RNC Convergence Space Re-Opens, Moving forward with organizing for Sept 1

[The Sushi Bandit]

http://www.nornc.org/2008/08/30/convergence-space-re-opens-moving-forward-with-organizing-for-sept-1/

The convergence Space is open as of 2 PM today. The police ransacked the building Friday night, bursting in with guns drawn, throwing people to the ground, and breaking down doors inside the space. They took with them computers, boxes of protest literature, maps, cell phones, digital cameras, a video camera, the landlord’s pvc piping, and poster making supplies. The evidence receipts given contain no mention of feces or human waste, and the landlord can attest to the lack of sleeping mats on the premises. The Ramsey County Sheriff’s office then closed the building for a “fire code” violation. Fire code violations are also being used to close the houses of activists, with officials saying that if the doors on homes that they knocked down aren’t fixed by tonight they will board up the homes. Today, Saturday, the city council representative for the ward that the Convergence Space is in was able to contact the Department of Safety and Inspections who are the actual authorities to determine if there is a code violation. The director of the department came to the space and ascertained that there were no code violations to be found.

Moving Forward

A public meeting was held in Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis today that was attended by hundreds of people in solidarity with the victims of police violence. Several police raids were conducted on homes today and protest organizers were taken into custody. Police continue to target organizers of protest activities and is “disappearing” any activists they can find. We are calling on everyone interested in protecting their freedom of political speech to maintain a round the clock vigil at the Convergence Center to help prevent further police violence and intimidation. Public pressure is also needed on elected officials who are bowing to the wishes of Bush and friends. The Sheriff’s office continues to lie and spread misinformation in a PR campaign to try to curtail protest plans.

People interested in organizing for September 1st are invited to the spokescouncil at 7:30 tonight at the Convergence Space to get involved.

The Welcoming Committee asks everyone to continue organizing to CRASH THE CONVENTION on September 1st. We may all be disappeared one by one by the police from the streets and our homes, and put in jail to pre-empt any protest against Bush, Cheney, and Company as they come into town, but that doesn’t matter anymore. It will be you in the streets. The Welcoming Committee only functioned to coordinate the logistics for this weekend’s events and open a space for organizing to happen. Now that you are here, it is in your hands.

[The Sushi Bandit]

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