RNC - St. Paul - Thursday night 9-4-08 - Police Presence

My friend Adam and I went downtown St. Paul to take some pix during McCain's speech on Thursday evening. My brother-in-law, Kevin, is in the picture of the cops in riot gear. He's the guy on the left (S479). They arrested nearly 200 people on Thursday evening alone. We were there when they were cuffing people, booking them and putting them into prison buses. The group protesters had hoped to make it to the "X", but never made it out of the Sears parking lot across the Marion St. Bridge. Some of the other shots are taken in Rice Park where MSNBC was broadcasting live coverage. Things there were pretty civil until the convention let out. We left St. Paul as a number of officers were leaving the Marion Street Bridge for Rice Park. My understanding is that a number of other arrests were made there later in the evening. I've never seen such a stong police and military presence in the twin cities. A massive coordination of nearly 80 police departments, the National Guard, St. patrol SWAT, HASMAT, Secret Service and private security companies as well... pretty impressive. More than anything I came away thankful for a country that allows differing opinion, and offers a guy like me the freedom to walk the streets in safety.