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."