Sandbagged on the way to the RNC
ST PAUL, MINN. – So that was a sandbag that a law officer threw off the bus next to ours as we waited in line to get to the Republican National Convention.
A law officer climbed on the roof of the bus next to us Monday afternoon and threw off what looked like a sandbag, but none of the officers around would confirm it.
It was only after I left the Xcel Energy Center about 8 p.m. Monday that I heard from some police officers about the chaos that occurred outside while delegates inside were busy with opening the first day of the Republican National Convention.
A sheriff’s deputy from the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Department, in Illinois south of Chicago, told me that nearly 60 people had been arrested during what he described as a small riot a few blocks from the security perimeter around the convention center.
The deputy, one of more than 50 from his department – one of dozens of agencies brought in here to help with security – said some disorderly folks smashed windows and threw park benches in the downtown area. The activity was a contrast to a quiet, albeit smaller, anti-war, anti-Bush administration protest Sunday near the convention center.
Some people Monday also threw sandbag “bombs” from highway overpasses near the convention center on buses bringing delegates to the convention. One of those sandbags apparently landed on the bus next to ours, and that’s what the law officer had climbed on top of the bus to remove.
Our bus was checked by law officers. The luggage compartment was opened, and a bomb-sniffing dog was nearby. After being stopped for several minutes, our bus was cleared and we went on our way oblivious to any disorderly activities that had occurred or would soon erupt.
The riots occurred while a crowd of about 5,000 protesters marched peacefully outside the convention’s site, law officers and reporters said.
Published reports said protest organizers were hoping for 50,000 from nearly 100 groups across the country to show up for Monday’s march to protest the war in Iraq and the administration of President Bush, a Republican, for spending money on the war instead of on domestic needs. They marched from the state Capitol more than a mile away to the convention center.
Afterwards, a rally and music were held several blocks away from the convention center. Several unmarked vans of police officers and police on motorcycles and bicycles were seen rushing to the area about 8 p.m. CNN later reported about 300 people were seen conducting what appeared to be a sit-in at a parking lot, but no further confrontations or trouble apparently occurred.
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau.
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