RNC 8's pre-trial hearing show St. Paul Sheriff Dept says Civil Disobedience = Rioting & Terrorism

As you can read from the reports from the hearing and if you read the criminal complaints the links below, you will learn the Sheriff's Dept was trying to make Organizing and Dissent a crime, and Civil Disobedience into acts of Terrorism. In my opinion they have no credible evidence and I continue to find it amazing the Attorney General continues to let it go on.

http://twincities.indymedia.org/2010/may/court-update-third-day-rnc-8-hearings

http://rnc8.org/



I wish we could video tape these hearings so you can see what is going on... is just amazing and disgusting the actions and behavior the Ramsey County Sheriff's Dept (St.Paul, MN) and thuggish Sheriff Bob Fletcher. But you can get get a feel for it when you read the reports and the documentation from the hearings.

I'm just posting some of it from the report but you can see the contradiction in testimony by the Sheriff's Dept staff.
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" Today was a continuation of the Florence hearing to establish whether there was probable cause for the charges against the RNC 8. The entirety of the day was spent obtaining testimony from Marilyn Hedstrom, a.k.a. “Norma Jean Johnson”–a deputy from the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department who attended RNC Welcoming Committee meetings and events * undercover * for approximately one year.

Throughout her time undercover, she attended over 100 meetings and participated in the “Basics” committee, which worked on things such as food and housing, and the “Networking” committee.

She was very hesitant to answer questions without referring to her reports, which she had not reviewed prior to the hearing, and often stated that she “did not recall” answers.

In general, she could not recall specific agreements made by any of the defendants to commit property damage or riot with a dangerous weapon.

*** She said that she believed that the general goal of the Welcoming Committee was to bring groups and people from all over the country to shut down the convention using any tactics and by any means.***

She testified that the Welcoming Committee’s role in this was to provide food, housing, and maps.

** She believed that the subtext of the blockading goal put forth from the pReNC 5.3 was that they would support people engaged in violence and rioting, and that supporting these people with food and housing constitutes a conspiracy. ****

** When asked if she had observed any of the defendants in possession of a dangerous weapon, she said that some of them had pocket knives, she had seen many of them around knives in the kitchen while cooking, and that Nathanael Secor had a large number of bricks in his backyard. ***

She later testified that Secor had repeatedly discussed building a brick oven, and there was no specific indication that the bricks were intended to be used as weapons. (duhhh)

She also testified that members of the Welcoming Committee had sought legal advice regarding the possibility of conspiracy charges. She indicated this as evidence that they were trying to “cover their tracks.”

Overall, her testimony seemed to follow along the lines of that provided by Commander Sommerhause,(her handler) who testified the previous day. Neither had specific evidence of agreements that support the felony conspiracy charges, only impressions and “bigger picture” interpretations of what the goals of the Welcoming Committee were.

We supporters in the audience are all hoping that the judge will see that this is guilt by association and the criminalization of dissent, and drop the charges against our friends and comrades.

We are looking forward to the break from hearings, which will resume again on the 13th and 14th of May. At that time, the defense will call Chris Dugger, another RSCD infiltrator, and may call Jay Maher, a RCSD investigator. The attorneys are still scheduling a make-up date for Thursday’s canceled hearing. For more detailed notes (to be posted soon), see: RNC8.org/info/courtnotes.

With love,
The RNC 8 Defense Committee and friends

BRICKS IN THE BACKYARD! OH NOES!

Is it wrong to want to see many of those in law enforcement responsible for this sham strung up by their balls?

I have an axe in my toolshed.
Wonder how many years I'll get.

Actually, I have SEVERAL hammers. It's obvious I'm going to use them to riot and break windows.

Y'all come visit me in prison now, y'hear?

what kind of terrorist activity is building a brick oven - isn't that where you can cook a pizza or something?

I know, because one of them read Hansel and Gretal as a child. Rock solid proof right there.

hubbie built me a wood fire oven for my birthday. :eyes:

I went for the first time, today. Could only spend an hour. It was disgusting.

The use of informants to TRY to talk people into talk of not respecting property rights or into talk of inconveniencing delagates - the attempt to make guilt by mere association, the attempt to claim that the RNC8 people who volunteered at the convergence center were responsible for anything that happened there or showed up there.....the claim that if you have a link on your computer to some kind of questionable activity or substance, it proves that you were doing something or advocating something illegal.... it is truly amazing!

You have to see it to understand what a rotten police state we are becoming.

On the bright side, the attorneys for the kids are very good. Roger

check out the writings of the one writer from a corporate media.

http://www.twincities.com/ci_15027204


There are 8 people to go to trial, why did the reporter focus on Garrett.. who is a very kind and gentle person. and they put up the picture of mug shot... he had must been pulled out of bed after the storm troopers raided his house.

Here is how she starts the article.

Garrett Fitzgerald was involved in organizing protests at the Republican National Convention. At one meeting before the event, Fitzgerald commented that if someone died as a result of the tactics of another protest group, he would "feel it was all for naught."

That comment was noted in a report by undercover Ramsey County sheriff's deputy Marilyn Hedstrom, who infiltrated the protesters' "RNC Welcoming Committee" for a year under the pseudonym "Norma Jean."

But in testimony Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court, Hedstrom said Fitzgerald was referring only to other protesters — not to police.

"So if a cop got killed, they were really saying they wouldn't care at all?" asked attorney Bruce Nestor, who represents one of Fitzgerald's co-defendants, Monica Bicking, 24.

"I believe that," Hedstrom said. "No one ever said that; it was just the way they felt about police, and they made it known."

Fitzgerald, 27, is one of the RNC8, the people charged with conspiracy to commit riot and damage to property before the Republican National Convention, which took place in September 2008 in St. Paul.

Check out the comments following the Pioneer Press article which are almost all very misinformed and bullying type. The 3rd comment that was posted was an outright sickening incitement to violence directed at Garrett. If such a comment had been made about the President, I can assure you the Secret Service would have been on the author's doorstep in no time. I immediately called the Pioneer Press and they deleted the comment. But it's so ironic that Guron's article was about the lack of testimony by any police officer showing anyone in the RNC protest group threatened violence while the 3rd comment down after her article was an outright violent incitement!

Someone should call the Ramsey Co. Sheriff's Office because if you think about it, they can't have double standards. Before the RNC, they were trolling on You-tube videos and other on-line forums for anything they could stretch into a reason to target this group by sending in informants and undercover agents. Now right in the Pioneer Press website, someone makes a sickening threat and it's just ignored?

I should add that this is very serious stuff as there have been many, many cases of domestic terrorist type shootings in the last year. At least a dozen really bad ones and in many of the cases, after the perpetrator is identified, they find all kinds of threatening rants that were made on-line and connected to the perpetrator. It's definitely possible it's just a teenager who can't separate his violent video game world from real life and just needs to be given a lecture but it's not a good thing to just ignore such threats of violence either.

I had no idea you were a member here. I'm a big fan, and thanks for everything you have done for the RNC 8 and other important issues.

Again, welcome! :hi:

rnc8.org

This inimidation and repression of protest should not be allowed to happen.

If you would like to support the RNC 8 with a donation:

Communities United Against Police Brutality is collecting donations for the RNC 8 Legal Defense Fund. Donations will help cover the legal fees and other expenses related to the trial. You can donate via PayPal:



With a minimum $50 donation (minimum $40 in Minneapolis or St. Paul), you can also take advantage of our Solidarity Satchels offer while supplies last! Click here for details.

If you’d like to donate in the form of a check, make the check out to “CUAPB” and put “RNC 8” in the memo. Send the check to:

RNC 8 Legal Defense Fund, c/o CUAPB
3100 16th Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55407

If you plan to donate more than $100 and would like your donation to be tax deductible, make your check payable instead to “National Lawyers Guild Foundation” (not CUAPB) and note “RNC 8” in the memo area. Mail your check to the same address:

RNC 8 Legal Defense Fund, c/o CUAPB
3100 16th Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55407

Thank you for your support!

I found out that you can't just go to a court website and read the transcripts of the hearings and that you have to pay the courts hundred's of dollars for the transcripts. That surprised me. I just assumed it was online.

Well the supporters for the RNC 8 do a pretty good job of writing up what happened.