Young protesters seek rights
Two of eight students who protested the RNC speak at Skidmore
Andrew Cantor
Issue date: 4/24/09 Section: News
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Fitzgerald and Spektor were organizers of the Republican National Convention Welcoming Committee, an anarchist group created to aid the efforts of other activist groups by providing them with housing and food. The group also attempted to block off roads of entry to the convention. Two days before the RNC, August 30, the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department raided the homes of Fitzgerald and Specktor and charged them with conspiracy to riot and a furtherance of terrorism. The arrested group is now being referred to in the media as the "RNC 8."
"We're being charged under this conspiracy to riot and conspiracy to damage property and this is setting the precedent, making public organizing a crime," Specktor said. "Mainstream protest organizing could be considered illegal."
"The significance is we organized publicly. Everything we did was above ground organizing," Fitzgerald said.
The two presented a video documenting the protests surrounding the RNC. The video chronicled various forms of police violence toward protestors, including chemical irritants, like pepper spray, batons and rubber bullet guns.
In response to a question on whether the protestors used violence, Fitzgerald responded, "More damage was done to property during [Minneapolis] hockey riots than us at the RNC… You saw what the cops are doing… this is direct person to person violence… They broke into my house, kidnapped me, robbed me, and assaulted my friends."
Spektor spoke about, what he believed, was an outrageous amount of spending on security at the RNC and the Democratic National Convention. According to Spektor's figures, $50 million was spent on security measures for the conferences.
"It's getting scarier. You should be scared of what's happening here and it's being perpetrated by the government. A lot of times when the economy is getting worse… the things that get stronger are the police departments and governments," Spektor said.
The event at Skidmore was organized by Dustin Gilbreath '10, and was sponsored by the Speaker's Bureau, United Students Against Sweatshops, and the Education Club. The event cost $1320, which included flying Fitzgerald and Spektor into Albany from Minnesota.
"It doesn't matter if you're doing a gay rights or a gay bashing parade, this [topic] is important for you, it is important for any citizen who is interested in politics and the right to free speech," Gilbreath said.
"The event was successful in two ways. We've raised awareness for the RNC 8… Also it was successful in introducing new concepts to people. These guys are anarchists. It was very reasonable and true to what anarchism is. It was an exercise of free speech," he said
Members of the RNC 8 have been traveling around the country in the past few months visiting colleges such as Reed College in Oregon and the University of Minnesota. On March 28, the Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner dropped two of the criminal charges relating to terrorism, but two felony charges remain. Their court date is scheduled at 9 a.m May 26.
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