Building a “citizen’s archive” of the RNC

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Nigel Parry wasn’t arrested, harassed or gassed during the RNC. But he was affected.At the Tilsner Artists’ Cooperative, where he’s lived on and off over the years, he shared a room a friend was renting out to people working for Indy Media and the Glass Bead Collective. “I spent the week with extremely freaked out and justifiably paranoid independent media people.”
var mnindyHeadline = “MORE FROM”; var mnindyHeadline2 = “Michigan Messenger”; He was getting “fog of war” reports all week. It was difficult to get the big picture — it still is. So Parry — a songwriter, photojournalist and web designer — started a paper archive of everything that happened outside the Xcel Energy Center in St. Continue Reading

U.S. Army at the RNC

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by Mary Turck • 10/8/08 • Army Col. Michael Boatner admitted October 7 that active-duty U.S. military were sent to St. Paul for the Republican National Convention. Col. Boatner, the future operations division chief of USNORTHCOM, told Amy Goodman on Democracy Now that the army was “up there in support of the US Secret Service. We provided some explosive ordnance disposal support of the event.”

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Guns and bombs and things that go boom in the night

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by Mary Turck • 10/2/08 • Over the past month, both Sheriff Bob Fletcher and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman referred to “guns and bombs” that “anarchists” brought to the RNC. The massive local, state and federal security presence is credited by both men with saving the city of St. Paul from the people with guns and bombs. But who were these people and how many guns and bombs did they bring?

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A “Pub-lican” at the RNC

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On the fourth night of the RNC, pub owner and self proclaimed “Pub-lican” Kieran Folliard found himself with a ticket to the RNC, and with a little Irish charm and wit snuck his way into the private party rooms of the convention. He was the Irish Trojan Horse of the Convention. It had been a busy week for Folliard, who was heading up the “party” of the Republican Party. Owner of several popular hotspots for RNC visitors, and an accidental guest at the convention itself, Folliard was witness and participant in the lighter side of the RNC week. Folliard, who was born in Ireland, has made his home in Minnesota for more than twenty years and has been a U.S. citizen for seven years. Continue Reading

RNC week business slow, yet prospects bright

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The Republican National Convention experience is getting mixed reviews from businesses who reported their fortunes, or lack thereof, to a Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce “listening session” which was held in partnership with the St. Paul Mayor’s Office. Keys Cafe, 500 North Robert Street, St. Paul, was headquarters for Chris Matthews, the no-holds barred news reporter host of MSNBC’s Hardball, during the Republican National Convention early this month. “We want to hear about your business experience, good and bad, during the Republican National Convention so that we can learn from your experience and use this information in the future,” Susan Kimberly, Vice President Economic Development told the September 17 meeting at the Chamber’s headquarters, 401 Robert St N, downtown St. Continue Reading

Political struggle and protest tactics

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The comments by Katrina Plotz regarding my criticism of the anarchists’ actions and the failure of the March organizers to focus on the political activism of the many instead on the antics of the few are clearly illustrative of the need for serious consideration and thinking about how to achieve change in our society. The Free Speech Zone offers a space for contributions from readers, without editing by the TC Daily Planet. This is an open forum for articles that otherwise might not find a place for publication, including news articles, opinion columns, announcements and even a few press releases. First, I want to say that I have a 20 year record of working with the Latino and immigrant communities in rural Minnesota opposing racism and discrimination. I have also worked in Minnesota , Arizona , Puerto Rico and in Spain against colonialism, imperialism and unrestrained globalization. Continue Reading

RNC policing: Would the real journalist please stand up?

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A forum held by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) in Minneapolis this week centered on the relationship between law enforcement and the media at the Republican National Convention (RNC) and indicated the extent to which journalism is evolving. The event was organized in response to the predicament that numerous journos found themselves in while they covered the convention: By the Minnesota Independent’s count, nearly 50 journalists were arrested or detained by police at the RNC, including MnIndy’s Paul Demko, while more than 800 people were taken into custody. St. Paul city officials announced last week that the city wouldn’t prosecute journalists facing “unlawful assembly” charges, but many still want to know why they ended up in plastic handcuffs in the first place, or what they could’ve done to prevent it. A couple reviews of RNC security efforts are being done in Minneapolis and St. Continue Reading

The Republican monoculture

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by Tom Heuerman, Ph.D. • 9/25/08 • A metaphorical monoculture in society or a political party is a group where everyone looks alike and sees, wears, does, reads, watches, and thinks the same thing.

As the 2008 election approaches, TCDP is receiving many thoughtful opinion columns about candidates and issues. The Soapbox blog offers a space for local opinion on (mostly) national and world issues, including elections.

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Man to file first lawsuit following RNC

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The Anti-War Committee is announcing a lawsuit regarding police violence during the Republican National Convention at a press conference in front of St. Paul City Hall, according to a press release. Mick Kelly, who carried the lead banner in an anti-war march on the final day of the RNC, will seek $250,000 in damages from Ramsey County and the cities of St. Paul, Minneapolis and Bloomington. During the march to the Xcel Energy Center, Kelly was injured from being hit by a “high velocity marking projectile,” and police tore the banner from the pole he was carrying. Continue Reading

Hundreds show up to hear denunciation of police response to the RNC

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For Karolyn Kirschgesler of St. Paul’s Rivercentre Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Republican National Convention was, with the exception of a few problems experienced by downtown businesses unfortunate enough to be located outside the security perimeter around the Xcel Center, a nearly unqualified success. It was, she testified Tuesday night, a “defining moment” – in a good way – for the city, an event less important for what happened the first week of September than as a boost to “business opportunities in the future.””St. Paul received some 31,000 mentions in the press,” she declared. “Almost all of them favorable.”But her sentiments were not shared by the more than two dozen other speakers who testified nor for the crowd of more than 250 who filled the St. Continue Reading