Speakers included Jess Sundin, a leader of the Anti-War Committee and Freedom Road Socialist Organization and one of the anti-war and international solidarity activists targeted by the FBI and grand jury; Sarah Jane Olson, former political prisoner from involvement with revolutionary movements in the 1970s; Tracy Molm, an organizer with Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota, also one of the activists targeted by the FBI and grand jury; and Luce Guillen Givins of the RNC 8, unjustly charged with felonies for protests at the Republican National Convention, 2008.

Below is a video of the event taped by Bill Sorem of The Uptake

#MinneapolisMN #AntiWarCommittee #InternationalWomensDay #JessSundin #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganization #RNC8 #TracyMolm #SarahJaneOlson #LuceGuillénGivins

Minneapolis, MN – More than 50 people came together here March 8 to celebrate International Women’s Day. The event was sponsored by Freedom Road Socialist Organization and featured women who are in the forefront of the fight against repression and reaction.

Speakers included Jess Sundin, a leader of the Anti-War Committee and Freedom Road Socialist Organization and one of the anti-war and international solidarity activists targeted by the FBI and grand jury; Sarah Jane Olson, former political prisoner from involvement with revolutionary movements in the 1970s; Tracy Molm, an organizer with Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota, also one of the activists targeted by the FBI and grand jury; and Luce Guillen Givins of the RNC 8, unjustly charged with felonies for protests at the Republican National Convention, 2008.

Luce Guillen Givins told the crowd, “I operate on the premise that we cannot both fight for radical change in meaningful and effective ways and ensure that none of us will face state repression. I think that this truth gets to the very heart of why we fight, right? It's that we know we live in a system that values maintaining an oppressive social order – and threats to that order aren't taken lightly. If this weren't the kind of system where you'd be repressed for fighting for justice and liberation, it wouldn't be the kind of system worth fighting.”

Sarah Jane Olson talked about her experiences in prison and stated that she stands in solidarity with all of those who are facing FBI and Grand Jury repression.

Tracy Molm talked about attempts to represses anti-war and international solidarity activists and the ongoing pushback.

Jess Sundin, of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, stated, “But as our topic tonight suggests, the fight for liberation is sometimes answered with the heavy boot of repression.”

Here is an excerpt from Sundin’s speech:

“...the case of Clara Zetkin, the founder of International Women’s Day. She was exiled from Germany under the anti-socialist laws there in the late 1800s. But she didn't give up. Almost 50 years later, she was 75 years old and at the forefront of the fight against fascism. Now, I know some very active and healthy women in their 70s today, but in the 1930s, that was pretty long in the tooth.

“At that time, Clara was the oldest elected member of the German parliament, which gave her the role of opening their meeting in 1932. In her speech, the last speech of her life, she called for people to unite to fight against Nazi fascism. She said: ‘The order of the hour is the unified front of all workers in order to force back fascism so that the enslaved and exploited retain the force and power of their organizations, and even their physical lives... All those threatened, all those suffering, all those who thirst for liberty belong in the unified front against fascism and its representatives in government!’

“Her words ring just as true today, especially looking at my own life. Tracy Molm will speak later and talk more about our case, the 23 anti-war and international solidarity activists targeted by a Chicago grand jury. We have worked hard to build a broad front to push back against this attack, in defense of our movements, our organizations and the targeted individuals. In Clara's words, ‘all those who thirst for liberty’ should stand with us. And they do!

“And the 23 of us who are being dragged through this legal witch hunt will follow Clara's example: We will not surrender. We will not testify to the grand jury – we won't turn traitors to the movements we hail from. Most of us are women, and many of us are mothers. Sarah has us all beat, she's a great grandmother [referencing Sarah Martin, who has been subpoenaed to grand jury]. But like Clara, known as Grandmother Zetkin when she made that speech in 1932, we will not be swayed. Please join us, as we continue to stand up against repression!”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiWarCommittee #InternationalWomensDay #StudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganization #RNC8

Minneapolis, MN – Twenty protesters picketed outside the Twins game on July 18 to protest the proposal for Minneapolis hosting the 2012 Democratic National Convention (DNC). The DNC site selection committee was rumored to be inside and thousands of Minnesotans saw signs like “We say NO WAR Party” as they went into the stadium. Minneapolis is one of four cities in running to host the convention. The protest was organized by No DNC, a local coalition.

Two years ago St. Paul, Minnesota hosted the Republican National Convention. There were large anti-war protests every day of the convention. The police conduct during the convention was outrageous and the city is still in litigation for mass arrests and police brutality. The Twin Cities activist community will organize massive portests if Minneapolis hosts the DNC.

Dave Bicking explained to the crowd, “There are special reasons why we oppose this convention, because of the very policies that will be celebrated as they celebrate they reselect Obama for president. These are policies of war, of bank failures, I don’t need to go on…They [the Minneapolis city council]will be actively helping the security needed to repress freedom of speech in this city while hosting some of the worst war criminals in this country – people who are responsible for making the plans that are killing people around this world. We need to let the site selection committee know that there will be resistance, that there is resistance which is forming already and there will be continued resistance if they want to come and bring all their war policies to Minneapolis.”

Bicking is an anti-war and environmental activist and father to Monica Bicking, one of the RNC 8. She is still facing felony charges for “conspiracy” from 2008. Bicking is concerned there will be more police repression and trumped up charges if Minneapolis hosts the DNC.

Meredith Aby, an activist with the Anti-War Committee who helped organize protest on days one and four of the RNC in 2008 explained what will happen if Minneapolis hosts the convention, “The Afghanistan war is the Democrat’s war. They chose to escalate it. They chose to put the lives of millions of Afghans and tens of thousands of Americans at risk. They chose to stand by as video after video was released of massacre after massacre of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have blood on their hands and they can’t expect to come to our town, an anti-war town like Minneapolis, and get to party for four days without us telling them that this is criminal and immoral.”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #ProtestRNC2008 #RepublicanNationalConvention #RNC8 #DemocraticNationalConvention #DNC #DNC2012 #NoDNC

“Members of the Welcoming Committee were used as a part of the Saint Paul police’s campaign to scare people from coming out to protest on Sept. 1 and to keep people from taking militant action during the convention,” said Jessica Sundin, a member of the Anti-War Committee and spokesperson for the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War. “But protesters refused to be bullied into silence, were militant, and came out in thousands to oppose the war on Iraq.”

Members of the RNC Welcoming Committee were targeted for their work as open anarchists who were organizing awareness of anti-RNC events and for planning support such as housing, food, etc. for anti-RNC activist sponsored activities. They each face the potential of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine according to Garrett Fitzgerald, one of the RNC 8. Fitzgerald asked “Are we guilty of a crime? I don’t believe so. I don’t believe we did anything criminal. Ultimately when we go to trial the jury is going to have to decide at what point is feeding someone a felony offense?”

The RNC 8 were originally charged with the felony offense of conspiracy to riot in the second degree in furtherance of terrorism. This was the first ever use of Minnesota’s PATRIOT Act. In December, Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner added three more felony charges: second degree conspiracy to riot, first degree conspiracy to commit criminal damage to property in furtherance of terrorism and first degree conspiracy to commit criminal damage to property.

Supporters organized to pressure Gaertner, who is also running for governor of Minnesota as a Democrat, to not prosecute the RNC 8. She has been plagued with pickets at fundraising and campaign events throughout Minnesota and even in Chicago. On April 9, due to political pressure Gaertner’s office dropped the two terrorism enhancement charges but she plans to still prosecute the RNC 8 on the remaining two counts of conspiracy.

Luce Guillen-Given, one of the RNC 8, explained, “Dropping the terrorism enhancements was definitely a victory for grassroots organizing. It wasn’t a victory achieved through litigation but something that came from mobilizing all sorts of different people and communicating to Susan Gaertner’s office what the people of the Twin Cities want to see happen.”

Rob Czernik, another of the RNC 8, explained why they have received so much support, “One of the amazing things...was with the Duluth Board of Trades and Labor who put out a statement of solidarity with us asking Susan Gaertner to drop the charges. There have been a couple of other unions that have recognized that while they didn’t agree with our tactics and didn’t agree necessarily with our ideology they saw that what was happening was something that could happen to them.”

Guillen-Given also addressed the diversity of their support, “We have the support of people’s families, the friends that they bring along, different political groups and communities that each of the eight have worked in, and a lot of people we don’t know who have heard of the case and can recognize that there is something significant, not just for the eight of us, but for everyone.”

Guillen-Givins theorized about reasons for this broad base of support. “This could be anybody. We’re really being targeted for open public organizing. There are a lot of people who engage in that sort of activity and every time there is a political prosecution and they succeed with that it lays the ground work to continue that and to broaden the targets.”

Guillen-Givens added, “We’re at a moment where anarchism is considered inherently criminal. You can see that in the first press release that (Sheriff) Bob Fletcher released the morning after the Convergence Center raid and right after the house raids where he referred to the RNC Welcoming Committee as a ‘known criminal enterprise.’ I guess it’s just really threatening to think of anarchists working across ideological lines. They’re [the government] really afraid of that sort of solidarity in building resistance. So I feel like they think they have a lot to lose if movements for social change are strong enough to cross those lines and like they have a lot to gain if they can zero in on the anarchists and kind of isolate us and cut us off from the movement – which I don’t think they’ve been successful at.”

The RNC 8 were supposed to have a hearing on August 19 but it was postponed. At their future hearing they urge their supporters to come to a pre-hearing rally and as much of the trial as possible. In the meantime, the RNC 8’s defense committee is planning to keep up their pressure on the Ramsey County Attorney’s office. There is currently no trial scheduled but it could start as late as spring of 2010.

Go to rnc8.org for more information about their case and to get involved.

#StPaulMN #AntiwarMovement #InJusticeSystem #RepublicanNationalConvention2008 #CoalitionToMarchOnTheRNCAndStopTheWar #PatriotAct #RNC8 #RNCWelcomingCommittee