Salt Lake City's Boing Collective will host a presentation, discussion and potluck dinner--even a puppet show!--Friday to benefit the RNC8, a group of political organizers accused of conspiring to riot at the Republican National Committee convention of 2008.---

As part of the evidence for a search warrant related to the RNC Welcoming Committee, prosecutors presented a "Getting Ready" video produced by activists that is clear parody of the stereotype of anarchists, not actual advice that activists should, for example, construct Molotov cocktails. I wrote about this earlier this year when Salt Lake City was still in the running to host RNC 2012; luckily, in my view, SLC was not selected, because while the hubbub might be great for some local businesses, all of us would have to live with the "roaming police state" that travels with these types of events.

I've got no comment on the strength of the evidence now presented against the RNC8--I simply haven't had time to follow it. I would hope that's a part of the discussion to be held at Boing Collective tomorrow, however. According to a press release, the RNC8 are victims of "state repression."

The RNC 8 (Luce Guillén-Givins, Max Specktor, Nathanael Secor, Eryn Trimmer, Monica Bicking, Erik Oseland, Robert Czernik, and Garrett Fitzgerald) are political organizers from Minneapolis facing charges of conspiracy to riot and conspiracy to damage property from the 2008 Republican National Convention. As part of the RNC Welcoming Committee, they organized logistics for protesters such as a meeting space and free meals. Early on in their case, they were charged with conspiracy in the furtherance of terrorism, but the terrorism enhancements were dropped after a successful pressure campaign against the lead county prosecutor’s [Susan Gaertner] gubernatorial bid (for example).

The event will also benefit Scott DeMuth, an activist from Minneapolis, whose fate was entangled with the RNC8. If my memory isn't failing, he was a roommate of one of the RNC8 (correct me if I'm wrong, in comments).

Via DeMuth, the RNC8 have a Utah tie, of sorts. The search warrant obtained with the "Getting Ready" video as evidence, lead to DeMuth's diary--among other things--being taken from his Minneapolis home by the FBI. In the diary, prosecutors believe DeMuth made reference to local animal rights activist Peter Young whose own house in Salt Lake City was searched earlier this year based on the diary evidence, a search Young and his roommates condemned. 

For more information on the RNC8, go to http://rnc8.org/

For information on the Conspiracy Tour (and a new "Getting Ready" video!) go to http://conspiracytour.wordpress.com/

What: Presentation/Discussion and Potluck/Dinner/Bands/Movie Screening
Where: Boing Collective
When: 7 pm, August 13th