RNC Welcoming Committee

pReNC Press Statement
Read by Bea Bridges
08/27/07

Good morning, members of the Press. Thank you all for coming. My name is Bea Bridges, and the RNC Welcoming Committee has asked me to show you this video and read a statement.

The Welcoming Committee is a group formed specifically to respond to the 2008 RNC in St. Paul. However, we hope the work we are doing fosters the growth of stronger radical communities in the Twin Cities and beyond. We are not single-issue focused, and we will not be satisfied by merely stopping the war or ending Neocolonialism (although that would be a great start). Instead, we focus closer to the roots of oppression. We believe in radical change- in ending Capitalism, Imperialism, Patriarchy, and all other forms of hierarchy, and in replacing them with direct, participatory democracy, sustainability, individual autonomy, and personal relationships built on empathy and a desire for mutual aid.

As you know, the RNC Welcoming Committee is hosting the pReNC this coming weekend. The pReNC is a gathering of anarchists and anti-authoritarians one year in advance of the Republican National Convention. Its purpose is to share skills, network, and develop a strategic framework for the 2008 protests. Many of you have wondered if we plan violence, confrontation or mayhem for this weekend. We do not. The pReNC is not intended as an arena for protest and direct action. Rather, it is a time for learning, building, and planning for next year.

We expect a few hundred people to attend the pReNC, and we estimate about half of the attendees to be coming in from out of town. It is hard to give a more exact number, given that some people might just come for a workshop or two, or a meal, while others may participate for the entire weekend.

The main feature of the pReNC is Sunday’s strategizing session, where individuals from every region of the country will bring together the plans and ideas they have been developing. Together, we will establish an anarchist goal for September 1-4, 2008, which attendees will bring back to their communities and develop into action over the course of the following year. We cannot provide you with further details because we don’t know, and don’t want to make assumptions about, what will come out of the strategizing session.

Some of you have asked how we plan to prevent police infiltration of the pReNC. Though it is not foolproof, we have a security protocol in place and a security team to facilitate said protocol. Further information about our security practices has already been made public and is available on our website.

We are aware of the Patriot Act and its relation to the “National Security Event” designation of the RNC. As you know, the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are also making attempts to further codify repression. However, we will not allow the state to regulate our resistance. You will not find us in the protest pens nor will you find us asking permission to demonstrate. The State asks that we only resist in ways it finds convenient and easy to contain, promising repression of those who act outside the parameters it sets. This is a threat- a violent threat with which the State hopes to terrorize us into submission. Therefore, there exists no “peaceful” option. Some among us may choose to resist State violence using pacifist tactics, while others use whatever methods they deem necessary and appropriate. But, no matter how we respond to it, violence is already present at the protests through no fault of our own.

Lastly, we know some of you have been wondering about our media policy, which has been one of “no real time engagement.” Media will not be welcome at the pReNC; this is so that the pReNC remains an event for participants, and not a spectacle for the press. We don’t know yet what will come out of the pReNC, but we will be having a poStNC press conference next Monday, September 3rd, at 11:30 a.m. on the steps of the Minnesota State Capitol. We may have more to say about the weekend at that time, and hope to see you all there.

We will not be taking further questions today, but if there is anything else you’d like to know regarding anarchism, our media policy, or our group, we have extensive info available on our website, www.NoRNC.org.

Thank you and good day.

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