speech
09-02-2008, 08:32 PM
Police in riot gear battled hundreds of protesters with pepper spray and smoke bombs and arrested 130 people on Monday at the start of the Republican presidential convention.
Officers on horseback, motorcycles and bicycles chased a group of rock- and bottle-throwing protesters who broke off from a peaceful march of up to 10,000 people through downtown St. Paul.
Protesters, some hiding their faces with black kerchiefs, smashed shop windows, overturned garbage cans and vandalized police cars. Some pushed a flaming dumpster into a car with police in it, officers and witnesses said.
Police said 130 people had been arrested. The charges ranged from trespassing to property damage and assault, a spokeswoman said. One officer was punched in the back and another was overcome by the heat, St. Paul police chief John Harrington said.
Demonstrators marched from the Minnesota state capitol to the heavily barricaded Xcel Center, where John McCain accepts the Republican presidential nomination later this week. Public safety officials put the crowd at 8,000 to 10,000.
http://waronyou.com/2008/09/police-protesters-clash-near-republican-convention/
Officers on horseback, motorcycles and bicycles chased a group of rock- and bottle-throwing protesters who broke off from a peaceful march of up to 10,000 people through downtown St. Paul.
Protesters, some hiding their faces with black kerchiefs, smashed shop windows, overturned garbage cans and vandalized police cars. Some pushed a flaming dumpster into a car with police in it, officers and witnesses said.
Police said 130 people had been arrested. The charges ranged from trespassing to property damage and assault, a spokeswoman said. One officer was punched in the back and another was overcome by the heat, St. Paul police chief John Harrington said.
Demonstrators marched from the Minnesota state capitol to the heavily barricaded Xcel Center, where John McCain accepts the Republican presidential nomination later this week. Public safety officials put the crowd at 8,000 to 10,000.
http://waronyou.com/2008/09/police-protesters-clash-near-republican-convention/