Northland protesters criticize law enforcement at RNC, want Duluth police to come home

9/5/2008

... Hundreds of Northlanders have made their way to St. Paul to protest the Republican National Convention. Joel Kilgour of the Northland Anti-War Coalition says activists in St. Paul have been met by intimidating police tactics.

“The environment in downtown St. Paul right now is so frightening, it’s like the city is under siege. There are police, as well as, National Guardsmen and women in riot gear on the streets, there are giant fences put up everywhere. When we marched on Monday during a peaceful march of 30,000 people demanding an end to the war in Iraq we had to march by hundreds of police in riot gear, as if us simply being there and expressing our opinion was somehow a threat to the safety of I don’t know who, the republicans or the businesses downtown.”

For Kilgour the police presence stifles expression

“I think this sends a really chilling message to anyone who’s thinking of expressing their opinion. It appears if the authorities here are treating people with dissenting voices in this country as criminals simply for dissenting or worse terrorists.” ...

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