Protesters, who were surrounded by police, stopped in a busy intersection in front of the Xcel Center. They refused to leave the intersection until the police backed off.

“The permit issued by the city is politically and logistically unacceptable,” says Coalition member Katrina Plotz. “The First Amendment guarantees the right to demonstrate within sight and sound of convention delegates. Police have no right to clear us from the streets by 2:00 when the RNC won’t have started yet. It’s also logistically impossible for tens of thousands to march down a narrow street, turn around in a small area and return to the Capitol along the same street. Even Saint Paul Police Federation president Dave Titus called the city's route ‘a recipe for disaster.’”

“The Saint Paul police department, the city council and the mayor have consistently tried to stall, deny and reroute our efforts to ensure that demonstrators can voice their opposition to the war in Iraq,” explains Coalition member Kim DeFranco. “On July 1, we marched along the route we originally applied for. Afterwards, we delivered a petition to Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman urging him to issue a permit for our planned route. So far, Coleman’s silence can only indicate his support for the war in Iraq and the Republican agenda.”

After the protest Coalition organizers took a 30-foot long petition that had been signed by activists from around the country to Mayor Coleman’s office.

A hearing in federal court regarding the Sept. 1 march route is scheduled for July 9. Coalition members and Saint Paul officials will enter into mediation on July 7 to discuss the dispute.

#StPaulMN #AntiwarMovement #News #RepublicanNationalConvention2008 #marchPermits #CoalitionToMarchOnTheRNCAndStopTheWar #SaintPaulMayorChrisColeman

Minneapolis MN – Attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild and the American Civil Liberties Union returned to federal court on the evening of June 9, on behalf of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War. The Coalition is seeking a preliminary injunction requiring the city of Saint Paul to issue adequate permits for the Sept. 1 anti-war march.

Specifically, the attorneys filed an amended complaint, a motion for the preliminary injunction, and asked for an expedited hearing on the motion. The aim is to get a permit that will allow for a mass, anti-war march Sept. 1.

At a June 10 press conference held in front of the Federal Building downtown Minneapolis, Meredith Aby of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War stated, “We are suing the city of St. Paul to guarantee that the people of this country will have the time and space we need on Sept. 1 to protest against the anti-people, pro-war agenda of the Republican Party and their candidate John McCain. We are asking the District Court to get involved in our struggle for permits against the city of St. Paul because at every crossroad in the past two years the city has rolled out the red carpet for the Republicans while throwing up barriers for anti-war protesters.”

Aby also stated, “The most recent example of this is that last month the Saint Paul police issued the Coalition an alternative permit which has the support of the Saint Paul city council. The alternative permit is unworkable, but also, politically unacceptable. The alternative permit shows that Mayor Coleman wants the anti-war protest to be a local – as opposed to national – demonstration and wants protesters away from the Xcel Center before the delegates are even there. It is another effort on Mayor Coleman’s part to try to hurt our organizing efforts for a large, national anti-war demonstration at the RNC.”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #InJusticeSystem #News #RepublicanNationalConvention2008 #marchPermits #CoalitionToMarchOnTheRNCAndStopTheWar #NationalLawyersGuild #suingTheCityOfStPaul

Sisters and Brothers,

On May 16 the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War will be in Federal Court. We are seeking an injunction that forces the City of Saint Paul to issue permits for our anti-war march on Republican National Convention September 1. We need your help. Contact Saint Paul's mayor and send letters to the Twin Cities press.

Starting May 12, we need our supporters and fellow protesters to contact Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. Urge him to deliver a final permit to the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War, for us to march from the State Capitol to the Xcel Center on September 1, 2008. Email Mayor Coleman at mayor@ci.stpaul.mn.us or call him at 651-266-8510. Feel free to use the talking points mentioned below.

We began seeking permits for this demonstration days after the Republicans announced they would hold their national convention in Minnesota. While we have a permit to assemble and rally at the State Capitol, the City of Saint Paul continues to withhold a permit for a march on the Xcel Center, where the convention will be held. Saint Paul city government is now saying “wait and see what we give you on May 31.” This is unacceptable.

No important social question is ever settled in the courtroom. Issues that matter are settled in the streets and in the court of public opinion. We need folks across the U.S to demand that we get a permit to go to the Xcel Center – the site of the RNC. The eyes of the world will be focused there September 1.

In addition to calling and emailing the Saint Paul mayor's office with the demand to issue the permits, writing letters to the local newspapers would really help. We want to make it known that people from all around the country are coming here and insist that Saint Paul city officials give permits for our anti-war protest.

The two main local 'mainstream' newspapers are the Star Tribune (Minneapolis) and the Pioneer Press St Paul). Here is the information on sending letters.:

Star Tribune(250 word maximum)

Submit from their website [http://mpls.startribune.com/dynamic/feedback/form.php?opinion=1]

OR... Fax to 612-673-4359

OR... Mail to Editorial Department, Star Tribune, 425 Portland Av., Minneapolis, MN 55488.

Pioneer Press(150 word maximum)

Please send your letters in the body of an e-mail, not as an attachment, to letters@pioneerpress.com. Include your full name and your city of residence for publication. For verification purposes only, and not for publication, include your street address and daytime telephone number.

Please keep you letters short and concise. If you only send a letter to one paper, the Star Tribune is the more important of the two. If you send the same letter to both, send separate emails.

We recommend a few talking points for your letters:

1) Denounce the war. The Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War is planning a major anti-war demonstration and the city of Saint Paul is refusing to grant a permit to go to the site of the RNC – the Xcel Center.

2) We are planning to march on the RNC. We expect / demand to be at the Xcel Center September 1.

3) The Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War is getting the runaround from the city of Saint Paul. Permit applications have been in since days after the convention was announced. We have a right to protest the war. We need the permits now.

You efforts will help to create the political climate where we get the permits we need.

Sincerely,

The Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #ImmigrantRights #PoorPeoplesMovements #StudentMovement #Labor #OppressedNationalities #RepublicanNationalConvention2008 #marchPermits #Statement #SaintPaulMayorChrisColeman #XcelCenter

City officials say they want to accommodate protests and freedom of speech at the RNC. Protest organizers responded by saying that the city needs to quit dragging its feet on issuing permits for the massive Iraq war protest that is planed for the first day of the Convention.

Jess Sundin, a representative of the Coalition, told the Mayor, “We don’t want a repeat of Los Angeles, where the Staples Center was hidden by a 10-foot high fence. A ‘protest zone’ ended up being blocked by a twelve-foot fence and 2000 police in riot gear. During a concert inside this zone, police shut off the power supply and forcibly dispersed the crowd, using tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets.” Sundin later added, “We don’t want a repeat of Boston, where protesters were penned in under some train tracks and surrounded by eight-foot high fences topped with razor wire.”

Marie Braun, also from the Coalition recounted past efforts to obtain the permits. “Starting in October 2006, our Coalition has pursued every possible avenue to obtain permits from the city and the State Capitol. We have submitted several permit applications. None have been approved. We participated in town hall meetings, attended City Council meetings, and met with Assistant Chief Bostrom. At every turn, we have been told that we have to wait. At times, we’ve been told this is because existing ordinances don’t allow for early consideration of permit applications. However, the ‘recurring event’ provision would allow the city to act on our applications now, and they have declined to do so.”

#StPaulMN #AntiwarMovement #News #Iraq #RepublicanNationalConvention2008 #marchPermits #CoalitionToMarchOnTheRNCAndStopTheWar #StPaulMayorChrisColeman #rightsOfProtesters

Groups organizing for demonstrations during the Republican National Convention say the resolution is positive. They also point out that city officials have so far refused to give them permits for planned anti-war rallies.

The protest organizers submitted permit applications and payments in October 2006. After holding the applications for five months, Saint Paul police returned them, saying permits won’t be considered until next year.

Protest organizers insist that permits must be dealt with now.

Jess Sundin, of the Anti-war Committee, says, “Bush is waging a terrible war on the people of Iraq. Saint Paul should not stand in the way of the tens of thousands who will come here to demonstrate against that war. City government is devoting a huge amount of time, effort and money to planning for the RNC, and that should include accommodating protesters. Failing to approve our permits in a timely manner serves to suppress organizing efforts against the war. We want permits to demonstrate at the RNC in 2008 and we will not tolerate ‘protest pens’ or being kept at away. Permits or not, we will speak out against the war in Iraq, when we take to the streets of Saint Paul September 1-4, 2008.”

Local organizations that have signed on to the protest include the Anti-War Committee, Iraq Peace Action Coalition, Students for a Democratic Society (at the University of Minnesota), Twin Cities Peace Campaign – Focus on Iraq, Women Against Military Madness, the Welfare Rights Committee and AFSCME Local 3800.

#SaintPaulMN #StPaulMN #AntiwarMovement #News #WelfareRightsCommittee #RepublicanNationalConvention2008 #protestPens #marchPermits #AntiWarCommittee