A clever trailer puts Sen. John McCain accepting the Republican Party’s nomination in front of images of tear gas and protester arrests.

The documentary features interviews with local activists, lawyers and media personnel who were arrested, including Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman.

From the documentary’s producers: “Featuring first-person accounts and footage from more than forty cameras on the streets, ‘Terrorizing Dissent’ focuses on the story of dissent suppressed. People charged with ‘conspiracy to riot in furtherance of terrorism’ speak out against the government’s campaign to manipulate media coverage and label civil disobedience and community organizing as terrorism.

‘Terrorizing Dissent’ shows the results of the $50 million the Department of Homeland Security gave to local authorities for security — a large chunk of which went to weaponize the police — and the $10 million insurance policy contract between the RNC Host Committee and the City of St. Paul, which shattered Minnesota’s civil compact between protesters and police.”

The Glass Bead Collective said the video came from a cameraman who hid his video before being arrested. From the press release, “Video released today shows the indiscriminate arrest of a crowd of two hundred at the waterfront across from a concert on Harriet Island Regional Park during this month’s Republican National Convention in St. Paul. The video includes multiple angles of the event as well as an interview with the cameraman who buried his footage and was one of almost two hundred people arrested for rioting without probable cause.”

Reports of media suppression by local law enforcement have activists concerned that their message might not get heard — and that a free press at the Republican National Convention (RNC) will be trumped as police throw homeland security in front of the cameras.

“A Channel 5 reporter was pushed back into the elevator and was told by the police and homeland security that he was not allowed to be there,” said Sheri Honkala of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign. The campaign protested a decision by Housing and Urban Development to cancel an appearance at that group’s protest at the RNC, so they took their message to HUD offices on Tuesday. That message was hampered by efforts of police to block reporters access. The only reporter on hand was from Sweden.

“So we had to go by way of Sweden to get news on the television,” said Honkala.

She said she is concerned about the RNC. “Hopefully we’re going to have freedom of the press, and that reporters will not be manhandled just because they want to cover the story.”

Vlad Teichberg of the Glass Bead Collective had his cameras confiscated by Minneapolis Police on Tuesday, an event that prompted the press conference. “We are calling on all of you people, members of the press, and the public in general, to immediately address this issue,” he said. “If this is allowed to continue in this way, the basic rule of law is going to be in doubt.”

He said instead of protesters and Republicans being the story at the RNC, the police could become the focus. “The Minneapolis police run a big risk because they are going to be the central story,” he said. “I do not know if they want to be on national television accused and maybe even implicated in blatant attempts at suppression of public events by seizing people’s cameras.”

Daryl Robinson of Communities United Against Police Brutality said he had a more violent confrontation with police. “A few weeks back I was doing cop-watching down at the shelters downtown and I was viciously attacked by the Minneapolis police. My cameras, my video cameras, my cell phone camera, all that was smashed to the ground and broken,” he said. “I want to put on notice that there will be documentation and cop watching and photographing at the Republican National Convention. There will be accountability for all the law enforcement agencies working the RNC.”

Minneapolis City Council member Cam Gordon was disturbed by the reports. “The health of our democracy, the city, our society depends on people being able to watch and observe and share the stories of what’s going on,” he said. “To have these things come up now … that there’s even the appearance and the impression that the government and police are trying to suppress this kind information is of great concern for me.”

Katrina Plotz of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War told everyone not to be intimidated by the recent reports. “There seems to be a pattern of targeting journalists and people with cameras who are there to document demonstration or record police behavior. We are not going to be intimidated by their concerns about ’security threats,’” she said. “I would encourage everyone out in the public who is hesitant to come out now or who doesn’t think it’s safe, to have courage and realize that it is more important than ever to get out there and have your voice heard.”

Gordon said this behavior is nothing new and the community has to be vigilant in fighting back. “What is happening in Minneapolis is reflecting a larger trend in the country in general. We heard today homeland security mentioned and there seems to be a trend of what’s been happening lately,” he said. “Security and safety are being used to tip the scales away from freedom of information and right to assemble and freedom of press. We are not fighting perhaps as hard as we should be and working to preserve those rights that are so valuable and are also valuable to our safety and security.”

Could a roundup of anti-RNC activists be on tap for this weekend in Minneapolis?

Days ahead of the Republican National Convention, members of activist groups are feeling the heat from authorities. A number of high profile police interactions this week are underscored by reports of police visiting activist gathering spots and engaging in intimidating behavior.

It raises the possibility that activists could be detained this weekend and prevented from exercising free speech at the RNC.

Bruce Nestor of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild says, “I am fearful of the 36-hour hold in Minneapolis.”

Nestor is referring to the Minneapolis Police Department policy of holding detainees for up to 36 hours before charging them with a crime. One rumor circulating in activist circles is that Minneapolis cops will sweep up a number of “usual suspects” this weekend. Owing to the fact that the 36-hour policy does not apply on Sundays or holidays (such as Labor Day on this coming Monday), the clock would not start on those holds until next Tuesday morning–meaning that anyone detained late in the day on Friday could be held until midday next Wednesday, when the convention is more than halfway over.

One event this weekend that bears watching is the monthly Critical Mass taking off from Loring Park on Friday evening. The ride will mark the one year anniversary of mass arrests by the Minneapolis Police Department, and of the 19 arrestees not one was convicted, although two did pay minor traffic fines. Because of video by citizen journalists, accounts by police were directly contradicted in court.

Could police nab activists there to prevent them from protesting at the RNC?

“I haven’t heard anything about any organized targeting, but with individual officers, preventive detention is not out of the realm of possibility,” says Nestor.

St. Paul attorney Gena Berglund said that more likely, the police will be engaging in intimidating behavior. “Generally, in the past, police officers target convergence space, spaces where activists tend to gather before big events,” according to Berglund. “The police don’t really do anything but ask a lot of questions and say things like ‘We are watching you and we know you are with this group or that group or you know this person and this person is on our list.’”

And it is already occurring. “We have also seen visiting by police officers of individuals at their homes and businesses in an attempt to intimidate,” said Berglund.

Police searched the apartment of one protester after appearing with a warrant — though all they took was a map of St. Paul) . The Glass Bead Collective visited the RNC convergence space to film for their documentary just hours before their cameras were confiscated by police. While they were there, police showed up to ask questions at the convergence space and “look around.” When Glass Bead members turned on their cameras, the police quickly left.

“Whether there will be actual arrests [this weekend], I don’t know,” she said. “But it wouldn’t be inconsistent with what police have done in the past.”