Posted on 11/13/2007 2:24:31 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
MINNEAPOLIS - Shrouded in black, with a bandanna masking her face, a self-proclaimed anarchist slips into her combat boots and dashes through town, tossing a Molotov cocktail here, launching a bowling ball there.
The YouTube video is more parody than threat: The flaming cocktail ignites a charcoal grill, and the bowling ball knocks down pins instead of crashing through a Navy recruiting office window. But as the video fades to black, the message on-screen is clear: "We're getting ready. What are you doing?"
With less than 10 months to go before the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St.Paul, activists are already plotting to crash the party.
On the drawing board: A mass march to protest Iraq; human roadblocks; schemes to disrupt public transportation; and talk of a temporary free state near the main convention site, St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center.
With tens of thousands of people expected to visit the Twin Cities during the convention Sept. 1-4, local and federal law enforcement are getting ready as well.
Civil rights groups and attorneys are talking with police and demonstrators to ensure laws are followed during what will likely be the largest crush of people the state has seen in years.
"It's better to be planning early rather than late," said Jordan Kushner, coordinator of the Legal Observer and Political Defense Committee, a committee within the National Lawyers Guild. "People have as much right to the streets as the Republicans who are coming here to engage in their activities."
St. Paul Police Commander Doug Holtz said the city is working out details on how to accommodate protesters, but declined to go into them. "The city of St. Paul is going to be well-prepared to have an excellent convention," he said.
The group behind the spoof video, the RNC Welcoming Committee, began organizing last fall and says it is helping other groups organize, too.
Members of the group declined to meet with an Associated Press reporter or talk by phone, confining their exchanges to e-mail.
The group says it will help protesters find food, housing and medical support during the convention. It also plans to provide maps of roads, bridges and sites to aid in planning. And it intends to create a family-friendly area for children of protesters.
Protesters also are getting ready for the Democratic National Convention in Denver Aug. 25-28.
The group "Recreate 68"a reference to the troubled 1968 Democratic National Conventionseeks to serve the same umbrella function as the RNC Welcoming Committee in Minnesota, by supporting other protesters.
Recreate 68 is anti-war and opposed to the two-party system, member- spokesman Glenn Spagnuolo said.
The RNC Welcoming Committee describes itself as an anarchist/anti- authoritarian group. When asked about the use of violence, the group wrote in an e-mail: "We may choose to use pacifist tactics, but we will defend ourselves, our communities, and the Earth. We will not bring violence to the protests, but we will not back down and we will not be terrorized."
The group said it also would not apply for a permit to demonstrate, saying: "We will not allow the state to regulate our resistance."
Some groups who have applied have been frustrated to find the city of St. Paul won't grant them until six months before the convention.
Mick Kelly, a spokesman for the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War, said his group plans a massive anti-war march on the convention's first day. It's important to get a permit early so people can plan travel from around the country, he said.
"The Republican National Conventionthey've begun their preparations full-press," Kelly said. "We in the anti-war movement need to do the same thing."
Teresa Nelson, legal counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, said the ACLU wants to make sure protesters are close enough to the convention so they can be seen and heard.
The ACLU and other observers will be on hand to ensure protesters' civil rights aren't violated and to avoid a repeat of the 2004 Republican Convention in New York, when more than 1,800 people were arrested. Some of those people said they weren't protesters at all but were swept up by police. Some lawsuits are still pending.
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Buying lots of ammo and practicing at little anarchist targets quite a bit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LLS
Maybe I just haven't had enough caffeine yet, but since when do people have the right to be "seen and heard"? Freedom of speech? Check. Freedom of (lawful) assembly? Check. Freedom to be "seen and heard"?
"Waiting for you!"
What am I doing? Sighting in the .308...
Where is Tricky Dick Nixon when you need him....
Homeland Security - are you paying attention? Protest and threats of violence are not the same thing. These people are obviously condoning and preparing for terrorist activities.
I suppose maybe Seattle could boast wackier anarchists than MSP, but our home-grown loons are certainly world class. A lot of hippies must have stopped in Minnesota on their way back to LA from Woodstock. And they never left.
The anarchists stand no chance against the GOE.
Foxnews: What are you protesting today?
Paid-activist-idiot: "I don't know, they haven't told me yet."
The RNC meeting should be switched to the dead of winter in Minneapolis. That should be quite enough to curb any protests.
Theoretically, if they are setting up an anarchist free state, anything goes. Thus, it should be possible to give them a taste of anarchy.
Plus, I’ve always wondered. Do things done to anarchists still fall under the law? For, logic would dictate being outside of the law would work both ways. Does it really work like that?
And don’t forget. Every day is punch an anarchist in the face day. After all, that’s anarchy.
Well, if they truly want to re-create 1968, then they should expect that all of their protesters will get the h*ll beaten out of them by police with batons and on horses. Hmmmmm, maybe they SHOULD re-create 1968.
They painted this on the steps of Capital Hill:
They took the brass off the noses of these guys:
And the traitors squirted oil on the Vietnam Wall:
I would say they have made plans and executed plans and this group needs to be taken seriously, Now, Code Pink and ANSWER could be behind some of this vandalism too, because they all have threatened our Memorials, Capital Building, and recruiting offices.
So, they all need to be taken seriously. I call them all traitors. I like it when they tell me that I don't have the right to question their Patriotism. I say, if you have the right to act like a traitor, then I damn sure got the free speech to call you a traitor.
Ain't that right, Molette67:
The traitors have no clue what is waiting for them:
yes you are 100% right those people need to learn some respect like a good old ass whippin. or something to that effect
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