Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Newsvine
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
TechnoratiUniversity of Kentucky Students Held For Alleged Rioting
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Three people connected with the University of Kentucky's student newspaper were arrested Monday on charges of rioting outside the Republican National Convention.
![[Brad Luttrell, editor-in-chief of the University of Kentucky student newspaper the Kentucky Kernel, identified UK journalism student Edward Matthews (foreground) in this photo of a crowd of protesters being pepper-sprayed by police outside the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. on Monday. Luttrell said Matthews was among three people associated with the Kernel who went to St. Paul to document the protests. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/ukstudents.jpg "ukstudents.jpg")
Those arrested were UK senior Edward Matthews and sophomore Britney McIntosh, both journalism students and photographers for the Kentucky Kernel, and James Winn, a photo advisor for the newspaper.
The three spent Monday night and all day yesterday in the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center in St. Paul, according to a spokeswoman for the Ramsey County, Minn., Sheriff's Department. She was a volunteer and asked that her name not be used.
Matthews and McIntosh were awaiting formal charges of felony rioting, while Winn was awaiting formal charges for rioting, the spokeswoman said. If formal charges are not filed by noon today, the three would be released, she said.
Kernel Editor-in-chief Brad Luttrell said the photographers were not on assignment for the newspaper. However, he said they intended to go to St. Paul to document the protests.
"I'm very sure none of the three crossed any lines," he said. "They're some of the most ethical people we have."
Luttrell said that's why he was surprised to get a call about the arrests today.
"We knew the police would be out in force," he said. "We talked about how to be careful. We know photographers can get arrested."
The photographers had press passes visible and emergency numbers written on their arms in case they were arrested, Luttrell said.
Winn, the photo advisor, is a former photographer for The Courier-Journal.
Carla Winn said she and her husband were attempting to shoot pictures of a clash between police in riot gear and protesters who were disrupting traffic and breaking windows.
"We came around the corner and there was a rush of people," she said.
Winn said her husband and the students got rounded up in a group of protesters and journalists that were being arrested by police.
"They didn't really care if you were media or not," she said. "He was shooting pictures the whole time. It was obvious he wasn't a protester."
She said the last time she had spoken with her husband he had not been told what the charges against him were.
Carla Winn said her husband and the students were being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.
A call late last night to the ACLU's office in St. Paul was not immediately returned.
17 Comments so far
Show AllWhat was accomplished by any of this? According to the Center for Housing Policy (http://www.nhc.org/chp/p2p/one_msa_display.php?msa_code=33460&hrb=b&occ_...) a cop in Minneapolis-St. Paul earns a median $52K/year, but the median cost of housing is at $76K annually. So here we have an example of two groups on the same side of the class divide pitted against one another.
* I live in the Twin Cities, I'm as against the RNC, Iraq war and this illegal administration as much as anyone else. But I see no purpose in escalating conflict this low down the food chain. Nothing achieved.
* It doesn't inspire Middle America, the fence-sitters, Joe and Jane Sixpacks to join the cause.
* It doesn't galvanize any sort of media support. On the contrary, the media here has pretty much ignored pro-peace messages, and instead zeroes in on the 1% of violent/vandalizing protesters.
What's the point? If we all just get sprayed enough, our cause will galvanize Middle America and the warhawk politicians will take pity on us martyrs? I question the sanity of this approach.
You wrote: "I live in the Twin Cities, I'm as against the RNC, Iraq war and this illegal administration as much as anyone else. But I see no purpose in escalating conflict this low down the food chain. Nothing achieved."
Agreed. But it was the Twin Cities that initiated the conflict. The only way to have avoided it would have been to capitulate in advance and refrain from exercising First Amendment rights. Is that your solution?
You wrote: "It doesn't galvanize any sort of media support. On the contrary, the media here has pretty much ignored pro-peace messages, and instead zeroes in on the 1% of violent/vandalizing protesters."
That is to be expected. Again, the only solution is to refrain from any political protest whatsoever. We could even repeal the First Amendment, since we would not need it anymore.
The thing is, when citizens engage in fundamental political activities, the State has gotten into the bad (and unconstitutional) habit of sending a militarized police force to oversee and regulate it. Then, in response to this police provocation, a handful of protesters engage in minor criminal acts (sometimes at the further provocation of agents provocateur). There are only three ways to avoid this cycle: (1) refrain from exercising political rights altogether; (2) restrain people from reacting to police provocation; or (3) organize around the principle that the State must not chill and provoke people trying to exercise fundamental political rights. Realistically, options (1) and (2) are not feasible. Option (3) is what civically-minded people should rally around as both feasible and the morally correct path.
If Joe and Jane Sixpack are not outraged by the police and government abuse occurring in the Twin Cities, then it is *our* job is to *make* them outraged, not to cease exercising our rights.
Grappa
Yes, they were charged with felony charges, but the real important thing is that they a innocent till proven guilty. Supposedly somebody was out breaking windows, it might have been a infiltrator trying to cast a negative light on the protest. Its already apparent that law enforcement has been disrupting peaceful planning by protesters through infiltration by provocateurs. Lets not forget about a right winger who broke some windows as well, his name was Tim McVey. There will always be those who will go to far.
"There will always be those who will go to far."
Quite correct. And after studying the videos available it looks like theres more than enough blame to go around on both sides.
The most important line was aparantly missed by you "progressives". It went like this:
"protesters who were disrupting traffic and breaking windows."
Where is the outrage for this breaking of the law and damage for personal property?
The bottom line is, act like an a-hole and be treated like one.
Sorry sir, but "we progressives" understand that the "outrage" people like you spit at
the protesters for "disrupting traffic and breaking windows" is very misguided. We tend
to save our "outrage" for more serious matters like, oh, I don't know...having our
civil rights trampled.
Are there hooligans at the protest. Of course. Should everyone be rounded
up because of these people, only a fascist would concur. I have yet to see any
pictures or video of these kids breaking windows although I am sure there are some.
I suppose it might be hard to contain your anger when you are being pushed around
and pepper sprayed by police in riot gear.
I guess these kids should just stay at home and play video games and not
exercise their CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.
Maybe you actually might care about our childrens future and how you will
be remembered by them. Or maybe you are just an a-hole.
I don't question your "bottom line", since it's obviously based on personal experience, but I do disagree about "the most important line".
You actually skipped right past it; it went like this: "Carla Winn said she and her husband were attempting to shoot pictures..."
For which her husband was busted. Which is what the article is about.
"The photographers had press passes visible and emergency numbers written on their arms in case they were arrested, Luttrell said."
Where does it say that the photographers and other members of the press were disrupting traffic and breaking windows?
The bottom line is, whenever someone uses the "bottom line" to justify something unconstitutional, they are not progressives. Hell, I don't even consider them Americans "real world."
write the St Paul Fascist Department a little love letter and send it to:
ContactRamseyCounty@co.ramsey.mn.us
Wildhorsewoman
Henry Wallace's editorial on American fascism reads more like a prophecy than an essay. Corporate backed fascism seems to be here and is a movement that has been quietly building in boardrooms for many, many years.
The peace rally in D.C. two years ago was attended by hundreds of thousands (reported as ten of thousands) and was not generally mentioned in the mainstream media. The concern many of us have is that once media ownership was deregulated, mainstream media became just another form of corporate enterprise geared towards making money for shareholders.
With corporate stock diversification, the portfolios of other corporations became vested in our nation's media. Now media is not there to serve the common good for the most part, but the corporate good. And, what is good for corporate America is not necessarily in the best interests of the actual people of the land. Corporate media has made it profitable as well as possible to misinform and mislead the public. In this way, they have managed to adversely affect the landscape of American politics.
So what is left for us if reporters like Amy Goodman are unable to attend events without such serious repercussions? We must support their work and, more importantly, we have to begin these debates at home. We must reintroduce the concept of debate and civil dialogue in our communities as well as nationally. Unfortunately, because most progressives tend to be more cerebral and less inclined to "disagreeable" debate, we tend (as a whole) to be far too passive as a group with a "live and let live" attitude.
What has happened at the RNC convention is an outrage and must be countered by legal challenges in a criminal court and a lawsuit in civil court. It is contemptable and deserves our attention and financial report if need be.
If FOX can be embedded with the secret service and police then independents should hire Blackwater. Problem solved. Can you feel my disgust and utter frustration with my America?
They just don't get it. How dare they try to exercise their first amendment rights! They must think this is a free country or something. You will be told what rights you have by the police and the Christians. Your rights are also subject to change without notice. If you make any trouble you will be shot in the face with chemical agents.
Leave your cameras at home. Fox News will take videos and report what is going on. They are Fair and Balanced.
This is the New America. You are free as you ever were as long as you love Jesus, do what you are told, and blindly support the administration.
There were plenty of camaras around Monday taking pictures of the anarchist thugs breaking windows.
Therefore it's open season on anyone? Attempt to reason.
Clearly these young Enemies of the State did something to get themselves arrested!
Does anyone think the Nice Policemen would go out of their way to arrest them if they didn't?
After all, the authorities haven't even had a chance to fabricate all of the facts!
All those anarchists need to learn just how welcome they are for visiting
Namaste
No Child Left Behind to tell the tale.