Activists Already Planning RNC Disruptions

[truthpusher]

Source: AP

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ― Shrouded in black, with a bandanna masking her face, the self-proclaimed anarchist slips into her combat boots and dashes through town, tossing a Molotov cocktail here, launching a bowling ball there.

The YouTube video is more parody than threat: The flaming cocktail ignites a charcoal grill, and the bowling ball knocks down pins instead of crashing through a Navy recruiting office window. But as the video fades to black, the message onscreen is clear: "We're getting ready. What are you doing?"

With less than 10 months to go before the Republican National Convention, activists are already plotting to crash the party. On the drawing board: A mass march to protest Iraq; human roadblocks; schemes to disrupt public transportation; and talk of a temporary free state near the main convention site, St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center.

With tens of thousands of people expected to visit the Twin Cities during the convention Sept. 1-4, local and federal law enforcement are getting ready as well. And civil rights groups and attorneys are talking with police and demonstrators -- to ensure laws are followed during what will likely be the largest crowd crush the state has seen.



Read more: http://wcco.com/local/rnc.protests.activists.2.565825.html

[liberal N proud]

1. A real test for bu$h's police state

[Kolesar]

2. A month after "Black Fly" season

How fortunate for those who will be outside demonstrating.

[Odin2005]

3. Great, just what we need, a bunch of Anarchists making us look bad.

:banghead:

[gratuitous]

4. Uhm, nothing's happened yet

How does that make "us" "look bad"? Kinda jumping the gun, aren't you?

[Odin2005]

7. Anarchists have a habit of inciting the police, thus ruining protests.

Of course some of those disrupting "anarchists" are police plants, I but highly doubt that the majority of them are.

[gratuitous]

9. Well, from my experience

It takes exactly one disruptor to give the line of cops itching to bust some heads the excuse they need to wade into the crowds. The disruptor, whom nobody's seen before, is grabbed by the first wave of cops (sometimes he screams about police brutality), no one ever sees him again, and he's never brought to trial or charged with anything.

[skyblue]

15. An image thing. Love the costumes, signs, power suits. But 60's wear detracts

like 60's wear and such anywhere else. Just not persuasive.

[CatholicEdHead]

6. Plan to stay far away from the Cities during GOP Convention week

[Bjorn Against]

14. I plan on staying right outside the XCel center on Convention weekend

I hope to see lots of DUers traveling out here to help me welcome the Republicans.

[evilkumquat]

8. Of Course, With "Free Speech Zones"...

...conveniently situated as far away as possible from the object of the protests, anyone who tries to do anything even remotely effective in terms of protesting (like, oh, I don't know- actually marching IN FRONT OF THE PEOPLE AGAINST WHOM THEY ARE PROTESTING!) are guilty of being anarchist.

This country was founded (in part) by anarchist methods.

Perhaps it is time to start dusting them off.

Evil Kumquat

[msongs]

5. these people oughta do something that benefits society instead of their own egos

volunteer in homeless outreach, help their neighbors, sign up to help their local political candidate, protest in thir own towns, lots of choices more useful that publicizing the confab of their "enemies". protesting at the RNC will generate more ill will than it will make up for with advancing progressive causes.

Msongs

[tanyev]

10. I guess the HR department at Blackwater is getting ready, too.

Somebody's going to have to protect all those precious Republicans.

[ileus]

11. too bad the taser has replaced the age old "wood shampoo" these peeps need it.

[tomg]

12. From what I am inferring from the full article,

The RNC Welcoming Committee, the ones who made the video, seem a lot closer to a cross between the old Yippies - anyone remember Pigasus? - and the Diggers than they do the Anti-WTO Anarchists. Could be wrong. Should be interesting.

The other group mentioned in the same article - Recreate 68 - which is scheduled to be organizing at the Democratic Convention could be a little dicier if it looks like the Democrats don't come out against Iraq.

[Bjorn Against]

13. Fuck the AP, they do this before every big protest...

We are always hearing about the anarchists and their molotov cocktails, but they fail to mention that such violent attacks by protesters hardly ever happen. They said this was going to happen at the last Republican National Convention too, they said it was going to happen in all the protests leading up to the war, but it didn't happen. The truth is there has been far more violence by police in protests than there has been by protesters, yet our media still insists on focusing on these scary anarchists they keep warning us about.

This is nothing more than propaganda.