Police crackdown on protestors at the Republican National Convention.

Various law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, have launched a series of outrageous attacks on potential protesters at the Republican National Convention. A sample, from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

The raids began Friday night when Ramsey County sheriff's deputies, guns drawn, used a battering ram to get through a door and into the former Smith Theater on St. Paul's West Side that was being used as a gathering space by a protest group. About 60 people were inside 627 Smith Av. S. watching a movie and eating when the raid began. No one was arrested, but everyone inside was handcuffed and interviewed.

The police raided a movie theater with a battering ram and guns drawn, where they found people...watching a movie and eating. Everyone was handcuffed, then released.

The most important fact, which Greenwald is highlighting, is that the FBI was involved with these raids. This is what happens when you give the Federal government total surveillance power. They use it to go after their domestic political enemies, not terrorists.

Lotsa links from John Emerson at Seeing the Forest.

Minneapolis Star Tribune story.

Glenn Greenwald at Salon.