Convention Coverage: St. Paul

Rowdy or Righteous? Police, Press and Protestors Clash

By Jill Kuraitis, 9-03-08

Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman

Democrats at their convention in Denver last week saw police shove and then arrest an ABC reporter for talking on his cell phone, as far as can be told from this video.  Lawyers for ABC are trying to have the charges dropped. 

Also in Denver, more than 100 protestors were arrested by police in riot gear trying to disperse a crowd of 300.

But the violent protests in St. Paul are in contrast with a relatively peaceful Democratic convention in Denver.

From the Huffington Post:

“Police said they were forced to use pepper spray when members of the crowd, some carrying rocks, rushed a police safety line. But one protester said officers charged the protesters with no warning.

Those arrested faced charges for violating city ordinances including failure to obey a lawful order, obstructing a public roadway and interference.”

At the Republican convention in St. Paul, protestors calling themselves anarchists have attacked protestors, set at least one fire, smashed windows and punctured car tires, according to Yahoo News and other media.

The Republican convention has seen almost 300 arrests so far, notably Associated Press photographer Matt Rourke and Democracy Now! Journalist Amy Goodman and two members of her production crew.  According to LiveWire, two documentary filmmakers were also arrested.

Goodman was arrested as she inquired about the arrests of her crew members.  One of her crew was injured from aggressive police tactics.

(Ironically, the St. Paul police are using the RNC to call attention to their own issue, police salaries.)

The day before the RNC began, Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com reported,

“…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. Each of the raided houses is known by neighbors as a “hippie house,” where 5-10 college-aged individuals live in a communal setting, and everyone we spoke with said that there had never been any problems of any kind in those houses, that they were filled with “peaceful kids” who are politically active but entirely unthreatening and friendly.”
“Several of those who were arrested are being represented by Bruce Nestor, the President of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers’ Guild. Nestor said that last night’s raid involved a meeting of a group calling itself the “RNC Welcoming Committee”, and that this morning’s raids appeared to target members of “Food Not Bombs,” which he described as an anti-war, anti-authoritarian protest group. There was not a single act of violence or illegality that has taken place, Nestor said. Instead, the raids were purely anticipatory in nature, and clearly designed to frighten people contemplating taking part in any unauthorized protests.”

The Daily Planet reported on Sunday that

“According to I-Witness reporter Eileen Clancy, an FBI agent came to Mike Whalen’s house on Iglehart Avenue this morning, looking for an individual who was not present at the time. This afternoon, police broke into the house with guns drawn, detaining Whalen and the journalists for hours as dozens of reporters from all over the country stood outside, kept on the opposite side of the street by police orders. The six people inside the house—and one legal observer who came outside to try to talk to police—were handcuffed during the search of the house.

Journalists inside the home included Clancy and Elizabeth Press, a news producer for Democracy Now. Journalists outside included Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now and a camera crew.”

An internet search will reveal the many videos and photos of police violations posted by bloggers, who are persistent reporters on the details of the police presence at both conventions.  CNN’s coverage has been perfunctory and general, which was the case in Denver as well.

Here’s one blog post at LiveWire with the writer’s account of the latest happenings about the St. Paul protests.

A lawyer for the RNC legal observers team, Gena Bergland of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, told Amy Goodman:

“I think it’s more of a democracy issue. I mean, in order to preserve democracy, we have to be able to report on what really happens, and if that’s hidden from view—and cameras are the way we talk about things in our culture, film and stills—we can’t tell what’s really happening around us in the streets. So, here we have a situation where if the cameras are all quieted, the police can get away with doing what they want. They can lie in their police reports, and no one can hold them accountable. And we believe that happens regularly.”

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