MINNEAPOLIS/ST.PAUL September 4, 2008 – Today is the final day of the RNC in St. Paul. While corporate media focuses on the events inside the convention center and ignores the continuing police violence toward demonstrators outside the center, independent media channels are getting the story out. This past week has seen some outrageous violations of citizen’s civil rights in the Twin Cities. A series of raids overseen by the FBI, HLS, and other agencies on activists and journalists took place in advance of the RNC. In the street police have been extremely violent toward peaceful demonstrators. Police have used a wide range of weapons
Legal aid groups estimate close to 350 known arrests of demonstrators to date. Only 50 of which have been released. Some have been held for over 60 hours. And there are some very disturbing reports that some people have been tortured while in jail by their captors; the ramsey county sheriffs department.
Last night a small march after a Rage Against the Machine concert was attacked by police and about 50 people were arrested. More protests are planned for today and there are fears of more police violence and human rights violations.
LA Indymedia RNC Coverage