Protesters in St. Paul
ST. PAUL, MINN. – A pending natural disaster may scrap the schedule of a major party’s political convention, but protest marches continue as scheduled.
An estimated 200 people – with some wearing orange coveralls to represent prisoners held in detention camps at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba – marched today in front of the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul. The U.S. considers the detainees enemy combatants in the global war on terrorirsm; the protestors ccomplained they are being held illegally.
Few GOP delegates were in the convention hall, no key Republican officials were anywhere near the place, and most media members were inside scrambling to get the latest on reports that some of the four-day convention which begins Monday would be suspended because Hurricane Gustav could cause widespread destruction along the Gulf Coast.
What the protestors did do was tie up traffic. My taxi driver, perplexed because we were sitting still in traffic for several minutes, told me it might be best for me to get out and jog the three or four blocks to the convention center.
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