RNC Welcoming Committee

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.[1]

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.[2]

The RNC Welcoming Committee was infiltrated by several undercover police officers and informants - Andrew Darst, Brandon Darby, Rachel Nieting, Marilyn Hedstrom and Chris Dugger.[3][4]

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.[5] Terrorism charges against the activists were dropped in April 2009, though felony charges of conspiracy to commit criminal damage and riot stand.[6]

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