50,000 expected to protest RNC David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster

Published: Friday August 29, 2008





Print This Email This If you thought protests outside 2008's Democratic National Convention were loud and proud, you ain't seen nothing yet. So say organizers preparing for the 2008 Republican National Convention, set to take place in St. Paul, Minnesota.



Organizers estimate 50,000 protesters are getting ready to demonstrate outside the RNC, in the largest anti-war protest planned so far this year.



"We have word that people are coming on busses and carpools, people are flying in from all over the country," said Katrina Plotz, an organizer for an RNC protest group. "We are expecting the police to uphold our right to demonstrate, to speak out against the war."



AP Correspondent Haven Daley said in a Wednesday news video that it may be difficult keeping the protests peaceful, attributing his ominous prediction to "anarchist groups" which were not named.



"We're aware of the other tactics that the other groups are doing, so we're trying to reschedule around those different activities," said Code Pink activist Nancy Mancias.



St. Paul police have prepared an open-air prison, similar to those employed by the New York City police in 2004, and the Denver police during the 2008 DNC. The facility is capable of holding hundreds for an unknown amount of time.



This video is from The Associated Press, broadcast August 27, 2008.









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