Ramsey County Sheriff's Deputy Chris Dugger and FBI informant, Andrew Darst, who infiltrated the RNC Welcoming Committee in the lead-up to the 2008 Republican National Convention, are expected to testify during the hearings on Thursday and Friday.
This additional informant testimony follows Deputy Marilyn Hedstrom, who infiltrated the Welcoming Committee as “Norma Jean Johnson” and testified last Wednesday.
Hedstrom consistently failed to point to any evidence from her year-long undercover investigation to substantiate the charges of conspiracy to riot and conspiracy to commit criminal damage to property.
The only criminal activity Hedstrom could point to was a banner drop in which she drove Dugger and Andrew Darst, another paid informant, to the drop site. Hedstrom, Dugger and Darst were the only people involved in the drop.
What: Evidentiary hearings in the RNC 8 trial
When: May 13th & 14th, 9am-4pm each day
Where: Ramsey County Courthouse, 15 W. Kellogg Blvd, St. Paul
Supporters will fill the courtroom to demonstrate the high level of community support for the eight local activists who are facing politically motivated charges as a result of their political organizing. The hearings beginning this week follow three days in court last week, which marked the first time the eight defendants have been in court since their last pre-trial hearing on February 2.
Judge Teresa Warner expects the probable cause hearing to finish up this week and for the other pre-trial motions to be argued. A make-up hearing day due to the cancellation last Thursday has yet to be set. Copies of the motions that will be heard during the May hearings are located at www.rnc8.org/info.
Background on the RNC 8 case:
The RNC 8 were preemptively arrested in a series of raids by heavily armed SWAT teams on the weekend before the Republican National Convention convened in St. Paul, Sept. 1-4, 2008.
The criminal complaints are based on the allegations of “CRIs” (confidential reliable informants) and an undercover Ramsey County Sheriff’s deputy, who infiltrated the RNC Welcoming Committee and conducted surveillance on the political activists more than nine months before the Republicans met in St. Paul. The RNC 8’s case continues to highlight the problematic prosecution of dissent by the State.
In the interim, on April 8, Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner dismissed “terrorism” counts against the RNC 8. The eight defendants still face felony charges of conspiracy to commit riot in the 2nd degree and conspiracy to commit criminal damage to property in the 1st degree.
The continued prosecution of the RNC 8 represents the government’s attempt to criminalize dissent and scapegoat a group of dedicated political organizers for an over-the-top security regime that turned St. Paul into a police state for the week of the Republican convention.
The RNC 8 may be available for media interviews and all inquiries and requests can be sent to the contact information above. For more information, visit http://www.RNC8.org.
More from RNC 8 | Top of Page
Useful article? Use these tools to let someone know:
Send & Share | Print | Access RSS Feed for Syndication
