What is At Stake Here At the RNC (Or What Was At Stake Here)

reports of cops giving 10min warning before deployment of chemical agents at j. ireland

Report of police donning gas masks at kobasha and cedar, joined by line of riot police with tear gas.

confirmed: 5 min warning to disperse given at cedar and 12th. its 630

marchers now being detained one by one and led to police vans

mpls Riot cops suiting up in mpls at hennepin and 4th; going to st. paul--according to report from someone on site

victim reports of police clubbing, pepper spraying at march in st. paul

riot cops or swat team coming, reported heading from minneapolis at washington bridge black vans, SUVs.

27 arrested at 12th and cedar. police arresting many of march leadership, reporter (susan from uptake)

report that riot police have arrived at 12th and Cedar

reports of concussion grenades and tear gas deployed at University and Rice

This account, posted on Minnesota Independent, which offers a more comprehensive report on Thursday than I can offer, is particularly invigorating:

A medic and some members of the Mn Peace Team surround a young protester writhing and screaming on the ground, clawing at his eyes. “We need someone to come and take this young man to a hospital,” says a Peace Team member into a phone. The protester is Misael Ivan Lopez, age 20, who grew up in East St. Paul and now lives in Uptown Minneapolis. In between gasps for air and rolling around waiting for his eyes to clear, he related what happened.

“I went to the wrong circle up there,” he said, motioning toward University Avenue, “and I got closed in. They weren’t trying to close me in, but it was just like how everything was happening. Everyone was riding around and I ended up being by myself with another guy on a bike in a fucking square full of guys who were like—they tackled me as I was trying to put myself on the ground. I was already face down when a guy threw my camera and pulled my stuff off me and turned my head [toward him] and sprayed me. They grabbed my face and sprayed me after I had already dropped down and fetal-ed.” A medic put another dose of water into his eyes. “I saw him coming so I hit the ground because I didn’t want to get hit—I fetal-ed,” he repeated. “They stretched me out and turned me so I was on my back and another guy pulled my goggles off and he sprayed me. My goggles were already tilted a little bit”—he pointed to a space between his eye and his left ear—“and the guy ripped them off the rest of the way and sprayed me. Aaargh!” he yelled, in pain and frustration, and flipped back on his side. Fetal-ed.

There's more video and photos here in this Twin Cities Independent post.

396 were arrested Thursday night. Thursday night brought the total number of people arrested during the RNC to over 800.

We should all take the time to thank the brave independent, alternative, and corporate journalists who hung around and were subsequently arrested for believing they needed to be their to cover the scene. What was happening was news and arrests of journalists were utterly gratuitous. See this press conference for more on the violent suppression of journalists.

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