New Felony RNC Charges filed against two from Milwaukee

Jan 18, 2009 Infoshop News

Two people, Karen Meissner and Christina Vana, from Milwaukee are facing new felony charges, specifically aiding and abetting second degree assault, for allegedly throwing a street sign off of a bridge and almost hitting a police officer during the Republican National Convention last September.

They turned themselves into Ramsey county police custody today and their bail was subsequently set at $30,000 each.

MONEY IS VERY URGENTLY NEEDED FOR THEIR LEGAL SUPPORT!

Please send or drop off cash or support mail at the CCC (732 e Clarke st. Milwaukee, WI 53212). There will be more info on how people can donate (with a pay pal account in the process of being set up) and help soon.

This is yet another attempt by the state to stifle forms of resistance in the US. As long as it remains an effective technique in spreading fragmentation and paralysis the state will continue to do so. Yet as we continue to act and generalize forms of material and affective solidarity we may find within the coldest winter an invincible summer.

For more info on the case from corporate media:
http://kstp.com/article/stories/S749182.shtml?cat=1

New charges filed in RNC assault

Three people accused of picking up a large road sign and throwing it off a bridge during the Republican National Convention were charged Friday.

The Ramsey County Attorney's Office charged Bradley Crowder of Austin, TX, Karen Meissner of Menomonee Falls, WI and Christina Vana of West Bend, WI.

All three are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree assault.

According to a criminal complaint, on September 1, convention protesters picked up sandbags used to hold a large street sign in place and used them to try to stop buses carrying delegates to the Xcel Energy Center.

Crowder, Meissner and Vana are accused of lifting the metal sign, no longer weighed down by sandbags, and throwing it off the Marion Street bridge over Interstate 94 and the 5th Street exit ramp.

The sign landed three feet from an officer who was trying to remove a sandbag thrown by a protesters from the middle of the road.

Meissner, 23, and Vana, 18, are not in custody.

Crowder, 23, is being held in the Sherburne County Jail awaiting sentencing on a federal charge. On January 8, Crowder pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting possession of an unregistered firearm.

Prosecutors allege Crowder and co-defendant, David McKay, were part of an Austin-based protest group that planned to use incendiary devices to destroy property or injure police during the convention.