Posted on 05/14/2008 6:06:32 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo
A group of demonstrators protesting the war in Iraq will be allowed to parade as close as 300 feet from the Xcel Energy Center on the first day of the Republican National Convention, police said Wednesday.
But protesters - who plan to march from the state Capitol to the site of the convention and back again - say that's not good enough.
The authorized route released Wednesday will allow marchers near the Xcel Energy Center at the corner of West 7th Street and West 5th Street - an intersection kitty-corner and across the street from the auditorium. The route is only authorized for Sept. 1, the first day of the four-day convention, said Assistant Police Chief Matthew Bostrom.
"This is as close as we can get to the skin of the building, if you will," Bostrom said during a news conference. He said there will be no barbed wire or black cloth that entirely blocks the view of the building.
A group called the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War received a conditional parade permit more than two months ago but didn't learn of its route until Wednesday.
"We're very unhappy with it," said Jess Sundin, a spokeswoman for the Anti-War Committee. "We're expecting something like 50,000 people. We need big streets ... The amount of space that they are proposing we turn around in is not possible."
The protesters wanted a route that would allow them to march on the streets immediately surrounding the Xcel Energy Center.
In addition, Sundin said, the permit allows marchers to leave the Capitol at noon and requires them to be away from the intersection nearest the Xcel Center by 2 p.m., which won't give them much time to march or guarantee they'll be near the facility when delegates are there.
No bicycles or vehicles will be allowed along the parade route.
Bostrom said the route could be modified before the convention, but the point where protesters are nearest the Xcel Center won't be moved further away.
In addition, Bostrom said, facilities such as the Dorothy Day Center will remain open during the convention and the parade and will be accessible from certain directions.
Police spokesman Tom Walsh said the department estimates it will have 3,000 to 3,500 officers on duty during the four-day convention.
Sundin said the protesters will continue to pressure the city to change the route. A hearing is set for Friday in federal court to challenge various issues surrounding the permit.
Ain't gonna happen. The anti-war movement isn't anti-war, it's anti-Bush and by then they'll have realized that they've lost. No Impeachment.
They'll get a couple of thousand, 5,000 tops.
The 60's are over.
You have to realize that many that will blow into town for the protest believe in their hearts that GWB is running for a third term.....
Their right to protest does NOT supersede the RIGHT of the GOP to peaceful assembly for the Constitutional purpose of nominating their next Presidential Candidate.
So the convention is in St Paul, that bastion of conservativism.
How many will arrive from other countries to protest our election? The G8 summit/WTO protesters need to have their travel visas refused. They are not “owed” entry to riot in American streets.
Local politicians (DFL) have been courting, welcoming the protest groups, including the anarchists, since the announcement that the RNC would held in St. Paul.
Yeah, the national media continues to get it wrong, stating thst the RNC is in Minneapolis.
No real difference, politically...
We’re expecting a large contingent of out of town “bodies” to take up space and artificially swell the numbers for the media....local, national and international.
Many won’t even know why they are there.
Think: Iraq’s Rage Boy......
If there is Leftist violent rage at the 2008 GOP convention, will it get sympathy for the GOP in the fall? Knowing who the Obamabarians are howling at the gate?
I’m not sure how this is going to play out, sympathy-wise.
My predictions.......
1. There will be violence, initiated by the leftists/anarchists.
2. The violence will be defended by the DFL politicians that have invited and welcomed the leftists/anarchists.
3. There’s a good chance that you’ll see my face on the local and national news.
.. and at least half of those are prolly only there to try to get laid.
I don’t know - I’m thinking it’s going to be Republican voters swelling the ranks.
Gee, sounds like a nonpolitical humanity driven compassionate group worthy of the Nobel Peace Award. /s
Yep they will, with a proposed tax to help alleviate this concerning issue in the future.
Fine, upstanding and knowledgeable people without an agenda, so give them a break. LOL!
As you well know, the local commies will be giving them a wide berth.....
You forgot your sarcasm tag Rocky. ; )
I know.
bastion of conservatism and somalian moon-god worshippers.
Any elected politicians who deliberately conspired (by inviting and shielding known rioters) to disrupt the GOP convention should be exposed on national television as corrupt. The city should be boycotted by any future conventions (political or not) because of the way that the host treated the convention that it courted.
How many millions has $oros given them?
So what, the far-left’s going to have full control of the country starting next year anyway, so these protests are a waste of time.
The far-left needs to start planning on how they’re going to complain once suicide-bombings, sharia law and the like become commonplace here as a result of them getting what they’re asking for.
Well conservatives will be safe and sound because there wont be any at the RNC convention........
What the h*e)l*l is the GOP thinking having the convention in a far-left bastion like Minneapolis? In this election year where the republican base is fragmented anyway, they could have had their convention in a strong conservative city like Dallas or Las Vegas but NO, they have to shoot themselves in the foot and give the anarchists a chance to be disruptive. If I didn’t know better I would almost believe it is sabotage from within the party...wft? WHO IS DRIVING THIS BOAT???
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