Further updates on reporters and protester treatment at the RNC

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH6n7kRtm3o ^ Some of the Real News Network's reporters were at the RNC and managed to film some of what all happened there. They were charged with Unlawful Assembly, even though they're the media and they were covering the protesters and the events going on at the RNC. (Similiar account by some other journalists: http://www.myfoxhamptonroads.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7384001&version=6&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.3.1) For those of you who don't know what unlawful assembly is here's the definition: "A disturbance of the public peace by three or more persons who meet together with an intent mutually to assist each other in the execution of some unlawful enterprise of a private nature, with force and violence; if they move forward towards its execution, it is then a rout and if they actually execute their design, it amounts to a riot." ...It only applies when you meet someone with the motivation to do something illegal with force and violence. It works with that conspiracy to commit a riot bull that they were using to pre-emptively arrest protesters and journalists before the RNC started. Last weekend thousands of signatures were delivered, over 60,000 Huffington Post reported -- which had been gathered over just a couple days following the events that occurred. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/st-paul-authorities-get-t_b_124293.html) According to the Star Tribune, the Mayor of St. Paul called the RNC a success -- though what he thinks about all this, I cannot say. But having seen all this, I wouldn't call it a success for free speech. I'm sure ya'll remember that, we all have the right to peaceably assemble in large groups, since this is America. -- I just read on a local news station for North Dakota, that the Mayor of St. Paul has planned a review of police tactics used during the RNC. But I'm not sure what that will mean at the end of all this. I'm not saying there weren't probably -some- people who're doing bad things and were violent, but...the rest of this certainly is not acceptable...agree or disagree, folks? Related reading: http://www.citypages.com/2008-09-10/news/dozens-of-journalists-arrested-at-rnc/ "Dozens of journalists arrested at the RNC" http://media.www.bgnews.com/media/storage/paper883/news/2008/09/10/Campus/Student.Journalists.Arrested.Outside.Gop.Convention-3422822.shtml "Student journalists arrested outside GOP convention" http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/377830_amy05.html "Government crackdowns on journalists threaten democracy" http://www.minnesotaindependent.com/7775/journalists-bring-message-of-a-free-press-to-st-paul-city-officials "Journalists on RNC policing: ‘Dark days for press freedom in the U.S.’" http://elections.azcapitoltimes.com/blog/2008/09/08/rnc-police-investigation-a-good-call/ "RNC police investigation -- a good call" It looks like this might not settle down any time soon, there's plenty of outcry so far about this. The alternative media (among whom is a big chunk of all those wrongfully, imo, arrested) looks pretty united on this one. Think it's not too much to hope that we'll see some positive consequences in St. Paul because alot of people care enough not to drop this?