Meetings around country build support for Midwest activists

On Oct. 19 the office phones of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama are expected to ring all day as they did a week earlier. Concerned labor, community and anti-war callers will demand that the government end repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists, return all materials seized in the raids on their homes and office in September and call off the grand jury.

Chicago, Oct. 16. Photo: Chicago Indymedia

The action day in solidarity with the 14 people and the Minneapolis anti-war committee raided and subpoenaed by the FBI on Sept. 24 will coincide with the third date for grand jury interrogation. The final group of those targeted, as those summoned earlier, also asserted their right to decline the Inquisition invitation.

Although the prosecutor withdrew the subpoenas after everyone refused to participate, no one believes this fight against government repression is over. The grand jury has not been disbanded. Arrests, or subpoenas offering immunity — forcing activists to talk under the threat of imprisonment — are possibilities.

National meeting set Nov. 6 in NYC

The Committee to Stop FBI Repression is convening a national meeting in New York City on Nov. 6 at 6:30 p.m. and inviting all those interested in building the movement against FBI raids and the Grand Jury. The committee email states that “while the attack is bad, it offers our movement an opportunity to unite, strengthen, and grow!”

On Oct. 13, a meeting took place at Central United Methodist Church in Detroit to further advance the work in defense of those who have been targeted and to inform the activist community and the public in general of the significance of the attacks on several organizations as well as the ongoing persecution of the Islamic and other oppressed communities in the U.S.

The call for the meeting was issued by representatives of the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice (MECAWI) along with longtime civil rights Attorney William Goodman and retired Judge Claudia Morcom, both of whom are veteran members of the National Lawyers Guild. Over 40 people attended the meeting and voted to form a Detroit Committee to Stop FBI-Grand Jury Repression.

A delegation from the Detroit and Michigan chapters of the National Lawyers Guild attended the meeting. John Royal, who is the president of both the Detroit and Michigan chapters, gave a brief presentation on the history of grand juries in the U.S. and how they are increasingly being used to suppress dissent and opposition to both domestic and foreign policies of the government. During grand jury proceedings, the person subpoenaed cannot have a lawyer in the room while they are being questioned by government prosecutors.

Royal said that a recent Supreme Court ruling in the case of Eric Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, where the justices redefined the meaning of “material aid to terrorism,” may be the basis for the recent raids and grand jury subpoenas. The Humanitarian Law Project in the U.S. had been targeted for providing legal assistance to people thought to be associated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a Marxist liberation movement in Turkey, and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE), a movement seeking self-determination for the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka.

In addition, information considered hearsay or even false can be utilized to build indictments against targeted individuals and organizations. All 14 activists who were either raided or subpoenaed are associated with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bail Out, Women Against Military Madness, the Students for a Democratic Society and the Minnesota Antiwar Committee, among other groups.

Other activists were visited by the FBI in the aftermath of the first scheduled grand jury appearance in Chicago. Instead of testifying before the grand jury, Stephanie Weiner and Joe Iosbaker held a press conference outside Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago where more than 100 supporters and media representatives attended.

The Committee to Stop FBI Repression is appealing for continued support — and support is growing. The Duluth, Minn., AFL-CIO Central Labor body representing 17,000 workers unanimously offered its support. Its resolution will be hand delivered to Minnesota’s U.S. senators. Duluth joins the San Francisco Central Labor Council, AFSCME Council 5, Labor for Palestine and local unions passing resolutions and planning actions.

At Oct. 16 nationally coordinated demonstrations against the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, outreach for support included signs such as “FBI Hands Off! Anti-war Activists Opposing War Is Not a Crime!” and literature about the FBI repression. Mick Kelly, whose Minneapolis home was raided, spoke at the 1,000 strong Chicago protest.

A Midwest delegation from Workers World Party supported the anti-FBI participation in the Chicago protest with signs recalling the dirty FBI campaign against the Rev. Martin Luther King and calling for an end to FBI attacks on the anti-war movement and a banner calling for U.S. imperialism to get out of the Middle East. Many went from the Chicago protest to a fundraiser for the legal expenses of those being targeted. Seattle United Against FBI Repression will distribute support literature Oct 21 at the University of Washington.

If the FBI actions were intended to push back opponents to the bloody U.S. military and imperialist economic aggression around the world, it certainly didn’t work. Katrina Plotz, subpoenaed to the grand jury on Sept. 27, said, “I’ve been a member of the anti-war committee here in Minneapolis for the past four years. And I am proud to be part of a movement that continues to speak out and demonstrate opposition to U.S. wars in the Middle East and U.S. sponsorship of oppressive governments around the world.

“For years, we’ve openly organized rallies, marches and educational events to raise awareness and demand justice for people at home and abroad. We’ve done so under both Republican and Democratic presidents, we’ve marched with tens of thousands of like-minded people, and we’re not going to stop now.”

For updates, solidarity statements, resolutions and more information go to StopFBI.net. Remember to sign the petition at stopfbi.net/sign-the-petition/ or www.iacenter.org/stopfbi/.