The murders have come on the heels of a widely criticized report by the Department of Homeland Security, which described potential violence from people with extreme anti-abortion, anti-immigrant and white supremacist ideologies. Was the report accurate? And is the labeling of entire political groups and ideologies — such as the DHS report and the profiling of RNC protesters — an effective counterterrorism activity?

“There have been a lot of mistakes and problems with the way the so-called war on terror has been run domestically since 911,” former FBI agent Coleen Rowley said in an interview with the Minnesota Independent.

Rowley said the DHS report on right-wing extremism was wrong, but not for the objections that Republicans have raised.

“The reports contain almost no specificity but instead, make generalizations and stereotyped comments about large political or interest groups,” she said. “It’s true that individual loners or duos may be inspired by the extremist ideology stemming from any group, to include the ‘pro-life’ groups, but you need specific facts identifying the individual instead of stereotyped characterizations about the group.”

In a press briefing Thursday, Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano said the recent murders didn’t vindicate the report and said it was problematic.

“I don’t look at those murders as anything other than terrible crimes and tragedies,” Napolitano said, according to Washington Independent’s Spencer Ackerman. “I do think, as I’ve said before, that the so-called right-wing extremist report was not a well-produced product,” she said. “It could and should have been done better. We’ve already taken steps within the department to improve that situation.”

Rowley said the overly broad efforts such as the extremist report exacerbate the difficulties in identifying those loners or small cells of extremists.

“When looking for a needle in the haystack, massive ‘intelligence’ collection about the members of the groups only adds hay to the haystack and also chills exercise of First Amendment rights,” she said. “Members of the larger, mainstream group, if not alienated by being smeared, will be in the best position to identify the ‘true terrorist.’”

Indeed that was the case with the recent shootings In Arizona committed by members of an off-shoot of the anti-illegal immigration movement, the Minutemen. Shawna Fordes has been arrested in the murders and anti-illegal immigration groups say that they had forwarded information about Fordes to law enforcement after kicking her out of the Minuteman organization.

Rowley said that alienating these groups could prevent them from going to law enforcement when a troublemaker is identified.

Minnesota saw its share of generalized profiling at the Republican National Convention in September 2008.

“The worst recent example of this overbroad targeting, as well as surveillance and infiltration, would be that directed against the RNC Welcoming Committee and other peace/social justice protesters,” she said.

Eight members of the Welcoming Committee were charged with “furtherance of terrorism” under the Minnesota Patriot Act because of damage to property of over $1,000. Rowley said that this new definition of terrorism is wrong.

“‘Acts dangerous to human life’ is supposed to be the definition of domestic terrorism not just ‘property damage,’” she said. “The use of the looser definition in the ‘Minnesota Patriot Act’ which includes mere ‘property damage’ of $1,000 or more contributed to the misdirection of resources by law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the lead-up to the RNC.”

Attorney Jordan Kushner, who represented members of the RNC8, said charges were politically motivated. The terrorism charges were dropped, but not before having a chilling effect at the RNC protests.

“The fact that they were filed in the first place and pursued for a period of about eight months does show how much ‘terrorism’ is a political label,” he said.

The St. Paul City Attorney’s office has so far reviewed 241 potential criminal cases stemming from arrests during the Republican National Convention. Nearly half of the reviews didn’t result in charges being filed owing to a lack of sufficient evidence. Of the remaining incidents, 48 have been resolved by either a guilty plea or payment of a fine, while 81 have been formally charged and are headed towards trial.

St. Paul City Attorney John Choi emphasized that just because charges were not pursued it doesn’t mean that the police acted inappropriately in making an arrest. “When a police officer is on the scene they’re not thinking about whether or not this is a prosecutable offense,” he said. “They’re thinking about whether or not there’s probable cause to arrest this person.”

Roughly 650 potential cases have been presented to the city attorney’s office stemming from activities during the four-day gathering — meaning just over 400 have not yet been reviewed. But almost all of those remaining arrests were made during a mass sweep on the Marion St. bridge during the final day of the convention.

Choi stated that he’s not aware of any civil cases that have been brought against the City of St. Paul relating to alleged civil rights violations during the convention. In two instances, however, the city has received letters from attorneys stating that they intend to file such lawsuits in the future.

The most common charge pursued by the city attorney’s office relating to RNC events is unlawful assembly. But other misdemeanor infractions include criminal damage to property, disorderly conduct and third-degree riot.

More serious, felony charges are being handled by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office. They are prosecuting roughly 20-such cases, including charges lodged against the so-called RNC 8. In addition there are two Texas men facing federal firearms charges for allegedly attempting to disrupt the convention with Molotov cocktails. They are slated to go on trial next month.

Choi expressed satisfaction with how the RNC-related cases are proceeding, but stated that they are particularly thorny because of the political elements involved. “For the RNC there are 650 cases and they’re all very intense,” he said, noting that such cases attract much more public scrutiny than those typically handled by his office. “We have to do the best that we can with the limited resources that we have and the challenges that come with these cases.”

But attorneys for the group successfully argued that the hearing should be postponed so that they can have more time to obtain and examine the evidence against their clients. The six defendants are now slated to appear back in court on November 10.

But a meeting slated for this week before Chief Ramsey County Judge Kathleen Gearin will likely alter that schedule. The eight cases are expected to be assigned to a single judge so that they can proceed more efficiently.

The RNC 8 members were arrested in the days leading up to the Republican National Convention and charged with a single count of “conspiracy to commit riot in the second degree in furtherance of terrorism.” The criminal complaint alleges that they were involved in an elaborate, nationwide plot to disrupt the convention that included plans to kidnap delegates, attack cops with urine and molotov cocktails and ultimately bring the proceedings to a standstill.

Attorney Larry Leventhal, who is representing Max Jacob Specktor, said after the aborted court hearing that the defense team needs additional time to scrutinize the evidence and tactics used to build the case against their clients, such as the use of confidential informants. “We really think it’s not going to show that there was a conspiracy to riot in support of terrorism,” he said. Leventhal added that the attorneys also want to examine what role the Federal Bureau of Investigation played in the investigation. “We believe they were probably directing the operation,” he said.

The other defendants are Nathanael David Secor, Luce Guillen-Givins, Robert Joseph, Erik Charles Oseland, Garrett Scott Fitzgerald, Monica Rachel Bicking and Garrett Scott Fitzgerald