US Police State On Display At Republican Convention
Posted by Jeff Pruitt - 9/2/08 @ 1:01 am - Filed Under 2008 National Elections
“Preemptive strikes” are no longer limited to the US military. Minnesota police are now using the tactic to intimidate and illegally detain Republican national convention protesters. The have been conducting a series of home raids against potential protesters who were previously identified by federal moles sent to infiltrate the groups organizing the political protests. From FireDogLake:
Thanks to the miracle of cellular technology, I was able to talk to a homeowner while his home was surrounded by police conducting an RNC-related raid. At approximately two-thirty this afternoon, I reached Mike Whelan, a waiter and army veteran, at his duplex at 951 Iglehart Ave. in St. Paul, Minnesota.
“About an hour and a half ago 20 to 30 heavily armed police officers surrounded the house,” Whelan said. “One of my roommates said ‘I want to see a warrant’ and she was immediately detained.”
“Are they still outside?” I asked.
“Oh, yes, they’re still outside,” Whelan replied cheerfully, “The streets are blocked off.”
Whelan says his roommate, Erin Stalmaker, went out to talk to talk to the police. She asked the officers why they were there. The officers asked why people were running away from them. Erin reportedly told the officers that their drawn automatic weapons probably had something to do with it. She was detained after asking to see a warrant.
The work of the I-Witness Video collective was interrupted this past Saturday, August 30, 2008, when St. Paul police detained 7 members of the group (along with an assortment of other individuals) for several hours. The NYC-based video collective is in St. Paul to document the policing of the protests at the Republican National Convention.
The work of the I-Witness Video collective was interrupted this past Saturday, August 30, 2008, when St. Paul police detained 7 members of the group (along with an assortment of other individuals) for several hours. The NYC-based video collective is in St. Paul to document the policing of the protests at the Republican National Convention.
The incident began in the late morning when an FBI agent and a Wisconsin Deputy Sheriff showed up on the doorstep of the house in which members were staying (on Igelhart St.), interrupting a collective planning meeting. The officers left after a short conversation with members through a locked front door. Two hours later, around 30 police surrounded the house. Two people who left the house were detained in handcuffs; several others, who were inside, were told that if they left, they would be also be detained. Around the same time, three other I-Witness Video members who had left the house on bikes and two others who were riding in a car across town were also detained by police.
Two hours later, after the search warrant arrived, police at the Igelhart Street house stormed in, pointing an automatic handgun at the people inside. They handcuffed all the individuals inside, collected their personal information, and corralled them in the back garden. While police held the media activists and their friends there, members of the media, who had gathered in an adjoining backyard, interviewed I-Witness Video member Eileen Clancy from behind a fence. After completing their search, the police finally uncuffed everyone and departed. Within about two hours, the other I-Witness Video groups–who had been detained on bikes and in a car, all of whom also had their identifications verified and had undergone searches of various kinds–were also released.
There’s much more over at TheUptake - a blog covering all the protests at the RNC.
I was going to post my thoughts on what’s going on but Glenn Greenwald from Salon.com describes what I’m feeling much better than I could hope to:
So here we have a massive assault led by Federal Government law enforcement agencies on left-wing dissidents and protesters who have committed no acts of violence or illegality whatsoever, preceded by months-long espionage efforts to track what they do. And as extraordinary as that conduct is, more extraordinary is the fact that they have received virtually no attention from the national media and little outcry from anyone. And it’s not difficult to see why. As the recent “overhaul” of the 30-year-old FISA law illustrated — preceded by the endless expansion of surveillance state powers, justified first by the War on Drugs and then the War on Terror — we’ve essentially decided that we want our Government to spy on us without limits. There is literally no police power that the state can exercise that will cause much protest from the political and media class and, therefore, from the citizenry.
Beyond that, there is a widespread sense that the targets of these raids deserve what they get, even if nothing they’ve done is remotely illegal. We love to proclaim how much we cherish our “freedoms” in the abstract, but we despise those who actually exercise them. The Constitution, right in the very First Amendment, protects free speech and free assembly precisely because those liberties are central to a healthy republic — but we’ve decided that anyone who would actually express truly dissident views or do anything other than sit meekly and quietly in their homes are dirty trouble-makers up to no good, and it’s therefore probably for the best if our Government keeps them in check, spies on them, even gets a little rough with them.
I’ve been trying to tell everyone, including Democrats, to take advantage of their 2nd amendment rights because if these authoritarians get their way you’re going to need them…
H/T: Daily Kos
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13 Responses to “US Police State On Display At Republican Convention”
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“but we’ve decided that anyone who would actually express truly dissident views or do anything other than sit meekly and quietly in their homes are dirty trouble-makers up to no good, and it’s therefore probably for the best if our Government keeps them in check, spies on them, even gets a little rough with them.”
I suspect the presence of Federal officers might have something to do with the government monitoring of communications. We can thank the “Current Occupant” and his crew for spending more time and money tracking U.S. Citizens than they have tracking Ben Laden and his bunch. I mean…Gosh, he only planned and funded killing over 3,000 people!
The Bush motto “To Hell with the Constution, you can trust me”!
Time for another “terror alert” from the administration ?
It’s amazing how stupid this blog gets sometimes.
I agree.
Buy hey, you get what you pay for…
Now, Jeff, you know I’m no apologist for the ‘Pubbies. But I’d sure hate to see this fine blog go all completely partisan … the Donks don’t deserve you. Please tell me that you previously ran a post concerning the state of civil liberties at the Democratic National Convention:
Jim,
I really didn’t intend for this to be a partisan post whatsoever. I will admit that until today I hadn’t heard anything about the police crackdowns in Denver. Of course the traditional media hasn’t covered the abuses at either convention so it’s no surprise people haven’t seen these stories. However, after watching some of the videos I think the Denver crackdown has been worse than what I’ve seen so far in Minneapolis.
There is no excuse for the actions of the police and the government officials that are supposed to be overseeing them. Walking down the street is not a crime, even if you’re a dirty f’in hippy…
Sorry, Jeff, I was probably a little too quick to jump, there.
I’m getting the impression that the cops are more egregious in Minneapolis than they were in Denver. I’ll also have to admit that, in some cases, the “offenders” may actually have done some legitimate crimes, on the order of arson and vandalism. Trouble is, unless you’re there, you don’t know whom to believe. The “old” press — what’s left of it, at least — often seems to be just the publicity arm of the cops.
I know I’ve seen pictures of the Minneapolis riot goons that are just hard to believe. They don’t look like George Lucas’s imperial storm troopers; they look worse. Lots worse.
We’re living in occupied territory these days, and it really doesn’t matter at all whether the nominal bosses have “D” or “R” after their names. I think we’re looking at some kind of quickly-widening class or cultural gap between governed and supervisor, and between cop and “civilian.” It’s not a good thing.
OK. I am a “registered” republican but let me get this off my chest.
I watched much of the Democratic Convention and I watched the GOP convention last night. I hate to use a juvenile term but why is the republican convention crowd apparently stocked with a collection of 40 year old nerds? I must admit that Republicans are decidedly unhip.
Furthermore, could the media be any more obvious when it seeks out the complete nutjobs on the floor? They did not do this at the dem convention but they make a point of picking out the craziest looking loons on the GOP convention floor. Case in point, the 40 year old woman with a crazed look in her eye that had a homemade button that said “I support unwed mothers”. At the dem convention, the media was not seeking out “militant” pro-choice people or “militant” gay marriage supporters.
I didn’t hear about this happening in Denver:
Connecticut delegate Rob Simmons told FOX 9 that a group of protesters came toward his delegation and tried to rip the credentials off their necks and sprayed them with a toxic substance.
The unknown substance burned their eyes and stained their clothes.
One 80-year-old member of the delegation had to be treated for injuries, and several other delegates had to rinse their eyes and clothing.
Or this:
Protesters harassed two state delegations in St. Paul to attend the Republican National Convention Monday. Someone threw a rock through the window as delegates from Alabama rode their bus to the Xcel Energy Center, where RNC events took place. And masked protesters confronted and harassed the Connecticut delegation — several of them were spat upon, roughed up and doused with a mixture of water and bleach.
Or this..
Protesters, many who were dressed all in black and covered their faces with bandanas or gas masks, broke windows, tipped over newspaper boxes, pulled trash bins into the street, threw bottles, bent rearview mirrors on a bus, flattened tires, and attempted to block intersections by joining hands.
Before you pass judgement read what the local paper of there is reporting… A story that does not just match up with the quoted blogs above are stating…..
http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/conventions/27793634.html?page=1&c=y
Search Warrant pdf file can be viewed here. Now, what does everyone think?
http://extras.twincities.com/pdf/RNCWC.pdf
It was reported today that this “police state” just thwarted an effort to bomb the convention. How come left wing protestors are so violent?
Several of the houses were raided with search warrants and the police found absolutely nothing. I’m not arguing that there are some violent protesters but all protesters shouldn’t be lumped into that category…
You guys ever watch any news? There’s an awful lot of video of “demonstrators” smashing jewelry store windows, police cars and setting fires.
When’s the last time you saw a couple thousand republicans doing that?
sheesh…