Autocracy Now!

There have been some really astounding Gestapo tactics playing out in St. Paul today. Preemptive raids, mass arrests, suspension of habeas corpus, and police brutality to name a few.

Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman was arrested and charged with obstruction of a legal process (ha) and two of her producers have felony riot charges pending. The three were manhandled by the police and sustained minor injuries.

The scariest thing? The police knew who they were arresting. They knew that they were being filmed. They knew that there was no crime being committed. And they did it anyway. Why? Because they have approval to shut down any and all dissent by whatever means.

It isn't their immediate bosses giving them carte blanche to tread on the Bill of Rights. The approval is coming from much higher up the chain of command.