All posts in the topic fair press account of (Short link)
Summary
- There are 10 posts — by 6 authors — in this topic.
- Latest post made by Michael Cavlan at Sep 08 16:48 UTC
Jordan and All,
I just watched the local corporate media and CNN's version of what happened in
St Paul
From someone who was there, let me assure you all with out any doubt.
The media are flat out lying.
We should all remember too, that the "progressive" City Councils of St Paul and
Minneapolis
gave them the legal authority to do what they did. And will probably do today
as well.
Including Cam Gordon
After they had their secret meetings, where the public were denied access.
This is just one more shameful moment for the media and for elected officials.
Michael Cavlan
Powderhorn
For all those liars in the corporate media Start Tribune, MPR, WCCO, KSTP, CNN
etc etc
as well for those traitors to the Constitution on the City Councils.
Many of us KNOW you will not report this. This post is to simply expose you for
what you are.
Please note that I am quite unpartisan in my condemnation of the City
Council. This was
not just DFLers who allowed this. Oh wait, there are no Republicans on the City
Council in
Minneapolis. I am going GREEN thinking about this.
Michael Cavlan
Powderhorn
Please cross post.
I just wanted everybody to hear a first hand account for the Shephard
St./Wabasha "riots" The black block left the capitol after the peace
rally to go to Harriet Island to watch the show. Myself and some other
friends joined them since we were going there as well. Walking from the
Capitol on John Ireland, turning onto Kellogg there were about 40-50
riot cops around the corner denying us access to Wabasha. I actually
went up to a couple of them trying to get information on a alternative
route. No body was from St. Paul let alone Minnesota. My friends and I
decided to walk around the block and eventually got to Shephard St. Once
there, they would not let anybody across the road to get up on the
bridge to get over the island. There were also Coast Guard in the river
with guns attached to the boats pointing at the the people. We tried to
cross the road to get up on the bridge. Riot cops would not let us pass.
We walked up a little further (past Wabasha) and the black block caught
up. They tried to cross the street (on a green light) and the riot cops
opened up with tear gas first, smoke bombs second and then they broke
out the rubber bullets. We got away, but may people did not. There were
many people that were there that weren't even in the black block
(sorority types) as well as residents out for a daily jog or bike ride
by the river. A protest boat got in between the coast guard and the
protesters.
After running from the cops, we went to Harriet Island to tell as many
media as possible as well as all of the people watching. We were about
to leave, when the coast guard boarded the boat.
I want to be very clear, there was no chanting, signs, or anything else
that would be "threatening" going on other than a bunch of people
dressed in black (their normal everyday clothing). Most of these people
were between 15-25 years old and just wanted to see the concerts at the
park.
Michael Cavlan
Powderhorn
Michael
As I was not there when those who were just trying to get to the SEIU event
were pepper sprayed and arrested, I cannot honestly testify to how our law
enforcement community conduct themselves. That said, I was a spotter for the
ACLU yesterday and had witnessed no trouble with the police that was not
instigated by the so called anarchist. We had our parade route maps and were
stationed at various police intensive locations . I myself was a floater and
walked along side the head of the parade as I thought that was where likely
trouble might occur. The police used pepper spray when these kids left the
parade route and engaged in the destruction of property. I was impressed with
the restraint of our law enforcement community, but perhaps its because they
could see my red ACLU tee-shirt and my camera. We were given a parade route map
at our organizational meeting before we were deployed at the capital and I
believe we all knew the approved route. Like it or not we are governed by rules
in Minnesota. I would love to get on the highway and try to see just how fast
my car can go, but I don't. We have laws against it. Just as we have laws that
do not allow for the destruction of private property. Before we all let the
police have it for their miss deeds, lets look at what really led to arrest on
the parade route. Now I left the area after the parade when I guess a lot of
these problems occurred, but I had no business there and had been invited to
three different picnics, ending up at the SEIU event on Harriet Island. I did
avoid downtown St Paul, preferring to cross the High Bridge and walking down to
the island rather than braving the circus, but this route should have been made
clear to those not from our community. I think in hindsight these alternative
routes need to advertised by those who are planning and staging these events in
the future.
Be aware that the mainstream press has pretty much failed their role in
reporting the whole story, or in attempting to keep people honest. Journalist
Glenn Greenwald wrote the following for Salon magazine about his attendance at
the press conference held by St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and St. Paul Police
Chief John Harrington:
"Video of my exchange at the Press Conference about the arrested journalists is
here. Matt Stoller asked a very good question as the last question.
Interestingly, all of the standard journalists asked very police-sympathetic
questions ("how much property damage was done? were all the criminals part of
this same RNC Welcoming Group? How many police officers were injured (answer:
none)), while all of the independent journalists -- such as those from the
superb, intrepid site, The Uptake -- asked challenging and skeptical (i.e.,
real) questions."
With the Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, KSTP, WCCO, KARE, etc. all asking those
kinds of softball questions, and then writing their reports based upon the
answers, is it any surprise people who get their news from the mainstream
press are ignorant, and unsupportive of the protestors?
One is likely to learn far more about what is going on in Minneapolis from
reading this forum than main press outlets.
At 8:33 AM +1200 9/3/08, Chris Johnson wrote:
>
>With the Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, KSTP, WCCO, KARE, etc. all
>asking those kinds of softball questions, and then writing their
>reports based upon the answers, is it any surprise people who get
>their news from the mainstream press are ignorant, and unsupportive
>of the protestors?
>
>One is likely to learn far more about what is going on in
>Minneapolis from reading this forum than main press outlets.
>
>
Where, oh where are Jesse Ventura's "media jackals" when we really need them?
Connie
Como, in Southeast Mpls.
All is fine and dandy until you start voicing dissent. Then its time for billy
clubs and broken noises.
It's also seemingly fine to have all types of dialogue on constitutional
rights, until, of course, you want to exercise them.
Justin Eibenholzl
Armatage
Why Chris,
One would almost think that you thought (quite rightly) that the corporate
media,
local and national, are an enemy of the concept of an informed public and so by
extension, the enemy of democracy. Happily, people are waking up to this
reality
and getting information from sources outside of the lies of the corporate
media.
The media and our elected officials have failed us, completely. All of them.
Michael Cavlan RN
Powderhorn
Here's my take on it. Comes out today in the Nokomis edition of Southside
Pride:
The shredding of the Bill of Rights in St. Paul
By Ed Felien
Our constitutional rights to freedom of speech, freedom to peacefully assemble
and petition the government (or the governing political party) for redress of
grievances and the freedom of the press were seriously damaged by the police in
St. Paul at the Republican National Convention last week.
There were at least a dozen attacks on members of the press and independent
media. Perhaps the most notorious of these abuses came with the arrest of
media icon Amy Goodman. She describes her arrest and the violent arrest of two
of her producers:
“Nicole was videotaping. Her tape of her own violent arrest is chilling. Police
in riot gear charged her, yelling, "Get down on your face." You hear her voice,
clearly and repeatedly announcing "Press! Press! Where are we supposed to go?"
She was trapped between parked cars. The camera drops to the pavement amidst
Nicole's screams of pain. Her face was smashed into the pavement, and she was
bleeding from the nose, with the heavy officer with a boot or knee on her back.
Another officer was pulling on her leg. Sharif was thrown up against the wall
and kicked in the chest, and he was bleeding from his arm.
“I was at the Xcel Center on the convention floor, interviewing delegates. I
had just made it to the Minnesota delegation when I got a call on my cell phone
with news that Sharif and Nicole were being bloody arrested, in every sense.
Filmmaker Rick Rowley of Big Noise Films and I raced on foot to the scene. Out
of breath, we arrived at the parking lot. I went up to the line of riot police
and asked to speak to a commanding officer, saying that they had arrested
accredited journalists.
“Within seconds, they grabbed me, pulled me behind the police line and forcibly
twisted my arms behind my back and handcuffed me, the rigid plastic cuffs
digging into my wrists. I saw Sharif, his arm bloody, his credentials hanging
from his neck. I repeated we were accredited journalists, whereupon a Secret
Service agent came over and ripped my convention credential from my neck. I was
taken to the St. Paul police garage where cages were set up for protesters. I
was charged with obstruction of a peace officer. Nicole and Sharif were taken
to jail, facing riot charges.
“The attack on and arrest of me and the "Democracy Now!" producers was not an
isolated event. A video group called I-Witness Video was raided two days
earlier. Another video documentary group, the Glass Bead Collective, was
detained, with its computers and video cameras confiscated. On Wednesday,
I-Witness Video was again raided, forced out of its office location.
How did things get so far out of hand? Who was in charge?
The Minneapolis Police that arrested Amy Goodman were under the direction of
the St. Paul Police Department that seemed to be taking orders from the Ramsey
County Sheriff’s office that was obviously getting its orders from the Secret
Service.
When Tony Bouza was Chief of Police for Minneapolis, President Ronald Reagan
was coming to town for a fundraiser. Some people wanted to protest his illegal
war against the legitimate government of Nicaragua. The Secret Service came to
town and met with Bouza. Reagan had never seen a demonstration in his years as
President, and the Secret Service was determined to keep the demonstrators
blocks away and out of sight. Bouza was even more determined to allow the
demonstrators to express their constitutional right to peacefully confront the
President. The Secret Service tried to bribe Bouza with the privilege of
associating with the President. It didn’t work. They threatened to federalize
the hotel. Bouza said he’d see them in court. In the end, the demonstrators
stood across the street, and the President’s limo pulled up in front of the
hotel.
What happened in St. Paul? The Secret Service came to town with, according to
some reports, $50 million in goodies and toys: the fancy Batman costumes with
shiny knee pads and chest protectors; the new taser guns; new pepper spray and
tear gas guns, etc. The demonstrators insisted on being visible to the Xcel
Convention Center front door, so the Secret Service built them a cage they
could walk through—an ingeniously intimidating structure that was meant to
dampen free expression of dissent. Hopefully, the City of St. Paul will keep
it as a monument to the 2008 repression of free speech.
In their City Service Agreement with St. Paul, Ramsey County and the Secret
Service, the Minneapolis City Council and the Mayor piously hoped: “The model
the group develops will include strategies to help ensure that law enforcement
will not engage in ‘infiltration’ of lawful and protected associations, not use
any information gained through such ‘infiltration,’ and treat those exercising
constitutional rights of association, speech and petition respectfully.” Only
Council Members Cam Gordon and Gary Schiff saw through this giveaway of our
constutional rights and voted against the Agreement.
And what did the Minneapolis Police do after being given the green light to use
all means to protect the Republican Convention? With the cooperation and under
the orders of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s office under the direction of the
Secret Service and the FBI, the MPD raided the homes of two anarchist groups in
the Powderhorn neighborhood. They didn’t find guns. They didn’t find anything
that could threaten the life of another human being, but they locked up anyone
they thought might be dangerous until after the Convention. They bragged that
they were able to identify the people in the house because some of their agents
had infiltrated the group.
So much for the pious pipedreams of the City Council.
The use of police agents to infiltrate political protest raises serious
questions about the police response to the demonstrations. Some have suggested
that the more violent and extreme actions might have been taken by police agent
provocateurs. A group of anarchist photographers and reporters that followed
most of the break away action on Monday said: “One kid who looked under 20
yaers old jumped on top of a cop car that broke through the pedestrian barrier.
Another two smashed windows of a Macy’s, First National Bank and an unoccupied
cop car. However, this was the work of maybe five or so people in the
breakaway protest group.” And, “When windows started to get smashed by a lone
few, yells came out from the group such as, ‘What are you doing!? You idiot!
How is that going to send a message?’”
Sue Kolstad (the brains behind local folk icon Papa John and the soul behind
Andrew “Cadillac”), on seeing footage of the more extreme actions, said, “Why
do those kids have on such nicely shined shoes and such neatly pressed jeans?”
And, “Why weren’t any of them arrested?”
The effect of the extreme protest actions did increase the intensity of the
police response and make the protesters more fearful and defensive. The
over-reaction of the police during the week of protests had a chilling effect
on free speech and a free press. Council Member Gary Schiff is calling for
hearings on the behavior of the MPD. He is especially concerned about the
attacks on journalists, the seizures of video tapes and the targeting of
photographers. He would appreciate people with firsthand accounts contacting
his office at 612 673 2209.
Ed Felien
Powderhorn
At 8:02 AM -0500 9/8/08, Ed Felien wrote:
>Here's my take on it. Comes out today in the Nokomis edition of
>Southside Pride:
>
(. . . ) The use of police agents to infiltrate political protest
raises serious questions about the police response to the
demonstrations. Some have suggested that the more violent and
extreme actions might have been taken by police agent provocateurs.
A group of anarchist photographers and reporters that followed most
of the break away action on Monday said: "One kid who looked under 20
yaers old jumped on top of a cop car that broke through the
pedestrian barrier. Another two smashed windows of a Macy's, First
National Bank and an unoccupied cop car. However, this was the work
of maybe five or so people in the breakaway protest group." And,
"When windows started to get smashed by a lone few, yells came out
from the group such as, 'What are you doing!? You idiot! How is
that going to send a message?'"
Sue Kolstad (the brains behind local folk icon Papa John and the soul
behind Andrew "Cadillac"), on seeing footage of the more extreme
actions, said, "Why do those kids have on such nicely shined shoes
and such neatly pressed jeans?" And, "Why weren't any of them
arrested?"
Me here:
Is it true that the kids who actually did damage to property on that
march were not arrested?
If that's true, that's HUGE. Given that so many journalists and
innocent bystanders were indeed not only arrested, but manhandled.
Connie
Como, in Southeast Mpls
Connie,
Yes it is true that the "kids" that were breaking windows were not arrested and
yes the implications are indeed huge.
Thank you Ed Felien. I am glad to see that Southside Pride will cover this. You
sure as hell will not see it in the Star Tribune, WCCO, KSTP, MPR or any of
the corporate media outlets.
Your paper is an example of journalistic ethics and integrity. The other
mentioned
institutions are, as I have pointed out before the enemy of an informed public
and so
by extention democracy itself.
Fortunately, people are waking up to that horrific reality and finding
information
from other sources.
Michael Cavlan RN
Powderhorn