rage against the machine

Here’s a behind-the-scenes postscript about the lengths to which the planners of the Republican National Convention went to ensure the appearance of a discord-free GOP: They tried to scuttle Ron Paul’s counter-convention across the river in Minneapolis, and the next night’s Rage Against the Machine concert as well.

Radical punk band Anti-Flag headlined the Ripple Effect Tuesday at the St. Paul Capitol Grounds, where Rage Against the Machine were physically barred by police from taking the stage to perform a surprise set. Rage performed two songs on a megaphone out in the audience, and much of the crowd turned around to march on [...]

Hundreds of police (and dozens of media personnel) greeted concert-goers as they left the Rage Against the Machine concert at the Target Center in Minneapolis. No violence or property damage was observed, but 102 people were arrested for “blocking traffic.”
Police blocked vehicle traffic on 1st Avenue in front of the Target Center and many Rage [...]

Continued from part I.
Leaving the Xcel Center, I walk outside and search for whatever gate will spit me out of the security zone the closest to the State Capitol. Riot police are shadowing a march organized by the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign and that march is scheduled to pass by the Capitol building [...]