CCTV footage of the RNC "riot" that wasn't

[Downtown Hound]

Well, here it is. St. Paul, Ramsey County, and Minneapolis police and government officials have attempted to justify all of the police brutality and heavy handedness during the RNC because of what happened on Day 1. A group of supposed anarchists broke off from the main crowd and allegedly began trashing the city, including breaking the windows of a bank and a Macy's.

Prior to the convention, St. Paul installed a whole new CCTV camera system around the city (which is now a permanent fixture). They had originally promised that all footage from the cameras would be made public. But then they changed their minds, keeping it under lock and key where much of it remains to this day. However, some of that footage has been released. Here is video of the bank window being smashed. Bear in mind that on this day of the RNC, more than one hundred people were arrested and charged with felonies. Yet out of this crowd of over two hundred people, you can maybe see five or six that are actually causing damage. If this is a riot, it's the most pansy assed riot you could ever possibly witness.

Also bear in mind that the police crackdown continued throughout the week, even against the peaceful, permitted marches that went on. The police again used the anarchists from day one, on this video, as justification for the crackdown on peaceful marches later on.

http://rnc08report.org/archive/1018.shtml

[glowing]

1. I wouldn't doubt if those that destroyed the bank weren't infiltrators trying

to start a riot.. that is more likely the truth than not.

[EFerrari]

2. Before the China Olympics, Howard Zinn pointed out that the security

apparatus that is installed for the event remains afterwards and is used against the populace by the government.

[Downtown Hound]

3. Funny how that always seems to happen, isn't it? n/t

[EFerrari]

4. Like so many things that Howard has said, I thought he was exaggerating.

Until the moment I saw them manhandling Amy Goodman. If they can do that, they can do anything. And as usual, Howard is right.

[Downtown Hound]

5. Have you seen "Terrorizing Dissent?"

What the police did to Amy Goodman was nothing compared to what they did to others. Amy got the kid glove treatment.

[EFerrari]

6. I haven't but will look for it. Thanks for the rec. n/t

[Downtown Hound]

12. No need to look. I've got your back.

:)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNDQmm_TEMw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1_21-66Iek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYLyoSBr5YA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSqTa4SWTCA

I never miss out on an opportunity to show people this movie. Watch it. You will never view America the same way again.

[EFerrari]

16. Thank you!

:hi:

[Downwinder]

14. "Terrorizing Dissent" shows a riot, a cop riot!

[Downtown Hound]

15. Ain't that the truth? n/t

[norepubsin08]

7. Fucking Pigs

This all happened in a state led by a repuke governor and while a repuke President was in office-remember that!

[autorank]

8. So the top cop resigned in disgrace, right? k*r

More Matrix reality...there needs to be a law suit over this and a firing as well.

This is utterly outrageous.

[snot]

9. i too wouldn't be surprised if that guy weren't an instigator.

it was just so dumb.

[Downtown Hound]

11. The guy was supposedly caught and given a 60 day jail sentence

The thing is, there's a lot of speculation about whether or not anybody that's gone to jail for RNC related crimes is guilty or not. The government has yet to win a SINGLE prosecution in a court of law. So instead, they've resorted to intimidation tactics. Recently, a British man was given 30 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to dropping a sandbag from a highway overpass onto a bus of RNC delegates.

Prior to the plea, he steadfastly maintained his innocence. The prosecutor responded to his wanting to go to trial by charging him with 10 felony counts of assault, one for each person in the bus that was struck by the sandbag. He faced a possible 20 years in prison if he had gone to trial and lost.

Now what would you do if you were in his shoes? Would you take the 30 days and a felony charge that will become a gross misdemeanor after five years of good behavior? Or would you risk two decades in prison? I know that I'd probably take the 30 days. And if that's what St. Paul calls justice, then it's no wonder why we call them a police state.

[G_j]

10. and there were spies and agent provocateurs

http://allisonkilkenny.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/rnc-activist-outed-as-fbi-spy/

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/090808a.html

[Lydia Leftcoast]

13. And local right wing radio was in a full-on offensive during the RNC

I didn't even have to listen to it, because all the knuckle-draggers were writing into the Minneapolis Star-Tribune website ranting about "dirty smelly hippies" and "hate-crazed liberals" who were "throwing bricks at delegates" and "throwing bags of urine and feces at the cops." (There is no evidence that either type of throwing incident every happened.) I know it was right-wing radio, because everyone used exactly the same phrases, and unless they're all The Borg (although that possibility has crossed my mind), it's hard to believe that everyone came up with those phrases coincidentally.