At the end of a long and eventful first day outside the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, we asked the people who covered events for MnIndy to pick an image that struck them as emblematic and add a few thoughts.

Andy Birkey: The Black Bloc, a group of anarchists blockading the streets, geared up to march into downtown St. Paul, arms linked with faces covered and chanting “Whose streets? Our streets!” As the group made its way down Kellogg Boulevard, throwing debris into the street, most police officers just observed — waiting for the group to confront a nearby line of riot police. Before long, the National Guard was firing tear gas into the group and they disbursed.

Peter S. Scholtes: National Guard troops kneel along Kellogg Blvd., shields in front of them, faced toward the St. Paul Cathedral at around 6:45 p.m. on Monday, September 1, 2008. At first the scene looked like a solemn religious ritual or military ceremony. Nearby a truck blared War’s “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” in protest. This scene captures much of the day for me: Surprisingly empty streets, no Republicans in sight, barriers everywhere, and oddly ritualistic military maneuvers by young men who could be your next door neighbors, plus what you don’t see: the music, which I spent most of the day taking in on Harriet Island while cops confronted protesters across the river.

Molly Priesmeyer: The first thing I saw when I arrived downtown near Grand and 7th was a group of horse-mounted officers, around 10 of them, heading down the street toward 35. A couple of Homeland Security officers were up ahead of them, their windbreakers with Homeland Security logos on a day with near 90-degree heat giving them away. Down the street farther, around 30 St. Paul police in riot gear simultaneously pulled down their face masks as an officer announced to the the group “get ready.” Nothing came. But it was just a primer of the police presence that would come all day. On Main and Old Sixth, for example, officers from the Department of Justice told someone over their radios to “Get prepared. It’s happening.” That’s when the anti-war protester group called Funk the War met up with the small faction of counter-protesters, holding signs claiming “let our troops finish.” The cops in riot gear stood at the ready, billy clubs positioned. One counter-protester told officers she “had allergies,” and to make sure she was warned before tear gas was “used on those people.” Nothing happened. Later in the day, following a splinter group of “anarchist” protesters who overturned newspaper bins and, in some cases, broke windows, the cops were ever present, spraying pepper spray on us more than once and pointing guns of tear gas from floors of garages. Everyone ran, and ran, and ran…

Paul Demko: I started the day at the Capitol at 8:30 a.m., a fairly sleepy scene with maybe a couple hundred protesters preparing for the day ahead. Then I went to a press conference on security issues at the Twin Cities Public Television building. St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington seemed relaxed and confident. “It’s game day, finally,” he declared. Arriving back at the Capitol shortly after 1 p.m., there were thousands massed on the lawn. An ice sculpture spelling out the word “Democracy” had already lost half its letters in the baking heat. Black banners listing the names of soldiers killed in Iraq were hoisted on the steps of the Capitol.

Jeff Severns Guntzel: After watching riot police gather and protesters scatter most of the early afternoon, I was collecting photo and notes at The Uptake office when I got a Tweet stating: “Re-convergence at 3:15″ — it was 3:15. The intersection of Kellogg Boulevard and Wabasha Street was apparently the spot. On the way, I passed a Minneapolis Police squad with all the windows smashed being carried away on a flatbed. At Kellogg ominously festive protesters were dancing to the Dead Kennedys while others were tipping trash cans and breaking glass to block traffic. Police gathered and they scattered. The next showdown, just up the street, was a turning point. Cops in riot gear and members of the National Guard holding foot-to-head shields were amassed and marching forward. The first streams of pepper spray were met with a counter spray of Silly Spray. It was funny until it wasn’t. Soon it was pepper spray, exploding tear gas canisters and impact rounds. When the dust settled the protesters were mostly scattered — again — while reporters and other onlookers traded the pained winces of a real good burn.

Karl Bremer: The DEMOCRACY ice sculpture brought to the March on RNC melted away under the blazing sun Monday afternoon, symbolic of our own melting democracy under the past eight years of George W. Bush. It was also symbolic of the melting rights American citizens enjoy under the First Amendment — when it requires hundreds and hundreds of armed law enforcement officers in full riot gear on foot, bicycles, horseback, squad cars and in helicopters to police an overwhelmingly peaceful protest of about 10,000 people. Although the cops showed restraint during the marches, the raids on protesters’ homes before the week began and their mere presence at the marches in such disproportionate numbers served as a reminder that we are not as free as we once were to express our disapproval of our government.