Update on MN's activists RNC 8, last hearing before trial. for those who care about Civil Rights.

[annm4peace]

* MN can be beautiful in the 1st of Oct, with change of colors. If you can afford to come to St. Paul for the 1st day of the Trial that would be so appreciated. Our 1st amendment rights are at risk.

September 22 marked the final pre-trial hearing for the remaining four
defendants of the RNC 8. Important details such as the jury selection process,
outstanding issues with the evidence in the case and lists of witnesses and
exhibits, the table arrangements for the defendants and defense attorneys
during trial and other matters were all discussed.

The defense attorneys argued for the disclosure of important pieces of
evidence, such as a notebook maintained by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office
about the investigation into the RNC Welcoming Committee. The defense attorneys
only found out about this notebook through a deposition in a successful lawsuit
against Sheriff Bob Fletcher. They also argued for sanctions to be imposed on
the prosecutors for not complying adequately with the order to provide a list
of witnesses and exhibits that will likely be introduced at trial. Towards the
end of the hearing, the defense attorneys talked with the prosecutors and judge
about the juror selection process, with each side arguing for how many strikes
they should have when selecting jurors. They also discussed the jury
questionnaire, which is still being drafted.

Despite all these topics being addressed, not many decisions were made, with
Judge Teresa Warner taking many issues under advisement. We'll update you on
the details as we learn them over the next few weeks before trial.

During the hearing, Judge Warner also confirmed that trial would start at 9am
on October 25. Although this date has been set for awhile, there was some
uncertainty after Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner dropped the charges
against Eryn, Luce and Monica since it was unclear how long the trial can be
expected to take now (it still looks like a month or more). The day before the
hearing, Warner quietly issued her ruling on the defense's motion to dismiss
the charges for lack of probable cause. She denied the motion, stating that the
defense team had failed to present evidence that would exonerate the defendants
and convince her that there was no basis to the charges. This ruling only
applied to the four remaining defendants since it came out a few days after
some charges had been dropped by the prosecutor. With this ruling and the final
pre-trial complete, the beginning of trial is the next step in the journey.

While the court hearing was rather uneventful, the circus-themed rally outside
the courthouse after the hearing was great fun! When Gaertner dismissed the
charges against three of the defendants, she said that doing so was in part in
response to Warner's decision to allow the joint trial, which she claimed the
defendants and their attorneys wanted so they could create a "circus-like
atmosphere" during trial.

Now, we all know that the only circus in the courthouse is the so-called
justice system itself. So we brought the circus to the courthouse to show them
what it really is! There were even special appearances by the top clowns in
Ramsey County: Clown Gaertner and Clown Fletcher! Check out some lovely
pictures at http://rnc8.org. You can also view a video of the rally and clown
show in two locations:

Blip TV: http://www.blip.tv/file/4156439
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d4xD5LWrfI

With the final pre-trial hearing complete, we're in for a busy month of
preparation before trial starts on October 25. Amidst all the work, though,
we're still putting together fun events to help support the defendants. And
you're still invited to join us! Read on to find out what's going on...

* Get Involved! *

Already making your plans to come to the Twin Cities for trial? Awesome! Email
us at info(A)rnc8.org to find out how you can help with cooking meals,
providing childcare, taking court notes and a whole bunch of other things.

* Get Housing! *

Need a place to stay when you're in town? Check out http://rnc8.org/housing.
This page has more info as well as forms for registering to host people from
out of town or to find people with some space to spare.

* Mark Your Calendars! *

Help us make the trial a time of movement building and solidarity! Come to the
fabulous, fun RNC 8 Event Series!

Join the RNC 8 Defense Committee and an array of community organizations for
six events coinciding with the trial. Events will begin with dinner and a brief
update on the trial, followed by new content each week. Half of the proceeds
will go to the RNC 8 defense fund, and half will be donated to rotating
political projects. For more info on the event series, including complete event
descriptions, visit http://www.rnc8.org/events.

* When: Fridays in November and December; Dinner at 6:30pm, Content at 7:00pm
* Where: Waite House, 2529 13th Ave. S., Minneapolis
* Cost: $5-15 sliding scale, kids $2
Vegan and gluten free options available, childcare provided

[mmonk]

1. Thanks.

I have been following.

[Coleen Rowley]

2. Put the targeting and spying on RNC protest organizers in context

In just the last few days, news has broken, based on FOIA requests and IG investigations, of improper unjustified targeting and spying of anti-war groups all over the country. The Des Moines Register ran a story about FBI and law enforcement officers going undercover and conducting surveillance in 2008 of a small group of anti-war students in Iowa City. Apparently the FBI investigation, although baseless, amounted to 300 pages and included going through the students' trash as well as following them everywhere for months. Yuk! Then the Dept of Justice Inspector General had to reprimand the FBI Director Mueller this week for having lied about the reasons he gave for spying on anti-war groups, including the Thomas Merton Center in 2002. It seems the poor FBI Director was just relying on something made up by the Pittsburgh Legal Counsel who said they were looking for a known criminal or criminals at the event. This is all against the backdrop of a private intelligence-surveillance contractor that went way overboard secretly smearing various citizen groups in Pennsylvania. The contractor claimed to be writing "terrorism reports" and was hired by Homeland Security but was actually gathering information on a variety of citizens who were just trying to organize and exercise their freedom of speech, assembly, religion, etc.

The real problem at the root of all these scandals is that after 9-11, the Bush Administration erased all the old Church Committee rules and AG Guidelines (that had come about as a result of exposing the COINTELPRO abuses) and which required certain levels of justification before agencies were able to launch investigations and target people. The new AG Guidelines have turned things on their head so that the only requirement before targeting and surveilling someone, going though people's trash (and of course obtaining all of their telephone, e-mail, credit, banking and travel records) is for the "intelligence" officials to deny that they are targeting someone based SOLELY on their exercise of First Amendment Rights. That's a pretty low bar. So that seems to be the reason for all the unjustified spying scandals.

If you read the Washington Post's 3 part series "Top Secret America", you learn there are 854,000 "intelligence" operatives and analysts who are collecting all this data on everybody. The problem with all this "intelligence" collection and spying is relevancy. So in fact the various FBI, CIA, Homeland Security and all the private "intelligence" contractors and State Fusion Centers are only adding hay to the haystack and making it even harder for themselves to truly detect or stop a real terrorist or criminal.

[Coleen Rowley]

3. Privacy and Civil Liberties

Oh and I forgot to mention that Bush disbanded the "Privacy and Civil Liberties Board" that the 9-11 Commission had recommended (three different recommendations!). Bush was forced to start one, but then immediately pulled the rug from under it and then finally disbanded it. Then Obama came along and he did just ignored it. So other than getting a case in court (which by the way, rarely happens in "Top Secret America"), there's no way to put the brakes on this highly counter-productive system.

[MNmom]

4. I hope people will come out to support the remaining 4 of the RNC8!

It is important!

[annm4peace]

5. thank you for your input Coleen

I can't say enough why coming to the Trials and supporting the RNC 8 (even though they are down to 4) is so important.

by support those who are on trial we are saying to the powers that be, that you can not silence us, you can not stop us for organizing against injustice, against oppression, against crimes.

We are all just people.. just simple people who are exercising our rights and speaking out.