Black Dove Support Network: Gaertner Drops Terrorism Enhancement Charges, Continues Criminalization of Dissent

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Gaertner Drops Terrorism Enhancement Charges, Continues Criminalization of Dissent

Download the PDF of the amended complaint here:
http://rnc8.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/amd-cplt-rnc8-red.pdf

In the surest sign yet of the power of post-RNC court solidarity, Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner has dropped two of four unfounded charges against the RNC 8. Caving to months and months of public pressure, Gaertner dropped one count of Conspiracy to Commit Riot in Furtherance of Terrorism, and one count of Conspiracy to Commit Criminal Damage to Property in Furtherance of Terrorism.

“We are heartened by the fact that our supporters have won this concession,” said defendant Nathanael Secor. “It’s taken a tremendous show of strength and solidarity over the past seven months.”

Originally facing a single charge–Conspiracy to Riot in Furtherance of Terrorism–Gaertner’s office added three additional charges against the eight defendants in December of last year. Now, two of those charges have been dropped, clearly demonstrating that all the charges are a matter of political maneuvering, not a reasoned look at the evidence.

On March 28, supporters delivered to Susan Gaertner’s office a stack of over 3,000 petitions urging her to drop all four charges. Among other statements, a resolution from the 17,000-member Duluth Central Labor Body in support of the RNC 8 was also delivered. National media attention, including an appearance on MSNBC on Wednesday morning, has drawn significant attention to the case at the same time as Gaertner is accelerating her campaign for Governor–having just hired full-time staffers, opened an office on University Avenue, and planned appearances at several DFL events in the next month. Additionally, the broad-based RNC 8 Defense Committee has succeeded in calling widespread attention to the Minnesota PATRIOT Act, and played an instrumental role in applying the pressure that led to this reduction of charges.

In removing the controversial MN PATRIOT Act from the debate at this moment, Susan Gaertner obviously hopes to defray the costs of this unprecedented prosecution on her campaign for Governor, and to mitigate the overwhelmingly negative public opinion of Ramsey County’s repressive behavior during and since the RNC.

“Make no mistake,” said defendant Luce Guillen-Givins, “This change to the complaint against us is a token gesture meant to placate our supporters and bolster a floundering political prosecution.”

As defendant Eryn Trimmer pointed out, “This move only focuses attention more acutely on the outrageous nature of the two remaining charges, Conspiracy to Commit Riot and Conspiracy to Commit Criminal Damage to Property.”

In the months leading up to the RNC, the defendants were involved in open, public organizing with a broad coalition of Twin Cities activists and community members. We continue to assert that the only “conspiracy” committed by the RNC 8 was to provide basic and necessary infrastructure for people who wished to engage in their fundamental right to dissent.

“We’re relieved and gratified that the most sensational part of the charges has been dropped,” said St. Paul peace and justice activist Betsy Raasch-Gilman, member of Friends of the RNC 8. She continued, “We hope that the conspiracy charges will also be dropped. If planning a protest can be called conspiracy, the right to free speech is in real danger.”

Friends of the RNC 8 asks Susan Gaertner to continue in the direction of justice by dropping all the remaining charges, thereby saving enormous financial resources for the people of Minnesota in this time of rampant foreclosures, unemployment and economic turmoil. We also remind supporters that while we should rightly celebrate this small victory, the time for increased action to defend the RNC 8 is now. Political organizing is not conspiracy. Dissent is not a crime.

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LEGAL UPDATE
Before we heard the news, we wrote up this legal update about last month's matters:

Near the end of March, Judge Teresa Warner proclaimed her ruling on the prosecution’s problematic proposed protective order, which was one of the main topics of last month’s proceedings. The ruling is about as favorable as could be expected, with the main point being that the eight will be able to receive their own copies of the discovery against them–rather than being forced to view it only in the offices of their attorneys, as the prosecution wished. The eight and their attorneys will have to sign a waiver prohibiting dissemination of the contents.

This batch of discovery - an entire 40 CDs and 40 DVDs worth - was produced by the procrastinating prosecutors a couple days after the promised March 31 deadline. Because the investigation is still active, the discovery can and does include so-called “evidence” gathered as recently as this month, and more discovery may be provided as it is, well, discovered. However, prosecutor Heidi Westby is refusing to release a handful of the discs of evidence, instead asking the eight and their attorneys to come downtown to view it. This appears to be in defiance of the order by Judge Warner.

Remember, folks: “active investigation” means the clicking noise on your phone might be the FBI, the zooming noise you hear might be Bob Fletcher’s telephoto lens outside your house, and that sucking sound all around is money being drained from social services in order to provocatively prosecute protesters as terrorists. Oh, and that howl of outrage and solidarity is coming from the thousands of people proudly proclaiming their support for the RNC 8, while learning how to fight pernicious prowling police tactics, to boot.

The next court date is now scheduled for May 26 at 9am in Ramsey County District Court. If Susan Gaertner’s office doesn’t drop the charges, prognosticators expect trial in September at the earliest, but more likely later in the fall.

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UPCOMING EVENTS - Mark your calendars:

St. Paul:
Sunday, April 19, 2-4pm:
Ramona Africa, spokesperson for MOVE, speaks on Repression and Resistance, Then and Now: From the MOVE 9 to the RNC 8
http://rnc8.org/2009/04/ramona-africa/
Ramona Africa will also speak on Saturday, April 18 on Hamline Law School:
http://tc.indymedia.org/2009/apr/prison-reform-project-hosts-ramona-africa-move-hamline-law-school

Minneapolis:
Friday, April 24, 1-3pm:
Jules Boykoff, author of Beyond Bullets: The Suppression of Dissent in the United States (AK Press) speaks at the University of Minnesota
http://rnc8.org/2009/04/boykoff/

Minneapolis:
Wednesday, April 29, 7pm:
Defend the RNC 8! Meet the RNC 8, family and friends, plus watch videos about the case at the Univeristy of Minnesota, Coffman Union 324. Sponsored by Socialist Alternative and Friends of the RNC 8
Details coming soon at http://rnc8.org

Los Angeles:
Thursday, April 30, 7pm:
Cinebang! and KIWA present Terrorizing Dissent and a discussion about the RNC 8 case
http://rnc8.org/2009/04/los-angeles-event-tuesday-april-30/

Minneapolis:
Sunday, May 3, All Day:
Visit the RNC 8 Defense Committee and Community RNC Arrestee Support Structure at the annual May Day Festival and Parade at Powderhorn Park, Minneapolis

Next Scheduled RNC 8 Defense Committee Meeting:
Sunday, May 10, 4pm
Walker Church, 3104 16th Ave. S., Minneapolis

Next Scheduled Court Date:
Tuesday, May 26, 9am
Ramsey County Courthouse, 15 W. Kellogg Boulevard, St. Paul

More events? Send your info to info@rnc8.org.

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What is the Prison Industrial Complex?

What is the Prison Industrial Complex? The prison industrial complex (PIC) is a complicated system situated at the intersection of governmental and private interests that uses prisons as a solution to social, political, and economic problems. The PIC depends upon the oppressive systems of racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia. It includes human rights violations, the death penalty, industry and labor issues, policing, courts, media, community powerlessness, the imprisonment of political prisoners, and the elimination of dissent.How the PIC WorksTo fully describe the PIC, we have to look at the big picture of how it functions. For example, the prison construction boom can be linked to, among other factors, the huge increase in the number of people sentenced to prison terms with the onset of the war on drugs, the repression of radical movements by people of color for self-determination, and the anti-imperialist struggles of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. The "war on drugs" and the national and local efforts to destroy radical political movements led to increasing police presence in communities of color and poor communities, higher arrest rates, and longer prison sentences.This boom is also fueled by dramatic and racist reporting about "crime," "delinquency," and "rebellion," creating a culture of fear in which it continues to be acceptable and desirable to many people to lock people (primarily people of color, youth, and poor people) in cages for longer and longer in the interest of "public safety." The way the many parts of the PIC interact is exactly what makes it so powerful and destructive. In order to fight this system, we have to see it for all that it is and recognize what drives and shapes it.Fighting the PICFighting the PIC means fighting the mainstream ideas of public safety and challenging the idea that police, prisons, and the court system make people who are not in power safer. At the same time, we must create alternative ideas of security based on the safety of the people most affected by the PIC.The United States currently imprisons around 2 million people. About 6.5 million people are presently under some form of supervision within the criminal justice system. Women represent the fastest rising prison population. Since 1980, the number of women imprisoned in the U.S. has risen by almost 400 percent. Racism continues to be a major factor in the United States, illustrated by policies and programs that sustain white supremacy. Racism, as it is used through criminal laws that target people of color, is essential to the PIC, not accidental.Prisons Are Not an Answer to CrimeThe wrongdoings we call crime do not exist in the same ways everywhere and are not "human nature". What is considered a crime is determined by the societies we live in. Because we have seen over and over again that locking more people in cages does not reduce crime, we must understand the power relationships that lead society to lock up only certain people. Since prisons do not stop problems like poverty, racism, or drug addiction, we cannot expect them to stop crime. We need to understand that we have no option but to fight and continue to fight until all of the different parts of the PIC that continue to put our survival in danger are eliminated.The Movement Against the PICThe movement against the PIC runs the risk of being shaped by easy victories or simplified struggles that do not recognize and fight the whole system. We must go beyond false separations, such as "non-violent" versus "violent" that place prisoners in opposition to each other. One important place to begin to fight the PIC is by pushing the movement to a more complete race, class, and gender analysis. We cannot allow ourselves to do short-term work that undermines our long-term vision and goals, or rely on the same systems of oppression and domination that sustain and drive the PIC to influence "mainstream" voters and decision makers. In order to do this work, we must continue to create spaces for people with different points of view to have honest discussions and disagreements about directions the movement against the PIC should take.What We Are ForSince we are so frequently asked what we are "for" rather than "against," the struggle against prisons, police, repression, punishment, and the criminalization of entire communities must display a clear vision that a world without the PIC is possible. One way to define and shape what we are for is through creating a culture of resistance, or a culture and society that fill all the different parts of our lives with alternatives to the culture of imprisonment. A new culture must nurture and sustain our struggle and provide space for political education, conversation and debate about what we are doing and what we need to do in the future.In order to figure out why people get locked up and under what circumstances, we need to look at what are sometimes called "root causes." This strategy requires looking at the competing priorities of the systems in which we live and understanding why they work well for some and horribly for others. The systems of race, class, gender, and sexuality, for instance, are commonly understood as privileging some people's needs and ideals over others. By exploring why and how those systems work for some and not for others, we can begin to develop a better understanding of how to include concrete steps in our work that deal with the negative effects of these systems on the people who are most often put in cages.To oppose the PIC, activists must work on both theoretical and practical levels. We cannot only engage in single-issue struggles, because all the issues intersect. How can we best create social change in an era of globalization? The voices of today's radical activists, particularly activists of color, must be at the front of the fight against the PIC. Those who are most affected by the system must be the ones planning its end.Organizing against the PIC is as much about building something as it is about fighting what is destroying our communities. Our organizing is also an ongoing effort to create alternatives, not only to imprisonment, but to the culture of punishment we've become so used to.

Black Dove Support Network

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Gaertner Drops Terrorism Enhancement Charges, Continues Criminalization of Dissent

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What is the Prison Industrial Complex?

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