ST. PAUL, Minn.—Over 100 people arrested while protesting in St. Paul, Minn., on the Republican National Convention’s opening day were formally charged with felonies in court Tuesday, police said.
According to St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington, 120 protesters were charged with felonies, which included aggravated criminal damage to property and assault. Another 103 were charged with misdemeanors for actions such as unlawful assembly and disorderly conduct, and 51 were charged with gross misdemeanors, Harrington said.
Police arrested 283 people after protesters smashed windows at Macy’s and a downtown bank building, and dozens were pepper-sprayed and tear-gassed in 90 degree heat, according to CNN.
An estimated 10,000 people marched from the Minnesota State Capitol to the hosting Xcel Energy Center.
“We are here … in solidarity to say ‘no’ to the Republican agenda,” said Angel Buechner, a member of the Coalition to March on the RNC and the Welfare Rights Committee of Minnesota. “We’re going hungry, we’re losing housing, we need jobs.”
Most attendees said they do not approve of the job President George Bush has done in office.
“There are so many issues on which the Bush administration is wrong,” said Mary Jo Nissen, 58, of St. Louis Park, Minn.
Nissen said she is especially concerned about ending the war in Iraq and the torture of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
Janine Wahrendorf, 23, of Germany said she thought it was “pretty amazing how many people came out” for the rally and supports Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama even though she will not be voting.
“I’m not a big supporter of war,” she said. “I’m not even from this country, but it affects the whole world.”
While many protested against presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain, others have already pledged not to vote for either party.
“Rallies kind of depress me and bum me out because of the lack of direct action,” said Greg Schultz, 21, of Duluth, Minn.
Schultz, who is part of the anarchist movement, said he still cannot see a difference between Obama and McCain, even though he has read a lot about both of them.
Jodin Morey, a Minneapolis resident and co-founder of Impeach for Peace, said he would support Obama over McCain. However, he emphasized the importance of a balance of power between the president and the people because, he said, any president is capable of committing impeachable offenses.
“I fully suspect that all future presidents will continue to commit the same crimes that Bush has committed,” Morey said.
