Twin Cities Indymedia

After a long and strange Saturday, it appears that the Indymedia-friendly space in downtown St. Paul will finally open Sunday.
Details to follow:
Expected training on tactical video at 2 to 4 p.m., 5 to 7 p.m. general IndyMedia meeting. Obviously it will be important to make this space safe and legal for media activists. As situation develops we will update - expect a major press release tomorrow.

UPDATE 4:30 PM: Reports that i-Witness people got released as well as the people at Iglehart House. National blogs are starting to pick up on the situation as it's really unfolding, while police have an aggressive messaging strategy. [Probably developed by contractors :-D ].
http://firedoglake.com/2008/08/30/inside-an-rnc-raid/
http://cliffschecter.firedoglake.com/2008/08/30/video-food-not-bombs-pro...
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/30/police_raids/

4:40 UPDATE ON Press conferences: Reportedly, NLG Lawyers got tossed from a law enforcement press conference, while attendance by press at important press conferences for all groups needs to be bolstered. The 'press conference mode' seems to be increasingly important in the whole arena - playing out globally over the next days.

We are currently hearing that at least three Indymedia journalists have been detained near Marshall & Snelling Avenues - specifically Snelling & Pascal, near Macalester College. They have been detained for at least an hour.

Additionally Coldsnap has reported that a reporter from Democracy Now! has been detained at the house in St. Paul on Inglehart. There were reports this was because the police had a warrant for the wrong side of the house. Yes, in fact they are still bothering with some paperwork, at least at some occasions. (Coldsnap reports police have just raided the inglehart house) Although sometimes not they are not bothering with the paperwork:

Importantly, there was a break-in into the garage of Communities United Against Police Brutality organizer Michelle Gross, while she was under detainment at the Convergence Center last night. Those who committed this act did not take any things thieves would like, but papers were clearly rifled through. More details at link. We are deeply concerned that this indicates secret political police forces are moving into action.
http://twincities.indymedia.org/2008/aug/activists-convergence-space-rai...

There was a report that at least one Welcoming Committee member was picked up by an unmarked snatch squad of police.

And it STILL isn't 4 PM. At 4 PM there will be a press conference at the Convergence Center on Smith Ave. It is expected that the Welcoming Committee will issue more information at that time.'

It appears that there is an emerging police strategy to eliminate as much 'off message' media as possible in the Twin Cities before the RNC gets underway. In Denver the police were particularly interested in seizing signs and banners - obviously part of a PSYOPS style agenda to remove the TV visuals of our message.

Situation developing - thanks to all our friends both here and away, as the whole damn police state comes down on the Twin Cities.

The caching system is quirky though, more notes below. (some lag in displaying news).

There were rumors circulating earlier today that the public Indymedia space - which we have not formally launched yet - was raided by the police. It was not raided. Rather, code inspectors came to try to find a justification to shut the space down, which is emerging as a major element of the police strategy.

We will have further news on our space -- and we will want as many people there as possible -- continuously 24x7 until this authoritarian nightmare finally rolls out of town.

The Convergence Center in St. Paul on Smith Avenue has been reopened according to sources, and of course the police were unable to arrest anyone because they did not in fact have any legal reason to do so.

Additional submitted news - this is already out of date as more raids are unfolding: Law Enforcement raids activists' space and houses in days preceding RNC.

And it's only Saturday.... It ain't even 4 PM yet.

Tech note: we are switching over to an aggressive caching system which should help our server resist the high traffic on its way. This means that there is a certain lag in public display of messages. Logged-in users will not see this delay, but cause us more server load.