[imc-st.louis] Fwd: MINNEAPOLIS POLICE TARGET AND OBSTRUCT INDEPENDENT PRESS COVERAGE IN THE DAYS LEADING UP TO THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION

[ajshrive at artsci.wustl.edu]

Amy Goodman from Democracy Now was also arrested:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYjyvkR0bGQ


Quoting ben <westbywest at riseup.net>:

> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: [IMC-US] MINNEAPOLIS POLICE TARGET AND OBSTRUCT INDEPENDENT
> PRESS	COVERAGE IN THE DAYS LEADING UP TO THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL	CONVENTION
> Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2008 07:56:44 -0700 (PDT)
> From: knight0440 at yahoo.com
> Reply-To: knight0440 at yahoo.com
>
> PRESS RELEASE
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> Contact: Olivia 646.361.1986 Olivia [at] glassbeadcollective.org
> Vlad 917.650.2486 Vlad [at] glassbeadcollective.org
> Eileen Clancey 646.944.1181 iwitness [at] iwitnessvideo.info
>
> MINNEAPOLIS POLICE TARGET AND OBSTRUCT INDEPENDENT PRESS COVERAGE IN THE
> DAYS LEADING UP TO THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION
>
> Repeated attacks on the civil liberties of independent press and
> activists before and during the election process emerge as a pattern
>
> MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (August 30, 2008) – FBI and Minneapolis police
> continue attacks on independent journalists in the days leading up to
> the Republican National Convention, obstructing coverage of important
> concurrent events. On Saturday morning an FBI officer and a chief deputy
> from the Douglas County Sheriff’s dept. along with approximately 30 St.
> Paul police officers bearing firearms, tasers, pepper spray and at least
> one AR-15 surrounded a house where members of I-Witness Video Collective
> and journalist Elizabeth Press from Democracy Now were meeting. National
> Lawyer’s Guild Legal Observer Sarah Coffey was detained in handcuffs
> outside the building while acting as a liaison with the police.
> Occupants of the building did not consent to a search and were forced to
> lock themselves in the building. At approximately 3:00 p.m. (CDT) police
> officers tried to serve a warrant that had the wrong address. After
> being denied entry they stormed the
>   building through the attic by gaining access to an adjacent property.
> The warrant covered all of journalistic equipment including privileged
> notes, computers, cameras, video tapes and communication devices. People
> inside were forcefully detained, photographed and police made a record
> of their names and addresses. After a 45 minute search the police
> released all detainees and left without seizing any of the equipment.
> Five other members of I-Witness video who were not present at the house
> were also simultaneously detained. Three of them detained as they were
> riding their bicycles a mile away from the scene of the search and the
> other two as they were driving in a car. The three-hour detainment
> stopped the media group from documenting three other raids happening
> simultaneously against activist groups in Minneapolis and St Paul.
>
> This follows an incident from earlier this week when three members of
> Glass Bead Collective were illegally detained and had their equipment
> and notes confiscated by the Minneapolis police.
>
> I-Witness Video is an independent media group using video to protect
> civil liberties. During the 2004 Republican National Convention in NYC,
> video evidence provided by I-Witness Video exonerated 400 arrestees by
> exposing lies stated by the NYPD in sworn legal affidavits.
>
>
> Video of the incident and search warrant:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi1eluuDGss&fmt=6
> High quality H264 download available on request
>
> ###
>
> --
> Ben West
> westbywest at riseup.net
> http://savetheinternet.org
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