9/13: Civil litigation meeting for Day 4 RNC mass arrests
WHEN: Sunday, September 13 @ 6pm
LOCATION: Mayday Books, 301 Cedar Ave S, Mpls (under Midwest Mountaineering)
A year ago, hundreds of us were lined up at a police warehouse in St.
Paul, trying to reclaim our keys, cell phones, wallets, and other
personal belongings taken from us during the mass arrests on the final
day of the Republican National Convention. None of us was ever charged
with a crime.
On Sept. 4, 2000 people rallied at the State Capitol to say, “No peace
for the war-makers!” With riot police lined up behind our rally stage,
we set out to march to the Xcel Center, where John McCain was speaking.
Riot police blocked us again and again, used pepper spray, tear gas,
concussion grenades. 396 people were indiscriminately rounded up and
arrested, including about twenty journalists.
St. Paul pulled out all the stops to prevent an anti-war message from
getting anywhere near the Xcel Center while McCain spoke, but their
plan backfired. Our story was told in every news report, and shown
split-screen with McCain’s talk inside the RNC. In spite of police
repression, our demonstration was one of the great victories during the
2008 RNC.
But the victory came at a high cost, with all of us deprived of our
democratic rights to protest. With the assistance of attorney Jordan
Kushner, we are looking to file a civil lawsuit against the City of St.
Paul, for these abuses. Why?
* Our case can still bring attention to the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
* We can demand more space for protest, rather than accept what happened
to us last September
* St. Paul should pay for its repressive actions against protesters
Fighting in the courts, and in the court of public opinion, gives us a
platform to do all of this. If you want to be a part of this case, we
want to hear from you. Please join us at Sunday‘s meeting (6pm @ Mayday Books), with our
attorney and AWC organizers. If you can’t make it that day, please
watch for future communications about where we go from here. PLEASE SHARE THIS MESSAGE WITH FRIENDS WHO WERE ARRESTED WITH US ON SEPTEMBER 4, 2008.