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[Mr. Corvin is seen prominent in the left side of the picture]
[Corvin released! Updated Friday evening, 9/5 – scroll to bottom]
ImpeachforPeace.org lobbyist and officer D. L. Corvin has apparently been detained while engaging in a peaceful protest march this evening. From what I saw on UpTakeVideo earlier today apparently a long standing permit for this evenings’ protest was suddenly, arbitrarily and inexplicably shortened to an hour by Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher, entrapping what Mr. Corvin described as “a couple hundred” peaceful protesters who had commenced the march assuming the permit was ‘as issued’.
A video perspective can be found here:
and here:
Mr. Corvin kept his hands on his head while continuing to talk to me until ordered to hang up by an officer on the scene.
Here are my notes from the conversation, which I started to take after finding out who else he wanted me to contact if he should go to jail:
8:41 p.m. Soon to be under arrest – maybe. Being told by officers: “If you stand up or don’t keep your hands on your head you will be shot”.
8:44 p.m. Looks like all are going to be arrested.
8:48 p.m. “Do not move until told to do so by an officer.” They are claiming to have found a weapon on someone – thus justifying the heavy-handed tactics. It would be great if we could follow up and find the name of the person arrested for weapon possession at this “crime” scene.
8:49 p.m. Mr. Corvin: ” I’m being told to hang my phone up. I’ve gotta go”. Mikael: “Goodbye”.
I have not heard back from Mr. Corvin as of 9:30 p.m.
~~~
[From Mr. Corvin]:
I was arrested for the Misdemeanor charge of “Presence at an Unlawful
Assembly” last night at the RNC in St. Paul. The following is my first
attempt to describe what happened literally.
At about 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 4th, I joined the Anti-War march
near the Capital building on the edge of downtown St. Paul. I had a sign
which read “Neither (R)eason (N)or (C)ompassion” on one side and “Warning:
The Change You Deserve” with a skull and crossbones on the other. As I was
arriving, somewhere between two and three hundred protesters had already
started moving away from their spot at 12th and Cedar, where I understand
the police had prevented them from marching into the downtown “free speech
zone”. Protesters continued to chant together as we marched. I filmed events
as they happened. There were a huge number of police officers: Some on
bicycles, some on horseback, some on other vehicles, and many dressed in
riot gear. All attempts to get into the downtown area were cut off by large
groups of police officers and their vehicles. Periodically, the officers
would rush ahead of the crowd in trucks, cars, motorcycles, and bicycles; I
assume this was to prevent them from entering downtown. I was feeling very
intimidated, but I wanted to continue to participate in the march.
After about a half hour to forty-five minutes of this, the police started to
detonate what looked to me like flash grenades. Protesters continued to
chant “Whose streets? Our streets!” and “The people, united, will never be
defeated!” I could see a considerable amount of smoke at times, although
whether this was from tear gas or something else was unclear to me, and I
was able to avoid it. The blasts from flash grenades intensified sometimes
in what appeared to be an effort to reroute the protesters, although no
directives were issued about what we should do or how to disperse. Some of
the protesters panicked and started to run. I heard officers yelling and
threatening protesters, including one cop who yelled what sounded to me to
be something like “get down and put your hands on your head or you will be
killed.” I also heard one say “Get your hands up or get sprayed.” It was
hard to hear over the sound of panic and the helicopter overhead.
At this point I was very afraid that I might be assaulted and seriously
hurt, but I was not sure what to do, and it was not clear how best to leave
the situation. Some people passed me stating that “we’re trying to find a
bus” and noting that they weren’t part of the march. Later in the evening I
would have the chance to talk to a photo journalist who said he had been
blocks away from the march, but had been pushed in with it with no way out.
After a little while, when the crowd arrived at Marion Avenue, officers
started herding protesters south. They announced into a megaphone: “This is
an unlawful assembly. Go southbound or be subject to arrest.” What appeared
to be flash grenades continued to detonate. It was around this time that I
saw a flash and felt an abrupt impact on my upper right cheek. I believe
that I had been struck with some kind of shrapnel from a flash grenade.
Fortunately, this shrapnel narrowly missed my eye. I asked another protester
if I was bleeding and he said I seemed to be all right.
Finally, police officers they pushed us south onto the I-94 bridge over
Marion near St. Anthony Avenue, where we ran into line of officers in riot
gear which stretched across the length of the bridge to the south. We were
completely trapped here. After some confusion, protesters began to sit down.
Police officers stated clearly through megaphones that we were to put our
hands on our heads and that if we were to take them off or stand up, we
would be shot. We were also told that we were all going to be arrested.
After a while, things started to seem somewhat less dangerous. At this
point, I began a long process of waiting. At around 8:35, I spoke with
ImpeachForPeace.org cofounder Michael Rudolph. I spoke with him, while
holding the phone from a position with my hands on my head, until an officer
ordered me to put the phone away at about ten minutes to 9:00. I was
informed by Mr. Rudolph that the permit for the evening’s Anti-War March was
“suddenly, arbitrarily and inexplicably shortened to an hour by Ramsey
County Sheriff Bob Fletcher.”
Soon started to arrest people, but they seemed to be doing it quite slowly
for reasons of which I never became aware. I was one of the last fifty
people or so to be arrested. I estimate it took about three and a half hours
before I was finally put on a police bus. Protesters sang and talked to pass
the time. Some had medical needs, which as far as I could tell appeared to
have been mostly ignored, and others had to use the restroom. Those that did
have to use it were instructed to urinate into plastic bottles (and some
did). I heard from police at one point that a gun had been found on one of
the protesters. An officer also stated that no protesters had assaulted any
police officers.
The police officer who cuffed me with plastic bands was somewhat friendly,
and he helped me to make some phone calls to significant people before
processing me. He refused, however, to allow me to bring my sign, which
remained on the street. I was photographed, my other possessions were taken,
and I was arrested. After being routed to a bus, where I waited for some
time, I were taken to Ramsey County Jail. I waited there again for quite a
while before being taken inside. I was fingerprinted and my cuffs were
removed, and I was finally allowed to urinate. Subsequently I was placed in
a cage with perhaps twenty other protesters. Over the next several hours, I
was moved with other protesters from one cage to another with no obvious
pattern. At around 5:30 a.m., after about 9 hours of waiting, I was finally
released onto the street. I was able to walk back to my car from here and
make phone calls.
He is out and is fine. Thank you for your concern Victoria. Say hello to my brother and my niece and nephew in San Rafael and Bolinas Bay!!
😉
hope you’re doing ok, L. solidarity from the west coast, v.
The peaceful are growing I sense millions marching.
More than can dealt with.
for the finest impeachment.