Tense St. Paul march ends in arrests

ST. PAUL -- A group of rioters among a largely peaceful march against poverty rushed through security fences at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, prompting police to use tear gas and flash-bang grenades to keep them back, police said.

Police arrested at least three people in the incident, St. Paul police spokesman Tom Walsh said. Meanwhile police said that 135 of 286 people arrested for violence and vandalism Monday night face felony charges.

St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington said he hoped the remainder of the convention, which ends Thursday night, would be calmer.

"We are anticipating that there may well be less criminal activity because there are less of them out there," Harrington said. "But we do not expect there will be no criminal activity."

About 2,000 demonstrators took part in Tuesday's march that included people supporting the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign and a crowd that had attended a nearby concert.

Bruce Nestor, president of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, blamed the police for the violence.

"The entire thing was caused by this intimidating presence of these armor-clad riot-gear officers," Nestor said. "There's this overwhelming sense that the city has been militarized and locked down, and that … makes it very difficult to feel like you are exercising your freedom-of-speech rights."

Walsh said police were standing alongside marchers when confronted with "a group organizing to try to breach the fence" at the Xcel center.

He said the response from officers was "an appropriate one" and blamed the violence on "a subset" of marchers "that is committing criminal acts."

Some protesters were taunting and egging on police, said Enrico Vinholi, 17, of St. Paul. Jenna Williams, 23, a nursing home therapist from St. Paul, said she was scared.

"I was running from the tear gas," she said. "In a peaceful protest, you shouldn't have to do that."

Contributing: The Associated Press