Minnesota Independent

Minneapolis loses to Charlotte in bid to host DNC

By Andy Birkey | 02.01.11 | 11:29 am

Minneapolis will not be hosting the 2012 Democratic National Convention, much to the dismay of city officials and the glee of some in the anti-war movement. Charlotte, N.C., beat out Minneapolis, St. Louis and Cleveland in its bid for the convention. In 2008, St. Paul hosted the Republican National Convention, an event which brought claims of civil rights abuses by law enforcement.

Riot police at the 2008 Republican National Convention. Photo: Tim Roman, Minnesota Independent

Franken, Klobuchar, Dayton push for Democratic convention in Minneapolis

By Andy Birkey | 12.02.10 | 11:32 am

Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar, as well as DFL gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton, are pressing the Democratic National Convention Committee to host the DNC in Minneapolis in 2012. The state’s most populous city is on the short list along with Charlotte, N.C., St. Louis and Cleveland. Also shortlisted in 2008, Minneapolis lost out to Denver, but partnered with St. Paul in hosting the same year’s Republican National Convention. Protest groups are opposing any efforts to bring the DNC to Minneapolis.

Minneapolis Police Chief on Rage concert: ‘basically uneventful’

By Paul Demko | 09.04.08 | 12:34 pm

Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan expressed relief at the lack of violence associated with last night’s Rage Against the Machine concert. Despite more than 100 arrests, Dolan said the situation had the potential to be explosive given the…

Protesters arrested on Selby Ave.

By Paul Demko | 09.02.08 | 1:34 pm

A group of five protesters are currently being arrested on Selby Ave. in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood. They’ve been sitting on the sidewalk in handcuffs for more than an hour. “They had some weapons,” said a police officer at the scene.…

St. Paul Police Chief Harrington: cops ‘did heroic work yesterday’

By Paul Demko | 09.02.08 | 12:04 pm

St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington addressed reporters this morning, praising the “heroic work” of cops under difficult circumstances yesterday. “We’re looking forward to a day of a little more normality than we had yesterday,” he said at the…

DNC Day four: Obamamania at Mile High

By Paul Demko | 08.28.08 | 11:54 pm

Forty five years to the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech, Barack Obama delivered the performance of his life before 84,000 fervent supporters at Invesco Field at Mile High stadium in Denver. Whether Obama ultimately becomes President of the United States, it will undoubtedly be a speech and a spectacle that will go down in history.