OCA’s Alexis Baden-Mayer: “The Cops Said They’d Shoot Me!”

August 30, 2008 | Alexis Baden-Mayer

Organic Consumers Association

Today, for the first time in my life, I had guns pointed at me. One of the police officers told me over a loud-speaker: "Get out of the line of fire or we will shoot!" I can't believe the cops said they'd shoot me! In Minneapolis!

The photo above shows me standing in the line of fire at a gun-point raid on a van of suspected anti-Republican activists.

Click the following links to read accounts of this and several other police raids and arrests that have targeted suspected anti-Republican activists in Minneapolis-St. Paul where demonstrators have gathered to protest the Republican National Convention.

Code Pink Blog: The FBI Agent, the Retired Colonel, and the Anarchists

One group of activists, all employed by the extremely legit-sounding Organic Consumers Association witnessed a group of young people in a white van being pulled over by undercover cops, who forced the crew out of the van and demanded they walk backwards down the sidewalk. Alexis Baden-Mayer happened to be standing nearby.

“Get out of the line of fire or we’ll shoot you,” the cops told her.

SFGate: Politics Blog: Twin cities Cops Crack Down on Activists

Said Alexis Baden-Mayer, a Washington, D.C.-based activist who saw the same thing as [Ronnie] Cummins [featured in this post in an online video]: "It makes me think about Monday. Should I go to the convergence? Am I being watched? I wonder if I'll be safe there. When you see something like that, it makes you wonder all these things."

TAKE ACTION:

Tell local elected officials in Minneapolis and St. Paul:
Put the guns away! Freedom of speech now!

IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE MINNESOTA:

Call the local elected officials in Minneapolis and St. Paul and tell them to put their guns away and let peaceful protesters exercise our constitutionally protected rights of free speech and assembly.

Phone numbers:

IF YOU LIVE IN MINNESOTA:

Click the following link to e-mail the local elected officials in Minneapolis and St. Paul and tell them to put their guns away and let peaceful protesters exercise our constitutionally protected rights of free speech and assembly.

http://capwiz.com/grassrootsnetroots/issues/alert/?alertid=11865481&type=LO

Please tell everyone you know about what's happening here and urge them to join you in standing up for the rights of free speech and peaceful assembly.