Minneapolis, MN – At a press conference September 12 in front of the Federal Courthouse in Minneapolis, several speakers demanded that U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson drop all charges against Isavela López.

Isavela Lopez, who is well-known as a poet and activist in the Twin Cities, was charged with felonies that could result in up to eight years in prison for protesting the militarized federal operation on Lake Street in Minneapolis on June 3 that included Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies. The Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) was also on site, despite the city of Minneapolis having a separation ordinance intended to avoid MPD collaboration with such operations.

As Lopez protested on June 3, officers pushed her to the ground and brutalized her. Then on June 9, as she was leaving an interview with a local journalist, López was grabbed off the street by masked men and put in an unmarked vehicle, detained, and charged with the felonies.

Speakers at the press conference included her lawyer Jordan Kushner and representatives from the Indigenous Protector Movement, Homegirlz for Isa, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. López also read a poem at the press conference.

At the press conference, Alvin Sheng of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee said, “Federal prosecutors and federal agents are lying to repress civilians exercising their constitutional rights. These are rights that everyone in this country is supposedly guaranteed. When rights are denied to even one individual, then these rights are denied to everyone. Drop the charges against Isa. Drop all the charges against all protesters. We will say it every time, protesting is not a crime.”

Jess Sundin from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression said, “Protesting is not a crime. Solidarity is not a crime. Resistance is not a crime. The crimes that we're seeing are being carried out by the administration. And we all have a duty to fight for our freedom. And I thank Isa for her part in doing that. And like others from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, I will be with her throughout this. And I believe that we will win.”

López’s trial date is scheduled for September 29. A coalition of organizations is planning to rally at 8 a.m. that day and pack the court at the Federal Courthouse at 300 S 4th Street in Minneapolis.

The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee is also organizing a campaign to demand that the Minneapolis city council and mayor strengthen the city’s separation ordinance so that the Minneapolis Police Department will not assist anymore in future militarized federal operations in the city like they did on June 3.

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