Mind-boggling Pre-RNC Police State Action

[eshfemme]

Look, I'm more moderate when it comes to the police as in I don't automatically blame the police and call them pigs unlike some people. But these videos of citizen journalism coming out of St Paul are really frightening.

St. Paul Police Raid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKRPuza1RKU

Police Raid Houses Connected With Planned RNC Protests: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzhlnCBps4Y

Police Detain Journalists: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wShi41LcoCg

National Lawyers Guild: Police Raid "Preventive Detention": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgTEgcC6inY

RNC Eve: "Police Are Acting Like Nazis": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Z1Xej5WDE

Inside the raided "RNC Welcoming Committee" center: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSGGdD3VOlo

There's a whole collection of videos chronicling these events by UpTakeVideo (http://www.youtube.com/user/UpTakeVideo) and Veracifier (http://www.youtube.com/user/Veracifier). This is just a smattering of them. It looks like these 2 users are coordinating since they have duplicates of a few video posted at both their accounts. But yeah, you'll be creeped out.

I'm sorry to be a downer but it doesn't look like there's much awareness of this yet and everyone should know about this if only to provide more exposure and support. Plus, it looks like this is a real-life and documented instance of what the Patriot Act does to our rights as citizens.

Note: Please kick and/or rec this thread so that more people can see these links and hopefully make the YouTube videos viral. This is about the only way I can help these folks out without going there myself. Or email these video clips around-- just something that will help to raise awareness. So far there seems to be some coverage of this slowly. Hopefully, this will make its way around the netroots and be covered by the MSM. Thanks!

[BlooInBloo]

1. Greenwald and Digby have been on it.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/proud-to-be-american-by-dday-despite.html

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/30/police_raids/index.html

[eshfemme]

4. Thanks for the links. It was just that there didn't seem to be much views of the vids on YouTube

so I wanted to make sure that at least they get more eyeballs.

[BlooInBloo]

5. Yup - I think the shit is just starting to hit the fan on this.

[eshfemme]

6. Yes, I'd prefer that there be lots of outrage over this and deservedly so.

Because hopefully, this will shame the PR-sensitive Republicans in NOT doing this or at the very least, provide some sort of protection for these protesters in the media attention it will attract. So far, the only media seems to be citizen journalists and local news. It's kinda ironic that the MSM were salivating so much over a repeat of the 1968 riots at the DNC when they could very well get their police riots at the RNC this year and they're not even paying attention.

[im1013]

2. Stinking Nazi's!!!!!

[eshfemme]

8. Yes, the video of the woman who calls the police Nazis is especially chilling.

She goes home to find that her home has been rifled through very obviously. It's very scary to think about.

[im1013]

14. The sad part is...

that I didn't even see that part until after I commented!

:wtf:

[eshfemme]

15. Yeah, you were actually being literal instead of being hyperbolic.

Thanks for the kick because more people need to see these links and add to the view counts.

[im1013]

17. Absolutely.

:patriot:

[cliffordu]

3. I think this is the beginning of the coup. Martial law. Watch for a "ter'rist event"

[eshfemme]

7. I don't even know if all of this is because Bush is coming to town

and they're all going down in severe lockdown because they're paranoid about assassination or something. But this is going too far. Even though I'm relatively young, I can still kinda remember when protesters were still allowed to protest without restricting them to "freedom zones" and I can remember when that crap started and that was after 9/11 and Bush got his carte blanche to fuck us all over.

[cliffordu]

13. That's right....

[tblue37]

36. The way Bush travels in that all-black motorade with

darkened windows, completely insulated from the people, reminds me of the way third-world dictators travel through the countries they rule.

But a president is not supposed to be our "ruler." He is supposed to be our public servant, to represent us and our sovereign power.

[eshfemme]

43. What's ironic is that the Bush family IS related to the current British monarchy

They're something like 4th or 5th cousins. It kinda underlines just how he approached it.

I think Bush never seriously thought about the implications of being President the way Barack has-- Bush basically coasted in with the help of his father and Rove. It also looks like McCain is prepared to follow his route because it looks to me like for McCain, the presidency is akin to the mythical white stag that he needs to pursue but the reason for why he pursues it is for his own ego-- he hasn't thought about what happens if he does capture it. With such irresponsibility evident in the GOP, there is ample reason for why Obama needs to be elected.

[silverojo]

9. K&R

These Nazi-esque tactics are just getting too far out of hand!!!

[eshfemme]

12. Yes, so far, we only have imperfect tools to counter it but let's all pitch in to help

as fellow Americans. I mean, that's part of Obama's message-- that we take personal responsibility for our government. When our government goes too far, we need to do our share of reining it in.

[lib2DaBone]

10. Pre-Emptive Raids ....Warrantless.......

Para Military Police acting with no warrants.... ? Homeland Security?

[eshfemme]

11. I personally think that this is all aided and abetted by the Patriot Act

It's likely that underneath that piece of legislation the rights that the people in the videos are talking about were negated simply because they were protesting the Republicans or espoused a non-mainstream idea.

It's just that the various ways that the Patriot Act has been implemented hasn't been this obvious before or documented on video at least as far as I can tell.

[im1013]

16. Don't forget about the

repeal of the Insurrection Act of 1807, and the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurrection_Act#Repeal_of_amendments

[eshfemme]

18. Well hopefully, Obama is going to repeal the Patriot Act IMMEDIATELY

But that 4 months long wait seems soo interminable. Ugh... it's a short period of time by any measure but by Bush time, it's just too much fucking time for him to further fuck up our country.

[im1013]

19. Well nobody's listening to Dennis Kucinch.

IMPEACH NOW!!

[eshfemme]

23. I honestly can see both sides but neither make me happy.

If impeached, everything grinds to a halt-- if things are partisan now, impeaching will bring on fucking WW3 on the Congress and we get not just a lame duck President but a lame duck Congress. Regardless of how little legislation they could push through because of the filibustering and bureaucracy, they are still at least trying to do stuff. I also have to say that as a minority party, the Republicans were much scrappier than the Democrats were and they probably will succeed in fucking up the legislature even more.

And then if they're not impeached, we all get fucked with crap like this. Ugh.

[im1013]

25. I know, sucks doesn't it?

I am more than a little sick of the Dems in Congress just rolling over
and playing dead, though. Actually, it really pisses me off...
especially that repuke in sheep's clothing, Pelosi.
What I'd really love to see is Impeach and Incarcerate.
The mere thought of those damn blatant criminals getting away with
what they've done to this country just seriously burns my ass!
It would be worth all of the other crap to me.

:grr:

[Eric J in MN]

46. They have warrants for at least some of the raids.

Perhaps unjust warrants, but warrants.

[eshfemme]

49. The problem is in how they executed those warrants

The warrants mentioned were either not provided properly-- they had to be requested after everything happened. It really appears that if there was any due process (something that is very important in the Constitution) that it was mishandled grievously.

In the raid on the Convergence space, the warrant was broad but the violation that was finally cited for such action was a mere fire ordinance, which wasn't under the purview of the sheriff's department. And certainly didn't warrant the brandishing of armed police officers. This suggests an incongruity between the justified use of a warrant and what the purpose of such raids are.

In the raid on the houses, there is evidence that some houses were searched or seized (boarded up) without informing the owner since the owner was being "detained" by the police. It was only lucky that local lawyers came by because otherwise, the warrants were not given to these owners at all.

There is a great deal of question and the police are stonewalling people with legitimate questions. In a process that can be rife with abuse, transparency goes a long way to calming public sentiment and is usually the tactic for competent police departments-- hence the press conferences. However, there were none and only one public statement that left many questions unanswered.

The fact that these people were only planning to exercise their right to peacefully assemble at the RNC suggests that these actions are politically motivated. The fact that people are not arrested but detained, which does not protect the detainee that a normal arrest would have guaranteed suggests an appalling callous regard for the rights of a citizen.

So, just because there is a warrant, it doesn't excuse the actions. There are cases where evidence is thrown out because it was seized under an improperly executed warrant. There have also been warrants that have been later judged to be improperly granted. Due process is extremely important here. This looks like a situation with both those cases and an unjust warrant is still no excuse.

[Ghost Dog]

20. Plenty more information at Twin Cities Indymedia here:

http://twincities.indymedia.org/

[eshfemme]

21. We need to get this covered more on the MSM

I know the MSM are a bunch of fucking tools and douchebags but it's still the medium of information for the average person. So far, I'm only seeing 1 article on CNN and MSNBC about the raid on protester's HQ but there's nothing so far on the raids on the homes and the "detainment" of people and there needs to be. If the MSM were so eager to cover a powder keg, St Paul seems to be the place-- I personally hope it won't explode but the cameras and attention need to be brought there.

Grassroots action tends to take time and I'm really worried about these people so I'd prefer that St Paul be put underneath the microscope of the drama whoring media. No matter how much I denigrate the MSM, they're really fucking good about stalking people when they smell anything like red meat.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

40. Starhawk has been posting too:

http://www.starhawk.org/

[Webster Green]

22. They are pigs!

Fascist fucking pigs, to be precise!

Enough is enough! Time to take our country back from these thugs! :mad:

[eshfemme]

24. Please help to publicize this news-- these citizens need help.

Right now, the media isn't really focusing their attention on there despite the upcoming RNC and they should be because it is more shocking than anything that happened at the DNC. I really have a sinking feeling that if the aftermath of the DNC filled you with hope and pride, the RNC will fill us all with shame and fear.

At least with the national media there, there is more of a possibility that the citizens have a broader audience to reach and there is more scrutiny. With how PR conscious the GOP is, they will also feel pressure to put a stop to this.

[Ghost Dog]

26. You need a clever, cunning strategy to get on the MSM, it seems.

Apart from the mainstream warmongering oligarchic agenda, what gets on MSM?

Sex and violence (as long as its not in Iraq) and, um, "natural" disasters.

Hmmm. :thinks:

[eshfemme]

27. Ugh, no riots... please.

I just don't want these people hurt. And from the looks of things. It really looks like the police will keep escalating their activities until someone DOES get hurt.

[Ghost Dog]

28. No, no. Intelligently sexy would be preferable,

...

[Fumesucker]

29. If it bleeds, it leads

Violence will attract the media even faster than sex.

Not that the media is going to pay any attention to this kind of thing, it happens dozens, if not hundreds, of times every day in the land of the free.

And Joe Biden is one of the prime proponents of this kind of behavior on the part of the police.

[KharmaTrain]

30. Don't Forget About The Paulbots...

Last time I checked, nearly 10,000 tickets were sold to his "Rally For The Republic" that will be going on at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Meanwhile there will also be Paul delegates at the RNC who could make things quite sticky...ala the Clinton supporters...and demand a roll call and make noise cause Paul wasn't invited to speak.

Add to this, the many TV cameras and other agitators in town...we could see a lot of angry Paulbots who could turn this already ugly coven of crooks into a real circus.

[eshfemme]

32. Well, the Ron Paul people actually have been trying to get the MSM's attention

and failing miserably. So I dunno. I don't think that they'd be the ones to start the violence here... I really don't want 1968 to actually be recreated...

[Karenina]

31. K&R!

:kick:

[barbtries]

33. i've seen at least a half dozen of the videos

the police, or is it the sheriff, or is it the fbi, or is it homeland security, or is it the fucking bush administration, have run amok!

a thought crossed my mind earlier: maybe this was why they chose the twin cities. they knew they could rely on the local law enforcement to discard the law in order to repress protests.

it's sick. people are being made to suffer. three women who live on their bus had it impounded with all their computer equipment aboard and just barely allowed them to retrieve their ANIMALS? an activist who lives in the area came home to discover her garage had been BROKEN INTO?

watch the videos, learn what's going on there. it is fucking beyond outrageous. i want to see the dems go public and make some noise about this.

[eshfemme]

34. What's kinda weird is that apparently St Paul has had a history of fishy police activity

Apparently, in their rivalry with Minneapolis, in the past St Paul was a haven for gang activity. The story is supposed to go that gangsters who'd commit crimes in Minneapolis could go up and introduce themselves to St Paul police and promise not to kill anyone in St Paul and then be free to run amok across in Minneapolis. If that's true... yeah... this kind of thing is not really new... Ugh... and probably why the RNC felt so at home with selecting them as the site for the convention.

Hopefully, you can do your point and email and share this with people. Because this is worrisome. It doesn't even look like these people are Democrats-- they seem to be more affiliated with third parties and independents. So it's very troublesome to see this.

[kickysnana]

35. 1920's and 1930's

The police would welcome the gangsters to St Paul and tell them the rules which were they were safe as long as they didn't commit crimes in St Paul. It ended when the son of a business man was kidnapped for ransom and the cops allowed the feds to come in and clean it up. Not saying that there are no gangs in St Paul or that there is absolutely no corruption in the St Paul police but it was minimal. I lived there for about 52 years.

I had a cousin who worked as a Mpls mounted policeman and he seemed to think the corruption there was bad. It was worse under the police chief that just left from out east. A few years back a friend in MInneapolis witnessed a shooter of an 11 year old (heard it on the scanner) get into a car in a known drug house on her block in Minneapolis. She called the police they drove by. She called again. They drove by again not stopping. A car came and the man got out of the car and handed something wrapped in his t-shirt to the driver and got back into the car. She called again giving them a description of the car. The police car stopped. Talked to the person sitting on the porch of the drug house and got in and left. The murder remains unsolved. When a group of us went to a downtown hotel protest Sandra Day O'Connor after the 2000 selection there was a squad car parked watching us half a block away. A guy came and slugged Dan Brown who was standing next to me on the sidewalk. Someone went to talk to the police. Someone followed the man and got his car license number. Police claimed they saw nothing and said that Dan had to make a complaint which he did with witnesses and nothing was done. I won't go into Minneapolis after dark because of the crime AND the Minneapolis Police Department.

The Ramsey county sheriff is a Rethug but generally played by the rules until this convention, know absolutely nothing about the Hennipen county sheriff.

[eshfemme]

39. I stand corrected. Apparently both the St Paul AND Minneapolis police are cooperating

with Homeland Security on these raids... since the Minneapolis police recently seized some bus full of activists who were either going to or in St Paul. So this is very unsettling to hear...

What's worse is that most of the coverage about the RNC is about Gustav and how much it's affected how much the GOP has to pare down the RNC and not about the protesters. So actually, when people claim that the RNC's cancellation of many festivities is to cut out the Bush Cheney appearances, it's also possible that they are also cutting down on the chances that the MSM will have enough time to focus their attention on these police activities.

[proud2BlibKansan]

37. Glad you have come around

The cops in St Paul are behaving like thugs.

This video is just outrageous!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh4iv3k1feU&feature=user
Police Seize Sustainable Living Bus

[eshfemme]

38. Um.. come around to what?

If you are referring to my stance that I don't automatically call cops pigs or fascists until they act that way, then no it's still not changed as I've already stated in my post. I don't automatically fight "the man" unless there's a reason to. It's also kinda hypocritical to be prejudiced against police for specific examples of bad cops as that is essentially the same excuse racists and sexists use for their prejudices. So I avoid that. It's a bit funny to see people go apeshit crazy at DUers who disagree with them on a specific point and resort to calling them names only to condescendingly think that it's not okay for RW nuts to do the same to them.

So no, I have not come around to any form of anarchist thinking that all police authority is bad and all authority is corrupt because that is stupid-- even in an anarchist society, there is some form of organization and with it, some form of power, which would corrupt just as easily. I also try not to resort to ad hominem attacks or insults the way some of the anti-cops people were doing (which frankly I thought undercut their arguments a great deal as they came across as crazy when they could have been far more measured if they just cut that out).

However, the evidence of police abuse here is extensively chronicled and visibly unedited. That is why I posted the links.

[bertman]

42. You expressed that perfectly, eshfemme. Thank you.

[proud2BlibKansan]

47. Lots of assumptions there

As I stated, the cops in St Paul are behaving like thugs. The cops in Denver did as well. You don't have to automatically hate cops to see that. I don't hate cops, but I no longer trust them because of this kind of crap.

[eshfemme]

48. I'm sorry to have assumed something about you.

There was some thread somewhere where a video was posted that was kinda edited and ambiguous (especially in comparison to the plethora of unedited video presented here) about a situation where a female protester was knocked back by a police officer. I felt that the video was edited to be obviously biased against the police as there was no context available at all to judge the situation. Also, I felt like in that situation, the protesters were overly belligerent and WANTED the police to act violently, which is NOT a healthy mindset for a peaceful protest. Of course, riot gear has a dehumanizing effect on police too and there is the question of abuse of authority. But it felt like an ambiguous situation that didn't deserve the outright condemnation-- it really deserved a measured and objective debate rather than the insults it degenerated into. Anyone who basically argued on the side of that specific police officer got insulted or received a response that was way too emotional and suggested the poster wasn't thinking very well. I was really bothered by how a lot of DUers basically turned into a lynch mob over the police and it really seemed like a witch hunt on that thread. Also, the reasons that these people would cite for binge so vociferous against this police officer were usually examples of specific instances of police abuse committed by OTHER cops. As if to judge this one cop by the behavior of other cops.

I couldn't find the thread again but I was pretty sure that I saw your name on it. I don't recall if you were one of the nastier people-- there were a lot of posts that got deleted by the mods for violating the rules. I assumed that your comment was assuming that I was on the side of those who automatically hate cops. So no, I still stand by my posts in that thread. So yes, I usually treat cops with respect but wariness-- but I'm not going to judge the cops in my neighborhood who don't have a history of brutality by the behavior of some cops in another city.

Sorry for the tangent. But I usually go by evidence to judge things-- I try not to make a snap judgment unless it's an area where I have a lot of experience and with how media can be manipulated, I think it's prudent. But Veracifier and UpTakeVideos really did a good job of compiling an on the ground and unedited view of what was going on. The only thing that seems to be glossed over is that some of the protesters raided seemed to be anarchists of some ilk but I don't believe that should be a reason for why people are treated like this by police. With the sad history of the 1968 police riots, I'd like to avoid anything like that ever happening again in the Twin Cities where people are injured.

[snot]

41. Great! Thank you. K&r'd & etc.

[eshfemme]

44. Thanks. I'm just hoping people see ALL of the links and then take according actions

It looks like it's slowly penetrating the media so hopefully this story will break. There's only so much GOP commiseration over their canceled RNC festivities the MSM can cover, right?

[snot]

45. I just tried to do a media blast, only to discover that the DU blaster --

well I'm not sure if it still exists at all; the best one I found only let me blast 5 outlets at a time, as opposed to the hundreds we used to be able to hit.

ok, i've been out of it a little while, but what has everyone else been up to the last year or few?

[ravishane]

50. Amy Goodman reported arrested

http://twincities.indymedia.org

(it's time-based, so that info might not be up there longer than an hour)