The RNC

My struggle with blogging is largely tied to the fact that I have little to say that I think would be of general interest. Yesterday was quite possibly the proverbial exception that proves the rule.

As Jeff and I were driving home from the last day of the Great Minnesota Get-Together - aka the Minnesota State Fair - we were unwittingly involved in one of those protests we had been warned about.

It's Minnesota, people. I thought protests in Minnesota would look like this:

Turns out I was wrong. As we took the 6th Street exit off the freeway, we were surprised to see traffic at a stand still. It didn't take long to grasp what was going on. Happily, I had my camera with me to document the last day of the fair, so I hopped out of the car to snap some pictures.

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Before you read any further, I feel compelled to state that I am, in fact, a fan of protests. Even if you are protesting something stupid. I mean, even if I don't agree with what you are protesting. I think it's great that we can voice our opinions without fear of government retribution. That said, I offer the following documentation of yesterday's activities in downtown St. Paul, with some judgemental commentary.

Our car is about 5 cars back. The woman in the purple hat asked me not to take pictures. (Are you KIDDING me??!!) She claimed it "wasn't safe." At the risk of sounding like her mother, I 'd gently suggest that sitting in the middle of a freeway exit ramp "isn't safe." I'm not sure what 'dreams' the banner is talking about, and yes, I regret not asking. Hey, it's my first protest, okay??

The cops showed up fairly quickly and we were re-routed back onto the freeway. Once we arrived at the maison de Jeff, we were greeted with this:

And this:

I'm not exactly sure what prompted the police attention, but behind all those bikes are a group of 'protesters' being contained. The kid on the ground in the first photo yelled to the others, "They're picking out who they're going to arrest!" Near as I could tell, they actually arrested everyone. . .

The street shown is the street we were originally attempting to exit onto in the first place. It is about 2 blocks from the exit ramp. One block from the exit ramp, we saw this:

I did not see the events that preceeded this picture, but I am told that this car, parked squarely in the middle of an intersection, once contained a driver who had handcuffed himself to the steering wheel. Within short order, it was removed to the side of the road. Not with the keys, mind you. Handcuff guy must have had a friend who ran away with the keys. I believe the name of the vehicle used to remove the car is a "front loader."

Those involved in the 'car incident' are depicted here:

As if this wasn't enough excitement for one day, a 'parade' caught our attention.

There were protesters and protesters of the protesters.

At first it was just sort of an amusing march of people winding around the streets of downtown. There was music playing from some unidentifiable source. There seemed to be as many photographers as there were protesters. NOTE: this was the 'unofficial' protest march, as it turned out. . .

Things started to get ugly right about here:

Note the 2, count them, 2 metal racks. The kind designed to keep a crowd in - or out - of a given area. I'm pretty sure these people didn't have the permission of the city of Saint Paul to remove these items. And how does taking them further a protest? And what are they protesting anyway? They bore no signs. They just walked the streets with their faces obscurred.

I barely had time to process what I was seeing before they abandoned the stolen property - right in the middle of the intersection. I submit that this conduct violates the general social contract which would at least suggest that inflicting this sort of obnoxious behavior on innocent bystanders is considered bad form.

As the marchers rounded the corner to the left, some idiot threw a bicycle at the cop cars following the marchers. I doubt it was HIS bicycle. . . It bounced off the car and landed on the street as shown here:

The police officer who removed the bicycle actually threw it with enough force that it was pretty obvious he was beyond annoyed. I don't blame him. . .

As the marchers continued up the street, they started pulling objects into the street behind them.
I am pleased to report that the good people of Saint Paul actively engaged in pulling these objects out of the street so the police could continue to follow the march.

For those of you unfamiliar with downtown Saint Paul, Macy's, nee Dayton's, is shown in the upper right. The following took place just past Macy's:

*Sigh*

I'd like to say I can't imagine why anyone would do that, but I can. I'd like to pretend I don't know what damaging a squad car has to do with protesting, but I do. That said, I fail to see how this advances a protest.

This is a display window at the aforementioned Macy's. Shattered by 'protesters.' There were a bunch of guys in suits milling about the broken window. One guy had the "Store response kit." I did not stay around to see what was inside it. . .

This kid slashed a tire on a bus. He was tackled by bystanders and held until the police arrived. Because he's not a very good tire slasher, he also managed to cut his hand in the process. When I passed him, he was demanding medical attention.

In addition to the St. Paul Police and the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office, we have cops from everywhere. Prison Guards, Postal Inspectors, and cop shops from all over the state. All over the country, as well. This guy, from Tucson, told me there were cops from Texas, Iowa, and other parts of the country all descending on St. Paul.