Erica M (ericam) on September 5th, 2008 @ 12:43 pm
I got this story via email from a friend of a friend:
Interesting contrast last night. I live in downtown Minneapolis where a lot of the convention goers are staying and there are a lot of meetings, parties, various other functions being held.
We were walking to dinner last night, about 3 blocks from the Target Center. Dinner was relatively quiet as we hit this place pretty early but traffic on 1st Avenue starting building fast and there were a lot of characters walking towards the Target center along with motorcycle cops, cops on horseback, Swat vans, mobile booking stations, cops in full combat stuff with plastic handcuffs ready to go…
So, my friend, [redacted] says, "let’s walk down there".
So we do so and there is police everyone and a lot of people milling around. Some praising Jesus, some talking about Ron Paul, some talking about Ralph Nader, and some bombed off of their asses.
Turns out, coinciding with everyone coming back from the RNC and going to bars and restaurants and parties, is a Rage Against the Machine concert at the Target Center.
We duck into a nice place called Bellanotte where they locked the doors and were just letting people in who looked like they belonged. There were some cowboy dressed up dudes who were there for the RNC asking each other what kind of music Rage Against the Machine played and started cussing when the bar wouldn’t turn up the sound so they could hear Sarah Palin’s speech.
Needless to say, it was an interesting contrast and the cops were ready to beat people down…
I was arrested last night along with 395 other people. Like everyone else, I made the mistake of listening to the police, who were telling us to leave the scene through Marion St. As it turned out, they weren’t trying to disperse us, but rather were trying to corral us in a Sears parking lot. I was handcuffed, and forced to sit on the curb with twenty other people for three and a half hours before we were finally hauled off to jail to be booked.
Sitting right next to me was a reporter for MTV News, a photographer for the City Pages, and a reporter for what I believe to be Colorado Public Radio. The journalists on the bridge seemed to have lucked out in that they were released on the scene. The journalists who were caught in the parking lot were not so lucky. They remained in handcuffs with the rest of the protesters, loaded onto a bus, and taken to jail, where it took another two hours to process. As far as I understand, those who were from out of state had to stay the night and be taken before a judge, and were charged with Disobeying a Lawful Order along with Unlawful Assembly. Seeing as two of of the three journalists I was with were from out of town, I don’t think they’re going to be leaving St. Paul any time soon.
I got this story via email from a friend of a friend:
I was arrested last night along with 395 other people. Like everyone else, I made the mistake of listening to the police, who were telling us to leave the scene through Marion St. As it turned out, they weren’t trying to disperse us, but rather were trying to corral us in a Sears parking lot. I was handcuffed, and forced to sit on the curb with twenty other people for three and a half hours before we were finally hauled off to jail to be booked.
Sitting right next to me was a reporter for MTV News, a photographer for the City Pages, and a reporter for what I believe to be Colorado Public Radio. The journalists on the bridge seemed to have lucked out in that they were released on the scene. The journalists who were caught in the parking lot were not so lucky. They remained in handcuffs with the rest of the protesters, loaded onto a bus, and taken to jail, where it took another two hours to process. As far as I understand, those who were from out of state had to stay the night and be taken before a judge, and were charged with Disobeying a Lawful Order along with Unlawful Assembly. Seeing as two of of the three journalists I was with were from out of town, I don’t think they’re going to be leaving St. Paul any time soon.
The journalists on the bridge seemed to have lucked out in that they were released on the scene.
I’m not saying, I’m just saying.
I got arrested last night as well. My experience is detailed here:
http://weblog.timoregan.com/2008/09/rnc-2008-i-was-arrested-after-filming.html
I captured some scary video right before we were trapped on the bridge. Watching it today reminds me of freakin’ Baghdad. Is this still America?