RNC Arrestees Need Your Help!

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Submitted by onion on Fri, 09/05/2008 - 00:14

The last few days in St Paul, MN police have been intimidating and cracking down hard on organizers and protesters at the Republican National Convention. While very little is making the news, police have been beating down and arresting protesters, bystanders as well as journalists (including Democracy Now's Amy Goodman and her producers). This may sound familiar to what happened to many of us when we"hosted" the RNC in 2000. But we managed to pull through, thanks largely to incredible solidarity people showed us all over the world. I'm passing on a note from a Philly comrade currently in St Paul in hopes you all can pull through for them like others did for us...

 


for more info on what's been happening in St. Paul, check out:
http://twincities.indymedia.org/
http://www.democracynow.org/
http://twincities.indymedia.org/alltags/submedia

also to contact St Paul's mayor, you can use this form: 
https://mn-stpaul.civicplus.com/forms.asp?fid=69
cheers, onion

We've mainly been posting on our website (http://coldsnaplegal.org/) and Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/coldsnaplegal/) in the past few days, so here's an e-mail update...finally!


Two days into the RNC, over 300 people have been arrested, including at least 120 people for felonies — mostly the notoriously vague charge, “conspiracy to riot.” With no provocation, police have indiscriminately used rubber bullets, concussion grenades, and chemical irritants to disperse crowds and incapacitate protesters.

Many arrestees now being held in Ramsey Co. jail are being denied medical attention. One arrestee with hemophilia and another with asthma are being denied their prescription medication. An arrestee with a broken finger is being refused medical care, as is a person who has been coughing up blood. In order to put pressure on the jail to provide needed medical attention for other prisoners, an unknown number of arrestees are also engaging in a hunger strike.

In arraignment proceedings today, two minors were convicted of criminal contempt for refusing to provide their identity and were then sentenced to 30 days in an adult jail facility.

RNC arrestees in Ramsey Co. Jail need your help!

Please call the following offices:

  • St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman (651.266.8510)
  • Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher (651.266.9333)
  • County Chief Judge Gearin (651.266.8266)

And demand the following:

  • Immediate medical attention as needed for ALL arrestees;
  • That the prisoners who haven’t given their names (Jane, John, and Jesse Does) have access to group meetings with a lawyer;
  • Dismissal of all charges; and
  • Release of all minors.
For more extensive updates about the situation, please see http://coldsnaplegal.org/

Solidarity and rage*,

Coldsnap Legal Collective
Jail Support Hotline: 651.356.8635