15.000 es el número de periodistas presentes en la pasada Convención Nacional del Partido Demócrata estadounidense, en la que Barack Obama fue proclamado oficialmente como candidato presidencial. Un número similar asistirá a la Convención del Partido Republicano, pero es poco probable que veamos muchas historias como ésta de Salon.com y el NY Times y recogida por Boing Boing:
Protesters here in Minneapolis have been targeted by a series of highly intimidating, sweeping police raids across the city, involving teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets.
Last night, members of the St. Paul police department and the Ramsey County sheriff’s department handcuffed, photographed and detained dozens of people meeting at a public venue to plan a demonstration, charging them with no crime other than «fire code violations,» and early this morning, the Sheriff’s department sent teams of officers into at least four Minneapolis area homes where suspected protesters were staying.
En la Convención del 2004 estos grupos de protesta ayudaron a que los cargos sobre 400 de 1.800 detenidos fuesen desestimados gracias a las evidencias en vídeo aportadas, y los policías que levantaron esos cargos, acusados de perjurio.