witness people are accepting donations on their site, for continuation of their documentation work. They are the only group I know that supports legal cases (or rather, debunks the criminal cases, and supports the civil suits) by collecting and managing video evidence like the above.
I-Wit is teh awesome.

yeah, right?
That the guy with the camera felt he had to hide the tape so it wouldn’t be erased/stolen/destroyed, and that 200 kids hanging out in a park got swept up . . . silly me, but is this America?

I’ll bet you a dollar for a donut that there are NO settlements in StP.

I’ll take that bet. You are sooo going to owe me a donut!

Hey! I think I missed the passionate denunciation of this un-American, un-Constitutional suppression of free speech and assembly from the Obama-Biden campaign – can anyone post a link to it?

After all, some of the protesters who were tear-gassed, beaten and tased were probably Obama supporters, and support has to go both ways, right?

But even if the Candidate is utterly, completely, obliviously indifferent to what went on there, I’m sure the folks had plenty of time in jail to think about how they are still obligated to support Democrats no matter what, including the Democratic Mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota!

Now is that $10 Million, something the r’s are gonna pay out of pocket?

If so, then, we can’t really call that “walkin’ around” money, too much ‘calculation’ and ‘license’ involved, bordering on the ‘crimminal’.

If an insurance company’s to pay, then just how happy are they gonna be, especially right now?

The fucks in blue need to machine gun their assholes. The people should arm themselves according to the second amendment and when punks like these police have become, use the the appropriate force to establish order.

I know that kid Wes; he joins us every so often at our weekly Thursday evening gathering in front of the Federal building where we hold signs “Honk for Peace”; “Supporting the Troops Means Bringing Them Home”; “Out of Iraq”; “No Bombing Iran” to name a few. He goes to the University. I hadn’t seen him in a while prior to the convention, didn’t know that he was going.

A salute to the komrads of St. Louinsky.

How many were disappeared from Minn./St. Paul? Will we ever know?

This was a dress rehearsal for what….????

CSNY “Four Dead in Ohio” ain’t nothin for what’s comming.

There can’t help but be major protests in the near future, no matter who gets elected. And when they rise up, Americans can expect more ugliness than has already happened. Riot Cops and National Guard, quite capable of doing much more than arrest people, until all dissent is stifled. Quite simply state terrorism turned inward.

Jason, I do appreciate your bravery, but I don’t really think you can fight these guys any better than the average Iraqi can.

I know this isn’t quite the topic (but give me a close)

Our Gov’t has the right to spy on its citizens for any reason it desires with no warrant no paper trail no oversight. You know, oversight, what is missing from wall street, Bush Adm even the congress.

But somehow the Palin’s can just refuse to abide by a subpoena. Can refuse as elected officials, to hold open their work on the peoples dollar.
We pay them and we have a right to know.

As some republicans said of spying, ” If you have nothing to hide its no big deal “.

So if it is no big deal? Why doesn’t Palin cooperate if she has nothing to hide??

She must be hiding something because she refuses to cooperate.
So lets take Bush’s aproach. How does Gov Palin feel about torture?

This is an outrage. I am compelled to use the F word. It looks like a thoroughly fascist arrest, heavy handed and without cause. GOP tax dollars at work makes all of us accomplices in some way. That is the crying shame.

We were live-streaming this particular situation at The UpTake. Here is our story of this event.

http://the-uptake.groups.theup…..ew/id/695/

excellent Jason – The Uptake was awesome RNC week!

For people wondering about legal defense funds, here’s two options I-Witness just recommended to us:

Coldsnap Legal Collective – they handled jail support and now court
support for arrestees and defendants.
http://coldsnaplegal.wordpress.com/

RNC 8 – to support the legal defense of people who are being charged with
terrorism under Minnesota’s version of the Patriot Act. The cost of their
legal defense is estimated at $250,000.
http://rnc8.org/donations/

Now let’s pause to take in the idea that PEOPLE ARE BEING CHARGED WITH TERRORISM under Minnesota’s version of the Patriot Act.

Folks – for a truly wonderful bit of satire – I invite you watch the Terrorist Puppets documentary by Marty Owing of Radio Free Nation, and Backbone Campaign’s initial statement as it led it’s prison stripes clad Chain Gang to the Ramsey Co. Jail for a Prisoner Exchange – and the response of “authorities.”

This is a well done video! The young man interviewed was very articulate and the sound bites clearly illustrated the director’s message, which is an important one. Peaceful assembly, even peaceful protest, is not against our Constitution and should not be treated as though it’s against the law.

Fortunately, Kent State is a thing of the past. Scare tactics were used here, but no students were murdered by men in uniform. As for tear-gas? It does a lot worse than just make your nose run and your eyes water.

Shame on the Minnepolis/St.Paul police, if that’s whose faces were protected when arrests were made. Shame on them for scaring these students and families enjoying a Labor Day concert.

Nothing like this happened in Denver!
Vote for Obama!!!!!!