Minneapolis, MN – Standing in front of the Federal Building here, March 24, leaders of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War and their lawyers announced they are seeking a preliminary injunction requiring the City of Saint Paul to grant the permits for their September 1 anti-war march. The attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint in federal district court later that day.

Marie Braun of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War stated “Filing a complaint in Federal Court was not our first choice of action; however, we feel the city of St. Paul has left us little choice. For months, city officials promised that the permit process would continue to move forward – it has not. Instead, on March 1, the Coalition received an almost blank Conditional Alternative Permit in which the city neither granted nor denied our permit.”

Jess Sundin, also of the Coalition stated “City officials are not keeping their promises or upholding City ordinances, and that is what brings us here today. The only thing standing between the Republicans, and a massive anti-war protest on September 1st, is the ill will of the city of St. Paul, namely Mayor Chris Coleman and Assistant Police Chief Matt Bostrom.”

Sundin also announced “Following this press conference, we are issuing an Action Alert, asking that supporters from around the country call Mayor Coleman’s office and demand that he do the right thing now: issue a march permit that will take 50,000 anti-war protesters to Xcel Center on September 1st.”

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