Before communism imploded in Poland, Polish dissidents pointed out that there were so many laws governing virtually any conceivable behavior that you could be arrested and charged with something anytime and at any place. The purpose of Polish Communist law was to intimidate people into submissive behavior and invoke a state of constant fear. The behavior of the St. Paul police in their “preemptive” strikes against young people intent on protesting at the RNC, was based on a law that defense lawyers have never heard of called “conspiracy to commit riot.” Using this “law,” that lawyers argue is surely unconstitutional, but has yet to reach the courts, the police raided houses in St. Paul in swat gear with flashlights mounted on rifles, handcuffed and threw people to the floor, while the house was searched for material that might be used for making “bombs.” Search warrants were not presented until the end of the search and materials were removed from the house that included computers, literature and boxes of items of questionable relevance for the mission. Glenn Greenwald, writing in Salon, describes the raids, with video material and talks with those who were planning a protest against the RNC. The one group calls themselves “Food not Bombs” and were planning on a peaceful protest against the war and the RNC. These college-age students, though clearly shaken by the raid, said they were more determined than ever to continue with their protest activities. The lawyer who is defending those arrested during these raids has claimed that not a single act of violence or illegality has been committed by these young people.
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Amy Goodman and her two fellow producers of Democracy Now, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazarwere were released from jail. A video covering the arrest can be seen on the Democracy Now website. It’s rough stuff for treating reporters. Apparently shouting “Press, Press” while you’re being manhandled gets you an extra pummelary rotation on the ground.
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Amy Goodman of Democracy Now was arrested in St. Paul late this afternoon as she tried to free two producers of her show that were arrested for “rioting.” She is currently being held in the Ramsey County Jail. Police claim that the two producers will be charged, though it is unclear whether Amy will also be charged. Police actions today were carried out with heavy force, as they appeared in full riot gear, using pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion bombs, smoke bombs and clubs. This has set a very tense tone for tomorrow’s demonstration and march, which is supposed to be much larger in scale than that of today’s, and like today’s, it will begin at the Capitol in St. Paul, just a few blocks away from the XCel Center, where the Republicans are holding their 2008 Convention, interrupted by hurricane Gustav and now an ugly riot scene which includes the arrest and detainment of obviously innocent observers (reporters).
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