News Cut: August 30, 2008 Archive

We're underway

Posted at 8:37 AM on August 30, 2008 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: The political conventions

For all practical purposes, the Republican National Convention is underway with the first police raid of the convention.

The anarchists group "RNC Welcoming Committee" claims police raided their offices, and photographed them. CNN reports a police spokesman said "we were executing a search warrant," although the reasons for the search warrant weren't made available.

Update: MPR's Laura Yuen reports a suspicion of "bomb-making materials" prompted the raid.

The group is holding a news conference this morning. The police are scheduled to hold one as well. Both are scheduled for the same time. (10 a.m.)

It issued a statement claiming the transgression was a fire code violation.

The Web site TwinCities IndyMedia also is carrying submitted text messages reporting house raids in the Twin Cities. Here's the link but be forewarned: There's no independent confirmation .

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The no-fly zone

Posted at 2:09 PM on August 30, 2008 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)

The skies are about to get as quiet as they've been since the Northwest pilots went on strike.

Starting Monday, the Feds are putting up the "no fly" zone around the Twin Cities. Even Osceola, Wisconsin is under the no-fly zone. This chart is what the FAA distributes to show pilots where they can't fly. For the most part, they can't fly anywhere except under certain conditions.

The zone is 30 miles in all directions from the Xcel Center and extend up to 18,000 feet (everyone above 18,000 feet is on instrument flight rules and under the direction of an air traffic controller anyway)

The no-fly is active:

Noon until 11:59 p.m. local Monday, September 1
4 p.m. until 11:59 p.m. local Tuesday, September 2
4 p.m. until 11:59 p.m. local Wednesday, September 3
4 p.m. until 11:59 p.m. local Thursday, September 4

The airports affected are:

St. Paul Downtown Holman Field (STP),
South St. Paul Municipal-Richard E Fleming Field (SGS),
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain (MSP),
Wipline SPB (09Y), Winner's Landing SPB (0MN0), Lake Elmo (21D),
Benson (6MN9), Surfside SPB (8Y4), Crystal (MIC),
Anoka County-Blaine Arpt(Janes Field) (ANE), Peterson SPB (31MN),
Flying Cloud (FCM), Forest Lake (25D), Airlake (LVN),
Fudpucker International SPB (MY36), Nielsen's (MY97),
Marty's Tranquility Base SPB (45D), Lake Minnewashta SPB (MN02),
Amundson SPB (21MN), Maple (MN69), Ingleside (MN66), The Pass SPB (MN80),
New Richmond Regional (RNH), Stocker Pvt (MN63), Molnau Airpark (1MN5)
Ceder Lake SPB (WI35), Stanton Airfield (SYN),
L O Simenstad Municipal(OEO)

If you're interested in such things, find the FAA order here.

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Protest groups decry raids, but refuse to answer reporters' questions

Posted at 10:37 AM on August 30, 2008 by Bob Collins (13 Comments)
Filed under: The political conventions

The self-styled "anarchists" in St. Paul are positively organized when it comes to stonewalling the media.

A coalition of groups held a news conference at Harriet Island this morning, to protest the raid of their office on Smith Ave., in St. Paul, and several other houses in the metro.

After a series of speeches detailing various allegations against police, I asked a speaker if there was any evidence that law enforcement had infiltrated their organizations.

"Absolutely," said Cheri Honkala, who says she's from Minnesota. She then detailed already-well-documented evidence about infiltrations in 2004. New York spied broadly on the groups well in advance of the Republican convention in New York, the New York Times reported.

"That was 2004, I'm asking about 2008," I said.

As one member of the coalition tried to answer a question, the leader of the group cut him off and announced "The Welcoming Committee will not be answering questions."

Listen

Just prior to that Honkala made an impassioned speech about the importance of the news media in covering a story.

update 2:53 p.m.
A news release from the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office says these items were confiscated during the raid in St. Paul:

Materials used in creating "sleeping dragons" (pvc pipe, chicken wire, duct tape)
Large amounts of urine (including 3 - 5 gallon buckets of urine)
Wrist Rockets
Assorted edged weapons including a machete, hatchet and several throwing knives
Gas mask and filter
Empty glass bottles
Rags
Flammable liquids
Homemade Caltrops (devises used to disable buses in roads)
Metal pipes
Axes
Bolt cutters
Sledge hammers
Old tires (for burning)
Repelling equipment
Kryptonite locks
Empty plastic buckets cut and made into shields
Material for protective padding
An army helmet

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Who is Bob Fletcher?

Posted at 2:51 PM on August 30, 2008 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)

The Ramsey County Sheriff is suddenly in the spotlight for orchestrating raids, days before the Republican National Convention was to begin. This is after one Twin Cities mayor, visiting Denver, which had a very heavy police presence, promised a more "low key approach."

In a news release today, Fletcher defended the raids on the RNC Welcoming Committee:

The "Welcoming Committee" is a criminal enterprise made up of 35 self- described anarchists who are intent on committing criminal acts before and during the Republican National Convention. These acts include tactics to blockade and disable delegate buses, breaching venue security and injuring police officers. They have recruited assistance in their criminal conspiracy from other anarchists groups throughout the country. Through their plans and actions they have exhibited a blatant disregard for the law and the safety of others

The raids have launched Fletcher into the spotlight, but the raids are not his first encounter with controversy.

Scenes from a raid

Posted at 2:56 PM on August 30, 2008 by Bob Collins (9 Comments)
Filed under: Crime and Justice, The political conventions

Sara Coffey is a volunteer with the National Lawyers Guild (she's not a lawyer). She's standing handcuffed in the middle of Iglehart Street in St. Paul. The police who surrounded a home there had warned her, she says, that if she tried to leave, she would be detained.

She tried to leave. Listen

Denis Moynihan, of the group, Democracy Now, Free Speech TV, read an e-mail from those inside the house, saying they were (are) "media activists." Moynihan told me he was on his way to the house to pick up a colleague from a group called, Eyewitness Video, when he saw the police.

Listen

The neighbors watched the show, as did a few dozen media activists, posting material to YouTube and various independent Web sites. Curiously, the only mainstream media at the raid were MPR and Al Jazeera. I suppose I've left the door open for an obvious and cliched comment.

After about an hour of waiting, police officials on the scene told the ACLU that a warrant had been signed and would soon be delivered.

Some months ago, City Pages carried a story claiming police and federal officials were looking for people to infiltrate groups coming to St. Paul to protest the Republican National Convention. The raids on the eve of the convention would suggest they had some luck in that effort.

The raids have put the protest groups on their heels. "The problem for us now is the panic this is causing around the area," one organizer told me. "Phones are ringing everywhere, saying 'the police are coming.'"

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Minneapolis-St. Paul 1 Denver 0

Posted at 10:35 PM on August 30, 2008 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: The political conventions

The traditional Saturday-before-the-convention-starts media party at a national political convention is the first opportunity for the host city (or cities in this case) to impress the largest group of attendees -- the media. Last Saturday night, Denver hosted its party at an amusement park.

On Saturday night, the MSP 2008 host committee held its party on a plaza between the Guthrie Theater and the Mill City Museum. The reviews? The Twin Cities wins. "Bad beer and bad food" one wag told me of the Denver party. There were no such comments about the Twin Cities' showing. Without the traditional media partner, the committee was able to pull together Minnesota restaurants and specialty food shops, in an impressive setting.

People like Carolynn Kimmes and Mooraly Baradan, of Edna's Caramels.

With plenty of help from volunteers. There was a concern some months ago that the Twin Cities wouldn't have enough volunteers. In June, they were still 4,000 volunteers shy of their goal. But organizers found plenty. Many, like these three, were hoping to get an assignment inside Xcel Energy Center. No luck. They got stuck with us media. No complaints, mind you, but they all want to do more events in the coming week.

This was also the first chance to see the "low key" police presence for the convention, compared to Denver. There, Secret Service agents in kevlar vests greeted the media. In Minneapolis, there were plenty of police, but they didn't appear ready to stage an assault. Inside the party, the only obvious police officers were Chief Tim Dolan and Deputy Chief Sharon Lubinski.

These kids appear to be the youngest media members at this week's convention...

Hawal Arjiri, Myles Miller and Anna Arena, from New York, are covering the convention for Children's Press Line. Give the link a click; they do some pretty good work, and don't pull any punches.

Here's a few more snapshots...

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