Group to defy rules for RNC protest

Last update: June 25, 2008 - 11:42 PM

A group planning to march on the second day of the Republican National Convention said Wednesday that it doesn't plan to follow the route outlined in a permit granted by St. Paul police.

It's not withdrawing its lawsuit against the city over routing issues, either.

Cheri Honkala, national organizer for the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, said she's pleased that her group received a permit to march on Sept. 2, but isn't happy with the route police outlined.

The group -- which says its goal is to ensure that everyone has access to health care, housing and living-wage jobs -- wants to march from Mears Park past the Ramsey County jail and police station and finish at the front doors of the Xcel Energy Center. Their permit says they can go from Mears Park along the backside of the jail and to an area across the street from the Xcel.

She didn't give a specific number, but Honkala said she expects a large turnout for the march, which will be held from 4 to 7:30 p.m.

The group did ask for an injunction request to be dismissed, but it's carrying on with its lawsuit, which alleges the city didn't issue the permit in a timely manner and challenges the constitutionality of permitting guidelines.

"I think we've made every accommodation we could make," police spokesman Tom Walsh said.

The Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War, which is planning a protest march on Sept. 1, also has sued the city of St. Paul, seeking a different route and time than the one police gave it. A hearing is set for July 9.

CHRIS HAVENS

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