Terrorizing Dissenters at the RNC - National Lawyers Guild

Cover Story
Terrorizing Dissenters at the RNC
PHOTO: NIGEL PERRY
by Caroline Palmer
When St. Paul, Minnesota was named the site of the
2008 Republican National Convention, the
Minnesota Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild
knew it would have its hands full. Previous experiences in New
York City, Boston, Los Angeles and other cities indicated a
need to be prepared for mass arrests, police misconduct,
and many surprises. And so the Minnesota NLG began its
mass defense and legal observation plans a year in advance,
developing strategy, organizing volunteers, monitoring law
enforcement, coordinating with other organizations such as
the Minnesota ACLU and public defenders, and holding a
well-attended continuing legal education program. Litigation
involving march permits and routes began in spring 2008.
Three days before the convention got under way, trouble
started, with official actions directed mainly toward an organizing
group called the RNC Welcoming Committee (this group
has come to be known as the RNC 8). Dozens of police raided
the activist convergence space in West St. Paul, detaining
everyone on site and seizing pamphlets and other property.
The next morning police descended on three Minneapolis
homes and arrested members of the RNC Welcoming
Committee, snatching others off the street over the next
two days. The police also surrounded and eventually entered
a private home in St. Paul where members of I-Witness Video
were staying. No arrests were made but all inside were
detained in the back yard. Probable cause in all cases was based
in part on the word of paid informants, including the claim
that what turned out to be 23 boxes of pro-vegan literature
were “weapons to be used during the RNC.” NLG attorneys
and legal observers were onsite during all of these raids.
The many volunteers at the Coldsnap Legal Collective
(temporarily based in a NLG member’s office), which served
as a central hotline for RNC-related arrestees, quickly sprang
into action. Over the course of the week, their phones rang
nonstop as they fielded reports of arrests and calls from jail.
NLG attorneys visited individuals held at the Ramsey County
6• GUILD NOTES • WINTER 2008