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02 Sep 08 - 06:48 AM (#2428503) Subject: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: GUEST,beardedbruce Some turn violent in march to GOP convention Sep 1, 3:35 PM (ET) By AMY FORLITI ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Protesters smashed windows, punctured car tires and threw bottles Monday during an anti-war march to the site of the Republican National Convention. Police used pepper spray in confrontations with demonstrators and arrested five. Instead of the single coherent march that organizers had hoped for, fringe groups of anarchists and others wrought havoc along the streets between the state Capitol and the Xcel Energy Center where the convention was taking place. Police estimates of the crowd shifted during the event before settling on 8,000 to 10,000. The crowd was clearly in the thousands, many of them marching peacefully. The arrests occurred in confrontations several blocks from the convention arena. Five people were arrested for lighting a trash bin on fire and pushing it into a police car, St. Paul police spokesman Tom Walsh said. About 20 anarchists who had started the trash bin fire later tried to block the intersection of St. Peter and Exchange streets. Police quickly dispersed the group, then shot two tear gas canisters at the fleeing anarchists. Pictures taken by Associated Press photographers showed officers using pepper spray on protesters who appeared to be trying to block streets. "There are people who are committing violations of law and they're being arrested," Walsh said. About 200 people from a group called Funk the War noisily staged its own separate march. Wearing black clothes, bandanas and gas masks, some of their members smashed windows of cars and stores. They tipped over newspaper boxes, pulled a big trash bin into the street, bent the rear view mirrors on a bus and flipped heavy stone garbage bins on the sidewalks. One man who seemed to be the leader of the group carried a yellow flag with the motto "Don't Tread on Me." The group chanted: "Whose streets? Our streets!" Meanwhile, a group of about 100 anarchists pushed a trash bin filled with trash and threw garbage in the streets and at cars. They also took down orange detour road signs. One of them used a screwdriver to puncture the back tire of a limousine waiting at an intersection and threw a wooden board at the vehicle, denting its side. Another hurled a glass bottle at a charter bus that had stopped at an intersection. The bottle smashed into pieces but didn't appear to damage the bus. Closely following the anarchists were teams of riot officers carrying batons, rifles and guns that could be used to shoot tear gas. The day's march was organized by a group called the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War, whose leaders said they hoped for a peaceful, family-friendly march. But police were on high alert after months of preparations by a self-described anarchist group called the RNC Welcoming Committee, which wasn't among the organizers of the march. |
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02 Sep 08 - 07:44 AM (#2428554) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: Ron Davies Your title is dead on. Nobody can accuse the far left--or far right--of being too smart. This provides Obama with a Sister Souljah moment. Hope he takes it. |
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02 Sep 08 - 07:48 AM (#2428557) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: kendall How does one identify an anarchist in a large crowd? |
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02 Sep 08 - 08:07 AM (#2428575) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: catspaw49 How does one identify an anarchist? Well, I think he's generally the one with the bowling ball looking bomb with the long sputtering fuse. IN THIS PICTURE the anarchist is on the right and the terrorist is on the left. Hope this helps. Spaw |
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02 Sep 08 - 11:21 AM (#2428797) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: katlaughing Exactly what I was wondering, Kendall. Think she used it enough times to make sure everyone noticed? From the other side: Police raid protest headquarters as Republican National Convention opens By Ron Jorgenson in St. Paul, Minnesota 2 September 2008 Federal and local police forces carried out five raids over the weekend aimed at stifling and intimidating protesters preparing to take part in demonstrations during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. Armed police used battering rams to break down doors, then cuffed and forced people to floors. They searched and seized property, including computers, political literature and a variety of household items alleged to be used as weapons to disrupt the RNC proceedings scheduled for the week of September 1-4. The raids were spearheaded by the Ramsey County Sheriff's office and brought together the FBI and the police departments of St. Paul and the neighboring city of Minneapolis where three raids were conducted. Late on Friday, August 29, police raided an old St. Paul theatre near the downtown venue for the RNC. Dubbed the "convergence center", the building was being used by the protest group, "RNC Welcoming Committee," to provide meeting spaces for organizations planning demonstrations during the convention. Sammy Schutz, was in the building when the raid took place, along with her five-year-old son and husband, and told the St. Paul Pioneer Press, "I heard somebody saying, 'They're coming, they're coming!' And feet pounding on the back stairs, pounding on the door saying they had a search warrant. They busted through the door. They've got their guns cocked at people...." Protesters were told that if they did not produce ID, and permit their pictures to be taken, they would be arrested. Ultimately, all were released and the building was boarded up and closed supposedly on the grounds of code violations. In Minneapolis, three houses were raided and five arrests carried out against young people aged 18-23. Twenty five to fifty police officers, in each incident, followed a set procedure of surrounding the houses, breaking down doors, brandishing weapons, handcuffing occupants and forcing them to the floor. People reported that agents used nicknames such as "terminator" and "executioner." The Ramsey County Sheriff department issued a press release providing names of the five arrestees and charging "probable cause conspiracy to riot, conspiracy to commit civil disorder and conspiracy to damage property." The department provided a list of items allegedly found on the location that included "assorted edged weapons, including a machete, hatchet and several throwing knives," a gas mask, empty glass bottles, rags, flammable liquids and an army helmet. Right on the heels of the raids, Ramsey County Sheriff Robert Fletcher held a provocative and at times imperious press conference with a backdrop of items allegedly seized during the past hours. "Our investigation solely focuses on one group: The RNC Welcoming Committee. There are 35 members of this committee. Our targets are the leaders of this group.... As you look over the tools of the trade of this anarchist group, you will see these are not civil protesters." Ramsey County Sheriff Fletcher declared there had been only four raids and that "we're not interested in other groups that are interested in protesting civilly in any way, shape or form. That is not our interest." However, a fifth raid took place in a St. Paul neighborhood where a local protester made part of his house available to I-Witness Video, a New York-based group that monitors police conduct during protests. Eileen Clancy, who was present at the house, said, "Essentially, they had this warrant. They stormed the house, they kicked down the door. They drew a gun on us. And they cuffed us. I have to say, it's just appalling. The fact that we were not arrested is evidence that we were doing nothing wrong. Our intentions are peaceful." Members of the Lawyers Guild have debunked some of the seized items, such as "weaponized urine", which authorities charge was to be put in containers and thrown at police and RNC delegates. It turns out two of the three pails contained "gray water"—an environmental conservation technique in which water collected from bathtubs, showers and sink drains is contained and later used to flush toilets. The third bucket had been retrieved from a nearby garage where a man had been living illegally without plumbing for years and used the bucket to urinate in. During the press conference, Fletcher had two deputies on each side of him hold ends of the tube from a bicycle tire while he placed a rock in the middle. Pulling back on the rock and stretching the tube, he demonstrated how it was supposed to be used at demonstrations, while barking, "Sending rocks! Rocks for the cops! One guy holds them. Next guy sends them." Minneapolis lawyer Bruce Nester, who is representing 23-year-old arrestee Monica Bicking, spoke outside one of the raided houses. His comments, recorded in a video distributed by firedoglake.com, strongly denounced the raids as attacks on free speech. "I got here about 10-15 minutes after they started executing the warrant. Everyone was handcuffed and put on the floor. I saw one individual exit with a military helmet on, flak jacket, an assault rifle, and another with a pump action shotgun. The rest of them were with flak jackets and side arms and there were a number of undercover cops. "They were charged with a conspiracy to commit riot which is about as thin a charge that you could possibly come up with. You can't distinguish between that and a protest. It basically criminalizes political advocacy. "In this country we are not having mass detentions of people like this yet. So it really is about sending a message to people who agree with some of the viewpoints of people who are organizing activity, and to say, 'You know what, you can write an email, it's okay to write a letter, vote, but don't go out in the street, don't organize public activities, because, do you want us bursting into your house, do you want to be associated with people who are getting arrested?' At a rally, Saturday, in Minneapolis attended by some 300 people, Minneapolis attorney and chair of the National Lawyers Guild mass defense committee, Jordan Kushner, outlined some of the intent involved in the raids: "They [the detainees] can be held for 36 hours, not including weekends and holidays. And that's the catch. It means that the Ramsey County Sheriff's deputies can make these outrageous allegations saying they have probable cause to believe someone conspired to commit riot. And based on that, they can theoretically be held until Wednesday before they have to be charged or released. And so what they're doing is to disable people from being able to participate in the protest at the convention. That's what this is all about here." David Bicking, father of arrestee Monica Bicking and a Minneapolis resident and auto mechanic also addressed the rally: "In the last 24 hours, the police have not targeted criminals. They have targeted some of the best people in our society. My daughter, Monica, was arrested this morning on probable cause for conspiracy to riot, along with her boyfriend and housemate. "I know my daughter well. And she was arrested for her commitment to peace, justice and equality. And she was arrested because she was active on those beliefs. She has been a leader and she has stood for her rights and the rights of all of us. And I hope that everyone will stand up for her rights and our rights in this coming week." His daughter's attorney, Nester, also spoke about the convergence center that was raided the previous night in St. Paul. "The convergence center is a place where you can store your stuff, schedule meetings, child care and food are available. It's a completely legal space. Everyone understands that there's a potential for it to be targeted by the police. And other than a police provocateur putting something there, nobody associated with it would put or allow any sort of contraband or illegal activity because they know it's high visibility." There is more than a bit of conjecture behind Nestor's reference to police provocateurs. Back in May, the Twin Cities weekly Citipages ran an article entitled "Moles Wanted". It outlined the experience of a University of Minnesota sophomore who had a previous involvement with the law. Three weeks later, the arresting sergeant contacted him and arranged a meeting with FBI Special Agent Maureen E. Mazzola, who tried to convince him to become an informant and spy on planning events for RNC demonstrations. "She told me that I had the perfect 'look,'" the student said. "And that I had the perfect personality—they kept saying I was friendly and personable—for what they were looking for." He was told he would be compensated for his work, but only if it produced an arrest. He would report his activities to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, a partnership between multiple federal agencies and state and local law enforcement. Ultimately, the student declined the offer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can read more in-depth stuff on the Bus seizure in This thread. |
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02 Sep 08 - 11:34 AM (#2428808) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: Amos Welcome to Selma. PLease don't pet the police dogs. A |
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02 Sep 08 - 11:57 AM (#2428832) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: Donuel I thought this topic was about how we all can personally help elect McCain/Palin so that we may preserve our love of Jesus Christ, Guns , Country first, permanent tax breaks, death penalty , Big Oil, SUV's, Victory over the world , Walmart, Flag pins... ad infinitum and our hatred of Homosexuals, unbelievers, terrorists, liberal democrats, global warming lies, evolution, atheist science and laws that tie the hands of our corporations and banks. The terrorists who tried to attack our next President were not alone. Reliable sources have said some of our loyal volunteers risked arrest to gain an upclose look at the terrorist enemies of our Country. Some of Christian soldiers showed the world exactly what the terorists proposed to do. You have to remember that you can't make an omlette without breaking some eggs. If you really want to help America, its not enough to support McCain, we have to destroy evil by any means necessary. |
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02 Sep 08 - 12:15 PM (#2428849) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: dick greenhaus There's something quaint about "anarchists"...sort of 1920s scare news. The only recent anarchist of note I'm familiar with was Utah Phillips and he, sadly, is no more with us. What do we fear next? The radical Whigs? |
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02 Sep 08 - 12:16 PM (#2428850) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: WFDU - Ron Olesko Amazing. The cops and Republicans try to stifle free speech and the conservative goons look at making the victim the criminal. Once again, Republicant spin doctor at work. |
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02 Sep 08 - 12:31 PM (#2428871) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: curmudgeon Shades of A. Mitchell Palmer . |
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02 Sep 08 - 12:44 PM (#2428886) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: Peace "The Ramsey County Sheriff department issued a press release providing names of the five arrestees" I hope they didn't tell their moms and dads that they were staying at a friend's house. THIS could get ugly. ********************************************************************** When people take to the streets to vent frustration, it's usually because of a government that has ignored their legitimate concerns for a long time. IMO, this administration--specifically Bush/Cheney--has ignore half the folks in the USA. So, is it any wonder that people are pissed off? So the police arrested FIVE whole anarchists? Five? Was the jail able to hold them? |
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02 Sep 08 - 12:49 PM (#2428894) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: CarolC If they're anarchists, they're not Obama supporters. The anarchists I know think Obama's as bad as McCain. The ones I know are voting for Ron Paul. |
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02 Sep 08 - 12:51 PM (#2428898) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: Bobert Wow!!! I didn't realize that Obama was an anarchist??? Wonder why an anarchist would want to be president???? Even the Wes Ginny Slide Rule can't figure that one out... B~ |
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02 Sep 08 - 01:00 PM (#2428910) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: Stringsinger You've got to remember that the government agents and the police have been targeting dissident groups for some time now and one way they elicit this kind of behavior is by setting up spies and shills that intentionally provoke violence. historically, it's an old anti-union trick where the goons become part of the action to provoke law enforcement. You can't trust what you read about these things on the A.P. or the standard media outlets. They've been co-opted at the least and corrupted at the most. If you want to know what went on in Minneapolis, check out Amy Goodman who was arrested there for seeking the truth. The election of McCain will be the end of democracy as we know it. |
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02 Sep 08 - 01:16 PM (#2428926) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: Donuel A goon squad is essential to the few when seeking control of the many. Who is respondsible for the fenced and Jersey walled Freedom Zone in Denver? It was put a mile away from the Convention where delegates would not hear any dissent in this democratic convention. The Denver Freedom Zone is shown in detail in this week's Bill Mahre Show. |
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02 Sep 08 - 01:19 PM (#2428931) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: Stringsinger this is what we can expect more of in a McCain Administration. |
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02 Sep 08 - 01:23 PM (#2428935) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: Amos Creating a walled compound and calling it a Freedom Zone is just so Big Brother like, it makes me want to puke. A |
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02 Sep 08 - 05:16 PM (#2429204) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: Stringsinger Helping McCain get elected will be tatamount to destroying democracy in the US |
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02 Sep 08 - 06:52 PM (#2429278) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: Riginslinger "Wow!!! I didn't realize that Obama was an anarchist???" Now you know! |
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03 Sep 08 - 02:20 PM (#2430068) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: SINSULL One man who seemed to be the leader of the group carried a yellow flag with the motto "Don't Tread on Me." The group chanted: "Whose streets? Our streets!" A few years back, Jackson Heights held a vigil to remember the young man who was murdered and left cricifixion style on a fence somewhere in the Midwest - sorry I am fuzzy on the details. The rally was planned after a horrific murder of a gay man in Jackson Heights. The victim was a male prostitute; the murderers, some local teens - one I knew fairly well. I went directly from work to the rally and found myself heading the parade of five in a pathetic march as I held a Gay Rights banner and chanted for peace and understanding. Apparently I was early. The hundreds showed up later. BUT the news crews showed up at 6 on the dot. And so for a quite a while anytime a NY paper ran an artical on gay rights, there I was front and center. Yeah for sure anyone up front with a yellow banner is in charge. Aside: I received multiple calls from friends and relatives demanding to know if I was "coming out". The super refused to make eye contact with me. Life is funny some times. Anarchists - that's actually pretty funny. In other countries they run throught he streets setting fires, shooting and stabbing innocents, looting...here they burn trash. Go figure. |
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03 Sep 08 - 02:49 PM (#2430090) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: katlaughing It was Wyoming, Sins, NOT the MidWest!:-) His name was Matthew Shephard. Good for you for being there, though! |
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03 Sep 08 - 10:08 PM (#2430456) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: Riginslinger "Anarchists - that's actually pretty funny. In other countries they run through the streets setting fires, shooting and stabbing innocents, looting...here they burn trash. Go figure." Our education system has been failing since Ronald Reagan got elected. Critical thinking isn't part of the curriculum any more. |
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03 Sep 08 - 10:48 PM (#2430470) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: catspaw49 Hey Sins......I think the real question is are you coming out now? And if you are do you have a warm coat with you as well as some rain gear and rubbers? Not those rubbers but the other rubbers...... Didja' ever wonder that for some period of time the term was in use for both? That's true I guess for most words that have gone through menopuase ("the change").........Like at one point someone could have said, "I had a gay old time of it at the rally and I'm glad I took my rubbers," and be talking about a homosexual rights protest where he met someone new or a church membership drive where it rained. Spaw |
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04 Sep 08 - 03:48 AM (#2430587) Subject: RE: BS: Helping McCain to be elected... From: Peace Anyone know if Janet Ryan is OK? Serious question. I kinda liked that gal and haven't seen her around lately. For sure she'd have been one of the protest folks, and I don't think that lady would be takin' shit from no one, IMO, pardon the vernacular grammar. |
