VIDEO: RNC Welcoming Committee Unmasked Press Conference, 9/4/08
The RNC Welcoming Committee held a joint press conference with the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign regarding the charges announced the day before against eight Welcoming Committee members, the violent tactics of the police to suppress dissent in St. Paul and across America, and the media's role taking the word of the police without question and largely ignoring those who are denied basic resources in our society. One person who had been arrested testifies about having been tortured in the Ramsey County Sheriff's Jail.
part 1: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/05/18533336.php
part 2: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/05/18533347.php
part 3: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/05/18533352.php
More S1 coverage at http://www.indybay.org/conventions2008
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As far as the media taking
As far as the media taking the word of the police, this does seem to follow a very logical line. First off, if we can't trust the police who can we trust (now this is not unnecessarily true, keep reading). They have the legal authority to make the initial judgement of crime that has been ordained upon them by the state. The state has supposedly garnered its power from the people and is the servant of the people. Fortunately for corporate media (along with its vested interest in survival), the police do protect and serve them, as with all the media conglomerates (with their vested interest in unfettered growth). To take a stance against the police is to take a stand against mass media.
Secondly, available resources are more easily procured by those who have the resources to do so already. Step B follows A and then of course you must take step C. No. Hasn't it already been proven with petri dishes and bacteria colonies. Slow growth leads to exponential until there just ain't no more agar'n'sugar. This is followed by well, that's kinda a buzz kill.
At one point the police
At one point the police lined up with batons and started walking slowly toward the protestors, chanting, “Move. Move. Move.” A protestor described when the police moved in to attack: “People were walking back to the state capitol to get to their cars and go home and police said their presence walking back was an ‘unlawful assembly, you all need to keep moving’ and then opened fire with tear gas and concussion grenades. I saw clouds of smoke go up and I thought it was concussion grenades, then I saw the blue hint of the smoke and people started running and leaving very quickly and in front of us, another line of cops started firing....”People were yelling out, “Don’t Run, Don’t Run,” helping each other get down the street, they were trying to get out and there were smoke bombs and mace. Loud explosions and screams punctured the atmosphere, people were screaming and running and others tried to help people stay calm, then more National Guardsmen in camouflage came in, sneaking out of a dark parking lot and threw tear gas into the wholesale lingerie crowd of people trying to run. One woman told Revolution, “There was a fucking asthmatic woman shouting ‘Medic,’ and the police guy was just like, ‘Get away from the sidewalk!’ and he shot a fucking tear gas, not at her, but past her, he was just like ‘Get away!’ She fucking couldn’t breathe.
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