RNC informant flap hints at complex cases

[This story was first posted in the January 9, 2009 issue of the PIM Weekly Report; With the report spearheaded by former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy Luger due at tomorrow’s St. Paul City Council meeting, our readers might be interested in this unusual side of the larger RNC story; see also our look at the U.S. military’s recently revealed expansive role.]

This morning, the Strib‘s James Walsh published an excellent article on the RNC ‘Texas Two’ molotov cocktail case, “‘Evolved’ activist or provocateur?“, detailing activists’ claims that longtime FBI informant and hardline activist Brandon Darby synthesized the whole molotov situation after years of encouraging young people to break the law; if true, he would have provided law enforcement with the direly needed public perception of a serious threat. Darby, who bragged about his actions in an unusual public letter, has sparked nationwide criticism of what’s seen as a law enforcement pattern of synthesizing terrorism-style cases by sending in informants to stir people up, in the classic COINTELPRO style. (See the scathing Op-Ed from police brutality activist Michelle Gross for a more old-school activist angle).

Walsh, however, also put out a brief article that overlooked the other court cases, ignoring the unprecedented 16 felony terrorism charges faced by the RNC 8, other felony cases, and the lawsuit filed by antiwar banner carrier Mick Kelly, who was needlessly shot by a rubber bullet at point-blank range on Cedar Avenue on September 4th, as documented in the indie RNC video flick “Terrorizing Dissent.” Dozens of cases are still pending, and prosecutors have said they’ll likely float more charges from the September 4th mass arrests.

Walsh also cites an unnamed antiwar demonstration organizer as saying they got their message out despite the anarchists, although the protest groups have not actually splintered in their public messaging thus far due to their “St. Paul Principles” agreement; Of course, a major PR objective of law enforcement was to drive a wedge between the more radical groups staging civil disobedience and the permitted marchers. Many PR manipulations have occurred around these precedent-setting situations; we should point out no one has ever proven the buckets Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher presented as ‘urine’ were actually urine, even though it has become a strongly held perception, underpinning most claims in favor of law enforcements’ conduct during the RNC. (Authorities like Chicago Mayor Richard Daley have regularly accused demonstrators of flinging bodily waste since the 1968 Chicago DNC… it’s something of a classic messaging frame, and it’s worked well so far.) Everyone’s kind of forgotten that Fletcher also claimed bike tires would be used to fling rocks…

These numerous court cases are quite complex, and more significant than the sparse news coverage thus far would indicate. If there were still more working journalists in this state, we’d bet it would be a much more regular fixture in the news. The St. Paul City Council will finally receive the public safety report from former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy Luger on Wednesday, January 14th, though it’s unclear if the Council will deign to let the public comment on the record.