RNC 2008: Back To The Jail Support Camp

Photo By John Hoff, September 4 or 5

So it was back to the jail support camp the night of September 4, which was more like the early morning of September 5...

...protesters were being released from vans which pulled up about half a block from the detention facility. I found out from the jail support camp they were told "if you move up where we're dropping them off, we'll stop dropping them off there." So the jail support camp stayed right where it was. I noticed by this point they were completely out of candles but food was still in plentiful supply, including a delicious curry.

Individuals who had been arrested several hours earlier were being released relatively quickly, including some of the leadership of the march. (Speaking to these leaders was how I found out about Carlos From Los Angeles, who was leading at the bitter end despite his relative innocence about, oh gee, the layout of the City of St. Paul)

I gave a detailed account of the final, messy end "March Into A Meat Grinder" to some of the protest leaders, who lacked information about what happened after their own arrests because, obviously, they were detained and cut off from most information.

One of the protesters said she'd been told some news stations broke into McCain's speech to show footage of individuals being processed for arrest. I have yet to see any evidence that was true, but it makes sense it may have happened with SOME networks...although certainly not the one I was watching in that bar.

A young woman dressed like the Statue of Liberty was there at Jail Support Camp, too. I think she may have said something about being an actress with a community theater. Yeah, nice to see grassroots organizations out there doing something--anything, really--instead of having "discussions" and "salons" and "seminars" and mother(expletive) "conversations" while all the important stuff worth talking about is happening out in the streets.