Philadelphia -- The Conspiracy Tour rolls into town on 7:00PM Tuesday August 3rd, as part of its whirlwind, month-long excursion across the continental United States to raise awareness of and solidarity for political activists in the Midwest who are facing severe state repression. It’s been alleged that the tour stop will include a musical puppet show, a scintillating presentation on the charges the activists are facing, and var...ious (some would say nefarious) ways people can join the conspiracy to support targets of state repression. In addition to the usual perks of joining a conspiracy, co-conspirators will be learning ways to strengthen and protect their communities from future incidences of state repression, just in case.

What: RNC 8 Presentation/Discussion
Where: Wooden Shoe Books (704 South Street)
When: Tuesday August 3rd 7PM

The tour is in support of the RNC 8 and Scott DeMuth. All of the defendants are facing conspiracy charges that are aimed at disrupting and repressing their constitutionally protected political organizing, and will be going to trial this fall.

The RNC 8 (Luce Guillén-Givins, Max Specktor, Nathanael Secor, Eryn Trimmer, Monica Bicking, Erik Oseland, Robert Czernik, and Garrett Fitzgerald) are political organizers from Minneapolis facing charges of conspiracy to riot and conspiracy to damage property from the 2008 Republican National Convention. As part of the RNC Welcoming Committee, they organized logistics for protesters such as a meeting space and free meals. Early on in their case, they were charged with conspiracy in the furtherance of terrorism, but the terrorism enhancements were dropped after a successful pressure campaign against the lead county prosecutor’s gubernatorial bid. Max Specktor of the RNC 8 will be speaking on the West Coast stops of the tour. For more information, visit http://rnc8.org/.

Scott DeMuth, also from Minneapolis, is facing a felony conspiracy charge under the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), which was handed out after he refused to testify before a grand jury investigating a 2004 Animal Liberation Front raid at the University of Iowa. Carrie Feldman also refused to testify in front of that grand jury and served four months in jail for civil contempt for doing so. Feldman has since been released and will be speaking about her experience on this tour. For more information, visit http://davenportgrandjury.wordpress.com/.

For more information on the Conspiracy Tour, visit http://conspiracytour.wordpress.com/.

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