While Ron Paul supporters gather in Minneapolis-St. Paul for the “Rally for the Republic,” behind the scenes police and other officials appear to be readying themselves for protests and disturbances during the Republican National Convention.

Three journalists from an alternative press group had their equipment and notes confiscated by police who said the group was stopped on suspicion that they were trespassing in a nearby railroad yard. The equipment and notes were returned the following day. Police also accused the group of drug possession. "They got everything back but the marijuana," said police spokesman Sgt. William Palmer, according to press reports from Minneapolis.

A police spokesman claimed the equipment was part of the ongoing investigation into the incident. He said the incident involved trespassing and a homeland security matter.

The journalist/videographers are from the Glass Bead Collective, an organization with a history of documenting police misconduct.

Videographer Vlad Teichberg said he and two others were stopped in the early morning while walking from a bus stop to where they were staying in northeast Minneapolis.

Teichberg said police violated the group's First Amendment rights by taking items including a video camera, a still camera and a laptop. The police took away "the means for us to do our work," he said.

Among the notes also confiscated was information about protest groups, including times and places where they were gathering. 

The equipment and notes were returned following a press conference that had wide distribution on YouTube and through email.

As seen in the video of the press conference, the group has the National Lawyers Guild on its side. Between featuring the word "collective" in its name and attracting the support of the NLG, it is fairly clear where on the political spectrum the Glass Bead Collective falls. The National Lawyers Guild, since its inception, has been little more than a front organization for hard-left agitators, often of the Communist variety. Radical leftist "paralegal" Chip Berlet explained the nature of the organization in an article published by Resist Inc., another hard-left organization. According to Berlet:

In the 1950s the National Lawyers Guild refused to purge its members who were members of the Communist Party. Today there are Guild members who are cadre in a variety of communist groups along with a majority of unaffiliated members. As a paralegal investigator, I joined the Guild in the 1970s. I found an example of an organization that tried hard to incorporate the participation of cadre within a democratic structure.

What to make of this? First, the Constitution must be respected. The First Amendment to the Constitution explicitly protects freedom of speech, peaceful assembly, and other rights from restrictions created by the Congress, and the Supreme Court has interpreted it as applying more broadly. But, the Fourth Amendment points out that, "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause...."

Was there probable cause in this case? Notwithstanding the tresspassing and drug possession allegagtions, it is difficult to say exactly, not having the information that may have been available to local police. However, the affiliation of these "journalists" with the National Lawyers Guild at least makes one somewhat suspicious that the group may have ties to other radicals who may intend to engage in disruptive and, perhaps, illegal behavior.

It is possible that the police response in this case was too harsh. But it is also possible that there is more to this incident than meets the eye.

Dr. John Fisher teaches communications and researches in the area of mass media and political decision making.

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