President George W. Bush did not attend the convention (although he did appear by satellite), in order to oversee relief efforts to help citizens recover from Hurricane Gustav.

[1] The RNC made their decision earlier than originally scheduled because the Democratic National Committee (DNC) also had Minneapolis-Saint Paul as a finalist among bidding cities.

[18] Governors Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Rick Perry of Texas skipped the convention to remain in their states during the hurricane's landfall.

[18] The Republican Party chartered a DC-9 to fly convention delegates representing the affected areas back home to their families.

[31][32] They represented a number of organizations opposed to the Republican Administration including the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, the Teamsters, Code Pink, the American Indian Movement and the RNC Welcoming Committee.

[36] Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty and 10,000 Ron Paul supporters attended the Rally for the Republic, a protest convention on September 2, 2008, held a few miles from the Xcel Energy Center at the Minneapolis Target Center in direct contrast to the Republican National Convention.

[47] Before the convention began, search warrants were executed by Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher[48] in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

[49] Six persons who were a part of the organizing group, the RNC Welcoming Committee, were arrested when police executed search warrants on a handful of homes in Minneapolis and Saint Paul during the weekend preceding the convention.

[53] RNC Welcoming Committee members detained at the group's headquarters, located in an old theater on Saint Paul's West Side, were ultimately arrested by Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher of misdemeanor fire code violations.

[54][55] During the convention's first three days, more than 300[56] individuals were detained by police,[57] including journalists,[58] healthcare workers, and legal observers.

[64] Several news sources have criticized the arrest as unlawful and a violation of the freedom of the press,[65] and warned of the "chilling effects" of such measures.

journalist Amy Goodman and producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar prevailed in a lawsuit against the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul and the U.S. Secret Service brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights, attorney Steven Reiss from Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in New York, and Albert Goins of Minneapolis.

When the final protest march permit expired at 5 p.m., overpasses over Interstate 94 leading into downtown from the state capitol were closed.

Two hours later, when the final assembly permit on capitol grounds expired and protesters refused several commands to disperse, police used tear gas, smoke bombs, pepper spray, flash bangs, mounted police, paint marker rounds, and rubber bullets to prevent an antiwar march organized by the Anti-War Committee to march on the Xcel Energy center.

[75] Both McKay and Crowder were arrested based on FBI surveillance and testimony by former-activist turned informant, Brandon Michael Darby[80] and Andrew C. Darst, also known as "Panda," "warchyld" or Killswitch.

Darst is currently being charged in Ramsey County, MN, with two felony counts of first- and second-degree burglary as well as fifth-degree assault relating to a January 11, 2009, domestic disturbance.