St. Paul Police Chief: ‘It’s game day, finally’

St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington says the cops are ready to roll for day one of the Republican National Convention. “It’s game day, finally,” Harrington said at a press conference this morning in downtown St. Paul. “This has been a lot like the world’s biggest wedding. Yesterday we were still doing wedding rehearsal. … We’re now right up to the first day and we are ready.”

Iraq Veterans for Peace kicked off today’s protest activities with a march from the Capitol to the Xcel Energy Center. There was one man arrested for trespassing. ”He volunteered that he wanted, as part of his protest, to be arrested and we in fact accomodated him,” Harrington said.

But what’s expected to be the largest protest of the RNC, sponsored by the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War, is slated to kick off at 1 p.m. at the Capitol. Mayor Chris Coleman said that they do not expect mass arrests. “If you’re here to protest peacefully, you are welcome in the City of St. Paul,” Mayor Coleman said at the press conference. “If you’re here to create civil disturbance, if you’re here to try to shut down the convention, if you’re here to engage in criminal activity, that will not be tolerated and we will deal with that.”