[Peace-discuss] footage of RNC protest

[Shara Esbenshade]

Hi everyone!

I was at the Republican National Convention, participating in direct
actions on the part of the Campus Anti-War Network (specifically doing
mobile blockades with the goal of stopping/delaying delegate buses on
their way to the Xcel center) on Monday, September 1st, the first day of
the convention. Although it was a completely peaceful protest and
completely within our first amendment rights to do the actions we did, the
cops reacted with violence and unlawful arrests- you may have heard that
overall this week around 800 people were arrested at the RNC- many of them
journalists and by far the majority of them peaceful protesters, although
it is true that there were a few groups, separate completely from the
peaceful ones, in other parts of the city, that inflicted property damage.
There were preemptive arrests by cops of planners and of videographers and
other journalistic groups- some of the people that were arrested in this
way (without having actually done anything but being charged with
conspiracy to riot- an outrageous claim especially given that most of
these people were not planning the actual actions but rather helping
different groups to plan their own events) now face 7 years in jail! It is
our constitutional right to be in the streets and not only that but our
responsibility during times like these to take part in disruptive actions
and call attention to the abuse of our rights and the illegality,
immorality, and extreme destructiveness of the wars our country is waging
in the Middle East and call for an end to the constantly rising death
tolls. I filmed what I was present at that day and police took far more
brutal actions in other parts of the city at the same time but what I was
able to get on camera was already enough to make me shake, fearing for my
own physical safety and for the future of people in this country in
general. Because if we are violently attacked or arrested for speaking
out, then we clearly don't live in any semblance of a democracy anymore
and are well on our way to a 1984 society. I hope you look into what
transpired this past week in the twin cities in Minnesota, I think it is
something we should all be aware of. If you want to check out my footage,
you can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pBJgYYiL88
and here: http://www.ucimc.org/node/3296/play

Thank you! Love,

Shara