In a quiet neighborhood on St. Paul's west side, a small but steady stream of activists, young and old, were seen arriving and leaving a former movie theater one afternoon this week.

A stack of brochures outlining plans to shut down the Republican National Convention sat on a table at a door that opens to the main hall. A young woman with the "RNC Welcoming Committee" politely explained to a reporter that media are not welcome and asked him to leave.

The anarchists have set up shop in St. Paul.

For more than a year, an assortment of self-described anarchists have been vowing on web sites and blogs to descend on St. Paul to stop traffic around the Xcel Energy Center where the GOP convention will take place from Sept. 1-4.

The group recently moved into the building on the 900 block of Smith Ave. S.

St. Paul spokesman Tom Walsh said police were aware the group had opened an office. Asked how police planned to deal with a plan to shut down the convention, Walsh was circumspect.

"We have been saying from the beginning that we have a plan that will provide for any eventuality," he said.

The brochure describes "a three-tiered direct action strategy to disrupt the RNC" Sept. 1.

In the "tier one" strategy, they plan to establish "15-20 blockades, utilizing a diversity of tactics, creating an inner and outer ring" around the Xcel.

Under "tier two," they say they plan to "immobilize the delegates' transportation infrastructure."

In "tier three," the plan is to "block the five western bridges connecting the Twin Cities."

The disruptions are planned for the same day as what may be the largest demonstration of the week, a march against U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Randy Furst • 612-673-7382