However, I want to point out something about Roxana's post on the charge of "riot" and the effect it can have. A few years back, Prez Clinton was coming to town for a party fundraiser and was scheduled to drive to the Minneapolis Athletic Club downtown in a motorcade. The US had invaded Haiti at the time, a policy I firmly opposed. Believing the first amendment still existed, I went down to the motorcade route with about a dozen friends and held a sign "US Out of Haiti NOW." This was not an organized, large demo or anything, just an expression of opinion. Even though a bunch of republicans were holding anti-Clinton signs all along both sides of the street, the cops kept making us move from corner to corner for no apparent reason. Finally, we were "allowed" to settle at the furthest point from where the Prez would pass. Just before he arrived, a squad of police came across the street and attacked us. They picked up a wooden barricade and threw it directly at us. They then arrested some of us while others ran. Eventually, they put down the barricade about 1/3 of the way down the block and dared people to try to go back to the corner.
I was one of the people who got arrested. Charges were dropped on all the other people but I was charged with "rioting." Various police officers testified that I was holding a bullhorn and inciting the crowd to attack police, rushing the barricade, flailing my arms, etc. Luckily, I was able to purchase the raw film footage from a news station (at a cost of $175). It showed me standing, holding my six-year-old daughter on my left hip, holding a sign in my right hand and conversing with another person when a barricade flew right at me and nearly knocked me down. The judge actually laughed when she saw the video and openly called the cops liars.
The point is this: if I had not been able to come up with the funds for that film footage, I may have been found guilty. If I was a student at the time and the proposed law was in effect, I could have lost my school funding. We currently have plenty of laws against vandalism, arson, destruction of property, etc. with stiff penalties. Enforce those laws and this proposed law, which will be used to target protesters, becomes unnecessary.
Michelle Gross Bryn Mawr
At 07:47 PM 4/16/03 -0500, you wrote:
I think rioting and vandalism should always be taken very seriously, for it almost always hurts innocent parties. I was furious about the inane rioters at the University. I'm furious whenever innocent parties are assaulted by the cruelties inflicted when mob mentality takes over.
TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible.
________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
