RNC protests

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman’s office issued a statement this morning announcing that the city attorney won’t prosecute journalists who were cited by authorities at the Republican National Convention (RNC) with “presence at an unlawful assembly,” a misdemeanor charge.

That pertains specifically to the journalists who were swept up in the massive arrests during protests in St. Paul on the convention’s first and last days (including MnIndy’s Paul Demko, who was arrested on the last night of the RNC). How many people that might include is unclear, but nearly 50 of the over 800 people arrested or detained were on-site to cover the RNC for professional media or citizen-journalism organizations.

The Glass Bead Collective released video on Thursday of the mass arrests of protesters, media and bystanders at Shepard Road on day one of the Republican National Convention. A number of those arrested were heading to or from the SEIU Labor Day concert on Harriet Island. (Three members of the Glass Bead Collective were among [...]

A minority of the Minneapolis City Council decided Wednesday against requesting answers from Chief Tim Dolan on police actions during the Republican National Convention. And by killing a proposed staff directive, four members of the council’s Public Safety and Regulatory Services Committee made sure that the council majority not on the committee won’t have a say on the issue. MnIndy has audio highlights with transcription after the jump.

The RNC is over, and it’s not just Sarah Palin exhaling relief. The mayors of each twin city have issued their unanimous judgment of law enforcement actions during the daily protest rallies and marches of the RNC.

Their one-word summary: Convention police showed “restraint.”

Advocates for the hundreds, perhaps thousands of protesters (and a few journalists) who were pepper sprayed, maced, smoke-bombed, shoved, shot at (with non-lethal “impact rounds”), dispersed, cited, and detained have issued their own consensus message: See you in court.

Paul Schmelzer has compiled a remarkable set of Flickr photo essays culled from the pictures taken this week by MnIndy reporters and photographers who were covering the convention in the streets outside Xcel Energy Center.
We hope you’ll take a few moments to go through them. Thanks for your tips, comments and feedback through the week. [...]

Here’s a collection of some of the more striking people shots taken by MnIndy reporters and photographers during this week’s Republican National Convention in St. Paul.
Editor’s note: The best way to view this slideshow is to 1) click to start it; 2) hover your cursor over the image until the toolbar appears; 3) [...]

These pictures from MnIndy reporters and photographers capture some of the signs on display this week at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.
Editor’s note: The best way to view this slideshow is to 1) click to start it; 2) hover your cursor over the image until the toolbar appears; 3) use the icon [...]

Pictures of the ubiquitous police presence at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul as captured by MnIndy reporters and photographers.
Editor’s note: The best way to view this slideshow is to 1) click to start it; 2) hover your cursor over the image until the toolbar appears; 3) use the icon at lower right to [...]

Some of the more odd, ironic, or poignant images captured this week during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul by MnIndy reporters and photographers.
Editor’s note: The best way to view this slideshow is to 1) click to start it; 2) hover your cursor over the image until the toolbar appears; 3) use the [...]

It all went awry on the lawn of the Capitol. A group numbering somewhere around 1,000 was expecting to depart on the last sanctioned protest march of the week at 5:00, but members of the liaison group Minnesota Peace Team told organizers at the last minute that they would not be allowed to march after all. Police with tear gas at the ready began arriving at the scene. And then, with no announcement, a contingent of the protesters abruptly began marching south toward 12th Street, and practically everyone else in the crowd followed.