http://www.twincities.com/ci_10344356?nclick_check=1
(((Maybe, while the 20-something Black Bloc contingent here is cooling their heels in the local jug, they can take some comfort in the fact that the globalizing WTO is even more snakebitten and luckless than they are.)))
By Mara H. Gottfried
Article Last Updated: 08/30/2008 01:59:05 PM CDT
Law enforcement personnel guard the front of a hall on South Smith
Avenue after an RNC demonstration planning meeting was halted at in
St. Paul on Friday night August 29, 2008. Some two dozen attendees were detained. (Pioneer Press: Richard Marshall)
Weapons and devices to disable buses - among other items - were found in searches in the Twin Cities last night and today by Ramsey County sheriff's deputies.
Authorities said the items came from "key members of the RNC Welcoming
Committee," a self-described anarchist group.
Five people have been arrested and four properties have been searched, according to the sheriff's office.
At 8 a.m. today, the sheriff's office executed search warrants at three Minneapolis homes - 2301 23rd Ave. S., 3500 Harriet Ave. and
3240 17th Ave. S. They were assisted by the FBI, Minneapolis police and the Hennepin County sheriff's office.
"The 'Welcoming Committee' is a criminal enterprise made up of 35
anarchists who are intent on committing criminal acts before and during the Republican National Convention," said Sheriff Bob Fletcher in a statement. "These acts include tactics to blockade and disable delegate buses, breaching venue security and injuring police officers.
They have recruited assistance in their criminal conspiracy from other anarchists groups throughout the country. Through their plans and actions they have exhibited a blatant disregard for the law and the safety of others." (((Well, that makes the stakes pretty clear – looking forward to the "Chicago-8" style hippie show-trial here.)))
The statement said the items found in the searches included:
# materials to creating "sleeping dragons" (PVC pipe, chicken wire, duct tape), which is when protesters lock themselves together
# large amounts of urine, including three to five gallon buckets of urine
# wrist rockets
# a machete, hatchet and several throwing knives
# a gas mask and filter
# empty glass bottles
# rags
# flammable liquids
# homemade caltrops (devises used to disable buses in roads)
# metal pipes
# axes
# bolt cutters
# sledge hammers
# rapelling equipment (((that would have been kind of awesome)))
# Kryptonite locks
# empty plastic buckets cut and made into shields
# material for protective padding
# an Army helmet.
The five people being held at the Hennepin County jail are under arrest on suspicion of conspiracy to riot, conspiracy to commit civil disorder and conspiracy to damage property. (((I'm assuming missing member number six is the informant who has carefully archived all the conspiratorial email. Of which there must be uncounted tons.)))
Arrested at the 17th Avenue home were: Monica Rachel Bicking, 23, Erin
Chase Trimmer, 23, and Garrett Scott Fitzgerald, 25 - Nestor said.
(((Monica and Erin out there shattering the anarchist glass ceiling,
I'd be guessing.)))
Nathanel David Secor, 26,was arrested at the 23rd Avenue South home.
Erik Charles Oseland, 21, was arrested an undisclosed location, the sheriff's office said....
(((Meanwhile, down at the coal-face:)))
"This is Eileen Clancy.
"The house that I-Witness Video where is staying in St. Paul has been surrounded by police. We are in town to cover the Republican National
Convention. We have locked all the doors. We have been told that if we leave we will be detained. One of our people who was caught outside is being detained in handcuffs in front of the house. The police say that they are waiting to get a search warrant. More than a dozen police are wielding firearms, including one St. Paul officer with a long gun, which someone told me is an M-16.
"At least one local TV crew is here along with some legal observers. Our colleagues at Glass Bead Collective are outside videotaping.
We are suffering a preemptive video arrest. (((That is just kind of awesome. But given that towns are saturated with vidcam surveillance nowadays, aren't *all* arrests video arrests?)))
Please contact the office of the St. Paul mayor. I am not in a position to do Internet research so if someone else could look that up and also contact news media in town for the RNC and local news media, that would be great.
All the best,
Eileen
