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In MN, Massive Police Raids On Suspected Protestors
X0563511 alerts us to events in Minneapolis and St. Paul in advance of the Republican convention (which has been put on hold because of Hurricane Gustav). Local police backed by the FBI raided a number of homes and public buildings and confiscated computers and other material. From Salon.com: "Last night, members of the St. Paul police department and the Ramsey County sheriff's department handcuffed, photographed and detained dozens of people meeting at a public venue to plan a demonstration, charging them with no crime other than 'fire code violations,' and early this morning, the Sheriff's department sent teams of officers into at least four Minneapolis area homes where suspected protesters were staying. Jane Hamsher and I were at two of those homes this morning — one which had just been raided and one which was in the process of being raided." Here is local reporting from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: "Aided by informants planted in protest groups, authorities raided at least six buildings across St. Paul and Minneapolis to stop an 'anarchist' plan to disrupt this week's Republican National Convention. From Friday night through Saturday afternoon, officers surrounded houses, broke down doors, handcuffed scores of people and confiscated suspected tools of civil disobedience ... A St. Paul City Council member described it as excessive, while activists, many of whom were detained and then released without charges, called it intimidation designed to quash free speech."
The Constitution guarantees the right to peaceably assemble. It doesn't give free license to actively disrupt. If they were planning to do something illegal in this case, it's conspiracy.
Push them out of MN. Pop some of them in the face. And move them into a nice safe cell for the time being.
"Just 20 or 30 years ago, demonstrations could get out of hand, but I think that is part of free speech. "
Throwing urine on convention attendees is free speech? Do you yell "fire" in crowded theaters for fun too?
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
Hell man, I must be at war every day driving to work. My traffic is disrupted. It's not peaceful. Someone should be arrested. That will fix everything.
-Clio
Karma: Bad (mostly from not giving a fuck)
Blog: http://clintjcl.wordpress.com
Completely different circumstances.
'68 riots...they were actual RIOTS. In the cases in TFA they had done nothing except plan a legal protest. The charges are bullshit. "Fire code violation" my ass. You must have never had a bad run-in with the police. You have no idea what it is like to be in a position where the cops want to find something to charge you with. If they want to, they will...more often than not anyway. The reality of whether you actually did something worthy of being charged is meaningless in that situation.
As for the Denver people, they actually were committing a crime as well. They were meth dealers.
Thank you Dave Raggett
Yeah! Who the fuck do the RNC think they are? Fucking think that the first amendment applies to them? Worthless losers. I mean for fuck sake! Thinking that they can get together and talk about politics and the upcoming presidential campaign. God damned turds! Stinking pigs! Interfering with out fucking right to go out and trash neighborhoods and businesses because they happen to be in the area where other people want to assemble and talk. The only people who deserve first amendment protection are us! We hang out in our communal houses and live the free life. The fucking proles who go to work everyday and try and build a life are just slaves. They have no right to talk. Their voices aren't entitled to protection. Just ours! And fuck the losers who think that they have the right to earn a living. They should have fucking thought harder before they signed those leases five years ago. They should have known the Republicans would eventually come along and hold a convention in this city and they should have chosen to go live somewhere else. This is our place. We are the only ones who have a right to speak. Do they think that they somehow are entitled to property? They should know that living a hard working life puts them below us. We are the only fucking ones who matter and everybody else, those people who act civilly, who work for the common good, who pay their taxes that build our infrastructure and provide society with good roads, electricity, clean water and the rule of law... those losers should just accept that they don't matter. That they don't count. That their desire to live a happy life isn't fucking relevant. The only opinions that matter are ours! The only lifestyle acceptable is our smash and grab, live in squalor, parasitic way of living.
True story. I was felt better after the DNC (I live in Denver) when there were no major altercations. As a matter of fact, Obama staffers stopped an impending one between some vets and the police. Now we look at the Republican side and... not so good. I'm not saying that its the Republicans fault, but they shouldn't have let it happen, and they should be trying to stop it now if they didn't know (I would bet money they knew). Well, I was thinking I would be voting Obama, and McCain's VP choice further solidified that... and now, its pretty much 100%.
Seriously! /. needs to get back to it's Tech-roots and stop being so flippin liberal
Amazing you can actually talk with your head so far up your own ass.
Hic iacet Arthurus, rex quondam rexque futurus.
Then why has there not been a riot in Seattle when those other windows were broken?
Well I am glad to excluded from your "everyone" in that case.
The fact is that there are MANY symbols that you would have no idea what they meant.
Argue that point if you want to. But it's a fact.
Looks like you lose.
Okay, so on one side we have people who are actively protesting to try to make the world a better place. On the other hand, we have people like you who whine about protesters.
I guess we see who the Real Americans are.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
Standard procedure?!?! For such a freedom loving country? Seems to me U.S. justice system has crossed the line.
These are actions I expect from China or North Korea, not from the U.S.
If the potential *cough* troublemakers *cough* have any sense, they file harasment complaints against the officers involved. They might be able to make a corruption case against higher-up officers. This should not be happening, and the fact that it is possible in the U.S. indicates that the justice system suffers from severe corruption and too little splitting of powers.
Don't bother I am sure that AC was a paid troll by the RNC.
My favorite was the unfounded assertion that "...schools love no child left behind..." what an ass-clown.