Illegal Police Raid on Anti-RNC Convergence Space in St. Paul
Twin Cities IndyMedia: At 9:15 Friday night, the Saint Paul Police entered all doors of the RNC Convergence Space in St. Paul, MN with guns drawn. The Space serves as a community center and organizing space for the upcoming protests against the Republican National Convention. At the time of the raid, people were sitting down to dinner and watching a movie.
The police presented no warrant at the time of the raid, but claim that they have a warrant to search the space for “bomb-making” materials. No “bomb-making” materials were found. Rather, the police barked orders for everyone, including a 5 year old child, to get on the floor with their faces to the ground. Everyone inside was put in handcuffs.
In the hours following, the police photographed everyone inside the space and recorded information from their Identification cards. The police took all personal laptops and hard drives. One female activist was sexually harassed by a cop who groped her crotch.
At around 11pm, after a crowd had gathered outside the space, the police began releasing detainees one by one. Corporate media showed up eventually. By midnight, the last detainees were being released. As of the most recent reports, there have been NO ARRESTS.
