Locking It Down
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Arriving a little late to the convention tonight? Get held up at Ruth’s Chris over 72 ouncers? Trying to make it back in time for Fred Thompson? No problemo! Your friendly neighborhood public safety crew is here to help. All they ask is that you walk seven blocks east, six blocks to the south, and then maybe you can get into the convention. It’s simple!
These are the streets of downtown St. Paul tonight, on Day 2 of the RNC. The city is apparently on “lockdown.” The security perimeter has ballooned, and cops in riot gear, many in gas masks, are blocking intersections. A helicopter remains stationary over the Xcel Center, giving everyone their own private Goodfellas moments.
“It’s just strategy,” one cop said.
Everyone — including delegates, reporters, and, yes, even Newt Gingrich — have been diverted inexplicably around downtown St. Paul in order to enter the Xcel at a far-flung location. (Newt got in fairly swiftly.)
The enhanced security can’t be to guard against civil disobedience. There is little protest to speak of today. Just a march by the Poor People’s Economic Human Campaign, which according to people on the street was peaceful. There were just a handful of arrests so far today, small potatoes compared to yesterday’s more than 280, which included Democracy Now! reporter Amy Goodman and two of the show’s producers.
It’s time for a beer, maybe at the “CNN Grill” across the street. They’ve apparently brewed their own beer for the occasion. Maybe they should name the light beer after Wolf Blitzer.
