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Permits are Crucial to Peace Movement’s Right to March on the RNC and Stop the War!
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by Marie Braun, W A M M
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On September 1, 2008, the first day of the Republican National Convention, the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War expects to bring together tens of thousands of people from Minnesota, the Midwest, and across the country for a rally and march against the war on Iraq. The rally will begin at the State Capitol, proceed down to and around the Xcel Energy Center, and return to the State Capitol. WAMM is one of the leaders in the coalition and is helping to plan this important demonstration.
The coalition applied for permits for the State Capitol, the march route, and Rice Park in October 2006, because we realized it was imperative that we have permits very early in the process in order to have ample time to plan and carry out the necessary logistical work. Also, in our outreach to peace and justice organizations around the country, we found that one of the main questions was, “Will you have permits?” Clearly, not having the permits is a serious obstacle to building a large, broad-based nonviolent peace demonstration. A protest involving very large numbers of people from across the country also requires serious preparation, including housing, renting stadium-type sound systems, finding parking for buses, and it requires a significant financial commitment.
The coalition has been informed that we cannot get the permits until at least six months prior to the RNC. Would the Republicans accept waiting until six months prior to their convention to make concrete logistical preparations? The RNC were given assurance several months ago by the city of St. Paul that they would have ample space for all their activities. The coalition should be provided the same assurances relative to our rally and march route, and those who choose to speak out against the war should also be guaranteed safety.
Coalition members are well aware that at some previous national party conventions permits were not issued until just days before the event, and that in some cases the terms of the permits were unacceptable – for example, there were last minute changes in routes and demonstrators were forced into isolated “protest pens.” The coalition is committed to doing everything possible to assure that this will not happen in St. Paul.
To this end, the coalition recently met with Assistant Chief of Police Matt Bostrom to ask for his assistance in getting the necessary permits now, and to ask for his assurance that demonstrators’ rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly will be protected during the Republican National Convention, and that the Secret Service will not be allowed to come in at the last minute and infringe upon such rights.
The coalition has also engaged volunteer attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild Minnesota Chapter and the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota to pursue other strategies to obtain the permits and to guarantee that we can exercise our rights of free speech and assembly in a safe environment.
This will be one of the largest—if not the largest— demonstration in Minnesota history, because the war on Iraq and the public disapproval of the U.S. government’s continued presence in Iraq remains the number one issue on voters’ minds. The eyes of the world will be on St. Paul in September 2008. The work that is going on now could well determine what people worldwide will see.
Individuals or groups interested in becoming involved can call WAMM at 612-827-5364 or go to www.protestrnc2008.org.
Marie Braun and WAMM are members of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War. |
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Word UP
The right to defy an unconstitutional statute is basic in our scheme. Even when an ordinance requires a permit to make a speech, to deliver a sermon, to picket, to parade, or to assemble, it need not be honored when it’s invalid on its face.
—Justice Potter Stewart (1915–1985),
U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Walker v. Birmingham, 1967
To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.
—Abraham Lincoln
(1809–1865), 16th U.S. President
Here is the reality. Iran has an economy the size of Finland’s and an annual defense budget of around $4.8 billion. It has not invaded a country since the late 18th century. The United States has a GDP that is 68 times larger and defense expenditures that are 110 times greater. Israel and every Arab country (except Syria and Iraq) are quietly or actively allied against Iran. And yet we are to believe that Tehran is about to overturn the international system and replace it with an Islamo-fascist order? What planet are we on?
—Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International,
former managing editor of
Foreign Affairs Harvard Ph.D. (Yale B.A.), who studied under Samuel Huntington. (www.newsweek.co./id/57346)
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