I posted this yesterday as a "Dear Keith Olbermann," diary but now I would like to address ALL of the American Press, as well as Kossacks who are in the Twin Cities or have family/friends protesting the convention.
I am adding information at the bottom (so those who read this yesterday can skip through) per Coldsnap Legal Collective on what is going on now.
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I have become very, very troubled by what the Corporate Owned American Press is not covering during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.
St. Paul has become a de facto police state and the only coverage most of us have seen on network and cable news has been the relative handful of Black Bloc anarchists (less than 2% of total protesters) committing actual illegal acts and not a total picture of what is really happening - including abridgment of the constitutional rights of a free press.
But wait. There's more....
Here is who I would like to see interviewed on your show[s]/in your paper.
This child would be a great interview. Doesn't she look absolutely threatening to the throng of marching storm troopers with that flower in her hand?
Especially as she is walking away, coughing and gagging. So, of course, they have to spray her from behind to make sure they are safe!
How about one of your own? I would love for you to interview Amy Goodman and her producers who were arrested.
Here's a student at UT Knoxville and badged member of the press getting tear gassed.
My son is actually in this clip. Don't they all look menacing?
They start blocking off access to streets, herding protesters into groups from which there is no egress, and then start spraying them with pepper spray. Even disabled guys in wheelchairs.
How about Michelle Gross?
Last night they did not allow Rage Against the Machine to perform and cut their power. The only conceivable reason to do this would be to try and provoke a riot.
Rage took their audience to the streets and joined up with the Poor People's March. The police started barricading and blocking streets to herd them all into an area from which they could not escape and then started firing tear gas at them all.
This is not the America that I grew up believing was free and fair. This is fascism.
Here is my diary from yesterday, recounting what happened to my son.
Here is the information I have as of now (3:30 pm cdt).
My son has now been held for 48 hours without being charged. They are telling him they have until 10 pm tonight but I don't know why.
There may be some lag time between arrest and booking. But he was arrested about 3:30, 09-01-08, was in holding until sometime around 9pm, and taken to "transfer" where he remained until about 2 am. Then he was taken to a cell.
He was grabbed from a park somewhere off Kellogg (maybe Rice Park? I'm not sure if that's exactly where he was). The park had a permit.
His removal from the park and subsequent arrest were witnessed by 4 or so National Lawyers Guild observers, one of whom had a video camera. Another may have had a still camera. My son shouted his name and DOB as they threw him down. He had a backpack and an IDF surplus gasmask.
If anyone witnessed or taped this event please get in touch with me here or let the fine folks at Coldsnap Legal Collective know.
You will notice at that link there is a PayPal button for donations. PLEASE, I beg everyone, reach deep down and give these guys some money. They are working very, very hard to get people released, get their possessions back, get information to friends and family, and make sure folks are getting what they need while incarcerated.
On that note, there is a Hunger Strike going on in support of the numerous vegans at the Ramsey County jail. My son told me that only about 5% of the meals brought last night were vegan and they had 16-18 vegans in that section so it wasn't even close to enough but allows them to say, "We are providing vegan meals". Do NOT let them get away with this. They are asking us to call the jail at 651-266-9350 to demand they provide an adequate number of vegan meals.
He also informed me one of the prisoners got tasered this morning and dragged from his cell. He does not know what for.
They filled out a receipt for his stuff when they brought him in but it is likely to be difficult getting anything back. He was arrested by one agency (Bloomington) who told him St. Paul police would have everything but his backpack was taken by Minnesota State Patrol so he now has 3 agencies to deal with.
He refused to sign the receipt in fear they would add items he did not have in his possession after his signature. They did not offer him a copy.
He says there are police from everywhere. He saw cop cars from Tuscon (!) and one marked "Savage" which is southwest of St. Paul.
If I have not heard from him by 5pm, I will contact Coldsnap and try and figure out which planet they are using to calculate "48 hours".
In the meantime, if the Corporate Owned American Press refuses to actually cover what is really happening in the Twin Cities, I have a contact, ironically enough, at the Chinese press who will be more than happy to tell the world what is going on in the "land of the free". We still have "the brave" but many of them are currently housed at the Ramsey County Jail.
Last photo my son sent me from St. Paul:
Tell the world, Keith. Please. I am begging. This administration has already doomed me due to their NIH cut backs and refusal to allow stem cell research. Don't let them take my son, too. And, for the love of G-d, don't let them pretend that this nation now resembles in any shape or form that which our founding fathers envisioned.
Thank you.
Update (from 4:30 cdt 9-3): My son has just been released from jail. No charges were ever filed, he did not have to post bond, he never saw a judge.
He has everything but his backpack which has his shoes and glasses and a rented camera in it. He's working with Coldsnap to try and find where that is now.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!
Update 2 (from early evening 9-3): St. Paul is refusing to release any confiscated personal belongings that were brought into them from various agencies. They have stated they are under "lockdown" until Monday and, therefore, unable to give folks, most of whom are being released without charge, their stuff back.
This means if they have your ID, plane ticket, whatever, you are stuck there until Monday. School? Too bad. Job? Serves you right.
The Collective is working on a lawsuit pronto to try and get property released.
The other thing the police are doing is asking people for booking or case #'s. Since they are just letting folks out with no charges, there is no paperwork, no number, nothing for them to reference.
I had my son's booking number from the police so gave that to him but they are determined to act in a dickish manner, apparently.
They are also clearly using imprisonment as a harassment tool, punishing people they never intend to file charges against. There will be many, many lawsuits. I think it will, in fact, dwarf the number of suits filed from the RNC in NYC All White Rich Guys Revue that went so swimmingly.
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So. What has been going on whilst Ms. Palin and her Hairy Band of Elves were onstage eviscerating a majority of the American public?
According to Coldsnap Legal Collective's Twitter, the cops have been releasing detainees at various points around the Twin Cities with no transportation or resources of any kind.
Isn't that precious?
Arrestees from the Rage Against the Machine concert and other protests are being released from Hennepin County Jail (4th st & 4th ave, Minneapolis) needing medical attention. They are asking for medics to please get there as folks need treatment for chemical weapons exposure.
As they have been at the Ramsey County Jail, the police are now intimidating the volunteers, legal observers, and medics posted outside Hennepin County Jail to help folks as they are released.
This includes, but is not limited to, surrounding the volunteers with officers in riot gear, sometimes circling them in tactical vans with the doors open, stationing lines of National Guard troops, and photographing everyone.
From the Twin Cities Indymedia Livewire, there is information that police are using 6-wheeled tear gas enabled ATV's. (Aren't most cities going broke??)
Here you will find a Flicker page with shots from Tony Webster who was arrested at the RATM concert. He has shots from the second day of protests here, and a lot of shots from Day 1 here.
Tony recounts his arrest on e-democracy and it is an amazing read.
Finally, if anyone missed resa's post on yesterday's diary, she provides a link to the harrowing account by a mother of the beating by police of her 17 year old son. The story is at RushPRNews.
Here's a taste:
To our horror, despite his medical needs, he was released from the Juvenile Detention Center, into the darkness of night, alone, without a parent ever having been contacted, to a city that was unfamiliar to him, by the Ramsey County Juvenile Division. He was forced to borrow a stranger’s cell phone to call home. After much confusion about his location, his father found him and brought him into our hometown hospital for medical treatment. They treated his multiple wounds, bruises and scrapes, took pictures, wound measurements and after hearing the story, stated that they would record the incident as a criminal assault.
I apologize to anyone annoyed at my pushing of this story or if I broke some cardinal rule reposting yesterday's diary with this new information.
But I am angry. And disgusted. And, frankly, heartbroken at what this nation has become.
If you are a member of the press, get off yer bloomin' arse and report this crap!
And, once again, I beg you to please, please, PLEASE donate to Coldsnap Legal through their Paypal button. A lot of young people are working very, very hard out of the goodness of their hearts. Lawyers' fees, court costs, filing fees are all going to have to come from somewhere so if you can spare anything, please send it their way!
Thank you.
UPDATE FROM MY AWESOME KID:
I wrote a little something for all the people on Kos:
Friends and fellows,
First of all, I want to thank all those offering their support for me and the hundreds of others swept up in Sheriff Fletcher's tactics. I keep reading this stuff over and over and can't believe that it's about me, or even occurring on American soil. People are, as we sit here at our computers, being denied vegan food, being harrassed for having "foreign-sounding" names, and being beaten to the point of concussion inside jail cells. Inmates are being flat-out denied access to legal aid. Disabled people in wheelchairs were maced, and a man who was pushing him away from the police lines was arrested and charged with felony conspiracy to riot. At no point did I "charge" police lines. I was standing in a permitted area when a line of riot police advanced down the street, attempting to disperse the Funk the War demonstration, when two officers fanned out from the line, seized me by the shoulder, and hurled me face-down into the street. When I asked what I was being charged with, I was advised to "keep running my fucking mouth." National Lawyer's Guild observers were batoned and maced. They are illegally using probable cause holds as punishment for peaceful protestors, and kept me in jail for 45 hours only to release me without charge. The St. Paul Police Department is in possession of my backpack, containing medical supplies, water, and snacks, as well as my glasses, and is purportedly denying me the return of these items until Monday, despite my release without charges.
I was never Mirandized.
I was never brought before a judge.
I was never offered medical treatment for my injuries, nor was I given it upon request.
I did not engage in property destruction.
I have never before been genuinely frightened by the presence of law enforcement officers. I sheepishly had to ask for a few members of the Coldsnap Legal Collective to walk with me to a safe area to be picked up from jail, due to the presence of swarms of riot police and mounted officers intimidating those who were being released. The inmates at the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center understand more about freedom and patriotism than most of the keyboard warriors out there. Yes, I understand many of you have careers and families you are responsible for, but if you aren't willing to stand up to the state in defense of your most basic human right, what are you willing to stand up for?
Solidarity forever,
Julian -----
Update per Clytemnestra - RATM's 9-2 free appearance which was shut down.