caution. Photo by Max Sparber (Creative Commons)

If you were watching the Republican National Convention on CNN last night, you most likely noticed that they paused in their coverage inside the Xcel Center to briefly focus on what was happening outside of the building. They quickly, and without any alarm, mentioned that protesters had been gassed with some kind of chemical agent. Whoever their correspondent outside was also went on to mention that the protest wasn’t violent and was pretty normal, that there was some chanting. The commentators inside asked a few more questions, got a few more not super revealing answers and went back to the drama inside.

Does anyone else find it disturbing that a group of reporters, of supposed journalists, were told that a group of peaceful protesters were gassed with some kind of chemical agent and they had no reaction? They were not alarmed? They didn’t want to explore that more? Especially considering that the First Amendment that gives journalists their rights, is also the amendment that is supposed to give all people ” the right to peaceably assemble.”

And that’s just the beginning of the actions taken against anyone attempting to protest the RNC. As Nicole pointed out the other day, journalist Amy Goodman from Democracy Now was arrested (along with her producers) for simply trying to do their jobs as journalists.

In fact many people were arrested before they even started protesting or covering the upcoming convention and protests. A friend of friends we we know from covering IVAW events sent this email out on Saturday, 3 days before the convention:

We are in town to cover the Republican National Convention. We have locked all the doors. We have been told that if we leave we will be detained. One of our people who was caught outside is being detained in handcuffs in front of the house. The police say that they are waiting to get a search warrant. More than a dozen police are wielding firearms, including one St. Paul officer with a long gun, which someone told me is an M-16.

The group, called I-Witness, are not even protesters themselves, they are a group that works to probe police actions at First Amendment events. I-Witness Video has uncovered perjury and abuse by police officers and prosecutors, revealed illegal police surveillance and exposed official lies.

In light of all of this, I can’t help but think about 40 years ago and the DNC protests in Chicago. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend checking out Chicago 10, which just came out on DVD. The archival footage of the protests is something everyone should see.

Speaking of footage, there are a lot of great Independent web sites that have protest updates. And to be fair, it should be mentioned that some groups of activists have destroyed property in the St. Paul area - but even so, in relation to the raids, we don’t like in a day and age of “Minority Report” law - you can’t arrest someone until they actually commit a crime. And as Americans, the Americans the Republicans keep talking about during their convention, we have the RIGHT to peacefully assemble and make our wishes known. It’s just as patriotic as John McCain’s military experience.

Luckily some action is being taken:

On Tuesday asked St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and local law enforcement officials to drop all charges against all journalists arrested while covering protests outside the convention. After police arrested about a dozen people over the weekend, the National Lawyers Guild and Communities United Against Police Brutality filed a court motion Saturday asking to a judge to stop law enforcement from confiscating video cameras and cell phones at the protests. [C-Net]

Instead of going into more detail, here’s a list of places where you can find updates about police and activist activity:

• http://iwitnessvideo.info/
• http://www.democracynow.org/
• http://www.youtube.com/user/UpTakeVideo
• http://twincities.indymedia.org

And be sure to takepart to Speak Your Peace about this election.