Tuesday, August 31, 2004

RNC Protestor Arrests Update

The Quick Background: Yeah, I'm a Democrat (in ideology since I'm not registered with a party). Yes, I'm going to vote for Kerry. Irrespective, here are some things I found with a quick search:

Someone blogging the protesting and arrests at Indy Media.

A CNN article, posted only 20 minutes ago, saying 400 people arrested. I've read elsewhere that it's over 1000 arrested now. I also read somewhere that MSNBC is refusing to cover the protests (or at least not reporting on them). In a cursory glance, I couldn't find a piece on the protests at MSNBC.com.

This one over at the Village Voice has some photos to go with the reports.

Majority Report Radio also has some photos with its reports.

Here's a recent WCBS 880 article on the cops arresting hundreds of protestors. This one states the +1000 mark.

Last, here's a blog called Annatopia that has some additional thoughts and coverage.

What I find difficult to digest is the volume of purported arrests. Since WCBS 880 gave that +1,000 number, I feel more confident believing it. But honestly, the Republican National Convention and the concomitant protests merited the arrest of so many people??? Was there no better way to handle this? I'm sure some of them deserved to be arrested for not following protocol but c'mon! Over 1,000??? Then compare that with the very few arrests that took place outside the DNC. I don't get it.

So is this a sign of things to come? Is protesting, even in peaceful forms, to be considered illegal now? Where's the line?

And before the badgering begins, if it is to begin, I recognize that this is a fairly limited view from limited information. Go ahead, give me a counterpoint if you have one.