At the 2008 RNC- Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota there were four days of protest and also brutal police repression. During these four days, tens of thousands of protesters were voicing their opinions about the "Republican agenda of ongoing war, tax cuts for the wealthy, corporate globalization, and the expansion of corporate power at the expense of the environment and workers’ rights." [quote from website below] To handle these protests, which of course only got media attention because of the small percentage of people who acted in ways that were destructive to property, such as pushing over bus stops in an attempt to block the road of any delegates coming to the convention. Because of this threats and the sheer number of people in attendance, the federal government armed the police forces with $50million to get tasers, rubber bullets, tear gas and pepper spray and these weapons did not go without use. In fact, over the course of the week, there were over 800 arrests made, 30 of which were actually members of the media- journalists and these arrests were done by some of the 3,700 police officers dressed in riot gear. In this article, from the Socialist Alternative group, who actually had a hand in some of the rallying that occurred during this week,(http://www.socialistalternative.org/news/article13.php?id=922), the convention is examined by a group who was active in the protests, who were a part of the arrests and who prepared groups of people to participate in some of the marches, for example- the "Youth against war and racism" group was led by the Socialist Alternative. This youth group was marching for an immediate end to the war in Iraq.
This website, with an article and video also give a perspective of what went on during the September 1-4 protests in St. Paul http://blip.tv/file/1224287
Here are some photos from these four days:
Thanks for the link. Although the video didn't show the brutality and arrests during this protest, it showed the stark contrast between the riot cops and the peaceful protesters that appeared in the video. I liked the chant, "One in the same, Bush and MaCain". I Although I like the song, I find it funny when people sing John Lennon songs at protests.
ReplyDeleteIt was, as I would describe, shocking, to see the fenced off free speech zone. It reminded me of that scene in the movie, Children of Men, where the male main character is getting on a train and you see all of the "undesireables" behind fences and locked in cages. Later in the movie at another train stop, you see what basically happened at Guantanamo; a meaphor for the direction this country is heading regardless of native citizenship status.
In class we’ve been discussing the more subtle uses of repression in the United States by the police such as free speech zones and not granting permits to protesters but it seems like whenever there are big conventions going on in cities the police use more violent repression tactics. I think it has to do with Steve Herbert’s view of the state as a public institution with an image to protect and as a meaning making public institution.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to Seattle where the World Trade Organization was meeting I think Minnesota was concerned about its public image if it didn’t suppress the protest going on during the Republican convention. Minnesota might risk not being considered to host other large events with diplomats because they can’t “control” their city. Also the Republican Convention was probably concerned about how this would reflect on public opinion of the Republican party and effect them at the polls. It would be interesting to know what party had control of Congress during the convention because if the Democrats had control I couldn’t see them voting to send federal aid to help suppress protest. It might have helped the Democrats at the polls if there were thousands of people protesting during the Republican convention.
It reflects Herbert’s view of the state as a meaning making institution because the Minnesota police themselves might have felt their image in danger and not so such the leadership of the state. Like we say with Mr. Bubbles police and society have an image of authority associated with police and when they feel that image being threatened they can sometimes overreact.