Carlos Montes is preparing to enter a plea of “Not Guilty” in court
National Call-in Day – Support Carlos Montes
Fight Back News Service is circulating this call to action from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. Carlos Montes, of Los Angeles, has been a progressive activist for decades, most recently with the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. At the behest of the FBI, Los Angeles sheriffs violently raided Montes’ home on May 17, seizing crates of political items unrelated to the charges. Montes goes to court on trumped up charges on July 6. The Committee to Stop FBI Repression is organizing a national movement to defend him.
Carlos Montes is preparing to enter a plea of “Not Guilty” in court tomorrow
National Call-in Day – Support Carlos Montes
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Please call U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder at (202) 514-2001
Suggested text: “My name is __________, I am from _______(city), in ______(state). I am calling to tell Attorney General Holder:
- Drop the charges against Carlos Montes!
- Stop the FBI raids and Grand Jury repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists.
- Return all property to Carlos Montes and the other activists raided by the FBI.
On Wednesday, July 6, Carlos Montes will go to a Los Angeles court to face six felony charges and enter a plea of “Not Guilty” The charges all deal with firearms, ammunition and permits. Like millions of other Americans, Carlos has for years held legal permits for guns. The fact is that the charges against Carlos carry a total penalty of up to 18 years, and are aimed at his effective political organizing against war and for people’s civil rights.
Carlos is a longtime Chicano activist known for his leadership during the 1968 L.A. high school education reform walkouts (see HBO film “Walkout!”), the historic Chicano Moratorium against the U.S. war in Vietnam and the immigrants’ rights mega-marches of 2006. More recently in September 2010, Carlos Montes’ name appeared on the FBI search warrant left in the Anti-War Committee office in Minneapolis, where the protests against the 2008 Republican National Convention were centered. The attack on Carlos Montes is part of a sweeping campaign tied to 23 Midwest activists whose homes the FBI raided or who were subpoenaed to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s Grand Jury in Chicago, as the Washington Post reported.
In addition, when the LA Sheriffs broke down Carlos’ door and ransacked his home, they took political documents, a computer, cell phones and meeting notes having nothing to do with the legal charges. Later, the FBI approached Carlos to ask him questions about the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the target of this new McCarthyism.
As Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) said in a recent letter to Attorney General Eric Holder about the current FBI and grand jury repression: “I am writing because I am reminded of another time and another period in our history, during the Civil Rights Movement, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and I and many others in the movement, were investigated in an attempt to silence our voices.”
When Carlos went to court on June 16, he demanded police and court documents. Not surprisingly, the District Attorney grew angry, at first refusing, and eventually relenting. The documents he received show that the FBI prompted the LA Sheriff raid. The goal of the FBI in doing this is to disrupt and criminalize activists and movements for social justice.
Make no mistake: The U.S. government trial of Carlos Montes is an attack on the immigrants’ rights and anti-war movements. So please call July 6 and let Attorney General Holder know we are building a movement that will not bow down to dirty tricks and political repression.
The Los Angeles Committee to Stop FBI Repression is mobilizing to pack the courtroom at 8:30a.m. on July 6 when Carlos Montes appears at Alhambra Courthouse, 150 W Common Wealth, Alhambra, CA 91801.
We invite others to organize solidarity protests, events, and participate in the CSFR Call In Day on July 6, as you see fit.
Please sign the petition for Carlos on the International Action Center website.
Visit www.StopFBI.net or write [email protected] or call 612-379-3585.