CCTV footage of the RNC "riot" that wasn't

[Downtown Hound]

Well, here it is. St. Paul, Ramsey County, and Minneapolis police and government officials have attempted to justify all of the police brutality and heavy handedness during the RNC because of what happened on Day 1. A group of supposed anarchists broke off from the main crowd and allegedly began trashing the city, including breaking the windows of a bank and a Macy's.

Prior to the convention, St. Paul installed a whole new CCTV camera system around the city (which is now a permanent fixture). They had originally promised that all footage from the cameras would be made public. But then they changed their minds, keeping it under lock and key where much of it remains to this day. However, some of that footage has been released. Here is video of the bank window being smashed. Bear in mind that on this day of the RNC, more than one hundred people were arrested and charged with felonies. Yet out of this crowd of over two hundred people, you can maybe see five or six that are actually causing damage. If this is a riot, it's the most pansy assed riot you could ever possibly witness.

Also bear in mind that the police crackdown continued throughout the week, even against the peaceful, permitted marches that went on. The police again used the anarchists from day one, on this video, as justification for the crackdown on peaceful marches later on.

http://rnc08report.org/archive/1018.shtml