St. Paul MN – More than 600 people marched and rallied here, March 19, calling for an end to the U.S. war in Afghanistan and an end to the continued U.S. occupation of Iraq. The Twin Cities protest was one of many that took place across the U.S. to mark the eighth anniversary of the start of the war and occupation of Iraq.

The march, organized by the Iraq Peace Action Coalition, started with a rally at the Martin Luther King Center in Saint Paul and finished with another rally at the Minnesota State Capitol building.

Meredith Aby, of the Minnesota Committee to Stop FBI Repression told the crowd, “It is outrageous that the U.S. is using ‘protecting the right to dissent’ as an excuse to justify war against Libya, while anti-war activists are targeted right here in the U.S. for daring to criticize the U.S. government and protest against the very wars they are justifying! I join with you today to say, ‘Hands off Libya!’ and ‘End the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan!’”

Aby is one of the Twin Cities anti-war activists whose home was raided Sept. 24, 2010. She also received a subpoena to testify in front of the Chicago grand jury that is carrying out a witch hunt against international solidarity activists.

Jennie Eisert, of the Twin Cities-based Anti-War Committee, talked about an incident where FBI agents showed up at her job: “Back in the beginning of October they came to my work and harassed me, telling me that people I have worked closely with and who have been leaders in the anti-war movement for years – Jess Sundin, Meredith Aby and Mick Kelly – were manipulating me. They had the complete audacity to come to where I work, interrupt my day, have my manager bring me to them, then they whip out their badges… The attacks on our friends, on the Anti-War Committee, on us – the people fighting for justice is not going to end. It will not end with the 23 subpoenaed; it will not end until people start standing up, fighting back – with our words, with our feet, with our fists in the air – bringing it back to the street.”

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