Protests in St. Paul

I did not see any of the protests in St. Paul--I will tomorrow. Let me put all of this into perspective. Within a mile radius of the Xcel Center there were no mass protests. That's because the police presence, supplemented by officers as far away as Duluth, is massive. Hey, there are even cops from the Minnesota Conservation Police in St. Paul. There are roadblocks and fences everywhere. The protests for the most part were taking place in front of the state capitol building--one mile away. A few of the bolder protesters got within a couple of blocks of the Xcel Center, but they didn't make it to the fences protecting us from this rabble, let alone get inside.

Do you know how I found out about the protests? CNN coverage while I was writing blog posts in the media center--inside the convention center.

But the protesters, who style themselves as anarchists, are not harmless. Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit wasn't so lucky, the convention bus he was riding on was hit by a cement bag thrown from an overpass. These are very organized anarchists.

Pam of Atlas Shrugs has more.

As does the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

Shouting "our streets, their war," about 10,000 demonstrators -- far fewer than the 50,000 some had predicted -- flooded into downtown St. Paul's narrow streets Monday on the steamy first day of the Republican National Convention.

While block after block of marchers chanted and peacefully waved signs, the carnival atmosphere turned increasingly ugly as Monday wore on. Before the bulk of the demonstrators finished their march, rogue bands of a few hundred protesters splintered off. Some smashed windows at Macy's and a downtown bank building; others challenged police by blocking roads.

By Monday evening, authorities said 283 people had been arrested, including 129 on felonies. Dozens were pepper-sprayed and tear-gassed. One police officer was punched in the back, another suffered from heat exhaustion, and St. Paul hospitals reported nine minor injuries and several heat-related cases in emergency rooms.

Hundreds of police officers, sweltering in heavy riot gear, swept in to block streets and protect delegate buses as the St. Paul police requested help from 150 National Guard troops by 3 p.m. The bulk of the arrests occurred late in the afternoon and early in the evening, long after the throngs had dissipated.

But the convention went on, the delegates got to the Xcel Center, Laura Bush and Cindy McCain spoke, and quite a few anarchists have greatly complicated their lives.

For what? I wonder if those arrested believe it was worth it?

For those people protesting tomorrow: The convention will go on, you won't disrupt it, and you won't block delegates and members from the media getting there.

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