2008

David McKay

Minneapolis, May 21st, 2009 — After his first federal trial ended in a hung jury[1], Texan David McKay pled guilty in a second trial rather than letting his friend from Austin and co-defendant, Bradley Cro

From CrimethInc.: At long last, we’ve completed our 35,000-word full report on last summer’s anarchist mobilizations against the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, complete with chronological maps and painstaking documentation. Updated from the feature in Rolling Thunder #7 and expanded to include the complete text of thirteen different participant narratives, this report offers a comprehensive history of the preparations for, events of, and aftermath following the protests, and an analysis of their context and implications.

The April 2009 G20 in London was the scene of the first large-scale event—expected to be faced by considerable protest—since last fall's 2008 RNC, held in St. Paul, Minnesota.  Looking at the eerie parallels between both events, one sees a pattern of globalization—not only of protest—but of preemptive police tactics and handling of protesters.

Indymedia London has been providing live coverage of the protests and policing.  One man, Ian Tomlinson, 47, died Wednesday after collapsing during the protests.  Witnesses have come forward indicating that police impeded efforts of medical assistance, contradicting early corporate media reports that protesters hurled bottles at police trying to help.

Indymedia London | Indymedia UK | Witness Statements on Death | Video Statement | Protester Spaces Raided | Breaking News Timeline | Were you at the St. Paul RNC and London G20? Independent media activists would like to interview you.  Please email archive@rnc08report.org | Below: April 1 Photos, RNC Comparison

Online version with pictures here: http://rnc08report.org/archive/808.shtml

One of the most disturbing aspects of the aftermath of the 2008 Republican National Convention has been the ongoing process of justification by local city and police officials of their actions before and during the Convention.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 24, 2009

ALL CHARGES DISMISSED IN FIRST RNC-RELATED TRIAL: JUDGE DECLARES INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO PROCEED TO JURY
Case Showcases Police Had No Basis For Majority of Arrests At RNC

Karen Meissner and Christina Vana

"On Saturday, January 17th, 2009, Karen Meissner and Christina Vana of
Milwaukee, WI found warrants had been issued for their arrests after reading
an article published by the Associated Press, which comments on an incident
relating to the protests during the Republican National Convention in
September 2008. Immediatly Karen and Christina traveled to St. Paul, MN and
within 24 hours of reading their names in the paper, went with their lawyers
to the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center. Here they were taken into

Eating Crow: Mistakes, Brandon Darby, the FBI and Our Resilience

There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”
- Zora Neale Hurston

Dear Comrades, Friends, Compañeros and Allies

This is scott crow greeting all of you in the New Year of 2009. Much has happened in many of our lives since we last spoke --but that is the way life is, isn’t it?

Pardon me a moment, as I remove the black feathers of the bird of humility from my teeth. The same one who flew into my mouth and away--knowing I haven’t eaten animals for over 20 years.

(Please forward)

Hey everyone!

So... 7 of us (STAAC 7, or Wall 7) are going to trial together , starting on Tuesday
Jan. 20th, in St. Paul (at the Ramsey County Courthouse) for charges related to the
RNC. We REALLY need court support. Since the 7 of us are being tried together, (and
I'd say because they know that some of us are anarchists) they're not going to drop
the charges, so this is going to be one of the first misdemeanor trials to come out
of the RNC. Most of the other cases that have come up so far have just been dropped

I was tempted to preface the title of this article with "Some Very Initial Reactions..." simply because of the sheer size of of the report and its attachments. The Executive Summary is 15 pages long and the Main Report text reaches 82 pages, not including a 6-page index and "Exhibits" which include 21 multipage PDF files, 58 video files ranging in length from 5 seconds to over an hour, and 8 galleries of extremely slow-loading, poorly labeled, high resolution images. Although I was already familiar with around one-quarter of the supplementary documents listed, I'll still need another week to get through it all.