Two articles from Raw Story today paint the picture. A picture of justice not determined by facts, but by political orientation, class, and influence.
Let us compare and contrast.
Criminalizing dissent? RNC protesters face felony terrorism charges is a short blurb mainly pointing to an interview between Amy Goodman and ….
Luce Guillen-Givins who is one of the first people ever to be charged under the 2002 Minnesota version of the federal PATRIOT Act. Guillen-Givins and 7 other members of the group RNC Welcoming Committee – also known as the “RNC 8” – were formally charged with conspiracy to riot in furtherance of terrorism.
However, criminal complaints filed reportedly do not allege that members of the RNC 8 personally engaged in any act of violence or damage to property.
From the interview…
AMY GOODMAN: And what are you exactly charged with?
LUCE GUILLEN-GIVINS: I have four felony counts that I’m facing: conspiracy to commit a riot in furtherance of terrorism, conspiracy to commit riot, conspiracy to commit criminal damage to property in furtherance of terrorism, and conspiracy to commit criminal damage to property.
AMY GOODMAN: Luce, what were you doing at the Republican convention?
LUCE GUILLEN-GIVINS: Well, at the convention, I was in jail. I had been in jail since the Saturday before.
Just to state it plainly, he is facing charges of being a terrorist….for a political protest, in the United States of America. I think it is safe to say that Luce Guillen-Givins is not a Republican.
But from the IOKIYAR side of the two tiered justice system….
Former RNC director convicted in phone jamming case gets off without penalty
The Republican National Committee employee convicted of a plot to jam the phone banks of Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts in New Hampshire in 2002 has escaped penalty in his case, after a federal judge ruled that new charges against him could not be brought.
The latest charges against James Tobin, whose at least $722,000 dollars in legal fees were paid for by the Republican National Committee, were nixed by a federal judge on Thursday.
Tobin was convicted in December 2005 by a New Hampshire jury of being part of a conspiracy to jam Democratic phone banks led by Democrats and a nonpartisan firefighters union on Election Day 2002.
A paid political operative of the Republican National Committee, whose dirty tricks (ratfucking to use Segretti’s term) almost undoubtedly affected the Senatorial election in which John Sununu narrowly defeated Democratic Gov. Jeann Sheehean.
Terrorism charges for organizing a political protest.
No legal penalty for being convicted of rigging an Senatorial election. And the Republican National Committee even paid this ratfuckers legal fees. Paid to defend a person who was part of a conspiracy to fix elections in their favor.
We don’t have a justice system, we have a patronage and persecution system.
And just for good measure, the terrorism charges are the result of an FBI mole….and perhaps agent provocateur…who is facing his own criminal charges!
AMY GOODMAN: And, Jordan Kushner, the latest information about an FBI informant within the RNC Welcoming Committee that has just come out?
JORDAN KUSHNER: That’s right. He was an FBI informant and actually was an FBI informant in that Molotov cocktail case, too, although he wasn’t called because of the criminal charges of his own that he’s facing. He was arrested for some violent burglary charges in January, where he broke into someone’s house, assaulted two people. And so, he’s facing felony charges right now in Hennepin County over that. He was the most-he’s the principal informant in the RNC 8 case, the main person they’re relying on to accuse them of planning the destruction of property.