National Guard has been called...... Hundreds of protesters on the streets ... cops over whelmed ...... destruction of property has begun a few hours ago.... almost 100 arrested...... Storm is taking up all the news.... this story is being under reported
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oYjyvkR0bGQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oYjyvkR0bGQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> LOL Interesting place to be... Not at all retarded - uhm, or...
Powered by SAVE THIS | EMAIL THIS | Close Advertisement Protests at GOP gathering result in 284 arrests By Alan Gomez, USA TODAY ST. PAUL â Sporadic violence broke out as thousands of protesters marched on the Republican National Convention on Monday, chanting for an end to the war in Iraq and demanding Republicans be denied the White House in November's election. . Members of the Connecticut delegation were roughed up in one incident. Mary Jerde, a spokeswoman for the St. Paul Joint Information Center, said 284 arrests had been made by late Monday. Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan helped lead the march, which started at the state Capitol building and weaved its way to within a block of the Xcel Energy Center, the site of the Republican National Convention. Roving groups dressed in black and wearing masks smashed windows of stores and police cruisers, shut down intersections and lit small fires in downtown St. Paul. Officers clad in riot gear responded with pepper spray. About 30 members of the Connecticut delegation were attacked when they got off their charter bus near the convention site, said state party Chairman Christopher Healy. About 100 protesters approached the delegates "shouting anti-war rhetoric" before starting to shove, spit and throw liquid on the group, he said. Healy said tests confirmed that about 15 of the delegates had been splashed with bleach. Fred Biebel, an 83-year-old member of the delegation and former state party chairman, was treated for shortness of breath, Healy said. Dwayne Baird, a spokesman for the police agencies patrolling the route, said the crowd was no more than 8,000. Mick Kelly, a spokesman for the Coalition to March on the RNC, said the crowd was closer to 30,000. By midafternoon, St. Paul police asked for 150 members of the Minnesota National Guard to help with "crowd control," said a Guard spokeswoman, Capt. Anna Long. Minneapolis and state police also assisted. The arrests Monday follow raids by Ramsey County sheriff's deputies and FBI agents over the weekend. Six members of a group calling themselves the "RNC Welcoming Committee" were arrested. Axes, sledgehammers, throwing knives and buckets of urine were confiscated. Cameron White, 28, a Marine Corps veteran who served two tours in Iraq, attended Monday's march to call for an immediate end to the war. He called the Bush administration a "domestic enemy" and said McCain would merely continue Bush's war and continue injuring and killing Americans. White said he didn't belong to any political party. He described his political persuasion as simply "Not John McCain." McCain voted in 2002 to give President Bush the authorization for the war in Iraq. He was an early critic of the conduct of the war but later became a major supporter of the troop "surge" in Iraq. McCain has said commanders on the ground should dictate any withdrawal. Kris Nagel, 53, of Apple Valley, Minn., said she felt compelled to protest the demonstrators to support her two sons, who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. "It really makes me think about all the men and women who died to protect their freedoms," she said, referring to the protesters. Contributing: Fredreka Schouten Find this article at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-09-01-protest_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip SAVE THIS | EMAIL THIS | Close Check the box to include the list of links referenced in the article. Copyright 2008 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.