Repression

UPDATE 10/23: Photos from the rally

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Organized by Communities United Against Police Brutality, the first major protest in St. Paul after the Republican National Convention begins at 4:30pm at Wabasha Street and Kellogg Boulevard in downtown on Wednesday. Twin Cities Indymedia will be there! If you attend, publish your pictures, video or thoughts here after you get back!

From the calendar:

OCTOBER 22 NATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY,
REPRESSION AND THE CRIMINALIZATION OF A GENERATION

From mass police brutality during the RNC to the everyday brutality against people of color and poor people in the streets and in the jails, something has got to be done to end the reign of terror.

The grand jury originally scheduled for October 21 in Minneapolis has been postponed until November 17. At least five Texas activists were subpoenaed to the grand jury in relation to RNC protests. Two Texans, David McKay and Bradley Crowder, who both fell victim to an FBI informant, are already facing 10 years for allegedly possessing molotov cocktails, but it is suspected that this grand jury may pertain to a separate case. Grand juries have historically been used to divide and create distrust within movements, while serving as a fishing expedition and rubber stamp for the agenda of the prosecutor.

Original article: 5 TX Activists Subpoenaed

The RNC 8 aren't the only activists facing trumped up terrorism charges in the wake of the RNC. Dave Mahoney, one of the many who came to the Twin Cities to join thousands of local residents protesting the convention, is now facing new charges and the possibility of several years in prison.

According to his support site, Dave was arrested by FBI agents while bicycling to a grocery store on September 4th. After being accused of allegedly throwing a sandbag off a bridge, the Star Tribune reported on October 3 on that an assault charge against Dave had been dropped. But in a letter from Dave dated October 10 (below), he says that Ramsey County prosecutors plan to charge him with two counts of assault in the second degree and two charges of terroristic threats. His next court date is November 13 in St. Paul.

OCTOBER 22 NATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY,
REPRESSION AND THE CRIMINALIZATION OF A GENERATION

From mass police brutality during the RNC to the everyday brutality against people of color and poor people in the streets and in the jails, something has got to be done to end the reign of terror.

Come out and demand REAL solutions:

* We need a real civilian review authority that holds cops accountable and isn’t just a rubber stamp agency!
* End beatings and abuse in the jails­and prosecute brutal jailers!

* This Editorial from El Libertario (#54, September-October 2008, Venezuela) examines – from the current Venezuelan perspective – how authoritarian power builds its own security upon the destruction of collective security.

Civil insecurity is a problem that has certainly been inherited by the so-called Bolivarian government, the product of, among other things, an immense social debt with large sectors of the population, getting worse to the point of being considered the mayor problem experienced everyday by the people of Venezuela.

OUR US CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS OF THE FREE WORLD CONTINUE TO DENY MIDDLE CLASS AND WORKING POOR AMERICANS PROPER LEGAL REPRESENTATION EVEN THOUGH WRONGFUL EXECUTIONS & FALSE INCARCERATIONS CONTINUE ALL ACROSS THE USA ?????????????????

SENATOR OBAMA,THIS JUDICIAL INJUSTICE HAS BECOME AN AMERICAN ART FORM,AND NO LONGER CAN BE KEPT HIDDEN OR SECRET FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE EVEN IF CERTAIN (501c3) U$ RELIGIOU$ LEADER$ HAVE BEEN $ILENCED ??

Shout-out to all of you who are courageously out on the streets for real democracy and global emancipation!

Here's an info-packed 'zine on pepper spray, taser, and other technologies of repression. Medics, press, and legal teams will find it useful. We will also answer any questions by email.

The pdf is here:
gipfelsoli.org/rcms_repos/Antirepression/autonomedical_collective.pdf

A slightly newer version is also available, but is over 2mb and so cannot be posted here.

UPDATE 8/27:

Three video artists/journalists associated with Glass Bead Collective who were subject to an unconstitutional stop and seizure of their video equipment, personal property, notebooks, and phones in the early morning hours of August 26th, 2008, in Minneapolis, had all of their equipment and personal property returned in the morning of August 27th. Police obtained a search warrant on August 26th, presumably viewed all pictures and video pursuant to the warrant,and then released the property. The stated purpose of the warrant was to seek photographic evidence in support of an investigation of "criminal trespass." No charges have been filed or are expected.

New information has become available regarding the events on Wednesday, July 2nd when 8 people locked down to the driveway outside ATK (Alliant Tech Systems), a weapons manufacturer in Anoka, MN.

A source within one of the local law enforcement agencies that responded to the situation reports that at approximately 6 AM on the day of the lockdown, an hour and a half before the action took place, they received a call from the FBI to inform them of the impending action.

One of the nine arrested at the ATK weapons manufacturing plant in Anoka county last July recently received a visit from the St. Paul police department. Sergeant Scott Duff and a probation officer (whose name is not known) came to the arrestee's parents' house two weeks ago to chat. The arrestee, who was a juvenile at the time of the arrest, wasn't at home, and the officers spoke briefly with her mother outside of their house.