Twin Cities Indymedia - minneapolis - st. paul

UPDATE 10/23: Photos from the rally

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Organized by Communities United Against Police Brutality, the first major protest in St. Paul after the Republican National Convention begins at 4:30pm at Wabasha Street and Kellogg Boulevard in downtown on Wednesday. Twin Cities Indymedia will be there! If you attend, publish your pictures, video or thoughts here after you get back!

From the calendar:

OCTOBER 22 NATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY,
REPRESSION AND THE CRIMINALIZATION OF A GENERATION

From mass police brutality during the RNC to the everyday brutality against people of color and poor people in the streets and in the jails, something has got to be done to end the reign of terror.

The RNC 8 aren't the only activists facing trumped up terrorism charges in the wake of the RNC. Dave Mahoney, one of the many who came to the Twin Cities to join thousands of local residents protesting the convention, is now facing new charges and the possibility of several years in prison.

According to his support site, Dave was arrested by FBI agents while bicycling to a grocery store on September 4th. After being accused of allegedly throwing a sandbag off a bridge, the Star Tribune reported on October 3 on that an assault charge against Dave had been dropped. But in a letter from Dave dated October 10 (below), he says that Ramsey County prosecutors plan to charge him with two counts of assault in the second degree and two charges of terroristic threats. His next court date is November 13 in St. Paul.

UPDATE 10/13: The six were given a new date to continue the hearing: Nov. 10 at 1pm. However, this date may prove to be irrelevant as discussions are underway to consolidate the eight individual cases into one.

Monday, six of the RNC 8 will make appearances in Ramsey County court. Eryn Trimmer, Erik Oseland, Nathanael Secor and Max Specktor are all scheduled for omnibus hearings beginning at 1pm; Monica Bicking and Robert Czernik are scheduled to appear in a continuation of their hearings from earlier this month. This is the most notable day in court yet for the 8 anti-RNC organizers who are charged with felony conspiracy to commit riot in furtherance of terrorism under Minnesota's Patriot Act. The appearances are at the Law Enforcement Center at 425 Grove (near bus lines 21 and 74 from Minneapolis).

In conjunction with the hearings, a call-in day has been organized to presure St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman (651.266.8510), Ramsey County Attorney and 2010 gubernatorial candidate Susan Gaertner (651.266.3222) and St. Paul City Attorney John Choi (651.266.8710) to drop all charges against the RNC 8 and the 800+ other arrestees. See the links below for more info.

Phone-In Against Phony Charges: All day 10/13 | Court Watch 1pm | RNC8.org | Anti-War Committee | RNC '08 Arrestee Support |

Police Continue Harassment of Texas Activists in Wake of RNC
(submitted to the newswire)

Over a month after the conclusion of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, the FBI continues to harass and intimidate activists who chose to voice their opinions about the status quo. In the last ten days, five activists in Houston and Austin have received subpoenas to appear before a Federal Grand Jury in Minneapolis on October 21. Several other activists have had their homes, or those of parents and friends, visited by the FBI.

On Friday afternoon, a press conference will be held at St. Paul City Hall to announce the first lawsuit stemming from the pre-emptive raids on anti-RNC organizers. Laywers representing Mike Whalen of St. Paul will seek $250,000 in damages from the raid on Whalen's duplex on Iglehart Avenue August 30. The raid turned into a tragic comedy of errors when the SPPD and assisting agencies - apparently targeting I-Witness Video - came with a warrant for the wrong address and detained dozens of people in the backyard, creating a storm in the independent press. Later authorities cited Arise! Bookstore in Minneapolis, imprisoned activist Sara Jane Olson, and alleged deliveries of weapons that turned out to be vegan outreach literature as reasons for the raid.

Below is a press release from Ted Dooley of the National Lawyer's Guild. The conference is at 3pm on Friday.

During the first week of September 2008, Republican Party delegates gathered in St. Paul, Minnesota for the Republican National Convention (RNC) - the media spectacle and corporate sleaze-fest that completes their nominating process. An army of armor-clad riot police, National Guard, and private security with their humvees, rubber bullets, and tear gas protected them. FBI-assisted sheriff's raids at more than a half-dozen activist homes and organizing centers in Minneapolis-St. Paul sought to hinder opposition.

Between September 11 and September 27, at least four bicyclists were killed on Twin Cities streets. On Saturday, riders are invited to take part in a memorial ride visiting the sites of these recent crashes, leaving from Saint Paul in the morning and traveling to Uptown and Downtown Minneapolis, followed by an afternoon ride to Blaine. The stepped-up assault of car culture on cyclists is not limited to the Twin Cities; activists in the Midwest are also mourning the apparent loss of a participant in August's PNC2RNC bike ride after a car struck her bike.

Memorial Ride to Honor Fallen Bicyclists: meet 10:30am Saturday at Summit and Snelling in St. Paul
Route | Ghost Bike MPLS | TC Streets For People

Calling All Anarchists Throughout the Great Lakes and the Midwest,

Ya'll are invited to a Midwest and Great Lakes anarchist consulta in Milwaukee, this Halloween weekend (October 31st - November 2nd).

In early November of 2007, anarchists from across the Midwest gathered in Milwaukee to network and to plan some havoc for the Republican National Convention. Almost a year later, we in Milwaukee are excited to invite our friends of dubious intension back to our city. The purpose being to strategize and network for increased conflict with capitalism and the state in the coming months, and of course to cause some old-fashioned, ghoulish mischief on Halloween. Oh, and of course good food and warm places to stay.

Shortly after the RNC, Francisco Gonzalez, a guest blogger for Engage Minnesota wrote an article called “March organizers failed to protect message.” http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/article/2008/09/08/march-organizers-failed-...

This article was later posted on the Twin Cities Daily Planet website. As a member of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War, I felt compelled to respond. Gonzalez suggested that those who organized the permitted anti-war march on the opening day of the RNC should have tried to prevent “unruly elements” from engaging in direct action or should have denounced those who did the next day. He suggested that our message was stolen by “a few who acted mindlessly” and that we should have stood “side by side with police” to denounce them.

IWW Starbucks Workers Union supporters are sealed into a train by riot cops en route to the first union shop in the Mall of America.