Ames Progressive

In the final week of August 2004 in New York City, thousands gathered in Union Square to protest the Republican National Convention – the site of George W. Bush’s re-nomination – and their discontent over the president’s war in Iraq. The decidedly less-than-warm welcome resulted in the arrests of 1,806 people, a number unparalleled in United States political convention history according to the New York Civil Liberties Union. As of the first week of September this year, reported The New York Times, it has also cost the city $6.6 million to defend against lawsuits charging unlawful arrest and other civil rights violations, and an additional $1.6 million in settlements with 87 individuals, according to the comptroller’s office. The office told The Times that 557 claims on top of that are still pending, and, perhaps because about 90 percent of the charges against protesters have been dropped or dismissed, the city may decide to settle all 1,806 arrests in a class action suit.

St. Paul, the host of this year’s RNC from September 1-4, paid heed to the lessons learned by New York. According to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune, a deal brokered between the city and the Republican Party’s host committee required the committee to “buy insurance covering up to $10 million in damages and unlimited legal costs for law enforcement officials accused of brutality, violating civil rights and other misconduct,” ostensibly to avoid using city budget or tax funds. But although the deal may save taxpayers millions, it is not without controversy. Said Michelle Gross of Twin Cities-based Communities United Against Police Brutality to the paper, “It’s an extraordinary agreement. Now the police have nothing to hold them back from egregious behavior.” Others, including Open Left blogger Chris Bowers, suggested Republican foul play. Wrote Bowers, “In short, the Republican Party paid for $10 million of thuggery against progressives.”

The police crackdown began even before the protests did. On August 29, three days before the convention began, police raided the convergence space of an anarchist group called the RNC Welcoming Committee, which was engaged in planning protests of the convention. The police entered with guns drawn to find a group of people, including Gross (who had just arrived), watching a film and eating food. The group was not breaking any laws and was eventually accused of a fire-code violation, according to CNN. Chris Schwartz, an Ames organizer with the group Working Families Win, was following the news of the raid. “I was debating, in the days leading up to the convention, whether or not to go. I felt motivated to go after they did those raids. I thought it was intimidating people and I wasn’t going to allow myself to be intimidated,” he said.

On August 30, police raided a private residence in St. Paul where members of a group called I-Witness Video were convened. Appropriately, the group exists in order to document instances of police misconduct. Members of the group were taken away in handcuffs and later released without charge, according to the Star Tribune. The group caught the police misconduct on video, which can be seen on YouTube.

The intimidation and arrests continued as the convention began. Among the most notable incidents was the detainment of journalist Amy Goodman, the host of Democracy Now!, along with two of the show’s producers, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, on September 1. Goodman, upon hearing that the producers were being violently arrested, approached the officers and demanded their release. The police began to arrest her as well, and when she showed them her identification as a journalist (which justified her presence at the event) her identification was taken from her. (Both Goodman’s and Salazar’s arrests were filmed and the videos are available on YouTube.) Goodman was charged with obstructing a legal process and interfering with a police officer, and her colleagues were charged with probable cause for riot. The three have since been released, and although the charges are still pending, the Associated Press reported that St. Paul City Attorney John Choi said they will be dropped.

“I’ve pretty much been at every major march since 2002,” said Schwartz, “and the police presence in St. Paul was outrageous.” The first day of the convention coincided with a large and peaceful anti-war march at which “there were police every step of the way; there was FBI, Secret Service, State Troopers, National Guard,” according to Schwartz. In addition to the wall of police, marchers were confined within a cage that ran along both sides of the street within a few blocks of the Excel Center, where the convention took place. Said Schwartz, “I never before had to march through cages.”

Although the march was largely a peaceful affair, as intended, the Associated Press reported that several of the up to 10,000 protesters broke away and attacked convention delegates, broke windows, slashed car tires, threw garbage in the streets and at cars, and attempted to block traffic. Delegate Rob Simmons told local television station KMSP that protesters confronted him and other delegates, attempting to tear the credentials off their necks and spraying Simmons with what the Associated Press called a “toxic substance.” Police, some on horseback, responded to the outbursts with smoke bombs and tear gas and arrested at least 56 people, according to the Associated Press. After the march, 150 members of the Minnesota National Guard were deployed to deter splinter groups downtown.

There were only 10 arrests on the second day of the RNC, but Minnesota Public Radio reported an increased intensity among law enforcement officials. On day three, 102 people were arrested in Minneapolis at a Rage Against the Machine protest concert for unlawful assembly. On the final day, when John McCain accepted his party’s nomination for president, demonstrators once again clashed with police when a protest permit expired at 5 p.m. The protesters then tried to march from the State Capitol building to the convention center, the Associated Press reported, but police intervened, blocking two bridges with snow plows and other vehicles and assailing the crowd with tear gas, smoke bombs, and pepper spray. About 400 people were arrested, including 19 journalists.

The detainment and intimidation of journalists, though consequential, was only a small fraction of the arrests made at the convention. More than 800 people were arrested in the four-day span of protests. Although the full extent of legal ramifications remains to be seen, it appears that the majority of charges, many of them for felonies, will be dropped; many have been already.

MPR reported that eight members of the RNC Welcoming Committee involved in the pre-convention raids face charges of conspiracy to riot, conspiracy to commit civil disorder, conspiracy to damage property, and second degree conspiracy to commit riot in furtherance of terrorism, available under the Minnesota Anti-Terrorism Act of 2002 established shortly after 9/11. The individuals were charged on the convention’s third day and seven of the eight were held on $10,000 bail. Police alleged that the individuals discussed plans to take over an airport and buildings and kidnap delegates and had plans to burn vehicles, attack officers with sharpened poles, and blockade bridges. Bruce Nestor, the attorney for the eight, told MPR the charges “significantly chill[ed] political speech” and said, “Calling the intent to disrupt traffic and delay buses an act of terrorism trivializes real violence and runs the risk of criminalizing legitimate political expression.”