With Hurricane Gustav’s rescheduling of the Republican National Convention dominating the news cycle, the massive, unconstitutional police crackdown in convention city St. Paul, Minn., has received relatively little notice. As The New York Times reported Aug. 30, St. Paul police “detained dozens of people and issued a series of search warrants aimed at groups believed to be organizing demonstrations.” Several media members were arrested or harassed. I-Witness Video – citizen journalists there to record the protest and police actions – was raided. Co-founder Eileen Clancy blogged that they were surrounded by “more than a dozen police … wielding firearms, including one St. Paul officer with a long gun, which someone told me is an M-16.” Award-winning journalist and Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman was arrested on Monday, Sept. 1, on obstruction charges for inquiring about the arrest of DN! producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar on felony riot charges. All three have been released; a statement reads “Democracy Now! forcefully rejects all of these charges as false and an attempt at intimidation of these journalists” and demands “the charges be immediately and completely dropped.” Associated Press photographer Matt Rourke was also arrested and released without charge. The RNC ends today, Sept. 4.
This article appears in September 5 • 2008.