This is going to be a quickie for a variety of reasons, but I want anyone who may already be in the Twin Cities or are on their way there to protest aware of what is going on.
I received this email from my son last night. He is currently on a plane (or trying to get on a plane as he was on the standby list) to the Twin Cities.
PRESS STATEMENT FROM RNC WELCOMING COMMITTEE AFTER SHERIFF AND SPPD RAID OF CONVERGENCE SPACE
FRIDAY AUGUST 29 2008
Assitant Police Chief Bostrom has talked about the St. Paul Standard, and on the anniversary of last years’ critical mass police riot, we saw its true face. The ramsey county sheriff’s dept and the SPPD raided the RNC convergence space and detained over 50 people in an attempt to preempt planned protests of the rnc on Monday.
Looking for items found in any twin cities house like jars, paint, and rags, this attempt to portray us as criminals and destroy our credibility has already backfired as evidenced by the masses who have come to support us.
We are now accused of a simple fire code violation - which is outside the scope of the sheriffs department and clearly not justified provocation for a forceful raid with guns being drawn. Children and elderly people were inside the convergence center when the police violently busted down the doors. The police may claim that the raid was executed according to protocol - however, the violence inherent in this action may only be a hint of the violence to be expected on Monday and beyond, and is only a hint at the violence perpetrated daily by the police.
The convergence center is simply a gathering place and is not used for illegal actions - it is a place for workshops and trainings. Tonight we were watching films and sharing food.
This action will not deter us from our plans to protest the RNC on September 1st. We want to invite all people who oppose this police oppression to join us on Septemeber 1st. See you in the streets.
They handcuffed everyone, including a five year old, and would not let anyone leave without first being photographed. Laptops and hard drives were confiscated.
Please be aware if you are going of a number of things.
If you are there as a citizen journalist and are filming anarchists/communists/enemies of the state du jour (yes that is snark), the police are going to assume you are with them.
If you are in a protest and things start looking ugly, keep your head. Do not get caught up in crowd psychology (much easier to do than you might think) and end up doing something illegal because of actions instigated by some cointelpro goon.
If you are wearing anything or carrying anything that identifies you as a supporter of Obama/Biden specifically, or the Democratic Party in general, please remember that you are de facto representing those candidates and that party and act accordingly.
This goes for people with candidate bumper stickers as well. If you drive like an ass and cut people off they will associate your named candidate with your actions so cut it out!
Demand detailed receipts if the police confiscate any of your property.
You can get information at various sites. The above release came from indymedia which is updating fairly regularly.
Also, Protest RNC 2008 has some valuable info as well as Media Mouse.
Please be careful.