Jamie Ness and Father Hennepin will be performing in support of the RNC8 this coming Saturday, February 7 at Carmody Irish Pub. The shindig kicks off at 9PM and is $5. A few of the RNC 8 will be on hand to chat with.
More info below.
Defend the RNC 8!
The RNC 8 are organizers against the 2008 Twin Cities Republican National Convention who have been falsely charged with terrorism in response to their political organizing. Luce Guillen-Givins, Max Specktor, Nathanael Secor, Eryn Trimmer, Monica Bicking, Erik Oseland, Robert Czernik and Garrett Fitzgerald were all members of or associated with the Welcoming Committee, an anarchist collective that helped arrange food, housing and communications for the thousands of people who converged on St Paul in September to protest the RNC. None of the 8 committed any act of violence, and most were arrested during FBI raids of activist centers and homes before the protests even began. Now they are facing multiple felony conspiracy charges, including two counts of “furthering terrorism” under Minnesota’s version of the Patriot Act.
The reach of this case falls far beyond the eight defendants. It should be followed by every union member, every environmentalist, every community organizer, and every Minnesotan who cares about civil liberties. By charging the RNC 8 for what they may have been thinking, and by invoking a law which redefines terrorism to include even civil disobedience, Ramsey County prosecutors have not only attacked these 8 organizers, but the right to organize itself. Please come out and show your support for the RNC 8… because you could be next.
