Journalists covering the Republican National Convention were held at gunpoint during pre-emptive “security” raids, swept up in mass arrests with protesters, detained for several hours to several days, had their equipment confiscated, and were roughed up by police. Now journalists and citizens of St. Paul are demanding all charges be dropped.
Audio of video Two Incidents (Watch Live at Uptake.org
1 - Uptake reporter covers march that comes under fire by gasbombs when trying to cross street
2 - At Park Uptake journalist and others forced to sit down with hands on head while arrests are made journalists allowed to leave others peppersprayed and arrested.
Audio of video of an interview with a lawyer from the NLG about a police raid conducted on 08-30-2008
Watch streaming video of police raids, protest actions at the RNC at http://theuptake.org/
National Lawyers Guild: Police Raid "Preventive Detention"
We start by looking forward to the conventions, including a discussion of the platform they provide for activism. Then onto recent local activism: a protest about inadequate wage increases at the U of Illinois, and a rally on energy policy. We spend an extended period discussing energy policy and public transit. We close by talking about the reputed agreement between the Iraqi and US governments on a timetable for withdrawal.