RNC

Law enforcement at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul two summers ago engaged in a “deliberate policy of intimidation,” according to the complaint filed yesterday as part of the lawsuit by Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! journalists against Twin Cities–area law enforcement and the Secret Service.

Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman was among 46 journalists arrested or detained during the 2008 Republican National Convention, and now she’s among plaintiffs suing law enforcement in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Ramsey County as well as the Secret Service.

Just as Sen. John McCain was beginning his acceptance speech inside the Xcel Energy Center at the 2008 Republican National Convention, Adam Kokesh unrolled a banner that read, “MCCAIN VOTES AGAINST VETS.” Before he was removed from the site, the Marine and Iraq Vets Against the War leader shouted, “Ask McCain why he votes against veterans!” Today, Kokesh’s relationship to the GOP is quite different: he’s the party’s front-runner for Congress in a Ron Paul-inspired race in New Mexico.

The eight people facing felony conspiracy charges from their pre-emptive arrests ahead of last year’s Republican National Convention will go to trial together, not separately.

Minneapolis City Council candidate Melissa Hill says she’ll likely appeal a Pittsburgh court’s ruling today that her conduct last month during a political demonstration was disorderly.

Updated: Melissa Hill, a “Civil Disobedience” candidate for Minneapolis City Council, tells about her arrest in Pittsburgh Friday while trying to cover the G20 protests for Indymedia.

Vain Mainstream just wanted to get to work. The 23-year-old Minneapolis resident was employed by Avalon Security on the opening day of the Republican National Convention last September. His assignment: to keep watch over a parking lot in downtown St. Paul and make sure that the thousands of protesters coursing through the streets of the city didn’t do any damage. Instead, he was swept up by police and detained in jail for three days. Now he’s among 27 plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit filed against police today.

A new study says the net economic impact of the 2008 Republican National Convention on Minnesota’s economy was $170 million, Minnesota Public Radio reports. (The research was done for the Minneapolis St. Paul 2008 Host Committee by the University of St. Thomas’ Center for Retail Excellence, so you know it’s good.) But when the St. [...]

A year ago the Republican National Convention opened at the Xcel Energy Center. The St. Paul Police Department pledged that protesters and Republican delegates alike would be welcome on the city’s streets. The reality was that roughly 800 people were arrested, primarily in mass sweeps. The contentious four-day gathering continues to play out in the state’s courts through both criminal cases and civil lawsuits.

Gov. Pawlenty isn’t the only one feeling a chill at the one-year anniversary of events around the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul. The RNC cast a few odd shadows at a forum for candidates seeking to replace Pawlenty in Minneapolis this morning.