United for Peace & Justice says the police are being abusive outside the RNC

Flashback. Flashforward. Email this morning from UFP&J saying:

We are sending you this message because the situation in St. Paul is very grave and we're concerned that the real story is not being told by the mainstream media.

Over the past few days, the heavily armed and extremely large police presence in St. Paul has intimidated, harrassed and provoked people; and, in a number of instances, the police have escalated situations when they used excessive force...

We are very concerned about what this all means about the right to protest, the right to assemble, and the right to have one's dissenting voice heard. We are worried about what it means about the growing militarization of our nation and the ongoing assault on the Constitution...

We urge you to call the Mayor of St. Paul right now...

Mayor Chris Coleman: 651-266-8510

And call your local media outlets to demand that they tell the real story of what's happening in St. Paul this week.

There's more. I didn't see it on their site, but it's likely there.

Four years ago we marched here in river city against the RNC. We were with the Ukes group. The main march was pretty mellow until it started approaching the Garden. The closer it got, the more tense and intense, and there was a palpable sense of violence in the air and on the ground, on both sides of the barricades. I remember wanting to get away from there as quickly as we could.