RNC 2008: His "Ticket To Freedom" After Being Swept Up In A Group Of Protesters

Photo By John Hoff

Jed, pictured above, is "the closest thing to an intern" at 612 Authentic, where Gabe and Jake are working on their documentary about the mortgage crisis. It turns out Jed was arrested during RNC 2008 but managed to finagle a release thanks to keen observation skills and an unused concert ticket...

On September 1, Jed had a ticket to the Harriet Island "Take Back Labor Day" Concert, and he was biking into St. Paul from Minneapolis. (Note bike, above, Exhibit A)

Well, Jed didn't know about the BARRICADES so he found himself forced to go down 7th, then HAD to go down Shephard Road because barricades were blocking Kellogg. Jed decided to go down Shepherd to Jackson and then take the Wabasha Bridge to get to the concert. It seemed like a good idea at the time. It was a cop at Kellogg and 7th who gave him that route after Jed asked.

So Jed was biking down Shephard and there were "lots of protesters." Also, people in a park behind the Science Museum were sitting around listening to the concert because the music could be heard from across the river. Jed says he "biked down Shepherd to get to Jackson, and when we got to Jackson THIS HAPPENED."

Click here for the video by Chuck Olson, Explosions At The RNC Protest. At 25 seconds into the video, you can see a guy with a white shirt and dark green bag in the lower left corner, riding a bike. Jed's friends were with him. Jed said, "We went right into it, we didn't know."

Jed was afraid of getting gassed. One girl at the protest had an extra bandanna and some vinegar, so Jed put one on. Soon enough the police were closing in. Jed had to sit, put his hands over his head. But shortly before that, Jed managed to take the bandanna the girl had given him and toss it over a railing.

So Jed was sitting for a while as arrested individuals were processed, and he started to realize he was dressed for the concert and looked a lot like a protester. Jed had on a "Black Flag" shirt. He took off the shirt and turned it inside out. He took his hat off. He tried to put an "innocent" look on his face.

Jed says the police were "sorting out the anarchist looking people from the bystanders" caught in the wide net. Jed said "this is the first time in my life I didn't want to look like myself." Jed wanted to look like "a square."

Two hours into the arrest processing, Jed saw a girl in "a bikini top and shorts" show the officers a concert ticket. She was not put in with the "anarchist looking people." Jed realized his concert ticket could be his ticket to freedom.

"My word, Jed," I told him. "This kind of sounds like one of those stories from Nazi Germany about how somebody narrowly managed to avoid going to a death camp."

So about an hour after he saw the girl use her concert ticket--a whole three hours after being arrested--Jed was processed and showed one of the officers his concert ticket. He was told to "stand aside" for a moment. And then, a short while later, he was told he could leave.

Jed still has the ticket in his wallet. He never made it to the concert.

He is thinking of framing that ticket.

(P.S. I should also mention Jed is a dumpster diver; which makes him very much a kindred spirit. One day he showed up at the offices of 612 Authentic with a big loaf of bread, chowing down. He was asked where he got the bread.

"Dumpster," Jed shrugged.)