Rebel Yell Reporter Mark Skinner arrested at RNC Convention

Mark Skinner was arrested last night by St. Paul Minn. police along with a group of student protesters.

Aisha O’Brien, Skinner’s girlfriend and former reporter for the Rebel Yell has posted information on her blog, Neon Feminism.

Skinner was charged with unlawful assembly, a misdemeanor, and released On Friday morning at 5am.

Skinner’s audio recordings of the arrest can be heard here.

A few videos of the protest event can be seen here.

Disturbances Plague Opening of Republican National Convention

By Mark Skinner

ST. PAUL, Minn. — On Monday afternoon after the scheduled march on the Republican National Convention, hundreds of protesters broke away from the legal scheduled demonstration and confronted police in downtown St.Paul. Police used tear gas and pepper-spray to disperse the crowds who harassed delegates attempting to get to the convention and broke windows on a police squad car.

Downtown St. Paul was closed off to traffic for several hours and by the end of the day 284 people had been arrested, including Amy Goodman and her crew from “Democracy Now!”

On Tuesday, police were prepared for protesters. Police disbursed another group of protesters headed to the convention center without interfering with the delegates business. St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington is quoted by Minneapolis Public Radio as saying “Yesterday there was a group of people — not the protesters in my mind, not the group that was here to have their voices heard in protest — but a group of criminals that came here with a very express goal and intent. They came here to stop the convention, to crash the gates, to stop the buses and the delegates from being able to do their lawful duty. They failed.”

The convention schedule had been drastically shortened due to concerns with Hurricane Gustav. Regardless of the change to the convention, demonstrators gathered on the lawn of the Capitol building to open the official protest march, ironically named the “RNC Welcoming Committee.” More than 10,000 protesters advocating a wide variety of causes marched from the Capitol building to the convention center and back before the opening of the Republican National Convention. The protest march proceeded with heavy police presence and concluded without incident, despite a few tense moments between protesters and police.

Sometime during and after the official march that another contingent of protesters broke off and caused the disturbances in the downtown area. One of the groups involved in the disturbances were the Students for a Democratic Society, who hoped to block delegates from attending the convention. Various small anarchist groups were also involved. A few delegates were treated for minor injuries, but convention activities were not disrupted in any major way.

How do such disturbances come from a city that is supposed to be “Minnesota nice?” The political make-up of the Minneapolis metropolitan area makes the Twin Cities a political powder keg. According to Dan Ritchie, a McCain campaign volunteer, “Minnesota has been a battle-ground state.” On Saturday prior to the convention, he expressed his concern: “People have been concerned about civil disobedience. St. Paul is a heavily Democratic town and there are a fair amount of anarchists in the Twin Cities area.”

According to Minneapolis Public Radio, on the weekend prior to the convention the Ramsey County (St. Paul) Sheriff’s department issued various search warrants which revealed that a number of small groups identified as anarchists had been making preparations to disrupt the convention. Police focused their attention on suspected Anarchist groups, but apparently failed to identify the Students for a Democratic Society as a threat.

View all of our photos from the Republican National Convention here. Or view them as a slide show here.

Bicycle use promoted at Democratic National Convention

By Jorge Labrador

DENVER – Although Denver is home to an award-winning mass-transit system, a new bike-sharing initiative is making strides with a new a concept for public transportation.

Bikes Belong, an organization promoting bicycle use, along with health insurance company Humana are brought a new bike-sharing concept, called Freewheelin, to Denver during the Democratic National Convention.

“Nearly 40 percent of all trips Americans make are two miles or less,” said Tim Blumenthal, executive director of the Bikes Belong Coalition.

The program kicked off Monday by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, who led 100 cyclists on Freewheelin bikes through the city’s streets.

Bike-sharing is not an entirely new concept, but it is the first time a program of its kind is being exposed to a large concentration of the general public, members of the press and politicians. Both the Democratic and Republican National Convention’s host cities are being targeted to expose the program to as many influential individuals as possible.

“This is the biggest bike-sharing effort in the United States,” said Avery Stonich, the marketing and communications director of Bikes Belong. ” There are successful programs in Europe, but nothing on this scale.”

According to Stonich, the initiative has proven to be successful thus far. Over a thousand bikes were borrowed by 2p.m. on Monday, the first day of operation.

Bikers register for the program and borrow a bike and helmet at one of seven Freewheelin stations scattered across the city of Denver. Each station has map of the city and several recommended bike routes, some efficient, others scenic.

“It’s the best way to see the town,” Stonich said.

The Freewheelin program is a test for the bicycle-sharing concept within large cities. The idea is also well-suited to college campuses like UNLV’s, Stonich said.

“A lot of students get along by bike anyway, and campuses are generally well suited to biking. One of the places that would make the most sense is [a college campus].”

Freewheelin stations will also be present throughout Minneapolis-St. Paul from Sept. 1 – 4 for the Republican National Convention. Bikes Belong’s goal is to lend more than 10,000 bicycles and provide 25 thousand miles of transportation between both conventions, to prove that bicycle-sharing programs are viable.

“The time is right to highlight the bicycle as an ideal transportation solution,” said Blumenthal.

View all of our photos from the Democratic National Convention here, or view them as a slide show here.

Women’s issues take center stage at DNC

By Samantha Williams

DENVER – The sound of clinking tambourines and deafening applause filled the Denver Convention Center today as women young and old gathered to caucus for their cause.

In honor of the 88th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, several renowned speakers took the stage, including Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and actress Fran Drescher.

Although some might think that there would still be some bitterness among Sen. Hillary Clinton supporters, the caucus seemed to prove otherwise.

Both panelists and audience members rallied together in support of Sen. Barack Obama, vocalizing their appreciation for his work and time spent fighting for women’s rights.

“This is about the future of the country,” Stabenow said. “We cannot take more of the same. And the good news is, we don’t have to. It is time to take our country back with Barack Obama.”

While Obama was praised throughout the event, Sen. John McCain received a very different response. At the mere mention of his name, the crowd showed their disapproval for the Arizona senator and his voting record on women’s issues.

“America deserves a president that understands your health and needs and I’m here to say the choice is clear: Barack Obama does and John McCain does not,” Richards said.

Richards later presented a clip of McCain being interviewed about his stance on birth control, in which he responded that he didn’t know enough about the subject to give an informed response.

“When he says, ‘I don’t know,’ he means ‘I don’t care,’” Richards proclaimed after the video.

Attendee and Denver resident Kristi Karn shared Richard’s distaste for McCain saying.

“I don’t think McCain cares about women’s issues,” Karn said. “He’s a grumpy old man.”

Various groups came to the caucus to get the word out about their organizations. Among them was the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights – a non-partisan, interfaith coalition working to protect women’s freedom and justice since 1973.

Emily Goodstein, director of the organization’s young adult outreach, came with a group of 12 volunteers under the age of 25.

“We try to debunk the myth that most people [believe],” she said. “[People] think that religious people are not pro-choice and we’re trying to tell the world that that’s not true.”

Goodstein will also be traveling to the Republican National Convention in September.

The ‘Wild West’ may be getting a little wilder

By Samantha Williams

DENVER – Today at the Denver Convention Center, top Democratic officials declared the West to be a crucial battleground region in the upcoming presidential election.

“I really believe that the road to the White House runs right here through the state of Colorado to the state of Nevada to the state of New Mexico – Arizona as well,” Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar said. “There’s a yearning for change and practical common sense solutions.”

According to Salazar and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, Sen. Barack Obama has what it takes to beat out Sen. John McCain and win over the electoral votes needed to secure the presidency.

“Democrats fit very well with the new West and we intend for this area not only to be a battleground but to be a margin of victory for the next president of the U.S.,” Napolitano said.

Nevada in particular has the potential to play a deciding factor in the upcoming race. The Silver State is largely considered to be a swing state as it has chosen the president over the past four elections.

As the fastest growing state in the U.S., it’s no wonder that both Obama and McCain have made numerous stops along the campaign trail throughout Nevada.

Although the state has tended to lean toward the right in the past, with a majority of Nevadans voting for President George W. Bush in the previous two presidential elections, trends now seem to be shifting to the left.

According to Project New West’s Andrew Myers, Democratic registration in Nevada increased 17.6 percent between 2000 and 2004 and has gone up by 39 percent between 2002 and 2006.

Since 2006, Democrats have held the edge in registration with 40.6 percent to the Republicans 39.3 percent.

“The Republican Party has been captured by kind of an angry far-right group and they haven’t been dealing with the issues that westerners are concerned about,” Napolitano said. “[Americans are] concerned about the economy, energy [and] health care. They’re concerned about their future, their concerned about having a real immigration policy.”

Napolitano said that while Republicans have been coming up with “bumper sticker solutions” the Democrats have been working hard for American families.

“We need common sense leaders that are willing to transcend the toxic place of partisan politics and get us to the practical solutions that the people of America want,” Salazar added.

Because of the large Hispanic population in several western states, both politicians see immigration as an important issue to many western voters.

“[Republicans have] been so focused on … [building] a wall, they haven’t offered Americans what a real solution is,” Napolitano said. “Building a wall is not going to be the answer. You show me a 14-foot wall; I’ll show you a 16-foot ladder. That’s the way immigration works.”

Instead, she advocates visa reform at the national level, streamlining of the immigration process and stricter law enforcement at the border – all of which, she says, are solutions westerners favor.