[Peace-discuss] more on FBI Raids on Anti-war and SolidarityActivists Homes

C. G. Estabrook galliher at illinois.edu
Fri Sep 24 20:32:45 CDT 2010 

  That's right, and we should be clear that this is the Obama administration 
doing this.

Obama has thought long and hard about the antiwar movement of the 60s-70s, as 
his political memoir, "The Audacity of Hope," makes clear.

He's bound and determined to neutralize a modern anti-war movement, for fear 
that he will suffer Nixon's fate.  It's quite conscious and quite vicious - he's 
willing to kill people to succeed - and he's made it clear that he will not 
blench at police-state tactics to save his reputation.  We should expect more of 
this.

And we should continue to organize against his murders and assassinations in the 
Mideast, which we know a bit more about this week, owing to Woodward's book.


On 9/24/10 8:10 PM, E.Wayne Johnson wrote:
> The US Government seeks to test the resolve of the anti-war and 
> anti-government factions by persecuting them, and will resort to stronger and 
> stronger measures if the people continue to fight back.
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stuart Levy" <slevy at ncsa.uiuc.edu>
> To: <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>
> Sent: Saturday, September 25, 2010 5:11 AM
> Subject: [Peace-discuss] more on FBI Raids on Anti-war and SolidarityActivists 
> Homes
>
>
>> More on today's FBI "terrorism" raids.   (Did you know Minnesota is a foreign 
>> country?
>> See the quote from the warrant, below.  Do we get the feeling this judge was 
>> acting
>> as a rubber stamp?)
>>
>> Clips worth noting:
>>
>>    "Please contact:   info at colombiasolidarity.org
>>     or:               info at fightbacknews.org
>>     if you would like to provide support to the targeted activists.
>>
>> (I don't know anything about those organizations - does anyone else? -SL)
>>
>> And:
>>
>>    "The government hopes to use a grand jury to frame up activists. The goal
>>    of these raids is to harass and try to intimidate the movement against U.S.
>>    wars and occupations, and those who oppose U.S. support for repressive
>>    regimes," said Colombia solidarity activist Tom Burke, one of those handed
>>    a subpoena by the FBI. "They are designed to suppress dissent and free
>>    speech, to divide the peace movement, and to pave the way for more U.S.
>>    military intervention in the Middle East and Latin America."
>>
>> and -- in case the FBI contacts you --
>>
>>    We urge all progressive activists to show solidarity with those individuals
>>    targeted by the U.S. Government.  Activists have the right not to speak
>>    with the FBI and are encouraged to politely refuse, just say “No”.
>>
>>
>> ----- Forwarded message from Laurel Lambert Schmidt <laurel at pjep.org> -----
>>
>> Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2010 15:34:33 -0500
>> From: Laurel Lambert Schmidt <laurel at pjep.org>
>> Subject: [CoordinatingIL] [Fwd: [bethlehem_for_peace] FBI Raids on Anti-war
>> and Solidarity Activists Homes]
>> To: list01 at npjep.org, coordinatingil at icjpe.org
>>
>> From an admin in NY, it seems like the raids were directed towards the
>> Freedom Road Socialists.
>> Laurel
>>
>> -------- Original Message --------
>> Subject: [bethlehem_for_peace] FBI Raids on Anti-war and Solidarity
>> Activists Homes
>> Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2010 16:24:43 -0400
>> From: Joe Lombardo <jlombard at nycap.rr.com>
>> To: <projectsalam at lists.riseup.net>, "Muslim Solidarity Committee"
>> <muslimsolidarity at googlegroups.com>, <antiwarupstateny at lists.riseup.net>,
>> <nepajac at lists.riseup.net>, <bethlehem_for_peace at lists.riseup.net>,
>> <nysnet at yahoogroups.com>, "Women Against War" <women_againstwar at yahoo.com>,
>> <spadiscussion at yahoogroups.com>
>>
>>
>>
>> A number of the activists whose homes were raided are from organizations
>> that attended our national antiwar conference this summer. First they came
>> for the Muslims,
>> then they came for...
>> Joe Lombardo
>> ** *Activists Denounce FBI Raids on Anti-war and Solidarity Activists
>> Homes*
>>
>>
>> Subpoenas, Searches, and FBI visits carried out in cities across the
>> country.
>>
>>
>> We denounce the Federal Bureau of Investigation harassment of anti-war and
>> solidarity activists in several states across the country.  The FBI began
>> turning over six houses in Chicago and Minneapolis this morning, Friday,
>> October 24, 2010, at 8:00 am central time.  The FBI handed subpoenas to
>> testify before a federal grand jury to about a dozen activists in Illinois,
>> Minnesota, and Michigan.  They also attempted to intimidate activists in
>> California and North Carolina.
>>
>> "The government hopes to use a grand jury to frame up activists. The goal
>> of these raids is to harass and try to intimidate the movement against U.S.
>> wars and occupations, and those who oppose U.S. support for repressive
>> regimes," said Colombia solidarity activist Tom Burke, one of those handed
>> a subpoena by the FBI. "They are designed to suppress dissent and free
>> speech, to divide the peace movement, and to pave the way for more U.S.
>> military intervention in the Middle East and Latin America."
>>
>>
>> This suppression of democratic rights is aimed towards those who dedicate
>> much of their time and energy to supporting the struggles of the
>> Palestinian and Colombian peoples against U.S. funded occupation and war.
>> The activists are involved with well-known anti-war groups including many
>> of the leaders of the huge protest against the Republican National
>> Convention in St. Paul, MN in September 2008.  The FBI agents emphasized
>> that the grand jury was going to investigate the activists for possible
>> terrorism charges.  This is a U.S. government attempt to silence those who
>> support resistance to oppression in the Middle East and Latin America.
>>
>> The activists involved have done nothing wrong and are refusing to be
>> pulled into conversations with the FBI about their political views or
>> organizing against war and occupation.  The activists are involved with
>> many groups, including:  the Palestine Solidarity Group, Students for a
>> Democratic Society, the Twin-Cities Anti-War Committee, the Colombia Action
>> Network, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the National
>> Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera (a Colombian Political Prisoner).
>>
>> Steff Yorek, a long-time antiwar activist and one of the activists whose
>> homes was searched, called the raids “An outrageous fishing
>> expedition.”
>>
>>
>> We urge all progressive activists to show solidarity with those individuals
>> targeted by the U.S. Government.  Activists have the right not to speak
>> with the FBI and are encouraged to politely refuse, just say “No”.
>>
>>
>> Please contact info at colombiasolidarity.org
>> <mailto:info at colombiasolidarity.org> or info at fightbacknews.org
>> <mailto:info at fightbacknews.org> if you would like to provide support to the
>> targeted activists.
>>
>>  - 30 -
>>
>> http://twincities.indymedia.org/2010/sep/breaking-news-three-houses-minneapolis-raided-other-houses-michigan-nc-chicago-targeted 
>>
>>
>>
>> **Breaking News** *Three houses in Minneapolis raided, other houses in
>> Michigan, NC, Chicago targeted.*
>>
>> Submitted by smiley on Fri, 09/24/2010 - 09:20
>>
>> On Friday morning, three houses in the Minneapolis area are believed to
>> have been raided by SWAT Teams. While we have few details right now, the
>> F.B.I. appears to be targeting people associated with the Freedom Road
>> Socialist Organization <http://www.frso.org/index.htm>. Besides the raids
>> in Minneapolis, houses in Michigan, North Carolina and Chicago were also
>> targeted.
>>
>> Raids occurred at 1823 Riverside, above the Hard Times Cafe, and the 2900
>> block of Park Ave. One other raid is reported, as well.  Outside Hard Times
>> Cafe, three unmarked black SUVs (one with an Illinois license plate) sat in
>> the parking area as of 10am, when a lawyer observed 8 FBI agents sitting in
>> the residence examining materials.  Otherwise the scene was calm.
>>
>> Agents had broken in the door there at 7am Friday morning, breaking an
>> aquarium in the process.
>>
>> The Federal search warrants appear to be focusing on seizing electronic
>> devices, international travel, and allegeing "co-conspirators."  They do
>> not authorize arrests.
>>
>> The search warrant for 1823 Riverside, the residence of activist Mick
>> Kelly, sought information "regarding ability to pay for his own travel" to
>> Palestine and Columbia from 2000 to today.  The warrant hyped potential
>> documents indicating any contacts/facilitation with FARC, PFLP, and
>> Hezbollah - what it called "FTOs" or  "foreign terrorist organizations".
>> It mentioned seeking information on the alleged  "facilitation of other
>> individuals in the US to travel to Colombia, Palestine and any other
>> foreign location ins upport of foreign terrorist organizations including
>> but not limited to FARC, PFLP and Hezbollah".
>>
>> The wording of the warrant appears to indicate the government seeks to
>> create divisions among social justice and international soldarity activists
>> by hyping alleged connections to what they call "foreign terrorist
>> organizations."
>>
>> The warant also sought information on "Kelly's travel to and from and
>> presence in MN, and other foreign countries [sic] to which Kelly has
>> taveleled as part of his work in FRSO [Freedom Road Socialist
>> Organization", as well as materials related to his finances and the
>> finances of FRSO, and all computer and electronic devices.
>>
>> The federal warrant was signed by Judge Susan Nelson at 3:30pm yesterday,
>> September 23.
>>
>> *More information as this story breaks.  If you have info, please publish
>> it to TCIMC as a comment or a new story.*
>>
>> •               Local
>> <http://twincities.indymedia.org/category/relevance/local> conspiracy
>> <http://twincities.indymedia.org/alltags/conspiracy> FBI
>> <http://twincities.indymedia.org/alltags/fbi> Freedom Road Socialist
>> Information
>> <http://twincities.indymedia.org/alltags/freedom-road-socialist-information>
>> House raids <http://twincities.indymedia.org/alltags/house-raids> Police
>> State <http://twincities.indymedia.org/alltags/police-state> Feature
>> <http://twincities.indymedia.org/features/feature>
>>
>> •                367 reads Printer-friendly version
>> <http://twincities.indymedia.org/print/7443>
>>
>> *Comments*
>>
>> *FW: FBI Raiding Homes of Members of Peace Community
>> <http://twincities.indymedia.org/2010/sep/breaking-news-three-houses-minneapolis-raided-other-houses-michigan-nc-chicago-targeted#comment-15388>*** 
>>
>>
>> Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 09/24/2010 - 09:48.
>>
>> FROM: Twin Cities Peace Campaign - Focus on Iraq MESSAGE: Dear Peacemakers,
>> I have just been informed by Sarah Martin that the FBI are in the process
>> of raiding the homes of Meredith Aby, Jess Sundin, and Mick Kelly. They are
>> apparently accusing them of connections with a terrorist organization. The
>> National Lawyer Guild attorneys are suggesting that we go to their homes
>> immediately. Jess lives at 2911 Park Avenue South in Minneapolis. Meredith
>> lives on 14th Avenue just off Lake Street. I believe it is on 14th; it is
>> the street off 31st and Powderhorn Park that does not run through to Lake
>> Street. Mick lives above the Hard Times Cafe on Riverside near Cedar. This
>> is extremely shocking. We must stand together. I am going to one of their
>> homes right now. My phone number is 612-275-2720. Peace in the struggle,
>> Marie Braun
>>
>> ----- End forwarded message -----
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>
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