Eight people from the protest group "RNC Welcoming Committee" who were arrested in a pre-emptive raid last weekend are now being charged under Minnesota's version of the federal Patriot Act.

According to the Twin Cities ABC affiliate, each of the eight face four charges - second-degree furtherance of terrorism, conspiracy to riot, conspiracy to commit civil disorder and conspiracy to damage property.

Those arrested were Robert Joseph Czernik, Monica Rachel Bicking, Erik Charles Oseland, Garrett Scott Fitzgerald, Nathanal David Secor, Max Jacob Speckton, Luce Guillen-Givens, and Eryn Trimmer.

"These charges are an effort to equate publicly stated plans to blockade traffic and disrupt the RNC as being the same as acts of terrorism. This both trivializes real violence and attempts to place the stated political views of the Defendants on trial," said Bruce Nestor, President of the Minnesota Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. "The charges represent an abuse of the criminal justice system and seek to intimidate any person organizing large scale public demonstrations potentially involving civil disobedience."

The eight were arrested before the Convention on August 30 and 31 when Ramsey County Sheriff’s deputies raided four homes in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The eight, all Minneapolis residents, are being held at the Ramsey County Jail. None of the defendants have any prior criminal history involving acts of violence.

TV station KSTP has posted the search warrant [PDF] used in the raids against the RNC 8.  It details the police investigation into each of the eight arrested, as well as all the items the police were looking for.

The warrant reveals that the Ramsey County Sherriff's office has been investigating the eight arrested since at least February 2008 using an Undercover Investigator and two Confidential Informants. Informant #2, in particular, appears to have thoroughly inflitrated the RNC Welcoming Committee, attending an RNCWC retreat in early August and relaying to police information from many one-on-one conversations with those arrested.

"Police found what they claim was a single plastic shield, a rusty machete, and two hatchets used in Minnesota to split wood. This doesn't amount to evidence of an organized insurrection, particularly when over 3,500 police are present in the Twin Cities, armed with assault rifles, concussion grenades, chemical weapons and full riot gear," said Nestor.

Earlier today, the RNC Welcoming Committee released a statement to ZNet, saying, "Over three hundred protestors are being held in the Ramsay and Hennepin County jails. Yesterday, only a few have been arraigned. Many are nearing the end of the time they can legally be held without being arraigned and charged. In spite of all these efforts to suppress us, we remain strong and determined to actively voice our dissent."