Its up to you to enforce your own Constitutional rights, and those rights can only be upheld by the second amendment. If a "stormtrooper" stomps on your head and you dont own a gun, well you cant protect your rights or uphold the constitution. Basicly, the way you and other protestors were treated is your own faults. If you were/are in the right, public opinion will save you. I don't care if you are dem,repub, or independant. Without owning that gun, you let your rights and others get trampled.

You can't expect the rights given to you if you just pick and choose from the Constitution,if each amendment wasn't mandatory to every citizen, then wheres all the slaves...oh yeah, its sorta tough to enslave an armed, responsible person.

Your words wont stop corrupt people from abusing you, infact it makes you a larger target.

However, I do look forward to hearing your "on the ground" report. There are some major discrepancys in the number of people reported. Also some video was shown of a cop hosing a man in the face with pepper spray, then the victim was pulled from the cops grasp by others. Protesters then beat on the cop till he retreated. I aplaud those protesters, as the victim was clearly running away from the violence when he was grabbed and unnessesarily sprayed/manhandled by the cop. Anyway, cant wait to hear about the next two days.

That is a brilliant report and the Rage Against the Machine bit was classic.Oh ,the power of music.You did well not to rise to the agent provocateur's bait.Honestly ,these people are completely immoral.Keep up the good work poster.I don't know if things are still going on in St Paul but if they are please be our eyes and ears,ATS expects....

Great first hand testimony!
You know 20 years ago, these protests would have been covered more thoroughly, even the accompanying concerts.
Now, it's just the provocateurs and young, uninformed marchers!!
It makes you wonder why the more democratic and liberal news don't cover it either!

LOVE the photos!
It's a wide range of people with some really creative props!

The clampdown is for ALL sides, repubs, dems and independants.

Originally posted by Dronetek
You have no proof that there were cops within the ranks of hippies, starting trouble. Thats something you are making up, to distract form the fact your little protest was nothing more than a trouble making session. You taunt the cops, till they bite than run around crying about it.

Im just telling you what I saw and it was fit the profile of a provocateur. It HAS been documented that such tactics have been used during recent years.

Again you are making a fool's generalizations. Maybe 1 in a 1000 people there was provoking police or breaking windows or anything arrest worthy.

As if these police needed any provoking. They have $34 million dollars worth of new toys to play with. You know they want to use them.

And again you make another attempt to belittle a movement you and people like you fear. There was no crying by any of the peace marchers.

But to me its seems you use the word crying to actually mean "voice opinion". So with the Dronetek translation we have: Protesters go crying when cops make illegal arrests and violate our civil and human rights.

We want to stop the war. We want and end to poverty. These are ideals every human should be behind because it is in the interest of humanity.

[edit on (9/3/08) by AllSeeingI]

I can only..no I would rather not imagine what would have happend and how far it would have gone had not the police been there to thwart this little "riot" that started.

And yes, tho it did not cause cars to get flipped over and set afire, or windows smashed out or fences torn down or people hurt, it most likely would have been had it not been for the cops stopping it before it got that far.

Again, everyone has the right to protest, freedom of speech and to demonstrate, but there is NO constitutional right whatsoever to instigate riots and meyhem. NONE WHATSOEVER!!!

So, after seeing the news footage of this little thing you want to call "a calm protest"...I saw plenty of tear gas canisters being fired, smoke bombs being fired and alot of the crowd wearing scarfs and hankies over their faces....to which usually that implies that those folks WANT to hide their identity and is ALWAYS seen by the instigators of riots.

I think the police did a fine job and support them in doing it again to keep the rowdy under control. Say what you have to say, hold up as many signs as you want, march in vast numbers if you like..but when protestors step out of line and think they have a right to riot...well that is when the long arm of the law must and WILL step in and stomp your little party right down to the ground and put a hault to it.

And yes, plenty of that was also happening at the DNC convention as well. Those protestors too, like those at the RNC, are NOT above law and order.

I did not see any police out there purposely causing this incident. And by all means please show proof and documentation that there have been instances where police and authorities have suited up in civilian clothes and purposely caused riots.

We are waiting...for PROOF!!!

Cheers!!!

It sounds to me like nothing happened that was wrong on the part of the authorities, but then I do not come to this thread with an agenda.