Don't forget the protesters arrested during the GOP Convention: Townhall 1/25

[annm4peace]

Defend The RNC8! Town Hall Meeting

Sunday January 25th, 3-6pm
Walker Church: 3104 16th Ave S. Minneapolis

In what appears to be the first use of criminal charges under the 2002
Minnesota Patriot Act, Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner has
charged 8 anti-RNC organizers with four Felony Conspiracy charges,
including Conspiracy to Riot in Furtherance of Terrorism. The
potential consequences of these charges are enormous. Not only could
we lose 8 of our friends and allies to prison, it also creates a
dangerous precedent for the suppression of dissent.

The Friends of the RNC8 invite you to join us at a Town Hall meeting to
get updates on the case and discuss what we can do to defend our friends
and community members. Topics covered will include: updates on the case;
repealing the MN Patriot Act; using political pressure to get the charges
dismissed; creating a broad-based RNC 8 Defense Committee; and other
strategies for resisting the attack on our loved ones and the larger
movement.

Support Committees, like Friends of the RNC 8, are the first line of
direct support for activists facing or serving prison time. But these
committees don't typically have the ability, by themselves, to wage
major campaigns for high-profile causes. This is where you can plug
in. We've already been in touch with many Twin Cities activists
excited to form the backbone of a new group mobilizing around the
special circumstances of the RNC 8 case, and we hope you will join
them.

Featured Speakers include:
*Coleen Rowley--Retired FBI agent, TIME Magazine's 2002 Person of the Year
*Phyllis Kahn--MN State Representative (DFL-59B)
*Peter Rachleff--Professor of History, Macalester College
*Michelle Gross--President, Communities United Against Police Brutality
*Meredith Aby--Anti-War Committee
*Mordecai Specktor--Publisher of American Jewish World, Father of Max
Specktor

Speakers will be followed by small-group sessions and participatory
discussion, with a focus on action! The event is free and open to the
public. Snacks and child care will be available.

FFI: [e-mail]
for media: [e-mail], 612-886-4565

[annm4peace]

1. I just had to show this weeks court cases. Why we need your support

every person arrested has a story and each trial is a hardship and hassle.. Many just exercising their right to free speech.

Hello Friends,

Below is the court watch schedule for the next two weeks. Sorry about sending this out on Sunday for the coming week, weve been having technical difficulties in the News Room. BUT- We have a whole bunch of trials this week. If someone could make it to the trials tomorrow, that would be greatly appreciated, and please email if you can make it on Friday the 16th's in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

We have a SPECIAL Request from attorney for the Wall 7 from New England, who are being tried together, to try and pack the courtroom as much as possible. Hopefully we can put pressure on the state to drop these mass arrests, and the more people we have show up the better their chances. This is also important because the week after their case is when the 8, and one of the Texas 2, have their trials. If we keep the momentum rolling throughout the month, we can have an impact.


Monday 1/12



What: Misdemeanor Jury Trial

When: 9:00 a.m.

Where: Ramsey County Courthouse (15 W Kellogg Blvd, St Paul)

Judge: Clark

Committed to Attend: NO ONE




What: Felony Jury Trial

When: 1:30 p.m.

Where: Ramsey County Courthouse (15 W Kellogg Blvd, St Paul)

Judge: Flynn

Committed to Attend: 1 Court Watcher


What: Gross Misdemeanor Hearing

When: 1:30 p.m.

Where: Ramsey County Court House

Judge: Guthmann

Committed to Attend: NO ONE




Tuesday 1/13



What: 1 Misdemeanor Hearing

When: 1:00 p.m.


Where: Ramsey County Courthouse, Room 131A

Judge: Smith

Committed to Attend: 1 Court Watcher



Thursday 1/15



What: 1 Pre-Trial Hearing

When: 8:30 a.m.

Where: Hennepin County Government Center, downtown Minneapolis (300 S Sixth St, Minneapolis)

Judge: N/A

Committed to Attend: 1 Court Watcher







What: 1 Pre-Trial Hearing

When: 1:30 p.m.

Where: Hennepin County Government Center, downtown Minneapolis, check at Court Info Desk on 2nd floor for courtroom (300 S Sixth St, Minneapolis)

Judge: N/ACommitted to Attend: 1 Court Watcher



Friday 1/16



What: 1 Misdemeanor Arraignment

When: 8:30 a.m.

Where: Public Safety Facility (401 S Fourth Ave, Minneapolis), Room 141

Judge: Hopper

Committed to Attend: NO ONE





What: 1 Misdemeanor Hearing

When: 1:00 p.m.


Where: Ramsey County Courthouse, 15 W Kellogg Blvd, St Paul, 131A


Judge: Wilson, Edward


Committed to Attend: Nobody



Tuesday 1/20



What: Gross Misdemeanor Jury Trial

When: 9:00 a.m.

Where: Ramsey County Courthouse (15 W Kellogg Blvd, St Paul)

Judge: Edward Wilson


Committed to Attend: 1 Court watcher




What: Jury trial for the Wall 7 (7 people all being tried together)


When: 9:00 a.m.

Where: Ramsey County Courthouse (15 W Kellogg Blvd, St Paul)

Judge: Fetsch

Committed to Attend: NOBODY





Wednesday 1/21



What: 1 Misdemeanor Pre-trial


When: 1:00 p.m.

Where: Hennepin County Government Center, downtown Minneapolis, check at Court Info Desk on 2nd floor for courtroom (300 S Sixth St, Minneapolis).

Judge: NA

Committed to Attend: 1 Court watcher

[azul]

2. A Bush pardon? Failing that, Obama pardon?

Legacy thing, and get some balance back into this un-justice depart we're presently suffering under.

[G_j]

3. and don't forget the moles!

http://www.truthout.org/article/pre-emptive-strikes-against-protest-rnc

Pre-Emptive Strikes Against Protest at RNC
Tuesday 02 September 2008
by: Marjorie Cohn, t r u t h o u t | Report


Marcus Washington, a producer from Tennessee who was documenting the antiwar protest, grimaced in pain after he was hit with pepper spray. (Photo: Jim Gehrz / Minneapolis Star Tribune)
In the months leading up to the Republican National Convention, the FBI-led Minneapolis Joint Terrorist Task Force actively recruited people to infiltrate vegan groups and other leftist organizations and report back about their activities. On May 21, the Minneapolis City Pages ran a recruiting story called "Moles Wanted." Law enforcement sought to pre-empt lawful protest against the policies of the Bush administration during the convention.

Since Friday, local police and sheriffs, working with the FBI, conducted pre-emptive searches, seizures and arrests. Glenn Greenwald described the targeting of protesters by "teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets." Journalists were detained at gunpoint and lawyers representing detainees were handcuffed at the scene.

"I was personally present and saw officers with riot gear and assault rifles, pump action shotguns," said Bruce Nestor, the president of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, who is representing several of the protesters. "The neighbor of one of the houses had a gun pointed in her face when she walked out on her back porch to see what was going on. There were children in all of these houses, and children were held at gunpoint."

The raids targeted members of "Food Not Bombs," an antiwar, anti-authoritarian protest group that provides free vegetarian meals every week in hundreds of cities all over the world. They served meals to rescue workers at the World Trade Center after 9/11 and to nearly 20 communities in the Gulf region following Hurricane Katrina.

..more..