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News :: War and Militarism |
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Riot Police Target Journalists at the RNC |
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by Sofia Jarrin
Email: sofiajt (nospam) yahoo.com (unverified!) |
05 Sep 2008
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By the last count, as many as 818 protesters, journalists, and bystanders were arrested previous to and during the Republican National Convention. Journalists and videographers were particularly targeted as they tried to document the protests, largely peaceful, and random acts of civil disobedience. On Saturday, two days before the convention, multiple house and office raids took place and people were detained for hours, most prominently members from I-Witness and the RNC Welcoming Committee. Some from the committee, eight in total, were charged with “conspiracy to riot in furtherance of terrorism” based on a Minnesota law that was shaped after the Patriot Act.
“Cops came and served warrants in several houses, arrested several people, and seized a lot of equipment,” said Kris Hermes from the Coldsnap Legal Collective, an organization created to help release many of the protesters that were expected to be arrested. “Not only personal belongings were seized, but also political propaganda by the box load. There was no criminal activity happening at either of these houses or the convergence space.” |
 Poor People's March. Photo: Bradley, Santa Cruz IMC |
I-Witness is an organization that documents police brutality and was crucial charges being dropped for many of those arrested at the RNC in 2004. This time, I-Witness was visited by the police no less than three times, forced to relocate once, and accused of holding hostages in the building they were working. Luckily members of the National Lawyers Guild stood by their side.
“We have seen systematic intimidation of independent journalists. We had the arrest at least two Indymedia journalists and journalists with Free Speech TV. Also Amy Goodman as well as two other journalists from Democracy Now! Wendy from Portland Indymedia at the beginning of the Poor People's March, was brought to the ground and tackled by various riot cops,” said Sasha Constanza-Chock, a volunteer with I-Witness.
Other reporters have included but were not limited to: three videographers from Pepperspray Productions, two photojournalist students from the Kentucky Newspaper and their faculty advisor, one videographer from TheUptake, and a few of reporters working with mainstream media.
“Certainly, I-Witness plays a tremendously important in providing evidence for people who have been victims of police brutality and we much appreciate their work,” said Kris.
On Friday, leaders of many independent media groups brought 50,000 petitions to St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman asking him to call for the release of all journalists still being held behind bars, and for all charges against them to be dropped. Democracy Now! producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, for example, had been threatened to be charged with a felony of probable cause to riot.
Police brutality at the 2008 RNC has been unprecedented and there seemed to be a concerted effort to intimidate and detain protesters before the RNC events kicked off. On both Tuesday and Wednesday, most of it happened in the cover of night.
“The [Poor People's] march ended and there were no direct action, no speakers and started slowly drifting away. But then, suddenly we met this line of police blocking two corners of intersection. I think it was St. Paul and Seventh, and for no reason... They just gave a dispersal order and people were kind of confused,” said Sasha. “They fired the first concussion grenade and started shooting tear gas, and people started panicking. But all the way down towards the Capitol, there were line of police at every intersection blocking the other ways and as people reached those lines, people were being pepper sprayed indiscriminately as they ran by the line of police. Hundreds were indiscriminately sprayed.”
That was on Tuesday around 9:00 pm, and by Thursday when McCain was scheduled to speak, the crowd of protesters had dwindled to 500 plus, who despite the intimidation, tried to march towards the Xcel Center where the candidate declaimed peace.
According to Coldsnap, the police were able to get a 50 million dollar grant from the Federal Government to bring law enforcement officers from other parts of Minnesota and out of state, as well as armed people with 2 million dollars worth of chemical irritants and tasers.
“We are cutting hundreds and hundreds of tape we have and that has been coming in, and that's why I think the police have been harassing journalists. They don't want to see that kind of imagery get out. They want to spin their story in a particular way,” said Sasha.
RELATED:
RNC finale: Unprecedented police riot against peaceful protesters & journalists
http://twincities.indymedia.org/2008/sep/rnc-finale-unprecedented-police
FreePress.net: FRIDAY: Delivery of 50,000 Letters Demanding St. Paul Drop Charges Against Journalists
http://twincities.indymedia.org/2008/sep/freepressnet-friday-delivery-50 |
See also:
http://twincities.indymedia.org/
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