ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Eight core members of a group that provided logistical support to anarchists wanting to disrupt the Republican National Convention were each charged Wednesday with a felony count of conspiracy to commit riot, following weekend police raids at some of their homes and work space.

According to a complaint in Ramsey County District Court, the eight are active members of the RNC Welcoming Committee, an anarchist and anti-authoritarian group that has a Web site advertising its plans to "Crash the Convention" by blocking traffic and immobilizing delegate buses.

Also Wednesday, federal authorities announced charges against another man accused of planning to use Molotov cocktails to attack the main arena for the Republican National Convention.

According to the charges in Ramsey County, the eight RNC Welcoming Committee members are charged with conspiracy to commit riot in the second degree in furtherance of terrorism.

"These charges are an effort to equate publicly stated plans to blockade traffic and disrupt the RNC as being the same as acts of terrorism. This both trivializes real violence and attempts to place the stated political views of the Defendants on trial," Bruce Nestor, President of the Minnesota Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, said in a statement.