AFL-CIO reps coordinated anarchists for RNC

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September 7, 7:33 PM

by Ray Robison, National Defense Examiner

 

 

Anarchists attack a bystander

University of Minnesota staff were key coordinators of the recent violent protests at the Republican National Convention (RNC). The university employees are also members of the local clerical union of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees. The AFSCME is part of the AFL-CIO union.

Protests turned violent at the 2008 RNC located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Police have arrested hundreds of demonstrators for violent attacks on police officers and bystanders and other more nuisance crimes. The Saint Paul Police have identified an anarchist group called the RNC Welcoming Committee as being at the center of the violence. It's goal was to stop the convention.

The website ProtestRNC2008.org carries a press release which sheds light on the activities of the RNC Welcoming Committee. The online notification posted June 8^th, 2007 by a woman named Jessica Sundin calls for a meeting at the University of Minnesota Student Union Center co-hosted by the RNC Welcoming Committee. Sundin is a clerk at the University of Minnesota. Another press release was posted by Sundin in the name of the RNC Welcoming Committee after the convention began.

Ms. Sundin told the Pioneer Press outlet TwinCities.com that she had discussions with the anarchists “but only to make sure they don’t disrupt the march.” Sundin claimed “They’ve made a commitment not to interfere”.

A website called fightbacknews.org describes another meeting held at the University of Minnesota last February. It claims that a gathering of sixty anti-war organizations including the RNC Welcoming Committee met to plan for the protest. Speaking at that meeting was Jessica Sundin. Also headlining the event was Phyllis Walker “president of AFSCME Local 3800, the campus clerical workers union”. That website describes the meeting as such:

“In the weeks leading up to the organizing conference extensive discussions took place among the forces that are planning actions at the Republican National Convention, including the anarchist-oriented RNC Welcoming Committee ...”

Videos of the speeches are on Google. These websites indicate that Walker, the union leader and Sundin, a union member coordinated for the RNC Welcoming Committee and that it was open knowledge at the time that it was an anarchist group. The “fight back” website also cites a speech in 2004 by union President Walker about a trade dispute with U of M in which she stated that the union should use “any means necessary”. In 2005 she was served with a summons for obstructing legal process but the charges were dismissed for her role in a campus protest.

The website UnionFacts.org lists Phyllis Walker as a member of the Executive Board of the State, County, and Municipal Employees AFL-CIO Council 5 from which she drew over $11,500 in salary from the Union in 2005-2006, the latest time-frame available at the website. The Council 5 website doesn't currently list Walker as an executive board member although it does list her as the local 3800 president.

Jessica Sundin was a coordinator of the protests. In media reports she tried to distance the law abiding protest groups and herself from the anarchist group. However, a thorough review of the online record shows that the RNC Welcoming Committee was integral to the planning led by Sundin and Walker.

In one article on the “fight back” website Sundin describes a trip to Columbia to meet with the now deceased infamous FARC commander Raul Reyes as a representative of the “US solidarity activists”. Reyes was a Communist guerrilla fighter known for cocaine trafficking and kidnapping Americans. Saint Paul Police have alleged a kidnapping plot by the anarchists aimed at the RNC.

Sundin described the FARC leader who was convicted of the murders of over a dozen Columbian police officers as such “I enjoyed his warmth and humor. He had a friendly, round face, a quick smile, and surprisingly gentle hands.” Of his death she wrote “The criminal Colombian government and their U.S. accomplices should be called to pay for this cowardly and criminal attack.” The Republican Party strongly supports the government of Columbia in its' fight against the FARC. Some experts consider anarchist groups to be based on communist ideals and fronts for communist activities.

Sundin's personal web page hosted by a U o M server under the heading “My Stuff” links to communist websites. Under “My anti-war stuff” she links to a declaration from the “Islamic Jihad Army” in Iraq which was killing US troops at the time. It's clear that she has posted these links in solidarity with the Islamic terrorist group. In another interview she remarked about her previous anti-war activities “We were inspired by the anti-globalism protests in Seattle and wanted to practice civil disobedience.” Those protests were marred by a violent anarchist rampage.

There is no indication that University of Minnesota officials or AFL-CIO leadership above the local chapter were knowledgeable of the local union members' activities or radical affiliations.

Ray Robison is the author of Both In One Trench: Saddam's Secret Terror Documents

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