BREAKING: RNC 8 Charged with "Conspiracy to Riot in Furtherance of Terrorism"
In what appears to be the first use of criminal charges under the 2002 Minnesota version of the Federal Patriot Act, Ramsey County Prosecutors have formally charged 8 alleged leaders of the RNC Welcoming Committee with Conspiracy to Riot in Furtherance of Terrorism. Monica Bicking, Eryn Trimmer, Luce Guillen Givins, Erik Oseland, Nathanael Secor, Robert Czernik, Garrett Fitzgerald, and Max Spector, face up to 7 1/2 years in prison under the terrorism enhancement charge which allows for a 50% increase in the maximum penalty. Affidavits released by law enforcement which were filed in support of the search warrants used in raids over the weekend, and used to support probable cause for the arrest warrants, are based on paid, confidential informants who infiltrated the RNCWC on behalf of law enforcement. They allege that members of the group sought to kidnap delegates to the RNC, assault police officers with firebombs and explosives, and sabotage airports in St. Paul. Evidence released to date does not corroborate these allegations with physical evidence or provide any other evidence for these allegations than the claims of the informants. Based on past abuses of such informants by law enforcement, the National Lawyers Guild is concerned that such police informants have incentives to lie and exaggerate threats of violence and to also act as provacateurs in raising and urging support for acts of violence. "These charges are an effort to equate publicly stated plans to blockade traffic and disrupt the RNC as being the same as acts of terrorism. This both trivializes real violence and attempts to place the stated political views of the Defendants on trial," said Bruce Nestor, President of the Minnesota Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. "The charges represent an abuse of the criminal justice system and seek to intimidate any person organizing large scale public demonstrations potentially involving civil disobedience, he said." The criminal complaints filed by the Ramsey County Attorney do not allege that any of the defendants personally have engaged in any act of violence or damage to property. The complaints list all of alleged violations of law during the last few days of the RNC -- other than violations of human rights carried out by law enforcement -- and seeks to hold the 8 defendants responsible for acts committed by other individuals. None of the defendants have any prior criminal history involving acts of violence. Searches conducted in connection with the raids failed to turn up any physical evidence to support the allegations of organized attacks on law enforcement. Although claiming probable cause to believe that gunpowder, acids, and assembled incendiary devices would be found, no such items were seized by police. As a result, police sought to claim that the seizure of common household items such as glass bottles, charcoal lighter, nails, a rusty machete, and two hatchets, supported the allegations of the confidential informants. "Police found what they claim was a single plastic shield, a rusty machete, and two hatchets used in Minnesota to split wood. This doesn't amount to evidence of an organized insurrection, particularly when over 3,500 police are present in the Twin Cities, armed with assault rifles, concussion grenades, chemical weapons and full riot gear," said Nestor. In addition, the National Lawyers Guild has previously pointed out how law enforcement has fabricated evidence such as the claims that urine was seized which demonstrators intended to throw at police. The last time such charges were brought under Minnesota law was in 1918, when Matt Moilen and others organizing labor unions for the Industrial Workers of the World [ed. correction-TCIMC] on the Iron Range were charged with "criminal syndicalism." The convictions, based on allegations that workers had advocated or taught acts of violence, including acts only damaging to property, were upheld by the Minnesota Supreme Court. In the light of history, these convictions are widely seen as unjust and a product of political trials. The National Lawyers Guild condemns the charges filed in this case against the above 8 defendants and urges the Ramsey County Attorney to drop all charges of conspiracy in this matter. Source: Bruce Nestor, President Minnesota Chapter of National Lawyers Guild
Comments
Talk about a laughable charge that will go nowhere
Then They Came for Me
by Stephen F. Rohde, Esq.
First they came for the Muslims, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Muslim.
Then they came to detain immigrants indefinitely solely upon the certification of the Attorney General, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't an immigrant.
Then they came to eavesdrop on suspects consulting with their attorneys, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a suspect.
Then they came to prosecute non-citizens before secret military commissions, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a non-citizen.
Then they came to enter homes and offices for unannounced "sneak and peek" searches, and I didn't speak up because I had nothing to hide.
Then they came to reinstate Cointelpro and resume the infiltration and surveillance of domestic religious and political groups, and I didn't speak up because I had stopped participating in any groups.
Then they came for anyone who objected to government policy because it aided the terrorists and gave ammunition to America's enemies, and I didn't speak up because...... I didn't speak up.
Then they came for me....... and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Stephen Rohde, a constitutional lawyer and President of the ACLU of Southern California, is indebted to the inspiration of Rev. Martin Niemoller (1937).
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Terrorism Enhancement?
They're to be charged with a "terrorism enhancement charge which allows for a 50% increase in the maximum penalty."
What the Hell is "Terrorism Enhancement"?
I don't care what your politics are: Patriot Right or Anarchist Left - this should scare the living shit out of you.
um... you might want to get
um... you might want to get the name right: "International Workers of the World" is Industrial Workers of the World.
Either way, the point is correct that the use of terrorism charges is well known and long-practiced tactic to stop political and labor organizing.
good luck, but I don't think the DA is going to let this one go.
check out the affidavit in support of the search warrant. Mr Nestor of the NLG leaves out any mention of "caltrops". Caltrops are devices used in medieval battles to stop cavalry charges by piercing the hooves of the horses thus causing pain and crippling them, in the process making the horses rear up and throw their riders. In the affidavit, available from http://tc.indymedia.org/2008/sep/copy-affidavit-used-rnc-wc-raids , the word "caltrops" is mentioned a number of times:
-----------------
First, in the part where Affiant states which materials Affiant has good reason to believe, and in fact believes will be used in the commission of a crime:
Manuals, books, and instructions for the construction of caltrops;
Caltrops;
(and so on, it's a regular laundry list)
------------------
Second, in the grounds for issuance of the warrant, there are five grounds listed, the first four of which do not seem to apply - but the fifth reads:
"5. the property above described is in the possession of a person with the intent to used (sic) such property in commission of a crime"
-----------------
Third, in the part alleging the facts giving the probable cause for the warrant to be issued, parts about Max Spector talking about making "12 caltrops" and bringing them to a meeting and showing them to people, including one of the Confidential Informants
-------------------
and fourth, citing the use of caltrops to disable vehicles and naming caltrops as an exhibit (Exhibit C).
=======================
In the warrant return, it lists as some of the seized items "37 CAL TRUPS" which probably means 37 caltrops, instead of some sort of indeterminate weapon of .37 calibre.
Caltrops have no peaceful use, they are pretty much strictly a weapon, whether used in defense or offense. I don't know whether it's illegal to possess them in Minnesota, but the fact that the prosecutor intends to use them as a specifically designated exhibit of a means for disabling vehicles in the process of stopping or delaying traffic to me means that a major part of the State's case will be based on this evidence.
I'd give a close read to the affidavit and to the warrant return before I got too terribly optimistic about the outcome of this for the RNC 8. They'd better get a damned good defense team (I'm talking Johnny Cochrane...) put together and quick.
DA might not have a CHOICE
Remember-it was the JUDGE who forced the U$ attorney's office to drop my case in 2001. That famous Chicago 7 case ended in a guilty verdict OVERTURNED ON APPEAL!
So long as nobody snitches and plea bargains are rejected, i don't think the DA will get a choice about every defendant walking on this one-been there, seen that...
and...none of it qualifies as 'inciting terrorism'
and none of what you mention, in any conceivable way, justifies charges related to terrorism. If Caltrops are truly illegal in the state, then they should be charged accordingly and...even if they are, it is still no where near terrorism or intent to commit terrorism.
Acts of terrorism are just that - intented to incite terror, horror, fear, or...shock and awe. Not a few broken windows, disrupted traffic, or even disabled vehicles. I am not advocating violence - I believe very strongly in powerfully expressed civil disobedience but not wanton, idiotic, acts like tossing bricks thru windows - just trying to make a point that it is all about context.
Throwing the words (propaganda labels?) terrorism and terrorist(s) at protesters is just as bad as the ridiculous, often heard lately, reference to protesters as 'anarchists'. None of these words fit the context of the situation at all.
The biggest criminals are still at large
They live in the White House.
Clarify
Could you be more specific? I haven't heard this argument before so I'd like some clarification.
Read Kucinich's articles of impeachment
Read Kucinich's articles of impeachment
I can't be certain on this,
I can't be certain on this, but I am pretty sure my friends have never stormed a house and pointed machine guns at kids just looking for a place to sleep. Forgive me if I don't give a shit about "criminals" on this side of the fence when the police are allowed free reign to do what they want. And what happens to anarchists isn't half of it. If we were kids in a ghetto, we'd all be dead already. Go after the real bad guys.
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CalTrops are the poor man's "spike strips"
CalTrops are the poor man's "spike strips," those rose of nails designed for giving a vehicle a flat tire. Insinuating that they are for harming animals here is so f*cking Medieval...
Remember Chicago 7
The Servants of the Enemy have tried this before. Famously, there was the Chicago 7(originaly Chicago8 before Bobby Seale's case was severed) case, where prosecutors tried to send organizers of the 1968 DNC protests to prison. Although the trial court returned convictions against Abbie Hoffman and others, judge Julius Hoffman(no relation to Abbie) was so baised the appeals court threw it out.
The filing of such patently ridiculous charges generally leads to dropped charges later,l sometimes to acquital at trial-UNLESS you are intimidated into taking a plea bargain.
While the Chicago 7 were famous national figures, this rule seems to apply as well at the local level with "real people." I can cite my own case from the last time I was sucessfully arrested as an example.
Shortly after Bu$h was inaugurated in 2001, they tried to charge me with "felony inciting to riot" in DC after 400 people stormed Neiman-Marcus the week after the inauguration. The protest, coming out of NCOR, was to protest their sales of fur-and all those Repugnicans in fur at the 2001 Inauguration. I refused to plea bargain, refused to deal or cooperate in any way-and the whole thing fell apart. Case DROPPED after the grand jury did not indict in 5 months. My case went from a cop falsely saying I could do 30 years to a judge demanding to know from a prosecutor at a contempt hearing(for refusing drug tests) why there was no indictment-and that judge was practically screaming at the prosecution when it came out that they didn't even bring the case jacket to the hearing!
I would expect similar results here-a lot of bluster and threats in an effort to generate plea bargains or snitches, followed by quietly dropping this ridicuous charge so long as noboy plea-bargains down to something "reasonable"
Remember The Cheney 1
Just remember kids, with all the hype about "law and order," if you were the Vice President, you could shoot a man in the face, and get off scot-free. Not to mention tell a few lies, and start a war or two...
Remember those in Iraq
Don't forget those that Bush has killed in the war in Iraq.
It's obviously a political
It's obviously a political plot and ploy to jail people who are trying to protest peacecibly. This is terrible behavior on the part of a few elite republicans who have gone to far. I'm a republican but this is totally not we are about. This is sick behavior and I'm so glad Bush and @#$hole cheney is gone.
The violations of people's civil rights has got to stop. I hope we don't have another nazi like those two ever again.
And of course stopping traffic is not terrorism but they are being brought in on trumped up charges by a bunch of anti-freedom a@#$holes.
I love how everyone blames
I love how everyone blames Bush for everything like it was some conspiracy theory. He got bad intelligence, he wasnt out there mining for data himself, yet he gets the blame. Id take him in a second over what we have now. - Hank
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let's not bother with the law on this page
we won't make any difference discussing the niceties of the law here. That's up to the lawyers, the judges, a jury, and the institution of deeply corrupt law. What we can do is organize support. Let's get to it.
really?
So with all the informants and undercovers they had crawling around the WC, they didn't take the time to think about the irony inherent in claiming these 8 people are "leaders" while also calling them anarchists?
The *actual* RNC 8 who should be charged...
...in the "Furtherance of Terrorism:" John (Insane) McCain, Sarah Palin, Mitt (I have 250 million dollars in Bank of America, but I detest Northeast elitists) Romney, Rudy (unindicted 9/11 co-conspirator) Giuliani, Joe LieberBush (R-Israel), Fred Thomspon, George (live from satellite) Bush and Dick (hiding in bunker) Cheney. --Lori Price
Lori R. Price
Mgr., Citizens For Legitimate Government
http://www.legitgov.org/
"Hi, mom, this is Mark Bingham... you believe me, don't you?" Mark Bingham - Sept. 11, 2001
http://www.legitgov.org/9_1_1_oddities.html
Stopping traffic is
Stopping traffic is terrorism? What about in-conviencing somebody? Shouldn't it also be terrorism to WASTE someone's time??
Word! In dupage il
Word!
In dupage il 2activists were charged with some bull about causing car accidents by hanging signs..
The future
So is this what the world has come to?
Putting people in prisons over trumped up charges?
What were they doing that the government hates?
Being a public eyesore?
Being there?
Or maybe the government has a fear of homemade signs?
"They're loud. Let's throw them in jail for a decade or two, teach them a lesson."
Doesn't anybody see what's happening?
The US government is now gaining the same mindset as TYRANTS! DICTATORS!
Anybody threatens us, throw them in prison.
Question our acts? Prison for you.
Even try to undermine our supporters fate in us? Oh, we'll find a way to throw you in jail.
Don't do what we say? Better say your goodbyes.
USA is chest deep into the war in Iraq, and they're worried about 8 people that were organizing people to yell and hold up signs!
At one point into the war, it cost $3,300 a second to keep it functioning!!!
Yet they're worried about people who just want the world to see through the veils!
I think that everyone that is able to vote has to vote. So we can pick the best candidate, and hopefully we'll get a non-shitty leader.
I've known one of the people
I've known one of the people facing charges for over 8 years. He went to school with me my entire life up until my graduation from high school and he was and still is one of the kindest, most generous people I have ever met. He was a good student, very smart guy, and the kind of person you just wanted to hang around with. I've have never in this entire time felt even slightly threatened by him or considered him to be a violent person.
I don't know why this is happening and I don't know what I can do to stop it.
A Huge Stretch
This is a very difficult story for me to content with, on one hand you have the notion of reasonable grounds, and on the other side human rights and freedoms.
Charles Manson never personally hurt anyone, and was not found with any materials in his possession, and yet was admittedly guilty of the crimes. Fabricate evidence is a serious problem nowadays as officers want charges to stick. Unfortunately, to me this reflects on the sad state of affairs of our justice system, one in which the guilty often have a larger advantage and the officers have an increasing difficult time providing the services they are required to provide while working on a tightrope. - ~ Jeremy
Apparently, no criminal acts
Apparently, no criminal acts of any kind need be committed.
In this case the "kidnapping and hostages being held" call was made to the RNC and not 911 and the caller was not among the people where the supposed "crime" was said to be taking place. To make matters worse, the only "proof" needed to raid this location and hassle these people was an anecdotal call to the RNC.
Pretty scary, alright.
XRumer
It is no wonder nothing can
It is no wonder nothing can be discusiing about the correctness of law and order knowing the fact that this discussion would do nothing other than kindling our feelings. We are not the President to change these rules to make them justifyable.
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This doesn't amount to
This doesn't amount to evidence of an organized insurrection, particularly when over 3,500 police are present in the Twin Cities, armed with assault rifles, concussion grenades.
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