“This is an exciting first step in this campaign,” Bostrom said in a statement announcing the formation of the “Bostrom for Sheriff” committee. “I am confident that my commitment to professional public service and to the core values of protecting our citizens, partnering with the community, reducing neighborhood crime, practicing fiscal responsibility, and collaborating with other law enforcement agencies are what the citizens expect from their sheriff.”

Bostrom is the son of veteran St. Paul City Council member Dan Bostrom, but is best known for heading up security efforts during last year’s Republican National Convention. Fletcher was critical of security preparations for the national gathering, repeatedly warning that the St. Paul department had failed to recruit enough police officers to ensure that it went off without serious problems.

Fletcher is a polarizing figure. The sheriff’s department drew the ire of social-justice activists last year by infiltrating the (ironically named) RNC Welcoming Committee. A series of police raids in the days leading up to the convention eventually resulted in criminal charges against eight activists who were allegedly plotting to damage property and disrupt the Republican gathering.

The four-term incumbent’s also been at the center of an investigation into the activities of the beleaguered — and now disbanded — Metro Gang Strike Force. Two damning reports released earlier this year alleged that the law enforcement agency routinely seized money from citizens without justification, failed to adequately keep track of its assets and displayed a general disregard for the civil rights of citizens, particularly minorities. The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department was the fiscal agent for the gang strike force.

In 2006, former St. Paul Police Chief William Finney took on Fletcher in a bruising political contest, but the incumbent ultimately prevailed by just over 1,000 votes.

In the days leading up to the Republican National Convention, a series of police raids led by the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office resulted in the arrest of eight people for allegedly conspiring to disrupt the political gathering. On Wednesday the individuals were each charged with a single count of “conspiracy to commit riot in the second degree in furtherance of terrorism.” The criminal complaint details a far-ranging plot by members of the RNC Welcoming Committee that included plans to kidnap delegates, attack cops with urine and molotov cocktails and ultimately bring the convention to a halt.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine. A ninth individual was also arrested earlier this week and is named in the criminal complaint, but has not yet been charged. All but the latter suspect have been released on $75,000 bail.

Yesterday afternoon attorneys for the alleged co-conspirators held a press conference to rebut the charges. They portrayed the allegations as a trumped-up plot hyped by confidential informants who had a financial incentive to exaggerate the potential violence. “The most outrageous allegations made by the authorities are not supported by any evidence other than the statement of the confidential informants,” said attorney Bruce Nestor. “They’re not supported by the evidence seized.”

In one instance, for example, officers seized what was purportedly a police shield and cited it as evidence of the group’s ill intents. “We have the Sheriff displaying a single plastic item that he claims was a shield, as if one shield was going to protect demonstrators from 3500 armed riot police who have projectile-tear-gas weapons,” said Nestor.

The trio of lawyers also charged that police are utilizing terrorism fears to circumvent First Amendment rights. “All they do is they label people as terrorists and anarchists, and at that point what people are actually saying and the content of their views has no meaning anymore,” said attorney Jordan Kushner. “What they do is they dehumanize people, they stigmatize them and in the process cut off what they’re saying.”

Kushner compared the case to the treatment of the Chicago Seven in 1968 — all of whom were ultimately acquitted of conspiracy charges. “Of course that made complete fools out of the government,” he said. “When the evidence comes out in this case it’s going to be the same thing. It’s going to be about politically opportunistic, abusive, cynical people in power who are abusing the law to suppress political dissent and suppress political organizing.”

Three of the defendants — Luce Guillen-Givins, Robert Joseph Czernik and Max Jacob Specktor — were present at the press conference but did not answer questions from reporters. However, two of the defendants’ parents did comment on the charges.

Mordecai Specktor, father of Max (pictured together) and editor of the American Jewish World newspaper, stated that his son was held in solitary confinement for two days before being released on bail. “The criminal complaint here is farfetched, overblown, outrageous,” he said. “I encourage all the journalists here to look into the specifics of this complaint and see where the truth really lies.” Specktor then put his arm around his son. “This is your domestic terrorist,” he said. “Take a good look. I don’t believe it at all. Give me a break.”

The other defendants are Nathanael David Secor, Erik Charles Oseland, Monica Rachel Bicking and Garrett Scott Fitzgerald.

On August 29, 2008 at 9:15 pm the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, assisted by the St. Paul Police Department, executed a search warrant at 627 Smith Ave So. Numerous items were recovered. No persons were arrested. The search warrant was a part of an ongoing investigation regarding serious criminal acts.

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 self- described 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.”

Minneapolis Police Department officers stand guard outside the Food Not Bombs house. Photo: Jeff Severns Guntzel

Minnesota Independent RNC reporter Jeff Severns Guntzel is at the Minneapolis Food Not Bombs house, which was raided by police this morning. Facts are still coming in, but Guntzel says that at 8 a.m. neighbors near the home, located at 2301 23rd Avenue South, reported hearing a loud bang followed by yelling. A single police squad car was parked out front. When Guntzel arrived he saw eight or nine officers enter the house in what he says is a joint operation between officers of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department, the Minneapolis Police Depatment, and the FBI. According to one witness who was in the house at the time of the raid, the action is related to last night’s raid on the RNC Welcoming Committee’s “convergence space.” Several other spaces have been raided this morning.

Around 9:20, two Minneapolis Police Property & Evidence trucks pulled up. Present were a Hennepin County Sheriffs’ crime lab truck, a Ramsey County Sheriffs’ squad and an MPD squad, plus at least four unmarked cars parked facing the wrong direction in traffic. Police tape is marking off the yard.

Two men are released from the Food Not Bombs house as reporters, neighbors, and supporters look on. Photo: Jeff Severns Guntzel

At one point a five-year-old boy was escorted from the home by police. In what Guntzel calls a “sweet moment,” the boy told police he wanted his markers, and the officer went in and came back out a few minutes later. “These are the only colors I could find,” the officer said. “Did I get the right stuff?”

As MnIndy reported on Thursday, rumors of a weekend sweep of activist organizations have been swirling. In the last 12 hours, at least three other sites, from the RNC Welcoming Committee’s “convergence space” in St. Paul to sites in South Minneapolis have been raided.

Officers and agents from the Minneapolis Police Department, Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, Ramsey County Sheriff's office and the FBI collaborated on the raid. Photo: Jeff Severns Guntzel

9:45 A woman named Heather Adams just came out of the Food Not Bombs house and gave Guntzel the following account: She arrived from Chicago at 3 a.m. this morning with plans to protest at the RNC. At 8 a.m. she woke up to find police in the house wearing riot gear and camouflage flak jackets. She says they had rifles drawn. Adams has a broken ankle, and when officers ordered her to roll over on her stomach, she says she was slow to do so and the officer, she says, pushed her with his boot.

Adams says one arrest was made. Nathanael Secor, a main organizer of FNB, was arrested on charges of conspiracy to riot, she says.

9:54: Guntzel says a Ramsey County warrant was served, and the house is now occupied only by law enforcement agents. Evidence has been taken out the back of the house. Adams said law enforcement took photos of maps of St. Paul which were present in the house, as well as house plants. Adams also said that a city inspector was on site as well. The house, according to one law enforcement official, has links to the RNC Welcoming Committee.

10:03: Guntzel has in hand a Hennepin County warrant. It indicates law enforcement was searching for incendiary devices, smoke bombs, urine and feces, and other items. See a transcription of the warrant here. [Update: PDF]

In the alley behind the house, two Minneapolis Police Department Property & Evidence trucks wait to be loaded. Photo: Jeff Severns Guntzel

10:44: The RNC Welcoming Committee issued a press release noting that four individuals were arrested in the raids: Monica Bicking, Eryn Trimmer, Garrett Fitzgerald, and Nathanael Secor. The press release also notes that “Search warrants for 2 of the 3 raided houses listed only one name apiece, each of individuals not present at the houses and, thus, not arrested.”

Last week, WCCO aired a report on local anarchists that said they “hope to cause chaos” and are “a group bent on destruction.” The station superimposed images of property destruction while discussing the group’s plans. That group is the RNC Welcoming Committee, an umbrella group of anarchists and anti-authoritarians organizing resistance to the Republican National Convention.

WCCO is not alone. In July, Fox News accused the anarchists of setting up a “red sector” devoted to clashing with police, a charge the group denies. The Star Tribune’s Katherine Kersten has devoted three columns to whipping Twin Citians into a frenzy over anarchists. In July, the Pioneer Press recounted the destructive World Trade Organization protests of 1999 and stated that “a group of Twin Cities anarchists now is making similar threats against the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul.”

While local anarchists organizing actions at the RNC are loathe to speak to the news media, they have done extensive interviews with local community-based media. Their message and clarifications have fallen on very few ears. Here’s what they have to say about the media, their plans and anarchism as a philosophy. None of the members of the RNC Welcoming Committee use their real names in media appearances.

“We are not as scary”

“We’ve been painted in that bad light, being compared to terrorist attacks on the Xcel Energy Center, or chemical weapons or other forms of violence that we are criticized for,” RNC Welcoming Committee member Bara Cade told Eric Angell on Our World in Depth a program on the local cable access network MTN. “It’s important for people to know we are not as scary as people make us out to be.”

Barry Cade, another member of the Welcoming Committee, said, “Our tactics are not terroristic. If anything I would call them empowering.”

They do intend to prevent delegates from reaching the convention by blockading transportation routes — often with street theater, including a planned dance party by queer group Bash Back!, and even the possibility of piling stuffed teddy bears at an intersection.

“All that means is you are going to stay in an intersection or a place and not leave when the police ask them to leave,” said Emma, one of three members of the Welcoming Committee (also present: Harold and Tony), speaking to KFAI, a local community radio station. “Essentially, anything that will stop or slow down traffic — in this case, the traffic of the delegates — could be considered a blockade.”

Tony chimed in, “Even something such as driving slowly.”

Emma says the plan is to “engage in nonviolent civil disobedience peacefully preventing the delegates access the Xcel Center.”

That nonviolence has been a debate within the anarchist communities organizing against the RNC.

“We definitely don’t have property destruction in our strategy,” Barry told Angell. “It’s not part of it, but we do know there are people who follow the philosophy that … some property supports violence, and enables violence to happen.” He cited the examples of weapons manufacturers or companies that support war.

“There really is an open debate about it. We are just glad this debate can happen and that people can be a part of that debate,” he said.

Bara added: “We don’t want to say that we condone property violence or that we support it, but we also don’t want to say we are against it as well.”

Cooperation and community

Public perception of anarchism is that violence is part of the philosophy or that anarchist philosophy depends on a lack of authority that would force communities to descend into chaos. Those perceptions are at the heart of misconceptions of the movement.

“Anarchism is easily the most understood pol theory in America today, so much so that newspapers use the silly phrase ‘self-described anarchists,’” Harold told KFAI.

Indeed they do. Virtually every media outlet describes the Welcoming Committee as “self-described.” The Pioneer Press has done so three times, the Star Tribune four times, and I used the phrase at the Minnesota Independent (then Minnesota Monitor) last fall.

Harold said the misunderstanding leads many to equate anarchism with violence. “The media says direct action is synonymous with violence, that anarchism is the philosophy with the end goal of chaos and disorder.”

Instead, it’s about sustainability, consensus building, decentralization and community aid. And each anarchist has their own ideas.

“I think the key issue is people taking control of their own lives rather than offering up their compliance by being satisfied by giving someone else control of it,” said Barry. “A lot of people out there who don’t know what an anarchist is might be an anarchist themselves. If they look into it a bit, it’s more about creating an environment and community where cooperation is essentially what keeps a community running, not coercion.”

So, for example, instead of the Internal Revenue Service forcing payment of taxes, people would contribute what’s needed of their own volition. Law and order are the responsibility of every member of the community, not authorities.

“Anarchy is based on mutual aid,” said Bara. “It’s very community based, knowing who your neighbors are. … Anarchy doesn’t mean chaos in the streets, breaking windows, all these misconceptions. A lot of what we do is community based. Everyone on an equal level with one another.”

Said Barry, “It isn’t about creating something big but making things smaller, making communities smaller. Revolution should be the byproduct.”

A message on the two-party system

But with that feel-good message, why disrupt the RNC?

“The RNC used to be for nominating the candidate,” said Harold. “It’s essentially a huge dog-and pony-show sponsored by some of the worst corporations you could think of… where lobbyists pay for access to high-level politicians.”

The two-party system, a hierarchical structure, is antithetical to the philosophy of anarchism, they say. It imposes the will of the majority on everyone else instead of a consensus process that takes everyone’s needs into account.

That’s why the anarchists are acting. “Direct action has been a part of just about any effective political movement throughout history,” said Harold. “We don’t think the political elite will stop if we ask nicely.

Whether the media’s frenzied speculation of mass violence and property destruction will be realized remains to be seen, but the Welcoming Committee is adamant that it’s not part of their plan. But delegates and police can expect some major traffic hassles as the RNC gets into full swing in a matter of days.

“It’s a huge forum to say what we want,” he said.

The RNC Welcoming Committee’s interview with KFAI (MP3)

The RNC Welcoming Committee’s interview on Eric Angell’s Our World in Depth: