Plans seen for kidnapping and bombs at convention
ST. PAUL (Reuters) - Self-described anarchists discussed kidnapping delegates and practiced throwing Molotov cocktails to disrupt the Republican National Convention, according to court documents released on Wednesday.
Eight people, described as leaders of the "RNC Welcoming Committee," an anarchist group, were charged with felony riot, which carries up to a five-year prison sentence as St. Paul courts processed the 300 people arrested in protests during the presidential nominating convention's first two days.
Separately, U.S. authorities said they had charged a 23-year-old from the state of Michigan with possessing Molotov cocktails, which they said he had planned to use to cut off power at the convention hall.
The documents painted a chilling picture of the plans behind Monday's unrest, when a few hundred black-clad protesters smashed store windows and threw rocks and bottles at police, marring an otherwise peaceful antiwar march in the Minnesota capital.
"We have watched as a few lawless people tried to overshadow the peaceful protests and the exercise of free-speech rights by thousands of law abiding citizens," Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner said at a news conference.
Over the course of a year before the convention, the self-described anarchists appealed to like-minded groups in more than 67 cities and met several times to hash out plans, according to the charges.
A separate affidavit from undercover agents who infiltrated the group said members had discussed stretching chains across a nearby highway, kidnapping delegates and disrupting the convention with burning tires, urine and faeces, and explosives including Molotov cocktails.
Other plans included posing as workers or volunteers to sneak into the convention hall and block its outside air intake vent. They discussed using street puppets to hide weapons, and throwing marbles to trip up police horses and pedestrians, the affidavit said.
Gaertner said her office had charged 16 adults and 5 juveniles with felonies ranging from destruction of property to obstruction of legal process.
Felony charges were dismissed against 27 of those who had been arrested, which Gaertner said was a function of the difficulty of building a case given the chaos of the confrontations. Another 47 were charged with lesser gross misdemeanour crimes, St. Paul city attorney John Choi said.
Roughly 20 of those arrested had refused to give their real names, Choi said.
More protests are expected on Thursday, when John McCain will accept the Republican nomination for the November 4 election.
(Editing by Patricia Zengerle)
