Some GOP convention protest cases linger in courts

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — It's been a year since the chants of protesters rang out through the streets of downtown St. Paul. More than 800 people were arrested during the four days of the Republican National Convention, which opened last Sept. 1.

The vast majority of the arrests were for misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors, and the charges were later dismissed or the cases were never prosecuted.

But a handful of felony cases continue to work their way through the courts.

Out of the approximately two dozen people charged with felonies, 11 cases are still pending, including those of the so-called RNC8. They include the case of Monica Bicking, 24, who was arrested the night before the convention started.

Bicking's home in Minneapolis was one of several locations raided by law enforcement ahead of the convention. The raids were aimed at the RNC Welcoming Committee, a self-described anarchist group that had declared plans to "crash the convention" and provide logistical support for activists coming from across the country. Authorities had it under surveillance for more than a year.

"The Welcoming Committee was an open group," Bicking said. "I wasn't surprised to find out there were people infiltrating it so I wasn't surprised when I was arrested, but I was surprised when I heard the charges and I was surprised when they stuck."

Much of the civil disobedience during the convention was peaceful. But there was violence on the first day when protesters attempted to block delegates from getting to the Xcel Energy Center. Police and protesters clashed as the day wore on, ending in hundreds of arrests.

On the last day, a large group of protesters tried to march to the Xcel after their permit had expired. Riot police gear herded them onto a bridge over Interstate 94, where they used tear gas and pepper spray on the crowd. More than 300 people were arrested that night.

"A few individuals who are being prosecuted and held responsible for everything that law enforcement didn't like about the first few days of the RNC and those legal cases have kind of receded from the spotlight," said defense attorney Bruce Nestor, who represents Bicking.

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher, who led the undercover investigation, declined to comment ahead of the anniversary because he's testifying in a number of convention-related cases. But said earlier that his investigation had turned up evidence the group was planning violence and needed to be stopped.

"It's against the law to block buses and people from getting to their convention," Fletcher said then. "It's criminal on its face."

Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner, whose office is prosecuting the RNC8, said what the eight did was not simply civil disobedience.

"That is not what these eight individuals are charged with," Gaertner said. "They are charged with planning to do things like break windows, trash squad cars, throw feces and urine at police officers — those kinds of things do not fall under the category of civil disobedience, no matter how valid the political viewpoints are,"

Attorneys for the RNC8 say the defendants' activities were just political rhetoric, not threats. They say the pre-emptive arrests and resulting court cases were meant to stifle political dissent.

A report released last winter by a special review panel led by former federal prosecutors Tom Heffelfinger and Andy Luger concluded the police response to the protests was generally restrained and professional, but that some things could have been handled better, including the arrests of several journalists

The cases of the RNC8 are expected to go to trial sometime this fall. Bicking said she's hopeful she'll be vindicated.

"I know I'm innocent and I have a really hard time thinking, no matter who the jury is, that they could possibly convict me," she said.

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Information from: Minnesota Public Radio News, http://www.mpr.org

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.