Police State RNC: A Nun and Eight Others Swept into Unmarked Van by Cops in Minnesota

By Chris Nolan, Firedoglake. Posted August 31, 2008.

Abuse of "probable cause holds" shows the importance of habeus corpus protections.

Tools
EMAIL
PRINT
15 COMMENTS

Share and save this post:

In Special Coverage

Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace:
Going to College & Grad School Looks Like a Disaster
Nan Mooney

Democracy and Elections:
More Unfinished 2008 Election Business: Verifiable Vote Counts
Steven Rosenfeld

DrugReporter:
California Supreme Court Rules Unanimously Against Compassionate Care
Tamar Todd

Election 2008:
Clues Obama Won't Govern Center-Right
Robert Creamer

Environment:
The Many Ways Our Future is a Mess
Michael T. Klare

ForeignPolicy:
A Diplomatic Storm Is Brewing over Pakistan and India After Mumbai Attacks
M.K. Bhadrakumar

Health and Wellness:
Obama's Plan to End the HIV/AIDS Crisis
Kaytee Riek

Hurricane Katrina:
From the Bayou to Baghdad: Mission Not Accomplished
Amy Goodman

Immigration:
Immigration Pathway Still Looks Uphill
Kirk Nielsen

Media and Technology:
Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives
Doron Taussig

Movie Mix:
Love Bites: What Sexy Vampires Tell Us About Our Culture
Sarah Seltzer

Reproductive Justice and Gender:
Economic Downturn Hits Women the Hardest
Brittany Schell

Rights and Liberties:
Obama: Close, Don't Repackage, Guantánamo
Michael Ratner, Jules Lobel

Sex and Relationships:
Virtual Sex: How Online Games Changed Our Culture
Damon Brown

War on Iraq:
Would You "Shoot an Iraqi" in Cyberspace?
Gabriel Thompson

Water:
Water Neutral: Is the Latest Eco-Term Just Corporate Hype?
Jeff Conant

More stories by Chris Nolan

Main AlterNet RSS Feed

UPDATE (12:34 PDT):: One of the 9 protesters arrested was a nun, seen being loaded into an unmarked blue van. The 9 were apparently trying to climb a fence near a church.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE: ColdSnap is reporting 9 arrests downtown near the Excel center and police massing all over the downtown core.

The National Lawyers Guild and Communities United Against Police Brutality have filed an emergency motion to stop the seizure of cell phones and cameras during the RNC.

The groups will hold a joint press conference at Hennepin County Government Plaza to discuss their application for an emergency injunction, according to a tweet issued by the ColdSnap Legal Collective.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 6 activists arrested during police raids in advance of the Republican National Convention are being held without charge by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office, the Minnesota Independent reports.

The arrestees are being held on probable cause holds. These holds give the authorities 36 hours to charge them or let them go. Holds are typically used to give investigators more time to gather evidence before filing formal charges.

Holds allow police to charge first and ask questions later. Sometimes that's a good thing. Arrest opportunities are unpredictable. A suspect could slip away in the time it takes to turn a solid suspicion into sufficient evidence to file charges. A probable cause hold buys the police some time to dot the i's and cross the t's.

See more stories tagged with: rnc, raids

Lindsay Beyerstein a New York writer blogging at Majikthise.

Liked this story? Get top stories in your inbox each week from AlterNet! Sign up now »

AlterNet Home » Story Tools: EMAIL PRINT 15 COMMENTS

Comments	Turn comments off sitewide	Give us feedback »
Comments closed. The comments for this story have been closed. Thank you to everyone who participated.		View:
expat scientist [Report this comment] Posted by: smalldave on Aug 31, 2008 1:00 PM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Looks like the law enforcement establishment is using their new powers against Americans after all. It was only a matter of time. Glad I don't live there anymore. Good luck America. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: expat scientist Posted by: AngryWhiteFemale » RE: expat scientist Posted by: leTerrassier » RE:It is dying republic hell hole. The empire is coming! Posted by: nightgaunt That may have been those Ron Paul People. Something about being rousted and raided.. [Report this comment] Posted by: Turiye on Aug 31, 2008 2:50 PM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] The Pinks had a helluva time! Knocked, was it Lori?, can't remember BASH baton across her teeny frame, BAM down she went, as she was telling the "Roving Reporters" her story, they come up on her from behind screaming at the top of their lungs, grab her arms behind her, cuff her, arrest her. Our Tax $$$ at work, cannot wait to blow this popstand! [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: That may have been those Ron Paul People. Something about being rousted and raided.. Posted by: Thedirtydemocrat Military Rule [Report this comment] Posted by: TERRIROBSON on Aug 31, 2008 4:08 PM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] This is what bush/cheney hope to achieve, keep the masses from employing their Constitutional Rights for Peaceful Dissent. The only change in this, if Obama wins will be Patriot Act lite. Dept. of Homeland Security lite. And everything else the far and just plain right have put into place, only lite. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] 80 lawyers for the Gitmo detainees and Naomi Wolf endorse Obama [Report this comment] Posted by: foreverhope on Aug 31, 2008 6:46 PM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Naomi Wolf is the author of The End of America (Chelsea Green) and the co-founder of the American Freedom Campaign. What is leadership? Leadership means getting out in front of where people are and waking them up. Right now, given these violent possible threats to us and our families, we are sleeping. Which is why I am formally coming out of the closet with my support for Senator Barack Obama. Of all the candidates running now, he is the leader on understanding the threat to the Constitution and actually taking action, not just mouthing soundbites, on the need to deny torturers space in our nation and to restore the rule of law. "Lawyers for Gitmo detainees endorse Obama," read a recent headline on the Boston Globe's political blog. In the article, reporter Charlie Savage notes that "More than 80 volunteer lawyers for Guantanamo Bay detainees today endorsed Illinois Senator Barack Obama's presidential bid. The attorneys said in a joint statement that they believed Obama was the best choice to roll back the Bush-Cheney administration's detention policies in the war on terrorism and thereby to 'restore the rule of law, demonstrate our commitment to human rights, and repair our reputation in the world community.'" The lawyers who signed this letter -- prominent names on the list included Washington lawyer Thomas Wilner, retired federal appeals court judge John Gibbons, and retired Rear Admiral Donald Guter, who was the Navy's top JAG officer from 2000 to 2002 -- applauded Obama for having stood up in 2006 against aspects of the Military Commissions Act. Unfortunately, his fight was ultimately unsuccessful -- which is why we are all still in danger. But unlike other candidates he truly fought and he understood the nature of the danger: "When we were walking the halls of the Capitol trying to win over enough Senators to beat back the Administration's bill, Senator Obama made his key staffers and even his offices available to help us," the lawyers wrote. "Senator Obama worked with us to count the votes, and he personally lobbied colleagues who worried about the political ramifications of voting to preserve habeas corpus for the men held at Guantanamo. He has understood that our strength as a nation stems from our commitment to our core values, and that we are strong enough to protect both our security and those values. Senator Obama demonstrated real leadership then and since, continuing to raise Guantanamo and habeas corpus in his speeches and in the debates." These are times that should try men's souls -- and women's also. In a closing society, a leader has to be willing to face down evil, engage it and call it by its name. Remember: when activists started to push hard to raise awareness of the dangers of torture and indefinite detention, many on the Hill were scared to join the fight because it was then politically unpopular. But to me, if you are not really against torture -- always and under every political change in climate, and let us note that former torture victim and prisoner of war John McCain shamefully dropped his fight against the torture loopholes in the law as well -- then you are not really, in my view, fit to be an American President. Gender has nothing to do with it. Race has nothing to do with it. Integrity has something to do with it. That is why Barack Obama has my vote. Of all the leading candidates, he is the only one on these issues who has consistently acted like a true American. linked text [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Not a Fletcher Fan [Report this comment] Posted by: 45014106 on Aug 31, 2008 8:02 PM Current rating: 4 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] I have never been a fan of Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher and believe that his RNC actions, as well as the conviction of two of his employees on corruption charges, both of who were his close friends, as well as other recent stunts, may result in pressure to make the Sheriff an appointed, rather than an elected position. That said, the 9 protesters in question in this article attempted to breach a clearly marked security perimeter. They WANTED to be arrested. They were not "wisked away in an marked van", they were given water and 8 of the 9 were tagged and released at the scene. The 9th was transported to the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center and booked. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] COURT REFORM: THAT'S THE RIGHT WING MANTRA. THEY HATE LAWYERS [Report this comment] Posted by: Raymond Emerson on Aug 31, 2008 10:06 PM Current rating: 4 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] and what we see here is exactly the reason why. Lawyers have been known to try to represent the weak and the powerless. They've even been known to sue rich people. We can't have that. The wealthy and powerful can always buy their justice. Its up to the poor and the middle class to take care of themselves. That is the republican view. I am told that 1,800,000 U. S. citizens have already gone. I am also told that another 1,500,000 are planning to leave. In the black community when the upward climbing group leave the remainder is called a "ghetto". Is this what the United States is to become? There is still every reason to believe that they will buy this election. If Obama doesn't poll 65% of the voting public by halloween McCain will be the next president. After that members of the left will begin to disppear just as they did in South America. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] That is why [Report this comment] Posted by: paula.c on Sep 1, 2008 4:28 AM Current rating: 4 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] we need a regime change. Barack Obama is what we ALL need. I hope he will make mince-meat out of McCain in the debates. And that Biden chews up that little nobody Sarah. Men, women and children get Obama and his beautiful family in to the White House! [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] WAKE UP [Report this comment] Posted by: logic on Sep 1, 2008 8:03 AM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] votes are counted by machines. machines can be hacked and preset. I'm out and won't come back till the walls come down. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Howda ya know? [Report this comment] Posted by: jwc1480 on Sep 1, 2008 10:04 AM Current rating: 1 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Howda ya know "many" of the scum being held are there without probable cause? Were you there before they were picked up? 'Course not! Had you been there they (the scum) would have raped you and slit you little throat for ear to ear and perhaps even right on through the backbone and muscles and skin of your neck. And you wanna turn these poor innocents loose on someone else? [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: Howda ya know? Posted by: ronbeyer How do you know they aren't? The prison system is cruel. [Report this comment] Posted by: nightgaunt on Sep 1, 2008 12:03 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] It is corrupt, corporate and unregulated and are vile places that dehumanize people and make them psychopathic-like if they aren't already. Most of which are not. But then it is a Christian based psychopathic inspired system anyway that ruins millions of lives a year. Worse than in China which should tell you something. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: expat scientist Posted by: AngryWhiteFemale

» RE: expat scientist Posted by: leTerrassier

» RE:It is dying republic hell hole. The empire is coming! Posted by: nightgaunt

» RE: That may have been those Ron Paul People. Something about being rousted and raided.. Posted by: Thedirtydemocrat

» RE: Howda ya know? Posted by: ronbeyer

Search:

» RE: expat scientist Posted by: AngryWhiteFemale

» RE: expat scientist Posted by: leTerrassier

» RE:It is dying republic hell hole. The empire is coming! Posted by: nightgaunt

» RE: That may have been those Ron Paul People. Something about being rousted and raided.. Posted by: Thedirtydemocrat

» RE: Howda ya know? Posted by: ronbeyer