Arrest

Originally uploaded by Lindsay Beyerstein

Saint Paul, MN.

September 1, 2008.

A demonstrator arrested on Kellogg Blvd. during the Labor Day protests to mark the kickoff of the Republican National Convention.This is the ugly arrest that Siun and I wrote about yesterday.

I was in the park across the street when the arrest happened. I turned around and saw the arrestee lying in the street, surrounded by motorcycles. At first I assumed that he’d been hit by a car. As I got closer, I saw that he was cuffed.

The officer in the yellow safety vest noticed me and started taunting me. "Go a head, take more pictures," he said, gesturing to the insignia on his shoulder. "Greetings from the great Southwest." As you will see in subsequent shots, the officer is from Tuscon, AZ. Conveniently, the safety vest covers up his badge number–which might explain why he was so cocky about having his picture taken. (Often, riot gear covers up badge numbers, too. Tip: Look for serial numbers on on the back of their helmets.)

The officers got the arrestee on his feet and frog marched him towards me onto the sidewalk. The officer in the safety vest started taunting the prisoner in pigeon Spanish. The guy was wearing a hat, which safety vest knocked to the ground, laughing because the guy couldn’t reach down to pick it up.

When I left, the officers had boxed the prisoner in on the sidewalk with his back against a concrete barrier. His elbow was bleeding.

Click on the picture to see a larger version, and lots more pictures from Firedoglake’s coverage of the RNC.