RNC

The official story is that anyone can walk into St. Paul police headquarters and view the footage from the 100-plus cameras monitoring downtown and the Central Corridor for crime. The official story also says that the cameras are monitored by police in the Western District station (on Hamline Avenue) and in the central St. Paul police headquarters. Actually, on a recent day, no one seemed to be watching and the public monitor did not work at all. MORE »

Remember the Boston Tea Party? That was property damage, wasn’t it? All that tea overboard? MORE »

by Eleanor Arnason, September 18, 2008 • I have been doing more research on the Internet. This is from the Minnesota Daily, the University of Minnesota student newspaper:

I’m chickenshit and it tears me up. I feel the need to show solidarity and to take action through marching in some of the protest rallies this week. But fear keeps me from it. Zealous police actions steer me from it. Paranoia could destroy ya’ – so I avoid it. MORE »

5 p.m., downtown St. Paul – Thousands of protesters marched from the Capitol to the Xcel Center this afternoon (September 1), largely without incident. The crowd gathered at the Capitol during the morning, stepping off to march about 1 p.m., after listening to speakers who denounced the war in Iraq and a variety of other Bush administration policies. MORE »

Members of the National Lawyers Guild filed a motion Sunday in Hennepin County District Court to stop what guild attorneys called unconstitutional actions by local police officials. The motion for a temporary restraining order comes after several days of targeted raids by law enforcement officials at locations housing people planning on protesting the Republican National Convention in St Paul. Police have also detained and taken cameras, notebooks and other reporting tools from several citizen journalists who work to document interactions between citizens and police. MORE »