"RNC Welcoming Committee" plotted violent attacks on guests to Minneapolis-St. Paul
For those of you wasting sympathy for the "activists" who were raided by the police around the area of the RNC ...
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/09/03/rnc_day3/
Radicals from San Francisco to Pittsburgh connected with the "RNC Welcoming Committee" hatched a wide-ranging plan to disrupt the Republican National Convention, going so far as to discuss sabotaging a St. Paul airport, "capturing" buildings, and kidnapping delegates, according to court papers filed Tuesday.
Police allege the group of self-described anarchists plotted for more than a year to burn vehicles, spear police with sharpened poles, blockade bridges and wreak criminal havoc on St. Paul this week.
I would argue that a conspiracy of such scope and seriousness was ample reason to carry out raids and make preventative arrests. Note that many of these activities are inherently murderous, and some of them (sabotaging an airport) could be considered terrorism on a rather large scale (the potential consequences of a "sabotaged" airport could include a jetliner crashing into an urban area, after all).
After nearly 300 people were arrested Monday during violent clashes with police that erupted after a peaceful protest in St. Paul, the RNC Welcoming Committee claimed in an e-mail that "the idea of business as usual during the RNC has been shattered."
It's certainly not "business as usual for the 'Republican Welcoming Committee' leaders, many of whom may be facing years in prison. Heh :)
Police called the RNC Welcoming Committee "an organized criminal enterprise" made up of 30-35 members who attended more than 100 meetings during the last year.
Oh good, maybe they'll get hit with RICO prosecutions!
During the 2007 meeting, one of the informants reported, a workshop was held at which ideas were discussed for shutting down the Republican convention, including kidnapping delegates and sabotaging the Xcel Center by blockading the perimeter air vent.
Kidnapping is a very serious Federal crime. Whoever proposed that is vulnerable to Federal felony prosecution for conspiracy to commit. "Blockading" the air vent (I'm not sure what that means) is also potentially very dangerous, and if done certain ways could cause deaths due to panic.
At the camp, someone discussed using large street puppets to conceal and transport Molotov cocktails, bricks and shields, and using the puppets' large bamboo poles as spears to drive back police.
Note that Molotov cocktails, bricks and spears are all most definitely "deadly weapons."
Downtown building owners estimate about 15 windows have been damaged during convention protests, at a cost of about $20,000 to $25,000, Matt Anfang, president of the Greater St. Paul Building Owners and Managers Association, told Minnesota Public Radio News.
The group plans to survey its members after the convention to tally any other damage.
Under RICO, these costs could be assessed against the Republican Welcoming Committee, or its membership. I think the radicals have bought themselves a whole new world of financial pain :)
The rally started with speeches and ceremony in Mears Park, where a permitted march by the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign drew about 1,000 people. Aztec drummers and dancers offered a ceremonial blessing to the protest.
I think it's amusing that the "Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign" would want a "ceremonial blessing" associated with an imperial power who demanded human sacrifices as tribute. Did they include the customary human sacrifice to appease the gods at this meeting, or was that waived?
The crowd surged up against an 8-foot metal fence and taunted rifle-toting police on the other side.
Proof of either the crowd's stupidity or its essential faith in the humaneness of the police. Does anyone not see why?
A line of riot police, with gas masks on and batons drawn, stopped marchers from entering the central business district where demonstrators had smashed windows and punctured tires the day before.
Interfering with the demonstrators' right to smash windows and puncture tires! Shame on them!
All in all, pretty much ROFLMAO, especially for the RWC leaders who may be facing Federal prison.
I hope they throw the book at them!
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/09/03/rnc_day3/
Radicals from San Francisco to Pittsburgh connected with the "RNC Welcoming Committee" hatched a wide-ranging plan to disrupt the Republican National Convention, going so far as to discuss sabotaging a St. Paul airport, "capturing" buildings, and kidnapping delegates, according to court papers filed Tuesday.
Police allege the group of self-described anarchists plotted for more than a year to burn vehicles, spear police with sharpened poles, blockade bridges and wreak criminal havoc on St. Paul this week.
I would argue that a conspiracy of such scope and seriousness was ample reason to carry out raids and make preventative arrests. Note that many of these activities are inherently murderous, and some of them (sabotaging an airport) could be considered terrorism on a rather large scale (the potential consequences of a "sabotaged" airport could include a jetliner crashing into an urban area, after all).
After nearly 300 people were arrested Monday during violent clashes with police that erupted after a peaceful protest in St. Paul, the RNC Welcoming Committee claimed in an e-mail that "the idea of business as usual during the RNC has been shattered."
It's certainly not "business as usual for the 'Republican Welcoming Committee' leaders, many of whom may be facing years in prison. Heh :)
Police called the RNC Welcoming Committee "an organized criminal enterprise" made up of 30-35 members who attended more than 100 meetings during the last year.
Oh good, maybe they'll get hit with RICO prosecutions!
During the 2007 meeting, one of the informants reported, a workshop was held at which ideas were discussed for shutting down the Republican convention, including kidnapping delegates and sabotaging the Xcel Center by blockading the perimeter air vent.
Kidnapping is a very serious Federal crime. Whoever proposed that is vulnerable to Federal felony prosecution for conspiracy to commit. "Blockading" the air vent (I'm not sure what that means) is also potentially very dangerous, and if done certain ways could cause deaths due to panic.
At the camp, someone discussed using large street puppets to conceal and transport Molotov cocktails, bricks and shields, and using the puppets' large bamboo poles as spears to drive back police.
Note that Molotov cocktails, bricks and spears are all most definitely "deadly weapons."
Downtown building owners estimate about 15 windows have been damaged during convention protests, at a cost of about $20,000 to $25,000, Matt Anfang, president of the Greater St. Paul Building Owners and Managers Association, told Minnesota Public Radio News.
The group plans to survey its members after the convention to tally any other damage.
Under RICO, these costs could be assessed against the Republican Welcoming Committee, or its membership. I think the radicals have bought themselves a whole new world of financial pain :)
The rally started with speeches and ceremony in Mears Park, where a permitted march by the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign drew about 1,000 people. Aztec drummers and dancers offered a ceremonial blessing to the protest.
I think it's amusing that the "Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign" would want a "ceremonial blessing" associated with an imperial power who demanded human sacrifices as tribute. Did they include the customary human sacrifice to appease the gods at this meeting, or was that waived?
The crowd surged up against an 8-foot metal fence and taunted rifle-toting police on the other side.
Proof of either the crowd's stupidity or its essential faith in the humaneness of the police. Does anyone not see why?
A line of riot police, with gas masks on and batons drawn, stopped marchers from entering the central business district where demonstrators had smashed windows and punctured tires the day before.
Interfering with the demonstrators' right to smash windows and puncture tires! Shame on them!
All in all, pretty much ROFLMAO, especially for the RWC leaders who may be facing Federal prison.
I hope they throw the book at them!