 |
 |
|
|
|
| About | Contact | Subscribe | Calendar | Publish | Donate |
|---|
|
More
 $32.00 donated in past month
|
U.S. | Global Justice and Anti-Capitalism | Government & Elections | Health, Housing, and Public Services | Police State and PrisonsDay One of the 2012 RNC: March for Our Lives, 8/27/12: photos
Prior to this year's Republican National Convention in Tampa, the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign managed to establish an encampment inside the security "Event Zone" by leasing the unused land that wraps around an Army-Navy surplus store. On August 27th, the PPEHC called for a March For Our Lives to leave Romneyville and head through downtown Tampa in order to highlight economic injustices in America today. Law enforcement authorities, however, decided not to allow the unpermitted march to proceed, stopping the demonstration with a massive show of force less than a half hour into the march down North Tampa Street. There had been no illegal actions witnessed by this reporter on the part any protesters other than the act of marching without a permit. As the number of marchers slowly dwindled to dozens over the next half hour by moving away through Lykes Gaslight Park, the number of police surrounding the remaining marchers continued to grow into the mid-hundreds until finally a torrential downpour sent most of the soaked police and deputies away to their various staging areas.  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_1... [Pictured above: Romneyville banner hangs near camper]
The Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign also held a march at the 2008 RNC in St. Paul Previous coverage Day One of the 2012 RNC: Videographers Detained, 8/27/12: photos & video http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/08/29/18720549.php Day One of the 2012 RNC: March on the RNC, 8/27/12: video http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/08/29/18720528.php Day One of the 2012 RNC: March on the RNC, 8/27/12: photos http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/08/29/18720513.php Day One of the 2012 RNC: Welcome to the Ghost Town/Police State of Tampa, 8/27/12: photos http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/08/28/18720494.php Eve of 2012 RNC: Disruptions and Marches Begin, Convention Delayed Due to Storm, 8/26/12: photos http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/08/27/18720374.php Lead-Up to 2012 RNC: Anarchists, IEDs, Guy Fawkes, Feces, Drones & a Tampa Police State, 8/25/12: photos http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/08/26/18720300.php Video - 2012 RNC: Fear Mongering, Undercover Cops, and the Corporate Media http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/08/26/18720306.php
§Army-Navy Surplus Market in Tampa, the site of Romneyville
 2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_1...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_1...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_1...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_1...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_1...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_1...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_1...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_2...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_2... From right to left: Shamako Noble of the Hip Hop Congress (http://www.hiphopcongress.com), Cheri Honkola of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign and current Green Party candidate for Vice President (http://www.gp.org/2012/), David Rovics, and unknown people with small bullhorn and seated on stage.
Shamako Noble spoke out against police repression at the 2008 RNC in St. Paul: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/05/18533352.php#18533353  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_2...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_2...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_2...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_2...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_2...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_2...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_2... Day One of the 2012 RNC: March on the RNC, 8/27/12: photos
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/08/29/18720513.php  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_2...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_2... Day One of the 2012 RNC: Welcome to the Ghost Town/Police State of Tampa, 8/27/12: photos
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/08/28/18720494.php  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_2... Contrary to what police reported they would do beforehand, which is remain largely out of sight and NOT break out the riot gear unless serious issues with demonstrations arose (http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/08/28/18720460.php), large numbers of officers suddenly appeared with full riot gear here.
 2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_2...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_2... The FN 303 uses compressed air to fire projectiles from a 15-round drum magazine. It is designed to incapacitate the target through blunt trauma without causing critical injuries, and is most widely used for riot control and other kinds of combat where lethal weapons should be avoided.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_303  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_2...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_2...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_2...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_2... Upon recognizing that police were not only forcibly redirecting the march, but completely blocking its forward progress, about half of the marchers, especially those with children, immediately made their way through the only possible escape, Lykes Gaslight Park.
 2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_3...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_3... This guy appeared really nervous, pacing around, constantly looking in all directions for what he must have thought was an impending attack on the rear of the riot police line.
 2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_3...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_3... No "illegal assembly" or any other announcements were made. The speaker was just hurriedly packed back into the blue unmarked vehicle once the heavy rain began.
 2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_3...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_3...  2012-rnc-tampa_20120827_3... Speaking first in the video is Cheri Honkola of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign and current Green Party candidate for Vice President. Officials questioned about the police action include a high ranking Tampa police officer, who explains the initial presence of riot police as a means to redirect the march down a different street despite the fact that bicycle police had previously been doing the same thing up to that point; a Department of Justice Community Relations Services official, who says that it was police and deputies who made the decision to come out with such an inappropriately large force; and Tampa mayor Bob Buckhorn, who declines to comment on the situation and is seen smiling moments later.
|