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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

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