That comment was noted in a report by undercover Ramsey County sheriff's deputy Marilyn Hedstrom, who infiltrated the protesters' "RNC Welcoming Committee" for a year under the pseudonym "Norma Jean."
But in testimony Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court, Hedstrom said Fitzgerald was referring only to other protesters — not to police.
"So if a cop got killed, they were really saying they wouldn't care at all?" asked attorney Bruce Nestor, who represents one of Fitzgerald's co-defendants, Monica Bicking, 24.
"I believe that," Hedstrom said. "No one ever said that; it was just the way they felt about police, and they made it known."
Fitzgerald, 27, is one of the RNC8, the people charged with conspiracy to commit riot and damage to property before the Republican National Convention, which took place in September 2008 in St. Paul.
The defendants' attorneys have called witnesses in Ramsey County court this week to support their argument that the cases against their clients should be dismissed for lack of probable cause.
In other words, they argue, the state didn't have enough evidence to charge them in the first place, much less bring them to trial.
"The state has charged each (defendant) with involvement in conspiracies to commit two felony offenses," the defense wrote in a Jan. 26 memorandum to the court seeking dismissal.
"In reality, this prosecution is a political persecution of the defendants for holding controversial political opinions and seeking to express their opinions through political protest," the memorandum said.
In a reply memorandum, Ramsey County prosecutor Derek Fitch said that it wasn't a matter of the defendants expressing anti-George W. Bush sentiment or rallying "against the Republicans or big business or capitalism — or anything, really," but that some of their actions were "violent and unlawful."
The defense attorneys asked question after question Wednesday of Hedstrom regarding her reports, in which she regularly updated her supervisors at the sheriff's office about what was going on within the RNC Welcoming Committee.
The attorneys pointed to sections in the reports in which she referred to the protesters' plans to blockade the streets, but not any use or possession of dangerous weapons or plans to destroy property.
"Your reports are supposed to be complete and accurate, correct?" attorney Barbara Nimis asked Hedstrom. "So if your reports don't mention discussions of the use of dangerous weapons, it probably did not occur?"
"Not necessarily," Hedstrom said.
"But if it occurred, would you be expected to put it in your reports?"
"Yes," the deputy said.
Under questioning by Fitch, Hedstrom described the Welcoming Committee's use of prescribed "zones" in the downtown area. "Green" zones were those with "light confrontation, hopefully low-risk arrest area, no property destruction, no fighting back against police," she noted in one report.
"Red" zones were reserved for protesters with a "willingness to physically defend the space ... may include offensive tactics against police or delegates," Hedstrom wrote in a December 2007 report.
Her overall impressions of the Welcoming Committee's goals, she said, were to stop the delegates from attending the convention, to recruit and support other protest groups and to "shut down" the convention "using any tactics, any means," she said.
In addition to Fitzgerald and Bicking, the other defendants are Erin Trimmer, 24, Erik Oseland, 23, Robert Czernik, 34, Nathanael Secor, 28, Luce Guillen-Givins, 25, and Max Specktor, 21.
The hearings on the defense motion to dismiss and other motions are scheduled to continue May 13 and May 14. Judge Teresa Warner will rule on the motions.
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