[Peace] Thursday 9/30, 5-7pm: Press Conference condemning FBI raids on activists

[Stuart Levy]

From: Susan Song <ssong324 at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Announce] Press Conference Thursday. Please Forward Widely!
To: Community Court Watch Announce <announce at communitycourtwatch.org>,
	illinoisuga at gmail.com, Susan Song <slack.bloc.affinity at gmail.com>

Hey folks,

This is the current press release for the press conference in response to 
federal raids of anti-war and other social justice activists last week. Please 
send additions to this email.  

-Susan
===================================

MEDIA ALERT: For Immediate Release
Press Contact: Ben Rothschild, 847-363-6317 or rothsch2 at gmail.com  

Community and students respond to FBI raids

URBANA-CHAMPAIGN - September 30: Social justice and anti-war activists, 
including members of Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort (AWARE), Campus Antiwar Network 
(CAN), the Undergraduate-Graduate Alliance (UGA), will gather at 5 pm Thursday, 
September 30 at the YMCA, 1001 S. Wright Street, to hold a press conference 
condemning politically-motivated FBI raids that took place on Friday, September 24.  


On Friday, September 24, the FBI launched raids on and searched the homes of 
eight antiwar activists in Chicago and Minneapolis. The FBI sent subpoenas to 
eleven activists in Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan. The FBI stated that no 
arrests were made. But local activists present that these tactics highlight an 
ongoing climate of heavy-handed state harassment of anti-war and other social 
justice movements.

“It's important to remember that the FBI, CIA, and other arms of government 
power have many times been used to investigate and disrupt groups who were doing 
nothing more violent than openly disagreeing with government policies -- 
exercising their Constitutionally protected right to dissent”, said Stuart Levy, 
activist with Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort. The recent series of FBI raids serve 
as “a vehicle for political intimidation of anti-war and other social justice 
activists organizing to resist political injustice and state repression”, said 
Susan Song, president of the UIUC branch of Campus Antiwar Network. 


Speakers at Thursday's press conference will include Belden Fields, professor 
emeritus in political science; Stuart Levy, activist with Anti-War Anti-Racism 
Effort; Susan Song, president of the UIUC branch of Campus Antiwar Network and 
Ben Rothschild of the Undergraduate-Graduate Alliance. They will be joined by 
peace and solidarity activists from across Champaign-Urbana.  


###
 ------
Radical Education for Autonomous Persons
http://cuareading.blogspot.com/
http://wiki.infoshop.org/Anarchist_Neighborhood:Champaign-Urbana
http://www.naasn.org/


"Whatever doesn't kill power is killed by it."