Apparently the raid on the Glass Bead collective was not a fluke — there are now reports of large scale police raids of other protest groups, including the seizure of papers, computers, and political materials. One group that has been raided is Food Not Bombs, which has released at least one search warrant suggesting that the stated justification for the search is looking for Molotov cocktails and similar incendiary devices.

It’s possible that the police have received actually credible information that some of these groups plan to engage in illegal acts. But I’m quite skeptical — this smacks of protest-deterring thuggery.

Edit: Orin Kerr comments, noting that one of the organizations had talked about an intention to use illegal methods to disrupt the convention. I’m still skeptical, given the breadth of groups targeted.

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