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Last Night of RNC: Police State, Protesters Locked out of City, Journalists Arrested

September 5, 2008 by Anonymous

When you wake up this morning and read the headlines about McCain's speech, the latest horserace tally, and political predictions, I want you to be aware of events you may not read about, events that illuminate the real state of our democracy, events that brought me to tears (and it wasn't just from the gas). I want to tell you about battle that raged on the streets of St. Paul- A battle waged by the police, backed, funded, and organized by the Department of Homeland Security, a battle against peaceful protesters, war veterans, concerned citizens, and journalists.

I have been working with a documentary film team in St. Paul led by Joan Sekler and based out of The Uptake, a film collective with an office right outside the exclusion zone by the Excel Center. Around 4:00pm I left the office with two other filmmakers to film a permitted peace rally and march at the state capitol. After a few speakers went on, it became obvious that police in riot gear were surrounding us. Unfortunately, this was not unusual.

I ran over to film a golf cart full of police rushing onto the grass. The cop in the cart yelled into a megaphone, "YOUR PERMIT TO BE IN THE PARK ENDS AT 5:00PM! YOU HAVE NINE MINUTES TO DISPERSE! YOU MUST VACATE THE PARK!" Almost instantaneously people started to run out of the park in fear and police in gas masks started to move in. The protesters caught the police off guard as they headed towards the bridge into St. Paul, not the direction for the permitted march, but the path for previous marches. The protesters did not make it to the bridge, as they were cut-off by hundreds of police in full riot gear. This was the site of a standoff that lasted for hours. Many protesters were arrested for sitting peacefully in the street. During this confrontation a journalist from The Uptake was detained.

The police were demanding that we travel west. Protesters started running west and almost made it over the second bridge, but failed. Not only independent media, but also mainstream media were trapped outside of the city. The mainstream media were in the shoes of independent media now! It started to get dark and we headed to the third bridge. By the time I got there the police were in full force. The streets were barricaded with snowplows. The police attempted to tell us that no one, including media, were allowed on the bridge. They claimed there was a bomb on the bridge. No bomb squad ever arrived. No suspicious package was ever identified. All the bridges to the city were blocked. No one could get in, even those with official RNC press credentials or those trying to get to work.

Further west I saw police vans flying and people running. Sounds of explosion rocked the night air. I headed in that direction as I received a twitter, "THE PRESS ARE NO LONGER SAFE!" Other texts rolled in reading, "Fox News gassed" and "KARE 11 reporter arrested." As the explosions grew louder, I saw bluish-purple gas rising from behind a building. I ran into the Sears parking lot where the action was. Police were everywhere. It was impossible to know where to go or where to go. There were small packs of them and the National Guard everywhere I turned.

Somehow I feel in with a pack of riot police on a mission. I filmed as few of the grabbed a young girl by her shirt as she tried to run away from the violent scene. She kept running and they chased her in a circle around me. One cop threw her on the ground with his club and struck her. Next he pepper sprayed her point blank in the face. She got up and they started pushing her. She tried to run, now blinded. Once again they pushed her to the ground. She was crying and had lost her shoe. They pepper sprayed her again. She got up and ran. They just let her go. I helped her wash her face and find a medic.

Next I filmed the back of a row of police shooting what sounded like rubber bullets. The police quickly turned and screamed, "GET THE MEDIA OUT OF HERE! GET THE MEDIA OUT OF HERE!" I turn and ran. Some of the cavalier corporate journalists shouted back, "We are media! Who are you targeting? We pose no threat to you!" I decided it was time to leave the situation. As I was leaving I saw a woman who looked like she was in her 70s. She had had been shot by a concussion grenade. She wasn't part of the march; she had been shopping at Sears.

Before I left I saw police had some people surrounded. They were sitting on the ground with peace signs raised. By this time it was really dark and we couldn't film. Some media tried to turn on lights and the police wouldn't let them. Anytime someone turned on a light the police pointed the pepper spray at her.

I left with the film crew because our batteries were out and it was dark .We ate at a Vietnamese restaurant and ended up getting a ride back into the city from the owner. She dropped us off on the other side of the city: the contrast was surreal. On the other side of the city Republicans partied with American flags, high heels, and festive music. We had entered another world. The police were not wearing gas masks or riot gear! We passed a man complete with buttons, credentials, and a white, plastic hat, he was lighting a cigar with his wife next to him in a red sequin blazer happily buying a McCain-Palin shirt. Here you would be hard pressed to find someone that was not white or wealthy.

Is this what the Republicans mean by "Country First?" I ask then, what country? Whose country? Nationalism is undemocratic and terroristic at home, as it is abroad. Let this serve as a warning, a warning of the fascist state they are building on our soil, not to mention what they hope to do throughout the world. I truly believe that the police never intended to let the protesters march to their Freedom Cage inside the city. I believe their intention was to completely lock dissent out of the city- at all costs. And to that I say, Mission Accomplished. The north side of the city was a total war zone. And is characteristic of some wars, one side was not armed. This war was waged against war veterans, journalists and citizens so that the Republican convention could go jollily on without the Republicans having to confront those outraged and displaced by their delegation of power. For more info and video, please visit independent media sites such as http://theuptake.org/ and http://twincities.indymedia.org/

~colleen mihal

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Open Newswire

Responding to Harmful Government Inaction, Protestors Stop Blasting on Coal River Mountain
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PETTUS, W. Va. – Early this morning two concerned citizens, Dea Goblirsch and Nick Martin, locked down to a drill rig on Coal River Mountain’s Bee Tree mountaintop removal site, effectively stopping blasting. Two others, Grace Williams and Laura Von Dolen, joined them in direct support, holding a banner with the message “Save Coal River Mountain”.

These nonviolent protestors have taken this action to bring attention to the extreme danger facing residents of the Coal River Valley from blasting near the Brushy Fork Impoundment. They plan to stay locked down until law enforcement removes them.

Resident of Rock Creek, W Va., Delbert Gunnoe, stated his concerns with the blasting, “You know when they put a blast over there, and it shakes the windows over here, at what, ¾-a-mile distance, imagine what it does over there.” Gunnoe continued, “if [the impoundment] did bust…what would be the destruction? The town of Whitesville would no longer exist.”

The four are fearful of the blasting that Massey Energy began in late October. These blasts are 200 feet from the Brushy Fork Impoundment, permitted to hold nine billion gallons of toxic coal slurry. The impoundment sits atop miles of hollow, abounded underground mines, further endangering its integrity. By Massey’s own estimates, roughly 998 people will die should the dam break. The emergency evacuation plan states that a 40-foot wall of sludge, cresting at 72 feet, will flow through the valley, reaching 20-feet-high about 15 miles down the road. Apart from the initial flood, the impact of this potential spill would be felt along the Coal River’s 88 miles.
EVIDENCE THAT UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS WELCOMES FBI INTEL OPERATIONS AGAINST WHISTLEBLOWER
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gsosbee

The universities across the nation (and AG) do more for the fbi/cia than assist in the search for foreign terrorists; today our colleges and universities directly encourage their campus police and civilian employees to engage in unlawful intel operations against whistleblower
GERAL SOSBEE.

 

 

 

In November, 2009, the Texas Attorney General (AG) grants near blanket authority (in Case number OR2009-16316 & Case ID#367454) to the University Of Texas Police (UTP) and Harlingen, Texas (HTP) Police to withhold from Open Records (OR) disclosure the key data in their possession relating to Geral Sosbee. The AG also states in each opinion that the AG has no authority beyond the scope of the OR statutes. The AG thus hides from his responsibility as a citizen and human being for civil and human rights violations behind the the OR guidelines ( which are designed to allow the police to engage in witch hunts, stalking, harassment, fraudulent stings and other crimes as I have documented at many pages of www.sosbeevfbi.com.) I have also provided the AG with evidence of ongoing felonies against my person (continuing in Texas and other locations for the past decade); by the AG letters referenced above the fbi now gains the AG approval and authority to use UT employees (including UTP) in efforts to silence or kill me; see for example the specifics of some of my reports at

http://www.sosbeevfbi.com/affidavit2007.html

 
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denverabc

An Evening of Solidarity for Mutulu Shakur
Presented by Denver and Aurora CopWatch, Sisters of Color United for Education, and Denver ABC

Saturday, November 28th
Sisters of Color 2895 8th Ave, Denver, CO (8th and federal across the street from the bus yard)
7:30-12ish
Sliding Scale 1-5$ (if you ain't got it don't let it stop you from coming)

Teach-in by Professor Ward Churchill

Live Music by:
Mike Wird
Ietef
Debajito (of Debajo Del Agua)

Hosted by Shareef Aleem

Please join us on Saturday, November 28th to stand in solidarity with Dr Mutulu Shakur before his appeals hearing on Monday, November 30th at the super-maximum Federal prison in Florence, CO.

Dr. Shakur is a New Afrikan (Black) man whose primary work has been in the area of health. He is a doctor of acupuncture and one of the most prolific, committed and conscious freedom fighters and political prisoners to whom the Black liberation struggle has given birth.

Since the age 16, Dr. Shakur has been a part of the New Afrikan
Independence Movement. As a part of this movement Dr. Shakur has been a target of the illegal Counterintelligence Program carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (COINTELPRO). This was a secret police strategy used in the U.S. starting in the 1960's to destroy and neutralize progressive and revolutionary organizations. It is believed that Dr. Shakur's resistance to this program led to his arrest and trial.

"Straight ahead, stiff resistance"

contact info: 970.302.7349/miketruswell@yahoo.com
www.mutulushakur.com
www.dare2struggle.org
The Shortwave Report 11/20/09 Listen Globally
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Anonymous

 Dear Radio Friend,
The latest Shortwave Report (November 20) is up at the website
http://www.outfarpress.com/outfa... in both broadcast quality (13.3MB) and quickdownload or streaming form (4.9MB) (28:59)
(NEW! If you have access to Audioport.org there is a higher quality version posted up there {26.7MB} http://www.audioport.org/index.p...)
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(www.raimd.wordpress.com)

Water is essential, in various ways, to all human activity. Water is something that humans, literally, cannot do without. Every human needs water in order live and to have a good life. Societies need water in order to be provide for the survival of their populations. Usable water, as a resource, is finite and distributed unevenly across the planet. Most societies have difficulty providing water to their populations, especially in the Third World. The inability to access water is referred to as the water crisis.
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Anonymous

LA VIRGEN DE LA GUADALUPE ES DE TODOS LOS MEXICANOS, NO DE LOS CURAS

La Conferencia del Episcopado Mexicano (CEM) no está de acuerdo en que los Mexicanos utilicemos a la Virgen de la Guadalupe, como sucedió en la marcha de SME el pasado 11 de noviembre (2009) por “manipular el sentimiento religioso”, se ha afirmado en varias ocasiones desde que concluyó la 88ª Asamblea Plenaria del CEM. Los curas, junto con los políticos y las grandes transnacionales se han adueñado de nuestro país y de nuestros símbolos.

¿Ya se les olvidó a los curas que la Virgen de Guadalupe es el único símbolo religioso auténticamente Mexicano? ¿Ya se les olvidó que ellos llegaron con Hernán Cortés a robar y a imponernos su cruz a sangre y fuego? La Virgen de Guadalupe es Tonantzin y es nuestra, aunque no les guste a los extranjeros como ellos.

Lo que los curas del CEM no quieren es que el pueblo Mexicano, unido al SME, siga la trayectoria de don Miguel Hidalgo y les arrebate la jugosa ganancia.

Yo les pido a los curas del CEM que ya no nos “salven”.
¡¡Larguense de aquí!! ¡¡Larguense!! ¡¡Larguense!! ¡¡Larguense!! ¡¡Larguense!! ¡¡Larguense de México y de todo este continente!!
Josefa Ortiz
http://josefaortiz.hpage.com/sme...

 
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***MANY OF THESE SAME AMERICAN WEALTHY ELITE NOT ONLY HAVE FULL CONTROL OVER THEIRTX EVADING  FOUNDATIONS BILLIONS,BUT ALSO FIND IT NECESSARY TO HIRE LOBBYISTS TO ATTEMPT THE DIRECT CONTROL OVER VARIOUS USES OF AMERICAN TAX PAYERS TAX $$$ ???

WEALTHY ELITE AMERICANS HAVE COMPLETE CONTROL OVER OUR U.S.CONGRESSIONAL TAX DOLLAR SPENDING WITH THEIR BEHIND THE SCENE LOBBY MONIES... AND ARE CONTINUING TO DENY MIDDLE~CLASS AND WORKING POOR AMERICANS PROPER HEALTH ~ CARE , PROPER LEGAL PROTECTIONS IN AMERICAN FAMILY COURTS,CIVIL COURTS,& FEDERAL APPEALS FROM STATE COURTS. **THOUSANDS OF POORER AMERICANS ALL ACROSS AMERICA ARE LOSING PARENTING AND VISITATION RIGHTS WITH THEIR CHILDREN, ARE BEING FALSELY IMPRISONED, WRONGFULY EXECUTED,LOSING THEIR HOMES OR APARTMENTS ETC...

** IS THIS REALLY WHAT MANY SAY APPEARS TO BE THE FORMATION OF A NEW WORLD ORDER IN AMERICA THAT IS ATTEMPTING TO BREAK DOWN AND DESTROY AMERICAN FAMILIES AND ESTABLISHED FAMILY VALUES ACROSS OUR GREAT COUNTRY ???
Chickenhawk Hall of Shame
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Anonymous

<p>Compiled by <a href="http://www.nhgazette.com/">The New Hampshire Gazette</a></p>

<p>When an American male (or an especially belligerent female) makes the challenging transition from late adolescence into early adulthood, he is faced with many decisions. One certain, specific combination of choices will result in his becoming a chickenhawk: choosing to “support” war, while also choosing not to serve in the military. His motto becomes: “Let’s you and him go fight; I’ll hold your coat.”</p>

<p>Depending on external circumstances, such an individual may become one of three varieties of chickenhawk:</p>
<p>• If there is no draft, and the nation is at peace, the individual becomes a Common Chickenhawk;</p>
<p>• If there is a draft, and the nation is at peace, the individual becomes a Chickenhawk First Class;</p>
<p>• If the there is a draft, and the nation is at war, the individual becomes a Chickenhawk First Class with Distinguished Fleeing Cross.</p>

<p>We currently have 132 Chickenhawks listed in our database. Here they are, listed chronologically by date of birth. <a href="http://www.nhgazette.com/chickenhawks/?sort_list=0">CLICK HERE</a> to see them listed alphabetically.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nhgazette.com/nominate/?id=-1&action=new">Nominate a Chickenhawk</a></p>

<p>posted by the <a href="http://wintersoldier.org">Thomas Paine Project</a> (FYI: the organization is run by veterans)</p>
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Anonymous

Philip Giraldi on Antiwar.com produced an excellent article on J Street, the new “pro-Israel, pro-peace” alternative to AIPAC, which last month held its inaugural conference in Washington. [“My Problem with J Street,” http://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2009/10/28/my-problem-with-j-street/]

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J Street has been excoriated by the neocons and other hardline Zionist rightists as being anti-Israel, while it has been hailed as a great hope for the future by many proponents of a more balanced, less pro-Israel, American policy in the Middle East. Giraldi, however, stands virtually alone in seeing things in a much different light. To him, J Street is “just another Israel advocacy group with a slightly more progressive and politically correct and therefore acceptable message.” In short, with its moderate, pro-peace image, J Street can more effectively promote the policies of the Israeli government, to the detriment of the Palestinians and the United States.
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Anonymous

The media is still hell bent on terrifying you with their flu hysteria in order to inject you with toxified vaccines or worse; thus I will continue to expose that which has been hidden. (Matt. 10:26)

One surefire way to let people know what the media is all about would be to employ the prophesized number to save the gay media or quell the flu hysteria; i.e. Flu Buster (see attached image). Would you believe their falsehoods if they had that number on their foreheads?

 

http://columbus.indymedia.org/node/29672

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