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May 14, 2008 11:23 pm US/Central
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Police Set RNC Marching Route, Protesters Unhappy
ST. PAUL (WCCO) ―
A group of demonstrators protesting the war in Iraq will be allowed to parade as close as 300 feet from the Xcel Energy Center on the first day of the Republican National Convention, police said Wednesday.
St. Paul Assistant Police Chief Matt Bostrom unveiled a 2-mile route that goes from the State Capital to the Xcel Center and back. He said it will give marchers "unprecedented access" to a political convention.
But protesters say it's not good enough.
The authorized route will allow marchers near the Xcel Energy Center at the corner of West 7th Street and West 5th Street -- an intersection kitty-corner and across the street from the arena. In a letter to protesters, Assistant City Attorney John Kelly wrote a portion of the route will be approximately 100 feet from where attendees will enter with their credentials. The route is only authorized for Sept. 1, the first day of the four-day convention.
"This is as close as we can get to the skin of the building, if you will," Bostrom said during a news conference, "We believe we've struck that difficult balance between free expression and safety and security."
He said there will be no barbed wire or black cloth that entirely blocks the view of the building to allow protestors to be seen and heard.
A group called the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War received a conditional parade permit more than two months ago but didn't learn of its route until Wednesday.
"We're very unhappy with it," said Jess Sundin, a spokeswoman for the Anti-War Committee. "We're expecting something like 50,000 people. We need big streets ... The amount of space that they are proposing we turn around in is not possible."
The protesters wanted a route that would allow them to march on the streets immediately surrounding the Xcel Energy Center. They wanted to march from the Capital down John Ireland Boulevard and walk along the streets that border the Xcel.
The permit allows marchers to leave the Capitol at noon and requires them to be away from the intersection nearest the Xcel Center by 2 p.m. Protestors said that won't give them much time to march or guarantee they'll be near the facility when delegates are there.
"What this means is that people could potentially be coming from as far away as California to yell at an empty building and people the right to take their message to the Xcel Center and have it be heard," said Meredith Aby, spokesperson for the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War.
No bicycles or vehicles will be allowed along the parade route.
Bostrom said the route could be modified before the convention, but the point where protesters are nearest the Xcel Center won't be moved further away.
In addition, Bostrom said, facilities such as the Dorothy Day Center will remain open during the convention and the parade and will be accessible from certain directions.
Police spokesman Tom Walsh said the department estimates it will have 3,000 to 3,500 officers on duty during the four-day convention.
Sundin said the protesters will continue to pressure the city to change the route. A prescheduled hearing is set for Friday in federal court to challenge various issues surrounding the permit.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)