Government

Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan expressed relief at the lack of violence associated with last night’s Rage Against the Machine concert. Despite more than 100 arrests, Dolan said the situation had the potential to be explosive given the intersection of delegates and protesters. “We were very, very nervous about that,” he said at a press conference this morning. “We had a recipe there for a perfect storm. I’m thankful to be here today to say that things went as well as I could have ever expected.” MORE »

The heavy police presence promised at the RNC in St. Paul this week was like honey to a bee for a few angry troublemakers and thrill seekers. (I won’t call them anarchists, because not all anarchists are vandals and troublemakers.) MORE »

Twenty-one people have been charged with felonies stemming from Republican National Convention protest activities, according to the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office. This includes eight individuals affiliated with the RNC Welcoming Committee who were the target of pre-convention police raids and face second-degree conspiracy to riot charges. Seven of them are being held on $75,000 bail, while the remaining individual is at large. MORE »

Trying to find out how many people were arrested, and how many have been charged in RNC-related cases is a challenge. The daily morning briefing by police offers some numbers — 283 arrested on Monday and 10 or 11 on Tuesday. All of those arrested between Friday night and Monday night should have had a day in court by noon on Wednesday. (Unless the 36-hour rule was extended to 48 hours, which may be allowed in some cases, but not in others … but we are not going to get into that mess here.)

To find out how many people had been charged, I did name-by-name counting, the old-fashioned way. Of course, I used on-line court records, the new-fangled way. Here’s how you, too, can use your computer to find information on criminal or civil cases, anywhere in the state. (Caveat: some exceptions apply, but it is still a very useful tool.) MORE »