I'm just saying ... there is a recognized use ... and I really doubt it's illegal ....

ditto throwing knives and axes and hatchets or rock climbing equipment ...

... there are recognized uses ... and I really doubt it's illegal to possess any of this ....

let's see what is alleged wrt to which individuals, living in which houses.

catch 22.

the cops (and FBI and homeland security etc.) have their job, their mission and part of that job is to not only protect the public, but also to protect the fine folks at Food not Bombs...

I am NOT saying that these raids were or were not "justified" and, yes, in these times generally, and wrt security for elected officials and political conventions and what any unstopped incident would mean to one's VERY PERSONAL CAREER, be it judge or sheriff or cop, there likely has never been an easier time to get that "get-out-of-jail-free" that-guy-signed-off-on-this-raid warrant.

If there were stinky jurisdictional tresspasses and transgressions... man .... what dorks... what idiots... what Rambos! Too stupid to live.

the biggest danger is always agent provocateurs ... so you keep your nose clean and used secure communications of "sensitive" information only with people you know ...

It's basic security... Treat all newcomers as narcs, vett and watch them best you can, and know that they STILL may be informers or, worse, provocateurs who will encourage impressionable people to do illegal things for the direct purpose of raids like this ...

boastful boys with loose lips ... chatty cathies impressing their friends ...

God willing they were sensible ...

... it's always been that way for minorities and the poor as well as the vagrant or migrant populations ...

The free-white-and-21 working-class exemption was always "discretionary" depending on who y'know and/or who's your kin ...

Jefferson Airplane: We are all outlaws in the eyes of America ...

Elsewhere:

— Protesters said police raided three Minneapolis homes on Saturday after a late-night raid on a building used by protest organizers. No arrests were made, but the protesters said deputies seized laptops, protest literature, bus schedules, a map and sign-making materials. Sheriff Bob Fletcher said authorities moved to head off efforts to disrupt the convention.

All of this except the last sentence attributed to "protestors said"

I wonder what agencies were represented in the "police."... Aren't sherrif's agents, "deputies" or is that not universal? ... no mention of "bomb making materials" or excrement.

in Iraq and Afghanistan, those extraspecial confidential sources are apparently immune to being "outed" for providing bogus "intelligence" when it turns out the raids/air strikes targets were "mischaracterized" or just bogus....

Under the heading of "there but for fortune go you and I..." I was wondering who should be targeted by "us" for phone calls demanding due process and transparency of proceeding and release of the hall/staging area/resources ...

thoughts? It could be there was some loud mouth wacko (agent provocateur, on payroll) who provided "intelligence" mandating "action" ... that old ticking bomb, what if he's telling the truth????? scenario.

Still demands for swift, due process, restitution of property, etc. might create enough "whole world is watching" self-consciousness to help keep "Homeland Security" stormtrooper fantesties in check ... where I suspect everyone wants to be the hero

It looks like Welcoming Committee is well organized ... today's events have been relocated, for instance.

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I knew Voices was en route so I just checked and the Voices For Creative Nonviolence (from Chicago to St. Paul) is due to reach St. Paul tomorrow and their itinerary does not mention the RNC Welcoming Committee --they are having joint events with Code Pink and IVAW and Global Exchange.

From Voices:

After completing the 500 mile walk, Witness Against War, on August 30 to St. Paul- Voices for Creative Nonviolence steps to the Funeral Procession March on August 31 to join Veterans for Peace, who have helped coordinate stops along much of the 7 weeks of walking through the Midwest.

Please join us and Code Pink, Global Exchange, and Iraq Veterans Against the War - to begin at 11 AM and include civil disobedience action for some, calling for end to war.

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United for Peace and Justice also has a presence and a full impressive itinerary for the convention.

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3942

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Recreating the violence and chaos of 1968 Democratic Convention is "sexy" in ways the RNC can never hope to be ...