The Republican National Convention in Minneapolis is happening against the backdrop of police raids and outright fascist tactics towards protesters and bystancers over the last 5 days. Over the weekend, FBI, Secret Service and Minneapolis police raided a houses that were being used in planning for upcoming permitted activities for the RNC.
At least 5 private homes were ransacked, with nothing stolen, in an attempt to intimidate protest organizers. The Ramsey County Police Department raided the home of residents, as well as other locations around the city, see youtube below. They broke through the doors and held people, including children at gunpoint.
Monday, about 10,000 marched against the war in a permitted protest, which, like those in Denver, took months of court battles to gain. Tuesday the musicians from Rage Against the Machine were set to play at the permitted rally space at the state captiol, but police refused to let them set up. Riot police were moving in as the permit was to run out at 7:00 pm.
Local TV is carrying footage of people being tackled by police while standing in the street, or on the sidewalk, and pepper sprayed. Jodin Morey, (left) organizer for Impeach for Peace in Minneapolis, reports being hit with rubber bullets tonight while he was wearing an orange jumpsuit to protest detentions at Guantanamo. Audio from Jodin.
The arrest tally from Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office was: 284 total; 130 felonies; 51 gross misdemeanors; 103 misdemeanors. 
The jail is seemingly severely backed up and not everyone has been booked or processed, so these numbers clearly don’t represent the total arrestee count for the day. These numbers also do not necessarily include the numbers of arrestees whose identifications have not been verified.
The arrestees from this weekend’s raids, five of them are still being held at Ramsey County Jail on probable cause, which means that they might not be able to see a judge until Tuesday or Wednesday. One of the arrestees was released Monday evening.
Though some people have been cited and released, the majority are still being held in jail. We’ve gotten many reports that people are not getting proper medical attention, are being refused their medication, and/or have been separated from the rest of the group.
Also, there are also many felony charges, which allow the state to hold the protesters for a longer period of time. Felony charges have historically been used as scare tactics against activists, and there is much less precedent for them to hold up in court. More often, these bogus charges are simply used to keep protesters off the streets and as a way to oppress and silence people.
Please show your support and solidarity by calling the jail at 651.266.9350 and demand that people are given proper medical attention, are given access to their medication, and are not separated from the larger group! Also, demand that arrestees’ charges are dropped and that they are released immediately!
You can also call the Ramsey County Sheriff’s office at 651.487.5149 or the St. Paul Mayor’s office at 651.266.8510.
Members of Tacoma Students for a Democratic Society, including filmaker Joseph LaSac, was arrested while documenting a breakaway march. youtube. The jail said he is being charged with a felony for Probably Cause of Rioting. Today’s Democracy Now! mentions Joe as well:
We must all stand with those who have been unlawfully arrested and charged by overloading the jail, Ramsey County Sheriff’s office and the Mayor’s office with phone calls, faxes and TELL THEM THEY MUST STOP THE POLICE STATE NOW AND RELEASE ALL THOSE HELD WITH CHARGES DISMISSED! We cannot accept anything less, or they will win.
Elaine Brower , The World Can’t Wait – Drive Out the Bush Regime