Sherriff Expects To Arrest Thousands During '08 RNC

By Cernig

Just so you know what to expect.

In a supplemental budget request, Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher is expected to ask for considerable funding to pay for security during the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul.

Fletcher, who narrowly won re-election in 2006, expects to arrest between 3,000 and 5,000 protesters during the GOP's presidential nominating convention in September 2008. According to a source close to the policy-making process in St. Paul, the unconfirmed amount of $4,432,804 includes more than $550,000 to possibly build a fenced outdoor detention facility for protesters. According to Dave Verhasselt, spokesman for Ramsey County Manager David Twa, the St. Paul Police generally have jurisdiction over arrests and the sheriff over jailing once arrests are made.

The article also notes that in 2004 "six protesters were arrested at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, while approximately 10,000 were arrested during the Republican National Convention in New York City."

Either people who go to protest at the RNC are about 1,670 times more likely to break the law than protestors at the DNC, or there's a bit of "supress dissent" nastiness going on here. Which do you think?