Minneapolis, MN – On August 21, the Anti-War Action Network (AWAN) held a nationwide webinar on the topic of combatting political repression targeted against the anti-war movement.

Meredith Aby, a member of AWAN’s steering committee, introduced the webinar stating, “The Trump administration, by targeting our movement, is trying to create a chilling effect in this country, trying to increase their own power, and trying to punish anyone who challenges the Trump administration.” Aby went on to point out that “Our activists have been targeted for marching in the street, for car marshaling, for being at public meetings and chanting. What we need to do is defend this right to dissent. Dissent is not a crime!”

Attendees tuned into the webinar from Chicago, Seattle, Boston, New Orleans, and many other cities to hear how activists from all over the country have fought back against political repression.

One such activist, Jess Sundin of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, pointed out that while political repression of the anti-war movement has been escalating, FBI raids against anti-war activists are nothing new. In 2010, Sundin, along with 22 other anti-war activists, was raided by the FBI and subpoenaed to a grand jury which was empaneled in hopes of bringing “material support for terrorism” charges. against the targeted activists. In the webinar, Sundin told activists that, “To legally raid your home, they have to have a warrant, and it has to be proper.” That is, even having the wrong date could make the warrant invalid. Sundin also cautioned against speaking to police or federal agents, stating, “Don’t do anything that might help them.”

Maya Sanchez, speaking for New Orleans Stop Helping Israeli Ports (NO SHIP), spoke of political repression faced by the students who erected the encampment at Tulane University in 2024.

Sanchez stated, “During the erection of the encampment, seven protesters were immediately dragged away and arrested by Tulane police.” A student was even kicked in the head by a horse mounted by New Orleans police during the same period. “36 hours later,” said Sanchez, “at 3 a.m., Tulane police and over 100 state police showed up with armored vehicles and tactical gear, pointing assault weapons at peaceful protesters, students, and community members.”

NO SHIP immediately publicized the arrests with flyers and organized mass call-ins to the prosecutor’s office. As a result, “We had detainees released within hours without bail because of those efforts,” said Sanchez. When the arrestees were brought to trial, NO SHIP continued to apply pressure by packing courtrooms, holding rallies outside the court, and waging pressure campaigns and issuing public statements on social media. Ultimately, said Sanchez, “All of the students who were arrested, all of them, were found not guilty, or their charges were dropped.” Sanchez concluded with a reminder that “It’s definitely not easy, but you have to put yourself out there, be loud about what’s going on.”

Introducing the final speaker, Meredith Aby summed up one of the key takeaways from the webinar, which is that “When you have a political fightback that’s out in the community, not just secretly behind closed doors with lawyers, that’s where you win.”

Carlos Montes, long-time member of Los Angeles CSO wrapped up the webinar with a retrospective on the case of Alejandro Orellana. On July 29, the federal government announced they were dropping the conspiracy charges that had been brought against Chicano activist Orellana after his arrest sparked a nationwide public defense campaign.

“It’s a victory for Centro CSO,” said Montes, “and a victory for all freedom fighters in the immigrants rights movement that are fighting against ICE terror.”

The two-hour webinar concluded with questions for the panelists. Overall, every speaker emphasized the importance of mass, public defense campaigns as the key method for fighting political repression. Federal agents, police, and ICE will use every method at their disposal to try and trick and intimidate activists into silence because they know that our greatest strength is our unity.

As long as political repression against the anti-war movement continues to escalate, the fightback will only grow stronger. “La lucha sigue,” said Carlos Montes, concluding the panel. “The struggle continues.”

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