Twin Cities Indymedia - minneapolis - st. paul

(see full article and video here here or here)

Fear of State is Autonomously Maintained

2 documents, one a press release from the Department of Justice, and the other an affidavit of FBI special agent Christopher Langert, detailing the use of confidential informants to entrap Crowder and Mckay.

an excerpt:

2. In February 2007, a confidential human source (“CHS 1”) who has been working with the FBI since November 2007, and who has a proven track record of reliability, began providing the FBI in San Antonio, Texas, with information regarding the activities of a group of individuals involved in planning to disrupt the Republican National Convention (“RNC”).

DENVER, August 28 – Welcome to the twilight zone where clouds part, weapons are put away, anarchists weep with joy over electoral politics, Ron Kovic pushes away a Code Pink woman during a photo shoot with riot cops because the shoot “was just for service people—people who've served our country,” riot cops taking group photo shoots of each other, demonstrators congratulating police for their “professionalism” and, amidst the heavenly light, Jesus(!)—no, wait—it's IVAW negotiating with Denver's “finest” in order to deliver a note to the Democrats!

This week in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S. authorities unleashed a vicious, orchestrated, and fascistic assault on alternative media covering the protests outside the Republican National Convention.

These attacks included the manhandling and arrest of internationally known journalist Amy Goodman, the brutalizing and arrest of two producers on the Democracy Now! team, pre-emptive raids—at gunpoint—on the I-Witness Video collective, the confiscation of media equipment, and many other arrests and mistreatment of journalists, both alternative and mainstream.

If you have any unaltered or unedited original video (copies are okay), photos, or witness statements from the week’s events, PLEASE mail them or deliver them by hand. Follow the instructions below.

NOTE: These items are being collected, processed and catalogued for potential use in court matters. We CANNOT accept altered or edited items.

NOTE: IF YOU ARE A DEFENDANT IN A CRIMINAL CASE, please consult the attorney representing you and discuss the possible ramifications of any submission before doing so.
INSTRUCTIONS:
By mail (highly preferred):

Following through with the goal of the strategy around the RNC, we continue to build radical infrastructure in the twin cities and hope that those who came to visit the Twin Cities are doing the same in their local communities (and those that will decide to stick around join in the work that remains). Here are some immediate updates:

Legal

The RNC Welcoming Committee held a joint press conference with the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign regarding the charges announced the day before against eight Welcoming Committee members, the violent tactics of the police to suppress dissent in St. Paul and across America, and the media's role taking the word of the police without question and largely ignoring those who are denied basic resources in our society. One person who had been arrested testifies about having been tortured in the Ramsey County Sheriff's Jail.

The jail vigil needs more support. Perhaps the National Guard will finally go away?

[Politicians will have to answer for the abuse and detainment of journalists, which spectacularly escalated on Thursday evening. --TCIMC]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 4, 2008
Contact: Nancy Doyle Brown, Twin Cities Media Alliance, (612) 374-9380, Jen Howard, Free Press, (202) 265-1490, x22 or (703) 517-6273

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- On Friday morning, local advocates and independent journalists will deliver more than 50,000 petitions to St. Paul City Hall calling on Mayor Chris Coleman and local law enforcement officials to drop all charges against journalists arrested while covering protests outside the Republican National Convention.

WHAT: Delivery of 50,000 letters demanding charges against journalists be dropped
WHEN: Sept. 5, 10 a.m. CT
WHERE: St. Paul City Hall, 15 Kellogg Blvd.
WHO: Local advocates and independent journalists from KFAI Community Radio, National Lawyers Guild, Twin Cities Daily Planet, Twin Cities IndyMedia, Twin Cities Media Alliance and The Uptake.

On Monday, local law enforcement officials arrested Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and two producers from her show, Associated Press photographer Matt Rourke and several independent videographers while they were covering protests outside the Republican National Convention. Other independent journalists have also been pepper-sprayed and even held at gunpoint during "pre-emptive" raids aimed at disrupting protesters.

"The targeting and harassment of journalists that we've seen during the RNC sends the message that the Twin Cities don't value the essential role that journalists play in a democracy," said Nancy Doyle Brown of Twin Cities Media Alliance. "From the pre-convention raids to the ongoing harassment and arrests of journalists, these have been dark days for press freedom in the United States. We're bringing Mayor Coleman more than 50,000 letters from people across the nation demanding that all charges pending against these journalists be dropped."