RNC Welcoming Committee
Encyclopedia
The RNC Welcoming Committee (RNC WC) was an anarchist group based in Minneapolis – Saint Paul, Minnesota
that coordinated and facilitated discussion for the protests against the 2008 Republican National Convention
. By following a more decentralized model for organization, the group's intention was to empower other activist groups to plan their own actions.
The mission of the RNC Welcoming Committee was to create an infrastructure that provided housing, food, medical services, legal aid, counseling and other forms of support to activists coming to the Twin Cities during the Convention.
The RNC Welcoming Committee was infiltrated by several undercover police officers and informants - Andrew Darst, Brandon Darby
, Rachel Nieting, Marilyn Hedstrom and Chris Dugger.
The RNC 8
are members of the RNC Welcoming Committee that were arrested in Minnesota's first recorded use of the Patriot Act. Those arrested were Luce Guillen-Givins, Max Specktor, Nathanael Secor, Eryn Trimmer, Monica Bicking, Erik Oseland, Robert Czernik, and Garrett Fitzgerald. Terrorism charges against the activists were dropped in April 2009, though felony charges of conspiracy to commit criminal damage and riot stand.
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
that coordinated and facilitated discussion for the protests against the 2008 Republican National Convention
2008 Republican National Convention
The United States 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008...
. By following a more decentralized model for organization, the group's intention was to empower other activist groups to plan their own actions.
The mission of the RNC Welcoming Committee was to create an infrastructure that provided housing, food, medical services, legal aid, counseling and other forms of support to activists coming to the Twin Cities during the Convention.
The RNC Welcoming Committee was infiltrated by several undercover police officers and informants - Andrew Darst, Brandon Darby
Brandon Darby
Brandon Darby was an informant for the FBI and previously a co-founder of Common Ground Relief, a non-profit relief organization that provided supplies and assistance to New Orleanians in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina...
, Rachel Nieting, Marilyn Hedstrom and Chris Dugger.
The RNC 8
RNC 8
The RNC 8 are eight activists with the RNC Welcoming Committee arrested and charged under Minnesota terrorism law with "Conspiracy to riot in furtherance of terrorism."...
are members of the RNC Welcoming Committee that were arrested in Minnesota's first recorded use of the Patriot Act. Those arrested were Luce Guillen-Givins, Max Specktor, Nathanael Secor, Eryn Trimmer, Monica Bicking, Erik Oseland, Robert Czernik, and Garrett Fitzgerald. Terrorism charges against the activists were dropped in April 2009, though felony charges of conspiracy to commit criminal damage and riot stand.