Protesters dispute St. Paul police in court

St. Paul police have failed to provide evidence that the violence or disruption they fear would occur if authorities approve a route sought for an antiwar march during the Republican National Convention, lawyers for the protesters said in court documents filed Thursday.

But Tom Walsh, St. Paul police spokesman, said Friday: "We believe that our argument is valid, that there is a risk for some violence and we are doing everything that we can to make certain that everyone who visits our city has a safe experience."

In court documents filed last week, police cited plans by groups on websites to "shut down the convention." The Secret Service mentioned concerns of a shooting or suicide bombers.

The "general threat" of explosive devices outlined by police is insufficient to abridge free speech, lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, the National Lawyers Guild and two local law firms said in filings Thursday in federal court.

Such threats are often cited for big events, they wrote. "If the government merely needs to say 'we are worried about bombs' to justify suppressing speech and assembly rights, the First Amendment is dramatically weakened."

The attorneys said police cited "web postings that advocate civil disobedience in connection with the convention." The lawyers said St. Paul officials acknowledge that such groups are not affiliated with their clients, the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War. The police do not explain how threats of civil disobedience relate to the route the protesters want or how a route offered by police ameliorates the threat, the lawyers said.

Police do not say how real the threat of civil disobedience is, the lawyers said, or how many will take part in such actions. Because the route proposed by police would let the coalition get within 84 feet of the Xcel Energy Center, the convention site, that "belies any meaningful security and safety risks," the lawyers said.

Under the new proposal, protesters would march along one side of the Xcel Center, then link up with the route police want.

Walsh said the route that police are offering gives protesters "unprecedented access and the fact they are using a large portion" of that route "in their counterargument is an indicator that it is a good route."

In their original application, protesters asked to march from the State Capitol to the Xcel, circle the Xcel complex and return to the Capitol. Police gave them a route from the Capitol to an intersection across from the Xcel and back to the Capitol.

Federal Judge Joan Ericksen will hear the case on July 9.

Organizers predict 50,000 to 100,000 marchers, but with the Iraq war not as hot an issue, some think there could be fewer.