The "Minnesota 8"
The Minnesota 8 was one part of a larger group,
called "The
Minnesota Conspiracy to Save Lives," whose members raided Selective
Service draft boards in various non-urban areas of Minnesota on July
10,
1970. The FBI arrested eight men in three draft boards - at Alexandria,
Little Falls and Winona. One other draft raid was successfully conducted
that evening, and one was aborted due to a newly installed alarm system.
No one from the successful raid, which included a woman, was ever arrested.
Three trials were held from November 2, 1970 through January 18, 1971
in the Minnesota federal district courts in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
One of the 8 pleaded guilty, and he received probation. The other
seven received the maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
Outlaw or American
Patriot? is based upon a post-trial/pre-prison memoir written
by Frank Kroncke. It relates the key events and includes trial testimony,
dates, etc. Other materials are available at the Minnesota
Historical Society. Go to http://mnhs.mnpals.net (search "Author" enter "Kroncke F").
To grasp the tenor and temper of the times, the 8 were
arrested on the charge, "Sabotage of the National Defense." This
carried a ten year sentence. Bail was set at $50,000.00 each. This
despite the
fact that they were all first-time offenders, and arrested for an ostensible
act of nonviolent civil disobedience. They sweated out a hot July week
in Hennepin County until the bail was reduced to $10,000.00 apiece.
The 8 were indicted on "interfering with the Selective
Service System by force, violence or otherwise." They were convicted
of an act of violence, and they received the maximum sentence of five
years. All mention of the Vietnam War and any tradition or principles
of morality were judged "irrelevant and immaterial." One Judge
stated, "You gentlemen are worse that the common criminal who attacks
the taxpayer's pocketbook. You strike at the foundation of government,
itself."
and others.
Why are the Minnesota 8 developing the "Peace and War in the Heartland
- What has history taught us?" project? Democracy is best served
by informed citizens who are actively involved in forming public
policy and public opinion. There are too few public conversations
and too many
discordant and polarizing discourses being delivered primarily to
choirs of true believers. The Minnesota 8 value the Quaker
principle of "speaking truth to power" and the practice of bearing witness.
Since no person, organization or movement has a lock on power or truth,
it is timely for everyone - from every "side," "perspective,"
"opinion," and "moral stance" - to open a conversation
with their fellow citizens about what history has taught us concerning
the issues of peace and war.