Just making my way back to the RNC from the what has been a crazy night on the outside full of concussion grenades, tear gas and other oppressive tactics… Whew. I saw Sharif get hauled away, along with many other members of the press and legal observers. Some minors have been taken as well. Check back in the morning for updates.
KPFK's Sonali Kolhatkar interviewed Bruce Nestor, President of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. He discusses the latest on people being arrested, what they're being charged with, and the $2000 bail that most of them are facing.
Nestor also talks about the terrorism charges filed today against eight "RNC Welcoming Committee" protesters who were arrested pre-emptively in a house raid last weekend. Nestor talks about the atmosphere of police crackdown this week in St. Paul.
Earlier today, the March for Our Lives took place, a spirited demonstration by the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign that ended with some police violence. Davey D was on the march trail and provides this report, followed by a related interview with Dead Prez.
KPFA's Flashpoints host Dennis Bernstein and producer Miguel Gavilan Molina spoke with American Indian Movement (AIM) co-founder and leader Bill Means outside his home in Minneapolis. On Sunday, local and federal law enforcement raided a house on Bill Means' block. Means speaks about what happened, the significance, and the relation to AIM's mission.
Means says, "Now because of this RNC, we have a whole massive occupation almost at a moment's notice of your neighborhood. So the intensity, the whole idea of using police as an intimidation factor, it brought back the whole memories of why we founded [AIM] in the first place."
Includes audio and partial rush transcript.
Ten thousand people took to the streets in St. Paul, MN earlier today, and 284 people were arrested. Among those was Democracy Now's Amy Goodman. FSRN reporter Aura Bogado spoke with her shortly after her release.
Includes rush transcript.
In the run-up to the Republican national convention in Saint Paul, police are starting to ramp up raids and arrests. Organizers say they're trying to derail organizing for the protests that will accompany the convention. Brian Edwards-Tiekert filed this report.
The message below is from Twin Cities lawyer Phil Villaume via KFAI radio host Andy Driscoll:
Phil Villaume is a pretty standard-looking lawyer, paunch and all. Why is he being searched at a sporting event? He’s also volunteering as a legal observer and on-call defense attorney for arrested demonstrators.
--Andy
From: Phil Villaume
Date: Sun, 31 Aug 2008
Hi Andy:
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