Guilty pleas close book on '08 convention protests

What began with more than 800 arrests two years ago in a swirl of protests and tear gas outside the Republican National Convention dwindled Tuesday to four defendants -- part of a group known as the RNC 8 -- pleading guilty to gross-misdemeanor charges.

The final four did not go quietly. Three read multi-page statements about their disdain for the system. One, Garrett Fitzgerald, was cut off mid-sentence by Ramsey County District Judge Teresa Warner as he tried to read the Dr. Seuss book "The Lorax," a parable on environmental destruction.

It was just one more strange twist in the path through the courts to the end of Ramsey County's criminal prosecutions related to the 2008 convention in downtown St. Paul.

While the massive law enforcement effort was paid for with a $50 million federal grant, no one from the county or city attorney's offices would hazard a guess Tuesday at how much it has cost for their attorneys and staff to review, investigate and prosecute the cases.

Was it worth it?

"The resolution was a good one for all concerned. It was a pragmatic decision," County Attorney Susan Gaertner said. "The defendants wanted very much to turn the courtroom proceedings into a circus ... the gross-misdemeanor pleas do provide some accountability for what the defendants admitted doing.

"Nobody ever said this was going to be easy."

The protesters known as the RNC 8 had been charged with felonies: first-degree damage to property and second-degree conspiracy to riot. Prosecutors added a more serious charge of conspiracy to riot in furtherance of terrorism, which was later dismissed.

Stayed jail time

In August, the first of the eight, Erik Oseland, 23, of Nisswa, pleaded guilty to gross-misdemeanor damage to property. He will begin serving a 91-day jail sentence on Wednesday. In September, charges were dismissed against Monica R. Bicking, Luce Guillen-Givins and Erin C. Trimmer.

On Tuesday, Robert J. Czernik, 35, and Max J. Specktor, 21, pleaded guilty to third-degree conspiracy to commit riot; Nathanael D. Secor, 28, and Fitzgerald, 27, pleaded guilty to third-degree conspiracy to commit criminal damage to property. The plea agreements for the self-described anarchists called for no additional jail time or restitution. Each defendant was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service -- 10 hours per month for 10 months.

Warner stayed execution of 180-day jail sentences and $1,000 to $1,500 fines for each. She ordered Secor and Specktor to serve one year on supervised probation, Czernik and Fitzgerald to two years, but gave no explanation for the differences.

Preemptive raids

The eight, all members of the RNC Welcoming Committee, were in jail on Sept. 1, 2008, the convention's first and most volatile day. Sheriff's deputies had made preemptive raids on their homes in Minneapolis and on the Welcoming Committee's Convergence Center in St. Paul, where they seized caltrops, slingshots, what they said was human urine, potential bomb-making materials and other items.

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said those raids on Aug. 30 were "absolutely" worth the ensuing criticism.

"The damage to property, tens of thousands of dollars worth, and the near-injury to citizens that you see here would have been a fivefold increase, maybe a tenfold, if we hadn't taken the tools of the trade away from them," Fletcher said.

In the months after the convention, Fletcher was critical of the way the mobile field force, a heavily armed and armored police contingent, was used during the convention. He said the force would have been better used tracking the anarchists roaming the downtown streets rather than stationed along the authorized parade route.

Authorities are still working to identify several people who are seen committing criminal acts in photos and videos of protest activity. At least a dozen state and federal lawsuits have been filed in connection with the convention.

Still, on Tuesday, both sides seemed pleased with the outcome. Said Fitzgerald, "We never said there was no illegal activity. We planned to blockade ,and we were up front about that. I wasn't guilty of a felony, I don't believe. I plead to a lesser offense because I was doing illegal things and I didn't expect that the court would look the other way."

Said Fletcher: "You can't light a match and pretend you're not responsible for the fire. This Welcoming Committee lit the match ..."