Would-be protesters of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul were being watched, photographed, taped and tailed by law enforcement for more than a year before the September 2008 convention, a sheriff's official testified Thursday.
Ramsey County sheriff's Sgt. Jay Maher testified that he visited cities in Pennsylvania, Iowa, Wisconsin, Maryland and California where members of the so-called RNC8 made presentations encouraging others to come and protest in St. Paul.
He said he "networked with local officials and verified if what I found on the Internet was true," he said, referring to online research he and others began in August 2007 to unearth any planned protest activities.
Maher also said that the sheriff's office rented a St. Paul apartment for protest sympathizer "Norma Jean Johnson," who was actually sheriff's deputy Marilyn Hedstrom working undercover. The apartment was wired for sound and video to observe protesters' activities, Maher said.
The individuals in the RNC8 are charged in Ramsey County District Court with felony conspiracy to commit riot and damage to property prior to the convention, which took place Sept. 1-4, 2008, in downtown St. Paul. They were allegedly involved in the "RNC Welcoming Committee," which tried to drum up nationwide interest in the convention protests.
Their defense attorneys called Maher to the stand to testify as part of their pretrial motion to dismiss the cases for lack of probable cause. They asked Maher repeatedly if he personally had information that any defendants possessed dangerous weapons or planned to destroy property.
For the most part, Maher said, he had no such information.
The focus on the eight defendants seemed to have begun in earnest at the discovery of a video they made and posted online called "We're Getting Ready," a campy skit that depicts, among other things, a black-clad protester lighting a Molotov cocktail and throwing it into a barbecue grill, and another using bolt-cutters to clip a hedge.
"That video popped up, and I found it to be disturbing, the use of the Molotov cocktail and the bolt-cutters," Maher said. "To me, it was an open invitation to come and use these tactics at the convention."
Attorney Larry Leventhal asked whether he recognized it as satire.
"I did not," Maher said.
Derek Fitch of the Ramsey County attorney's office questioned Maher about other protesters who were convicted of convention-related crimes — and had some relationship with the RNC8 defendants.
Maher said he believed that protester Dylan Petrohilos, who was convicted of breaking a window in a police squad car during the RNC, had attended one of the Welcoming Committee's meetings in Maryland.
But under questioning by defense attorney Bruce Nestor, Maher said he did not know whether the defendants who were in Maryland for that meeting had ever met Petrohilos, talked with him or exchanged literature with him.
Still, Maher was suspicious.
"When you look at the totality of the circumstances, what are the chances of an individual coming from 1,200 miles away" to do what he did and not be connected with the organizers, Maher said.
Maher also testified that he did not know whether the RNC8 defendants took part in alleged discussions about arson and the potential use of spring-loaded punches to break windows.
"I don't know when it was discussed, but it also wasn't excluded," he said.
He added that when defendant Max Specktor was pulled over in Minneapolis on Sept. 1, the convention's first day, "he had caltrops (used to puncture tires), he had tampons (used in Molotov cocktails), an empty gas container, a metal pipe, exploding fireworks ... those are all ingredients that you can use to cause damage and/or injury."
Riding with Specktor were three others later convicted of crimes at the convention, including two who pleaded guilty to federal charges of possessing Molotov cocktails, Maher said.
Did he have information that those people had come here because of anything the Welcoming Committee did, asked attorney Robert Kolstad.
"No," Maher said.
Ramsey County District Judge Teresa Warner is presiding over the cases.
The defense said they would call Chris Dugger to the stand today. Dugger was a confidential informant who later went to work as a sheriff's deputy.
In addition to Specktor, 21, the defendants are Monica Bicking, 24, Garrett Fitzgerald, 27, Erin Trimmer, 24, Erik Oseland, 23, Robert Czernik, 34, Nathanael Secor, 28, and Luce Guillen-Givins, 25.
Sheriff's planning for RNC detailed as defense challenges evidence Defense seeking to show evidence against 8 is scant |