Meet the RNC8

The Saturday Pioneer Press had a fine story by Emily Gurnon, in which she interviewed three of the young people who are part of the "RNC8" -- the ones who were arrested before the Republican National Convention started.

Their homes were raided by Ramsey County Sheriffs and national law enforcement on suspicion of conspiracy to "riot in furtherance of terrorism." Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher insists that informants gave solid tips, and that materials found in the houses indicated clear intent to disable buses and throw urine on police. Others point out that the informants were paid only if they delivered information (an obvious incentive to lie) and that the materials found could all have innocent purposes. No one knows anything for sure about the materials confiscated, though, since the police haven't turned over their evidence to the RNC8's defense team in the month-plus since the arrests. Hmmmm.

I've written on this earlier as have many others online, but Gurnon's story about Monica Bicking, Max Specktor and Garrett Fitzgerald was the first time I've seen anything in the mainstream media that approached the issue in a fair-minded way. Gurnon points out that it's the first time a Minnesota law against crimes committed in furtherance of terrorism has been used. The last time something similar was done was in 1918, when IWW organizers on the Iron Range were convicted of "criminal syndicalism" (whatever that is) for trying to organize workers.

Monica Bicking, who is a 23-year-old homeowner (how many of those are there?) is quoted in the story: "I was on the landing of the stairs when they reached me, and they had their guns pulled out at me and had them pointed at my head and told me to lie down. I've never had a gun pointed at me before, and everything felt like slow motion. It's like, 'I'm lying down. Why are they still pointing a gun?' "

Imagine yourself in that situation. Sometimes in my nightmares (populated by Michele Bachmann and Alberto Gonzalez) I can.