Has the United States Constitution Been Suspended in Minnesota During the Republican National Convention?

Question

Protesters here in Minneapolis have been targeted by a series of highly intimidating, sweeping police raids across the city, involving teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets. Last night, members of the St. Paul police department and the Ramsey County sheriff's department handcuffed, photographed and detained dozens of people meeting at a public venue to plan a demonstration, charging them with no crime other than "fire code violations," and early this morning, the Sheriff's department sent teams of officers into at least four Minneapolis area homes where suspected protesters were staying.

In the house that had just been raided, those inside described how a team of roughly 25 officers had barged into their homes with masks and black swat gear, holding large semi-automatic rifles, and ordered them to lie on the floor, where they were handcuffed and ordered not to move. The officers refused to state why they were there and, until the very end, refused to show whether they had a search warrant. They were forced to remain on the floor for 45 minutes while the officers took away the laptops, computers, individual journals, and political materials kept in the house. One of the individuals renting the house, an 18-year-old woman, was extremely shaken as she and others described how the officers were deliberately making intimidating statements such as "Do you have Terminator ready?" as they lay on the floor in handcuffs. The 10 or so individuals in the house all said that though they found the experience very jarring, they still intended to protest against the GOP Convention, and several said that being subjected to raids of that sort made them more emboldened than ever to do so.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/us/politics/30arrests.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1220104985-Dcl+Tjoc3eipfJB8HL+HPQ&oref=slogin

Answer 1

Sounds like the 1960's and '70's. People weren't allowed to protest then either.  In fact 4 children (Kent State University) were killed by the police in 1970 because of protesting.  You think we would have learned by now that protesting is NOT allowed in our country.

Answer 2

Ive said all along that anyone coming to town looking for trouble was going to get hurt...

Answer 3

Within the articles of the links you posted it says that these protesters were planning to block road to the convention. In another spot it says that the police were searching for bombs and etc. It seems obvious the police were being very cautious. As to the "Terminator" comment- I did some research and found several things; one was an air deodorizer (unlikely) , one was a penny cleaner i think (also unlikely). But, I did find two things with the name 'terminator' the police officers do use. One is a thing to put behind the wheels of cars, the other is like a big mag flashlight. So I got to say, if these people were planning things, using the net to do so... seems like they deserved to get busted because all the evidence points to more than a simple demonstration. Notice the girl who said the police mentioned something called 'terminator' never said there were any actions related to the statement. My guess is she knew there was nothing there, but chose to say what she said because the word terminator SOUNDS scary if you don't know what it's referring to.

Answer 4

As I've said in regard to this event before, if someone does not think this is criminal, then they do not understand the Constitution. This is no surprise, during the last RNC, they were throwing nets over people in New York who just happened to be walking/cycling by.

I very much appreciate the freedom I have living in this country, and that's why it is so painful to see that the liberties people died for are, at the moment, being seemingly stomped on and disregarded.