Incredible Documentary Footage of Mass Arrest in St. Paul

Incredible Documentary Footage of Mass Arrest in St. Paul

www.alternet.org

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (September 18, 2008) Video released today shows the indiscriminate arrest of a crowd of two hundred at the waterfront across from a concert on Harriet Island Regional Park during this month's Republican National Convention in St. Paul. The video includes multiple angles of the event as well as an interview with the cameraman who buried his footage and was one of almost two hundred people arrested for rioting without probable cause.

More than eight hundred people were

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It's hard to believe while watching this video that this is going on in the US.



I didn't see anybody protesting or causing any kind of ruckus, no rioting, nothing!

I don't really understand WHY they arrested this group. Is the government just getting scared of large numbers of its citizens sitting around in a park?

All the articles and news from MSM at the time all these arrests took place said that those that were arrested were "protesters".

That's not what I saw in the video!

www.alternet.org
(visit the link for the full news article)

No, I think they are doing it to get the police and other enforcement agencies used to arresting citizens without cause, and testing the waters to see if the people have any resistance to it.

I dont like the look or feel of this. And notice that this huge violation of our rights didnt even make a ripple in the MSM.

Scary.

Both conventions suffered terrible police state politics, with the RNC being the worst. I agree that they are seeing just how far they can push before the sheeple morph back into people and take action.
I have noticed that absolutely NONE of the SS tactics used during the conventions made the mainstream. It is there job to report and hollywood starlets and let the real news get swept under the rug.

"May you live in interesting times" is grossly understated in today's world.

Wow. Truly horrifying.

This is about one thing, intimidation. They want everyone to be to afraid to protest against the government, because they know more and more people are starting to wake up. They want to show the people that if they get the knowledge and the courage to stand up, they will be thrown in jail or worse.

Its now blatant. There's no attempt to cover it up. They will just throw you in jail, and sort it out weeks later. Despite all of these peoples civil rights being violated, no one will be held accountable. At best, the folks of the RNC will give them a "Our bad" (if they're lucky) weeks down the road.

Meanwhile, the goal is accomplished. The meeting goes off without a hitch, and no one gets to hear the protest against it. The sick thing is in this video, it doesn't even look like anyone was really protesting. Thankfully the situation didn't turn bloody, and I'm so glad this gentleman was able to capture it on film so that everyone can see this abuse of power.

Now I know there will be those of you who say that these were just disrespectful youngsters that deserve it, but think about this. The way our economy is going, it looks like a lot of people may be in serious financial trouble. What if that was a protest of people who have lost their homes and can't afford food? It would be the same result. Round them up and throw em in jail.

Welcome to the police state. A handful of elites control the countries government, wealth, and media, while the average person is made poorer and poorer. And if you somehow see through their illusion, they'll hit you with tear gas, shove an automatic weapon in your face, and throw you in a hole.

reply to post by Grambler


Hmm.. 'no attempt to cover it up' ?

It did not hit Mainstream News, did it ?

For a lot of people, that is as good as a cover-up 'cause all they ever learn about world and national events is what they gather from the talespinners..

I think the era of people having rights is fast coming to an end, and soon you'll have scenes like the Tien-An-Men square.. I'm just not sure the tanks would stop this time around

This is why God created lawsuits.

I would sue the pants off of that city.

reply to post by Phatcat


I feel you, I made a poor choice of words. Of course the media is covering it up, they are bought and paid for. I just meant the police at these events don't even try to hide the fact that they are arresting people for absolutely no reason. It seems like in the past they would have used provocateurs to start violence so that they could arrest people.

Now, they don't even do that. They just blatantly toss you in the clinker. I think it is to just show how tough they are to the actual people to witnessed it. In other words, they are being more blatant to create more fear.

You are very right however that the media will cover it up. They don't want the people that still believe their lies to see this. But they are blatant to the people who have woken up and are at the rallies and have woken up.

I agree will all of your post though.

Charges Will Be Dropped Against Arrested Journalists at GOP Convention

Charges will be dropped against the journalists arrested for unlawful assembly at protests held during the Republican National Convention, according to the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune. "This decision reflects the values we have in St. Paul to protect and promote our First Amendment rights to freedom of the press," Mayor Chris Coleman said in a prepared statement Friday. "At the scene, the police did their duty in protecting public safety. In this decision, we are serving the public's interest to maintain the integrity of our democracy, system of justice and freedom of the press." Coleman said the city will use a broad definition of journalist when reviewing the cases, but does not know yet how many of the the 800 arrests will be affected by the decision.

The decision also reflects the fact that these arrests were (fill in the curse word) wrong!

I remember seeing on an Alex Jones movie footage of the police violently 'arresting' a group of pro-lifers who where holding a sit-in at an abortion clinic.

In this footage, they broke at least one guys arm with nunchuks, cuffed people behind their backs with those plastic strips they now have, totally preventing the stream of the blood circulation, and then dragging of the victims with a nightstick so their weight was hanging entirely from their allready molested wrists.

And this docu was taped years ago.. I believe around 2000.

Only the scale got bigger, their tactics in this instance where rather mild compared to the stuff some of these thugs-for-hire.. err.. police officers allready perpetrated down the years.

But they where smart enough to use the tactics on people allready ridiculed and set aside from mainstream life..

It's like that reverend said about the Nazi's after WW II:

'First, they came after the communists, and I held my tongue, for I was not a communist.'
'then, they came for the Jews, and I held my tongue, for I am not a Jew'
'then, homosexuals, and still I held my tongue'
'by the time they came for me, there was nobody left to raise their voice'

the thing to do if they are arresting them unlawfuly with the intention of undermining legitimate and lawful protest in the name of party politics,is to turn the arrest events themselves into a party political event.

with the right projection of the documented evidence,the arrest events can be made to be more damaging than the protests could have ever been themselves.

i doubt they will continue arresting people when its gonna loose em votes ;-)

I didn't see one person doing anything that would give the police cause to arrest anyone. Seems to me like they're prepping for martial law, especially since the national guard was involved.


That's the thing that bothers me the most, the fact that they are using our military against us. They military should not be involved in arrests. They took an oath to uphold and protect the consttution and here they are violating people's constitutional rights.


There was a law passed, i believe in 1878,The Posse Comitatus Law which prevents the military from being involved in arrests. Of course our president is trying to get this law changed, is anyone surprised by this. The national guard is exempt from that law since they are under the command of the governor. However IMO they shouldn't be since they are a part of the military.


The national guard is called out for local, or state emergencies such as storms, droughts, civil disturbances, etc. Funny i didn't see any signs of an emergency on that video. I sure didn't see any civil disturbances. They're training them to put the government above the country, they're supposed to protect us, NOT the government.


I would say that besides sueing the city, these people could also sue the state because of the use of the national gaurd.

My only thought is that they could have repeatedly asked to move along or it was designated a 'zone area' bound by some sort of short-term order.

Either way, that was kind of scary.

Any news on the charges? Were there any?

This is simply repulsive, and completely uncalled for.

Maybe the reason that the police are so quick to act anymore is because the Govt' knows full well they are wrong and are preparing for a much worse scenario???

Simply Sickening.

Later,...... Ausable_Bill

Under arrest for sitting in a park.

The US is working hard on tearing down what the country once stood for.

It's hard to believe while watching this video that this is going on in the US.

I disagree. This is the new United States, its time to get with the program. Nobody who takes part in protests will be tolerated. Who cares if they let the people go afterwards? They just wrongfully arrested hundreds of people without the media even mentioning it.



[edit on 20-9-2008 by Copernicus]

wheres your friendly neighborhood sniper when you need him... a few cops shot in the balls would put a stop to there bullying...

Sniping cops wont help.
The individual cops are not the problem.
The problem is the guy(s) who command them.
The corrupt little puppets.
Go snipe them.
Or kick them out of there job.
Either will do.

sometimes I wonder, have these cops been brainwashed?

anyhow, the video is scary, and some may have skimmed through that family jewels docs from the CIA where they admitted spying on anti-war protesters.

Anyone know wany other good police footage from the conventions??

And we're all just martyrs, aren't we?





I know it just can't be Northern Ireland that has the fighting spirit!


The year 1776 comes to mind, but I can't quite put my finger on it....

[edit on 20-9-2008 by DeadFlagBlues]