8/7/08 - PostBulletin.com - Residents of Rochester area plan to protest at Republican National Convention
In the News
Residents of Rochester area plan to protest at Republican National Convention
8/7/2008 11:30:01 PM
By Matt Russell
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN
A Rochester group is planning to join demonstrators at the Rochester National Convention, which begins in three weeks.
The Southeast Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers has booked a roughly 50-passenger bus it hopes to fill with local demonstrators who will join others in St. Paul, said Joe Mayer of the Southeast Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers.
The Southeast Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers, a group that has frequently protested the war in Iraq, plans to send the bus on the first day of the convention -- Sept. 1 -- when tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected to march between the state Capitol and the Xcel Energy Center.
"Our people are going up there to promote peace," Mayer said.
Mayer said the group thinks neither Sen. Barack Obama nor Sen. John McCain is planning to do enough to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Other peace and justice groups will demonstrate at the Democratic National Convention being held Aug. 25-28 in Denver, he noted.
The bus from Rochester will join a handful of anti-convention activities planned around southeastern Minnesota this month.
A forum was held Wednesday at the Northfield Public Library to discuss protesting at the convention.
On Aug. 18, an organization called Voices for Creative Nonviolence, which has eight members walking from Chicago to St. Paul to demonstrate at the convention, will arrive in Winona. Members of the group, including author Kathy Kelly, will speak at 7 p.m. at McKinley United Methodist Church.
Also expected to wind their way through southeastern Minnesota this month is the GrassRoutes Caravan, a group of about 50 bicyclists pedaling from Madison, Wis., to join demonstrations in St. Paul; the group is doing service work along the way, and plans to stop at Oak Center General Store on Aug. 26.
The Republican National Convention runs Sept. 1-4. Mayer said he thinks the Southeast Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers will participate in demonstrations on the first day of the convention only, adding that members could attend peace and justice workshops being held in the Twin Cities during the remainder of the convention.
