Pre-emptive strike, then more arrests
By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff
ST. PAUL -- Percussion grenades, tear gas ,and nearly 400 arrests marked the final anti-war march Thursday during the Republican National Convention, the Associated Press reports this morning.
More than 800 arrests were reported during a week of sometimes peaceful, sometimes violent dissent, the AP says.
Thursday night, mounted police blocked a bridge as hundreds of anti-war protesters tried to march from the state Capitol to the Xcel Energy Center where John McCain accepted the GOP nomination for president.
After about an hourlong standoff, the protestors retreated to find another way to the convention site. But police also had blocked major roads to the Xcel Center.
Earlier, without any physical provocation, dozens of police officers on bicycles, on horseback, and in riot gear descended on several hundred people holding a peaceful anti-war rally on the steps of the State Capitol and arrested two men sitting unaware on the grass listening to a rock band.
The incident, witnessed by a Globe reporter, sparked a tense standoff between law enforcement and some of the demonstrators, with police brandishing pepper spray bottles at a crowd shouting "police state" before the situation calmed down.
Officers on the scene declined to say why the individuals were being arrested, but one officer who declined to give his name said he believed law enforcement officials had probable cause to believe the individuals were planning criminal acts.
The move appeared to be an effort to pre-empt more clashes tonight during McCain's acceptance speech.
Several columns of police continued to surround the Capitol grounds in a clear show of force as organizers continued their program, criticizing the Republican Party for the war in Iraq and its support of corporations. More law enforcement personnel were seen descending on the area.
Among the crowd were a number of participants who said they had been arrested on Monday when nearly 300 protesters were jailed after a largely peaceful march to the convention site. Small groups of protesters smashed windows, slashed tires, blocked traffic, and harassed convention delegates.
But today's rally, organized by a group called the Anti-War Committee and advertised as "No Peace for the War Makers," acquired a permit to rally on the Capitol grounds and was operating peacefully.
As of Thursday, 16 people had been charged with felonies this week. Eight of them were arrested on charges of conspiracy to riot after preconvention raids. Police disclosed this week that they had infiltrated some of the collection of groups protesting here this week and allege some members talked about kidnapping delegates.
The remaining eight charged with felonies faced offenses including damaging property, obstructing the legal process, and felony riot from their actions during the street protests on Monday, according to Jack Rhodes, a spokesman for the Ramsey County Attorney's Office.
At today's rally, several of those who said they had spent the last few days in jail complained about false charges and being denied phone calls within 24 hours, and asserted that some of their comrades were being held unlawfully until the end of the convention.
Earlier today, in an interview with WCCO-AM of Minneapolis, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty blamed the violence this week on a small group of "anarchists, nihilists, and goofballs who want to break stuff and hurt people."
"They need to be dealt with," Pawlenty said , according to the Associated Press.. "When you want to break stuff and hurt people, you can't do that."
We have "probable" cause?
This is Beijing.
Welcome to the land of the free.
Regrettably, from many reports, the problem is not the number of people actually arrested. Instead, the police in Denver and St. Paul have apparently been raiding private residences, detaining individuals for hours at a time without "arresting" them, in an effort to deter protests.
Sounds like the Republican goon-squad tactics of Chicago many years ago. If anyone wanted lessons on how to ensure democratic free-speech without confrontation, violence and arrests, they should have attended the Democratic National Convention here in Boston in 2004. If I recall correctly, the Boston Police Department made only 12 arrests. I'd contrast that with Chicago any day.
WOW WE CANT EVEN PROTEST ANYMORE, THIS IS A SAD SAD COUNTRY
"Nihilists", eh Governor Pawlenty? I think you've watched "The Big Lebowski" a few too many times.
In response to Have a Heart 2, I do recall the convention in Boston and the thing that stood out most to me was the tiny, fenced-in, barbed-wire topped "free speech zone" where protests were allowed. Any demonstration outside of this designated area was not allowed. It was a joke. There were so few arrests because there were so-few protests.
"Police disclosed this week that they had infiltrated some of the collection of groups protesting here this week and allege some members talked about kidnapping delegates."
What country is this when the gestapo look awfully familiar... Welcome to America in the time of Bush/McCain.
To Have a Heart 2, I've heard of revisionist history but this is crazy. Your "Republican goon-squad tactics of Chicago many years ago" were DEMOCRAT goon-squad tactics led by DEMOCRAT Mayor Daley of Chicago in 1968.
Both parties are more than willing to violate our rights to squash dissent. Don't ever believe otherwise.
I was there the whole time, serving my community and my country as a policeman. I saw all kinds of folks parading around the Common and voicing opinions from all over the political spectrum - extreme left to extreme right. Anyone who had any opinion to voice had the ability and forum to do so. I'm old enough to remember the Chicago Riots and what happened to Dr. Martin Luther King. Never before had I been so proud to be a policeman.
At the end of the day, we facilitated freedom without the thuggery of a police state. This is what our democracy is all about.
POLICE STATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KYLE.TV
Check this out - People arrested for doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!!!!
Liberal hacks condone violence by punks who don't have the guts to show there faces. Peaceful demonstrations are accepted. When the jerks destroy property and smash windows they deserve a good kick in the a..! After all they call themselves anarchists.
Seriously people? You really think these morons are peaceful? These people protest just to protest. They did the same thing at the DNC. You liberal enablers sicken me. You people are just beyond help. Police State?? Beijing??? Come on! Get over yourselves.
Funny how it's only the left that "protests" when in fact it's nothing more than hooliganism and shouting down ideas that are different from their own. I don't recall seeing anything about conservatives being arrested for protests against the DNC. Do you know why? I think you do.
The Big Republicansky is right. What do these people have to protest?
It's not like the government lied us into war and people are dying.
It's not like the government backs corporate rights to the detriment of the citizenry.
It's not like the government is spying on it's citizens without obtaining warrants.
It's not like the government is holding people in jails without a right to a fair trial.
It's not like the government has suspended habeus corpus.
It's not like the government is torturing people in the name of the citizenry.
etc.
These protesters are just whiners who think being a citizen of the United States make them better than others.
(snark)
Let me give some advice to these idiots protesters,you don't stop a war by starting a war at the Republican Convention why worried about Iraq the nation rather than your own families.Your wife or your husband is probably wondering where you're at or your mother or father or your precious childrens not knowing you people are making a fool of yourselves and discredit any causes or arguments you have for piece because the last thing we want from you fools is violence in this country.Go home you hypocrites.
actually starting a war at home seems to be a consistent way of ending a war abroad. just look at the russians during world war one.
moreover it seems silly to assume that these people were not thinking about their families. for all you know these people have loved ones serving abroad or have loved ones facing the economic warfare of foreclosure. both could make anyone mad enough to break a window.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
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