but the activists all knew what they were in for said the former defendant lee winer. did you know you were risking prison time? >> always a probability, you know, what are we going to do, not do it just because of that? not a chance. >> your plans for the convention were designed specifically to draw the police into a confrontation. >> if i knew it would be the first thing i would have aimed a lot higher. >> reporter: after sasha baron cohen studied him before he played him. >> who is this guy is he a fool or the smartest guy in the room. >> what do you think? >> i think he was the smartest guy in the room and developed a whole style of protesting that was designed to get as much media attention as possible, and even in the riots in chicago, he always had his mind on where the cameras were. >> we can't fight it in the court. these are the people that are putting us on trial, see. >> reporter: hoffman and his co-defendant jerry ruben became celebrities in our own right. >> it was raining, cold and it was not a night out for man and beast and it was only -- they should