Coalition gets permit to protest, but details of route are still unknown

The anti-war group will have to wait until May 31 for a decision from police and the city of St. Paul.

By CHRIS HAVENS, Star Tribune

Last update: March 3, 2008 - 10:03 PM

The group intending to march in protest on the first day of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul has received a conditional permit to do so, but the route and the timing are still up in the air.

The city hasn't settled on a route that is within "sight and sound" of the Xcel Energy Center, where the convention will be held Sept. 1-4, but has committed to doing so by May 31, according to police guidelines.

That time frame isn't acceptable, said Meredith Aby of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War. Her group held a news conference Monday outside the Ramsey County Courthouse to voice concern about the lack of a route and the time it's taking to get one.

The group, which wants to march from the Capitol to the Xcel Center, says that it expects tens of thousands of people from around the country and that it needs time to organize.

"They're asking us to accommodate them without knowing all the elements that we need to know," said police spokesman Tom Walsh.

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