May 5th, 2010:

Amy Goodman, on the set of Democracy Now!

Re: Journalists sue over 2008 GOP convention arrests, Steve Karnowski, Associated Press, May 5, 2010 10:27 AM EST

MINNEAPOLIS — Syndicated journalist Amy Goodman and two of her producers are suing St. Paul, Minneapolis over their arrests while covering protests at the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Goodman and the producers of her radio and TV news show “Democracy Now!” were among 40 to 50 journalists arrested at the St. Paul convention, along with about 800 demonstrators and bystanders.

The lawsuit being filed Wednesday in federal court in Minnesota alleges that authorities violated First Amendment freedoms by interfering with Goodman and other journalists’ right to gather news.

They’re seeking court orders to prevent similar actions in the future, plus unspecified monetary damages.

St. Paul’s interim city attorney, Gerald Hendrickson, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The law enforcement teams from the city of Minneapolis  who were involved with the brutal assault on Goodman and her staff are directly responsible for the abuse that was doled out on these innocent victims.

Indirectly responsible for the mayhem are the organizers, the movers and shakers within the GOP who coordinated with the Republican Party bosses in Minneapolis and contracted with them for the riot police. It was here that decisions were made as to the level of security and the rules of engagement for the police and to set the limits of their behavior, which was apparently left up to officers on the ground to decide to be as physical and threatening as possible.

Above that, the responsibility is also shared with the McCain campaign and the GOP who decided and coordinated ahead of time how the security would be handled.

Rush Limbaugh stirred the stink. During the run-up to Minneapolis, there was talk in the air of looming riots at the Democratic National Convention in Denver which preceded the GOP convention and that talk is partially responsible for the hysteria by the Minneapolis authorities at the GOP convention.

And above all that, the root cause of this fiasco could be blamed on the right-wing’s insistence on military might as the answer to our nation’s ills. They promote an atmosphere of Nazi-like domination first, then ask questions later. If the GOP had their way, which they might if they regain the White House, then there will be an era of neoconservativism in this country that will push us into more confrontation both domestic and worldwide and more suppression of thought and speech than we could have ever imagined possible.

The new conservatism that is promoted by the likes of Sarah Palin is violent, selfish, warmongering and hatemongering, unable and unwilling to understand the perils that face our environment, corporatist, and unintelligent. If this country goes sideways down this path of dumbed-down ultraconservatism, disaster is eminent. Look at what they did to the economy under Bush.

If the new right gains power, we will all be in a hand basket welcoming newcomers saying, “Come on in, were all headed to hell!”

I hope that Amy Goodman and her associates are successful in their quest for justice. It will go along way in staving off the militarism of America.

From MinnPost.com, By Marisa Helms | Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008:

Amy Goodman, the host of “Democracy Now!,” a nationally syndicated public radio and television program, says she was arrested Monday despite clearly identifying herself as a journalist.

Goodman says she had just heard two of her producers had been arrested and she ran up to a police line to inquire about her colleagues. She says the seemingly simple act got her arrested, too.

See the video of Goodman’s arrest here.

“It was very clear who I was,” says Goodman. “I had all my credentials hanging from my neck. ‘Look —  these are my credentials,’ I said. A Secret Service agent walked up to me and said, ‘Oh really?’ and ripped my credentials off my neck.”

Goodman says her arrest and that of her two colleagues (who were caught up in a police action and not the initial targets of it) was a “complete abuse of power.”

And more will come.

Here’s the video:

On the Net: Democracy Now! website: http://www.democracynow.org

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