Disturbing...

[sleigh]

Well, here's a disturbing article. If true, it seems that a semi-police state is now in effect in Minneapolis, with authorities performing warrantless raids on people and groups anticipated to be protesting at the Republican convention, "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."

The article is rather alarmist, so I have some doubts as to its veracity. Mpls. folks, is this really going on? Any mention of this kind of activity in the papers/news reports?

Comments

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, digging a little further, it seems the 'warrantless' is hyperbole -- the police seem to have warrants, but aren't showing them initially (which strikes me as odd: aren't they required to show the warrant first, or is that "TV Law"?)

Still, with or without warrants, I find this disturbing, reading some of the reports. This didn't happen in Denver, or (at the very least) not on the same scale. Yes, the Secret Service always takes some precautionary action whenever high-level politicos visit a city, but this seems excessive.

[ellameena.livejournal.com]

I think the issue in question is "excessive force." SWAT teams don't normally knock at the door and show their warrant first, but were these people dangerous enough to need the SWAT team? I doubt it. On the other hand, I am taking it all with a grain of salt because these are people I don't know, and it's possible they really did have violent intentions. I am ready to be outraged about it, but I want more information.