But in the view of their allies in social-justice circles, they were dedicated activists seeking to shine a bright light on war, poverty and other injustices.

Those competing visions of the so-called RNC Eight (pictured above) will be at the heart of any criminal trials for the defendants — Erik Oseland, Eryn Trimmer, Garrett Fitzgerald, Luce Guillen-Givens, Max Specktor, Monica Bicking, Rob Czernick and Nathanael Secor.

The defendants were rounded up in a series of police raids in the days leading up to the GOP gathering in St. Paul late last summer. Led by the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department, the officers seized smoke bombs, sling shots, bolt cutters, bottles of vinegar, buckets of nails, two-way radios and other items. These, prosecutors contend, were the tools of a criminal enterprise that planned to kidnap delegates, assault police officers and attack buses during the four-day gathering.

The defendants are charged with felony counts of conspiracy to commit riot in the second degree in furtherance of terrorism. In addition, the RNC Eight are believed to be the first defendants to be charged under the Minnesota version of the federal Patriot Act, which was passed in 2002. Under the law, their sentences can be ratcheted up by 50 percent, meaning the defendants could face up to seven-and-a-half years in prison.

But the conspiracy charges take the case into what some experts characterize as murky legal waters. Because the defendants were arrested prior to executing their purported criminal plan, the case will hinge on acts that prosecutors believe they credibly intended to carry out. Another novelty of such prosecutions: The entire group is legally culpable for the actions of each individual.

While conspiracy cases are common in federal court — particularly in taking down multi-state drug rings — they are comparatively rare in state courts.

“[In] state court we tend to be dealing with crimes of violence and a lot of individual actors,” says Phil Carruthers, head of the prosecution division at the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, which is handling the RNC Eight cases. “It’s kind of more the meat and potatoes of crime: murder, rape, assault. In federal court, they have fewer cases and they can have a little bit better ability to handle more complicated cases.”

In the the RNC Eight prosecutions, as with all conspiracy cases, the defendants were arrested before they could commit the major elements of their alleged plan. “In a conspiracy, no one has to actually commit a crime,” says Peter Erlinder, a professor at William Mitchell College of Law. “The crime is the agreement itself.”

Erlinder argues that conspiracy cases draw “perilously close” to prosecuting people for thought crimes. “If there’s agreement among the people that has an illegal objective, and one of them takes one step in furtherance of the conspiracy, that is enough to make out the separate crime of conspiracy,” he says. “The object of the conspiracy never has to actually occur.”

Conspiracy prosecutions are also unique in that the entire group is deemed legally responsible for the individual actions of each member.

“The reason they are a great benefit to prosecutors is everyone who is a member of the conspiracy is guilty of everything that the others [do],” explains Stephen Cribari, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School and a former federal public defender. “If they are members of the conspiracy — and the act was done during the conspiracy and in order to further the conspiracy — all the conspirators are deemed to have done the act.”

In the instance of the RNC Eight, this means that if one member of the group actively planned violent acts and then took meaningful steps to commit them, all eight defendants would be held responsible.

Another legal issue that is yet to be settled is whether the cases will be consolidated into one trial. Neither the defense nor the prosecution has formally indicated its preference with the court. But it’s clear that the defendants would prefer to face a jury collectively.

“The defendants have all indicated that their desire at this point is to have them consolidated,” says Larry Leventhal, who is representing Max Specktor. “If the state is contending that they all worked together to achieve something, a trial at the same time with everybody would seem to be mandated.”

But the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office sees things otherwise. “The presumption in state court is that there [are] separate trials,” says Carruthers. “That’s the way it’s proceeding. Obviously if the defense brings a motion to the contrary, we’ll respond.”

Cribari says that federal conspiracy cases are consolidated in most instances. “Generally at the federal level, you try to avoid repetitious, expensive trials,” he says. “It seems easier to me to try co-conspirators together.”

But even if everyone agrees that the RNC Eight should be tried together, the logistics would be daunting. With eight defense attorneys working the courtroom, and with the high-profile prosecutions likely to draw a significant number of spectators, the case has the potential to turn into a legal circus.

Ramsey County District Judge Teresa Warner has already made it clear that any shenanigans will not be tolerated. At a February hearing, she booted one observer from the courtroom after her cell phone went off in the middle of a legal debate.

However the trials ultimately proceed, the cases will come down to starkly different descriptions of the actions of the RNC Eight. Defense attorneys argue that their clients are simply dedicated social-justice activists.

“This is obviously a political prosecution, where people are being prosecuted for their political beliefs,” says Jordan Kushner, who is representing Guillen-Givens, noting that Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner is running for governor. “It’s amusing on one level, but it’s also very disturbing that our clients are being used as political pawns in this way.”

“There’s also the public spectacle of being branded a terrorist,” adds Leventhal. “I think after the trial is over, it will be shown that they are not. During the interim, who knows what people think.”

Carruthers, naturally, sees things differently. He says the RNC Eight cases are about protecting the constitutional rights of citizens whatever their political beliefs. “Even if you disagree with Republicans, do Republicans have a right to have a convention and meet and discuss issues?” he asks. “Do only certain people have a right to expression?”

The cases are unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. The defense team is in the process of reviewing thousands of pages of police documents, surveillance tapes and other evidence that could be introduced at the trials. There will almost certainly be substantial legal wrangling over what materials ultimately can be entered into evidence. Trials are tentatively slated for September.

The RNC Eight, accused of a criminal conspiracy to wreak chaos during the Republican National Convention, are unlikely to go on trial for at least another six months. But the battle to shape public opinion on the high-profile case has been taking place since the moment of their arrests on the eve of the St. Paul convention in early September.

At a hearing Tuesday afternoon before Ramsey County District Court Judge Teresa Warner, attorneys for the prosecution and defense traded charges over which side had stepped over the line in attempting to manipulate media coverage. Previously Judge Salvador Rosas, who is no longer hearing the case, had warned both sides to be cautious in their public relations machinations.

The prosecution is now seeking an order barring the defense from leaking nonpublic evidence to the media. As evidence of the need for such a prohibition, Assistant County Attorney Heidi Westby cited a Star Tribune article from Dec. 1 based on the review of 1,000 pages of documents provided by a source. The reports detailed the infiltration of the RNC Welcoming Committee by undercover deputies from the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office.

Westby stated that attorneys for the eight defendants were the only ones with access to the documents. She further argued that the evidence includes private individual information, such as juvenile arrest records and financial data.

“They had not been disclosed to anyone else,” she said of the evidence. “This case should not be tried in the press.”

But attorneys for the two defendants in court today — Max Specktor and Monica Bicking — countered that Ramsey County officials are the ones guilty of trying to game the legal process through media manipulation. They noted that Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher and County Attorney Susan Gaertner have held press conferences and released evidence unavailable to defense attorneys.

Attorney Larry Leventhal, who represents Specktor, accused the prosecution of seeking to control media coverage by muzzling the defense. “I think she’s being exceedingly disingenuous,” Leventhal said of Westby. “They are attempting to monopolize the conversation.”

Attorney Bruce Nestor, who represents Bicking, said that the prosecution has consistently utilized evidence unavailable to the defense — including ballistics tests and lab reports — to tar their clients in the media. “For months my clients have been attacked in the press,” he said. “There was a purpose to that, and it’s to prejudice my clients to the public.”

Judge Warner did not rule on the matter. Similar preliminary hearings will be held for the remaining defendants — Erik Oseland, Eryn Trimmer, Garrett Fitzgerald, Luce Guillen-Givens, Nathanael Secor and Rob Czernik — over the next week. The cases are currently expected to go to trial in September. Only about 15 percent of the more than 700 people arrested during the RNC have been charged with crimes.

At the close of Tuesday’s hearing, Warner counseled both sides not to engage in behavior that will taint the case. “I won’t tolerate any games being played, any shenanigans,” she said. “We’ll try this case in the courtroom on the evidence that’s presented.”

(Photo courtesy of Friends of the RNC 8)

With several members of the RNC8 — the people charged with felonies in conjunction with planned protests at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul last month — heading to court today for hearings in their cases, the Friends of the RNC8 are asking supporters to phone three local officials today to urge that charges be dropped.

The call-in’s targets are: Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner (651-266-3222), St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman (651-266-8510) and St. Paul City Attorney John Choi (651-266-8710).

“Please be polite, but firm,” organizers advise, in asking Gaertner to drop terrorism charges, Choi to drop misdemeanor charges, and Coleman to hold police accountable for actions. The stated hours of the “Call-In Day’ are 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

The RNC8 are eight people – Luce Guillen-Givins, Max Spector, Nathanael Secor, Eryn Timmer, Monica Bicking, Erik Oseland, Robert Czernik and Garrett Fitzgerald — who face federal terrorism charges after being rounded up in pre-emptive raids on protest groups in the days before the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.

Arrested in preemptive raids, Eryn Trimmer and Monica Bicking

Police would like to to paint 23-year-old Monica Bicking, whose home was raided on Saturday, August 30, as part of a preemptive strike against RNC protesters, as a “terrorist.” But her brother, Ian Bicking, has come out to speak in support of his sister, whom he says was arrested in an attempt to preemptively suppress the protests at the Republican National Convention.

“That war is still with us,” he writes on his blog, “and is still the most significant motivation for the RNC protests…I don’t have any third path to offer, but I just want to make it clear: none of us know what is best to do, none of us have figured out the way to effect change. People complain protest doesn’t work. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t, but frankly most things don’t work. Doing nothing definitely doesn’t work, and frankly that’s what most of us are doing. It’s hard to take criticisms seriously when they are made from a stance of inaction.”

In Monica Bicking’s South Minneapolis home, where are least 13 people were staying for the RNC, the police seized, among typical household items and laptop computers, curtain rods, foam mattresses, “propaganda literature,” 37 caltrops (nail-like devices used to puncture tires), and a few throwing knives. A total of three homes in Minneapolis were raided (and a fourth surrounded in St. Paul) the morning after the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, supported by the Minneapolis Police Department, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, raided the RNC Welcoming Committee’s convergence space in St. Paul.

The raids resulted in five arrests and more than 100 people handcuffed and detained. Last week, Ramsey County formally charged eight members of the RNC Welcoming Committte, Bicking, her boyfriend Eryn Trimmer, Luce Guillen Givins, Erik Oseland, Nathanael Secor, Robert Czernik, Garrett Fitzgerald, and Max Spector, with conspiracy to riot in futherance of terrorism.

The word “terrorism,” at least by definition, is fairly innocuous: “The use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.” Under that definition, any government could be a terrorist. But after 9/11, the media and Bush administration gave it a much more frightful and sinister meaning, one that led to the creation of the Federal Patriot Act. It’s under the 2002 Minnesota version of the Federal Patriot Act that Bicking and others could receive as much as seven years in jail simply for having “evidence” in their homes. The terrorism enhancement charge allows for a 50 percent increase in the maximum penalty for conspiracy to riot.

Ian Bicking says Monica and others in the RNC Welcoming Committee had no plans of their own to protest during those four days, but to offer a safe place for those who wished to protest their own issues, whatever they might be. “The preemptive arrest was surprising to everyone,” he writes. “It is normal in the course of civil disobedience that some people expect to be arrested. Civil disobedience is confrontational. You have to go into it knowing that there will be certain consequences. Those are the consequences of the confrontation [his emphasis]. They are not the consequences of the possibility of future confrontation. As organizers I know Monica and Eryn weren’t planning on being arrested.”

Ramsey County can hold the arrestees for 36 hours on probable cause, a timeline in place often used to gather evidence before formal charges are filed. However, weekends and holidays are not included in the 36-hour hold, which means all six of the activists arrested for “probable cause” could be held until Wednesday afternoon.

Bruce Nestor of the NLG told MnIndy that the timing of the arrests, and the subsequent holds without judicial review, were intended simply to halt protest activity. He says Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher has been conducting an investigation of the members of the RNC Welcoming Committee, an activist group planning protests at the RNC, for some time. If there was any evidence of conspiracy to start a riot, as Fletcher alleges, then they need to produce it, Nestor says.

“If they have evidence of a criminal act, then they should charge them,” he says. “And if they can charge [my client, Monica Bicking] with a complaint, then we will go defend that in court. But right now they are just holding them. You can’t just hold [Bicking] to prevent her from exercising her free speech.”

Fletcher has already issued a press release calling the arrestees “criminal anarchists” (see press release below), though no formal charges against the six detainees have been issued. Nestor says Fletcher’s office is using the language as intimidation and a smear campaign against those exercising their right to protest.

Below is the press release from the NLG. Below that is the press release issued yesterday from the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department regarding the raids.

PRESS RELEASE – PRESS RELEASE

National Lawyers Guild Seeks Judicial Review of Preventative Detentions Ordered by Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher

August 31, 2008 – The Minnesota Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild is seeking prompt judicial review of the preventative detentions of six citizen activists ordered by Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher.

Monica Bicking, Eryn Trimmer, Luce Guillen Givins, Erik Oseland, Garrett Fitzgerald, and Nathanael Secor, are all currently being held on “probable cause holds” in the Ramsey County Jail after being transferred late last night from the Hennepin County Jail. In Minnesota, a probable cause hold can be ordered by a police officer without a prosecutor or a judge reviewing a criminal complaint. Due to the arrest occurring on a weekend holiday, all six citizens can be held until Wednesday, September 3, 2008, without the filing of a formal charge.

Three of the arrestees are life-long residents of Minnesota. Two previously worked in early childhood education and passed background checks to obtain that employment. All have extensive ties to Minnesota, including employment and family members. One is a graduate of the University of Minnesota. None of the six arrestees have ever been convicted of a felony or crime of violence. One person arrested on Saturday morning, August 30th, was previously detained on Friday night at the St. Paul convergence center where he was photographed and identified. Despite being labeled a “key member” of a “criminal enterprise” and a planner of a “criminal conspiracy,” he was released on Friday night even though Sheriff Fletcher had conducted a months long investigation, using informants, and presumably identified the “key leaders” who he claims were organizing riots and civil disorder.

All six arrestees appear to face maximum charges of a gross misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a fine of $3,000. Absent death or use of a firearm, a criminal charge of “Riot” in Minnesota is a gross misdemeanor. Minn. Stat. §609.71. A charge of “civil disorder” is a gross misdemeanor and requires proof that a person made or instructed another to use a firearm, explosive, or incendiary device to cause civil unrest. Minn. Stat. §609.669. Property damage in Minnesota under $1,000.00 is also a gross misdemeanor. Minn. Stat. §609.595.

Despite the incendiary and alarmist language used by Sheriff Fletcher, there is no evidence that the common household items and tools seized in the pre-emptive house raids were intended to be used to cause death or civil unrest. No judge or prosecutor has reviewed the allegations made by Sheriff Fletcher.

In light of the fact that none of the arrestees appear to face felony charges, their extensive ties to Minnesota, and their lack of any serious prior criminal record, attorneys for the National Lawyers Guild are seeking to have a Ramsey County judge review the detentions on Sunday, August 31, 2008. This would be an informal review at which a judge could dismiss the charges or set conditions of release. Media updates will be provided if such a review is held.

From Ramsey County:
________________________________________________________________________________
CRIMINAL ANARCHISTS ARRESTED AND EQUIPMENT SEIZED DURING SEARCH WARRANTS THROUGHOUT MINNEAPOLIS AND ST. PAUL ________________________________________________________________________________

On August 30, 2008 at 8:00 a.m. the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, supported by the Minneapolis Police Department, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, executed search warrants at the following addresses:
2301 23rd Ave South, Minneapolis, MN
3500 Harriet Avenue, Minneapolis, MN
3240 17th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN

These search warrants were a part of an ongoing investigation regarding serious criminal acts involving key members of the RNC Welcoming Committee.

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher stated, “This investigation pertains to actions of the RNC Welcoming Committee. The “Welcoming Committee” is a criminal enterprise made up of 35 anarchists who are intent on committing criminal acts before and during the Republican National Convention. These acts include tactics to blockade and disable delegate buses, breaching venue security and injuring police officers. They have recruited assistance in their criminal conspiracy from other anarchists groups throughout the country. Through their plans and actions they have exhibited a blatant disregard for the law and the safety of others.”

During the searches a number of items were recovered, some of which included:

Materials used in creating “sleeping dragons” (pvc pipe, chicken wire, duct tape)
Large amounts of urine (including 3 – 5 gallon buckets of urine)
Wrist Rockets
Assorted edged weapons including a machete, hatchet and several throwing knives
Gas mask and filter

Empty glass bottles
Rags
Flammable liquids

Homemade Caltrops (devises used to disable buses in roads)

Metal pipes
Axes
Bolt cutters
Sledge hammers

Old tires (for burning)

Repelling equipment

Kryptonite locks
Empty plastic buckets cut and made into shields
Material for protective padding
An army helmet

Five persons were arrested this morning for probable cause conspiracy to riot, conspiracy to commit civil disorder and conspiracy to damage property. Those arrests are as follows:

At 2301 23rd Avenue South, Minneapolis, one individual was taken into custody:
Nathanael David Secor (DOB: 1/29/82)

At 3240 17th Avenue South, Minneapolis, three individuals were taken into custody:
Garrett Scott Fitzgerald (DOB: 2/28/83)
Eryn Chase Trimmer (DOB: 7/18/85)
Monica Rachel Bicking (DOB: 6/23/85)

And Erik Charles Oseland (DOB: 4/11/87) was taken into custody at an undisclosed location.

These individuals are being held at the Hennepin County Jail.

A portion of the property recovered will be on display at 2:30 PM today at the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office – 425 Grove Street – Media will enter security check-point on Grove Street and be directed upon arrival.
Any further information can be received through Holli Drinkwine at the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office (651-248-6653).

“It was a rifle barrel that was in a hutch on the stairwell landing,” he says. “It was really old and rusty, and it was here since we moved in. If you shot anything out of it, you would probably kill yourself. Plus, the rest of the gun is missing! What could anyone do with that thing?”

Alex says the raid and gathering of gear like computers and digital cameras was part of a larger mission by Ramsey County and the Minneapolis Police Department to sqaush protests at the RNC. “These are all amazingly kind people who are just trying to fight something unjust,” he says. “What of these things is evidence to incite a riot? It’s absurd.”

As for the throwing knives, homeowner Monica Bicking’s attorney says they are legal, and that no one had any intention of using them against anyone. “I can guarantee you no one was planning on using throwing knives at the demonstration. No one thinks that is a way to create attention for the issues. This is a political protest, and the issues at hand are most important. I challenge [Ramsey County Sheriff] Bob Fletcher to show me one instance in the last 20 years where anyone has used throwing knives at a demonstration. It’s ridiculous.”

The 37 caltrops found in the garage of the home, nail-like devices used to stop traffic or puncture wheels, are also not evidence or conspiracy to commit a riot, Nestor says. “Did they have some devices to try to block traffic? Maybe so,” Nestor asserts. “But does that mean they should be arrested on conspiracy charges? Not at all. This was intended to halt the protests.”

Twenty-three-year-old homeowner Bicking remains in Ramsey County jail on probable causes alleging conspiracy to riot. No formal charges have been made, and Nestor says the police are holding her and others as a means to impede the RNC peaceful protests scheduled for Monday, and they’re using intimidation tactics to incite fear in others by calling those arrested “criminal anarchists.”

“The timing of this is another example of motivation behind the raid,” Nestor says. “This has been an ongoing investigation. If they have evidence of a criminal act then they should charge them, not hold them for 36 hours, which for in this case is four and half days.” The MPD can hold suspects for up to 36 hours before charging them with a crime, but the 36-hour hold does not include weekends and holidays. That means Bicking could remain in jail without any formal charges filed until Wednesday afternoon.

At least one person, the neighbor of Bicking who is a longtime Powderhorn resident and says the tenants are good kids who care about issues, isn’t intimidated by the sweeps. She created a homemade sign this evening for any officers driving by. Using a marker and paper, she placed it over her Barack Obama yard sign: “We are NOT intimidated,” it reads.

More on 17th Avenue raid here.