Tompkins County Against War & Occupation

From an activist in NYC getting reports as they come in:

I know a lot of people have heard that last night the convergence space in St Paul was raided and that today a series of houses were raided and some organizers were picked off the street and arrested. There is a lot of information to go over so I feel it is best to have everyone go right to the source.

Twin Cities IMC has minute by minute updates: twincities.indymedia.org
Coldsnap Legal Collective also has minute by minute updates: twitter.com/coldsnaplegal
UpTake Media has video of the raids themselves: theuptake.org

Please keep an eye on developments and calls for support. I am sure that I do not need to tell people this, but this is very serious and solidarity is needed.

Together we will stay strong!!

Dozens of anti-Republican National Convention activists in the Twin Cities area were arrested by law enforcement authorities, with pre-emptive raids on at least three activists’ houses and a local convergence center.

Chicagoans are reportedly among the arrestees, but names are not available at this time as many (if not all) of the arrestees are refusing to give the authorities their names.

Besides local authorities, FBI and Department of Homeland Security personnel have reportedly participated in the raids. Twin Cities Indy Media (http://twincities.indymedia.org/) reports that during the raid on the convergence space, over 65 activists who had gathered for a film showing were handcuffed, with most later being released. The full nature of the charges against those still imprisoned are not known, but Twin Cities Indy Media reports that at least some are being held for “conspiracy to riot.”

Taking a page from law enforcement harassment of actions in other parts of the country, local authorities have used alleged building code violations as the excuse to clear out two of the activists’ houses and begin boarding them up. The warrants to search for “bomb making materials” are being used to confiscate computers and MP3 players.

The Twin Cities is home of one of the most active “cop watch” programs in the country, Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB - www.cuapb.org).

Twin Cities IMC reports that “CUAPB president Michelle Gross and CUABP vice president Darryl Robinson were among many people detained during the convergence space raid. Upon returning home after the raid, they found their garage and Darryl’s car had been broken into. Nothing of value was taken but boxes of documents were clearly opened and gone through and many items were moved around. The activists believe strongly this invasion of their privacy is a direct result of their work and that it was probable that it occurred while they were at the convergence space.”

To find out about breaking news about actions around the Republican National Convention, we encourage people to check out the Twin Cities Indy Media website, http://twincities.indymedia.org/

Solidarity activities for the arrestees that Chicago area people can participate in are currently being organized.

Information about what you can do to help out will be posted here as soon as it becomes available.

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