[Marxism] RNC Arrests and Lack of Discussion

[bauerly@xxxxxxxx]

The story that follows states that 396 people were arrested on Thursday night
and that a total of more than 800 have been arrested in the four days of the
convention.  Add to this the countless number pepper and tear gas sprayed, shot
with rubber bullets etc.. and the conspiracy to commit terrorism charges against
the RNC Welcome Committee (RNC-8) and we have what amounts to the largest
example of political activism and repression in a long time.  I cannot think of
the last time over 800 people were arrested in acts of civil disobedience.
Although this is not the movement that many of you here would like to see, it
surprises me to see so little discussion on this list.  Most of those arrested
were protesting war, imperialism and poverty, with a very high level of
political consciousness regarding the connections between these.  Maybe some
would like to comment on their thoughts about this important development. 
Maybe not.

Brad

Antiwar March Ends In Tense Standoff, 396 Arrests
The final night of the convention led to confrontations between police and
protesters. At least 396 people were arrested, an official said this morning.
by Curt Brown, Terry Collins, Randy Furst and Heron Marquez Estrada

Police arrested scores more people Thursday night after another series of tense
showdowns with protesters on the final night of the Republican National
Convention in St. Paul.

Police push people back after a person was arrested during a protest at the
Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008.
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)Sweeping into the State Capitol grounds in riot gear,
police used snowplows, horses and dump trucks to seal off downtown from antiwar
demonstrators attempting a march to the Xcel Energy Center.

"They chose not to leave when told to do so and now everyone's paying the
price," said one officer on the scene.

This morning, the Joint Information Center said 396 people were arrested during
Thursday's demonstrations, and a total of 818 people were arrested during the
four-day convention. The numbers are preliminary; an official count will be
released later today, said a spokeswoman for the center, which has been
providing information about arrests and security during the convention.

Most of those arrested were ticketed and released, the spokeswoman said.

Thursday night, as police blocked off bridges to stop demonstrators from getting
downtown, a rolling series of sit-down protests started on the John Ireland
Boulevard bridge over Interstate 94. The arrests ended with more than 200
demonstrators, squatting with their hands on their heads, taken into custody on
the Marion Street bridge.

Police used tear gas and pepper spray to quell some of the unrest.

A group of more than 700 demonstrators had a permit to rally and march. But they
were angry the permit expired at 5 p.m., before delegates began arriving at the
Xcel Energy Center for GOP presidential nominee John McCain's acceptance
speech.

Among those arrested were two Associated Press reporters covering the event.
They were issued a citation and detained, along with a KARE-11 TV photographer
and more than a dozen other members of the media. All were released later in
the evening.

"They're trying to steal our protest -- we have to ignore the police
intimidation," Katrina Plotz, an organizer with the Anti-War Committee,
hollered from a stage in front of the Capitol steps.

But ignoring the police wasn't easy during one of the largest shows of force on
the fifth straight day of confrontations in St. Paul.



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