On September 24, 2010 the FBI raided seven homes of anti-war activists and the office of the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee. 23 activists were subpoenaed to a Chicago-based grand jury that claimed to be investigating “material support for terrorism.” None of those targeted ever stopped resisting this attempt to repress our movement and no one appeared before any grand jury. As time went on, the FBI continued their attack on anti-war and international solidarity activists by targeting important veterans of the movement who worked with the Anti-war 23, including Chicano activist Carlos Montes in Los Angeles and Palestinian organizer Rasmea Odeh in Chicago. Veterans of our movements showed solidarity with the other activists targeted by the FBI and helped push back against this attempt at repression.

Over 11 years later, the FBI and local law enforcement continue their attempts to repress the people’s movements. Anybody who watched or participated in the nationwide rebellion after the police murdered George Floyd in Minneapolis could attest to that. Rather than bowing to the police and the wealthy elite they protect, the masses burned the 3rd Precinct police station to the ground in Minneapolis. Protests and demonstrations continued around the country, despite the best efforts of the enemy to stop and slow them down. Millions of people participated in these actions, calling for justice and an end to police crimes.

The enemy is not going to stop trying to repress our movements. The broad masses of people in this country are not going to stop fighting for justice. It is important to realize that this contradiction is unavoidable and in fact demonstrates that the wealthy elite who rule this country are scared of the people’s movements. These movements represent a real challenge to the enemy’s system. There are several important lessons we can draw from the experiences of our struggles as we continue to build and advance forward in the face of repression.

One important lesson is the key role that solidarity among activists and their communities, both locally and nationally, played in keeping momentum going and not allowing the enemy to achieve its goals. Without the unbreakable showing of solidarity shown both among the Anti-war 23 and veteran activists and the solidarity shown towards them by activists all over the world, many of our movement leaders would have ended up behind bars. Instead, they continue to organize in the streets and participate in important events like the George Floyd rebellion. If there are key lessons to learn from this showing of solidarity among activists, those lessons are: Don’t talk to the FBI or any law enforcement. You are only required to give your name, but then tell them to contact your lawyer and say nothing.

Our movements must firmly oppose the different methods of oppression used against us, including grand juries and “material support for terrorism” laws. Grand juries are in no way fair and involve the prosecutor asking you questions without your lawyer present. It is important not to talk to grand juries at all and not attend them. Resistance is key to fighting back against this terrible one-sided system. Grand juries are also sometimes used to let killer cops off the hook, and should be abolished entirely.

Likewise, bogus “material support for terrorism” laws are used to strangle free speech and to lock people up. Over the past decade, these laws have specifically targeted many important social movements, especially Arab and Muslim organizations like the Holy Land Foundation, a charity whose only focus was helping the less fortunate. Often the enemy will plant agents and informants into our movements with the goal of framing people using “material support” laws. We’ve seen this many times within movements that fight for Black liberation. It also happened back in 2008 when the enemy planted a spy named “Karen Sullivan” into efforts to organize a demonstration against the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minnesota. This spy was directly involved in the FBI raids of the Anti-war 23 in 2010.

Freedom Road Socialist Organization commends everyone who resists repression and urges every member of our social movements to continue organizing for a better world. The billionaires who run this system and leave poverty and destruction in their wake have got to go. Their system must be replaced by a society run by the working class and their allies, including the Black, Chicano, and Hawai’ian nations currently being oppressed. Together we can build a better world.

Organize to win! Don’t speak to the FBI or police. Refuse to testify at any grand jury.

Solidarity!

#UnitedStates #PeoplesStruggles #AntiWar23 #PoliticalRepression #FBIRaids

Nine years ago, on September 24, 2010, the FBI raided and subpoenaed Midwest anti-war and international solidarity activists in a bogus attempt to discover “material support of terrorism.” The FBI’s campaign of repression ordered more than 70 FBI agents to raid seven homes and two offices of leading activists in Minneapolis and Chicago. The FBI subpoenaed those raided, and that same morning subpoenaed others in those cities as well as Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Some of those raided were longtime veterans of our movement; some were mothers, some were trade unionists, and some were members of Freedom Road Socialist Organization – but all were targeted for speaking out in solidarity with working and oppressed people, especially in Palestine and Colombia.

On the same day, the FBI also sent agents to intimidate activists in California, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

More subpoenas came in the weeks after, until a total of 23 were summoned. The government threatened to jail anyone who failed to appear before a secretive grand jury in Chicago, but that threat could not break the spirit of those who made up the Anti-War 23. After a ferocious defense campaign that saw a staggering amount of support from all over the world for the activists, none of those targeted by the FBI appeared before any grand juries and none went to prison.

A grand jury is a kangaroo court that is designed so the prosecution gets its desired outcome. Witnesses, even those being compelled to appear, are not allowed an attorney. There is an old saying that a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich. Put another way, it’s a court that allows the rich and powerful to do whatever they want. We see that a grand jury will never indict on police misconduct but will attack anyone the prosecutor tells it to. Instead of giving in, the Anti-War 23 and friends spoke out about the government's attempt to intimidate them because of their ideas and activism. Their voices were heard around the world and caused many to speak out as well.

The government was upset that people were speaking out against injustices in Colombia, Palestine and in other places where people were fighting for liberation. A year later, the government raised the stakes by launching another raid on the home of famous Chicano liberation leader Carlos Montes in Los Angeles. Montes faced trumped-up charges but returned to the streets and continued to speak out and organize. The case against him was defeated.

The government then arrested an icon of the Palestinian liberation movement, Rasmea Odeh. Odeh was a veteran organizer community in Chicago. She was forced to depart the U.S. after an almost four-year legal and political struggle. Rasmea Odeh and her defense campaign put Israel on trial for its crimes and lifted up the cause of Palestinian liberation.

Evidence, including court documents, established that the raids on the Anti-War 23 and the cases of Rasmea Odeh and Carlos Montes were closely linked.

Support for all those targeted continued to grow, and the activists continued to resist and fight the repression. Concentrated repression like this was relatively rare after the 1970s, but we proved that you can fight back and win. It was the outpouring of support and the principled stand of those targeted not to appear before any grand juries that helped carry the day. Trade unions, student groups, community organizations and a broad solidarity network capable of organizing protests in over 100 cities around the world sent a clear message that we will not be intimidated.

As a whole, the enemy's attack was defeated and ongoing attempts to silence our movements continue to be held back. Our movements remain vigilant and understand that these attacks are not over, and our solidarity with one another grows stronger everyday.

Activists from all over, including many who directly faced the raids nine years ago, are planning to attend an important conference this fall. On November 22-24, they will attend a conference to refound the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression in Chicago. The NAARPR is an important organization that has led many critical struggles over the past 46 years, including struggles similar to the defense of the Anti-War 23 and their friends. Important organizers like Angela Davis and Frank Chapman will be there to help lead the conference. Activists from around the United States will plan ways to build the fight against police crimes, for community control of the police, to build the fight for the wrongfully incarcerated, and to support those who resist state repression like the Anti-War 23. Everyone who wants to stand up for justice and build these fights should register online at https://conference.naarpr.org/ and attend the NAARPR conference in Chicago.

The battle for justice is far from over, and this event is a step on the road towards liberation.

#ChicagoIL #FBI #Repression #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #AntiWar23 #PoliticalRepression

Eight years ago, on Sept. 24, 2010, more than 70 FBI agents took part in a series of coordinated raids that were aimed at activists of the anti-war and international solidarity movements, and also members of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). In a bogus investigation of “material support of terrorism” charges, seven houses and an office in Minneapolis and Chicago were raided. While the raids were underway, FBI agents approached and attempted to intimidate activists in Michigan, California, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

Also on that day, the FBI delivered grand jury subpoenas to many of the raided activists. More activists were served with subpoenas in the following weeks; a total of 23 people were commanded to appear before a Chicago grand jury – and the government threatened jail for those who refused. The charge of material support of terrorism carries 15 years in prison per count, and federal prosecutors repeatedly stated that they intended to indict “multiple people on multiple charges.”

After these raids, the attacks kept on coming. On May 17, 2011, the home of a longtime leader of the Chicano liberation movement, Carlos Montes, was hit with a no-knock raid in Los Angeles. Montes was jailed, hit with trumped up weapons charges, and faced 22 years in prison. Then on Oct. 22, 2013, Homeland Security arrested the well-respected Chicago Palestinian American leader Rasmea Odeh, who stared down a decade in prison as well as deportation.

Court documents show that all these attacks by the federal government were linked and that they stemmed for a common ‘investigation’ that involved the same cast of FBI agents, police and sheriffs working with the FBI, Joint Terrorism Task Forces, and federal prosecutors. Taken as a whole, this repression ranks as one of the largest attacks launched against progressive and left movement since the 1970s.

In the end it was the wall of resistance and an outpouring of popular support that defeated and blunted these assaults on the right to speak out and organize. Not one of those called to testify in front of the grand jury did so. In that refusal, the grand jury resisters put principal and doing the right thing above their freedom. Prosecutors said they were looking for someone “inside” FRSO to testify in a trial. Their threats yielded them no one. Carlos Montes and Rasmea Odeh waged heroic courtroom battles against the false charges leveled against them. The case of Carlos ended with a victory. In court, Rasmea put the Israeli occupation on trial for its crimes and beat the jail time – but sadly was deported to Jordan, where she continues her activism.

Unions representing millions of workers, countless progressive organizations and individuals, and even politicians stood up to this campaign of repression. Rallies took place in more than 100 cities across the world. Those actions, hard work, and a sound legal strategy, explains why this resistance was met with success.

Sometimes victories can be assessed by what does not happen. FBI documents, including the Justice Department’s “interrogation questions for FRSO members,” affidavits for search warrants, and defense lawyer conversations with federal prosecutors, indicate that the government planned, at least in part, to hold an anti-communist trial for FRSO leaders and supporters. In so doing they aimed to criminalize the very idea of international solidarity. Yet here we are, eight years later, and FRSO and other subpoenaed activists are still building the movements against Trump, for justice and are making contributions to the people’s struggle.

The U.S. is not the free country it claims to be. For decades the U.S. government has been trying to criminalize organizations in other countries that fight for national and social liberation – like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Communist Party of the Philippines, or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). It is wrong to call those who fight for freedom ‘terrorists,’ and it is unacceptable for the government to make it a crime for people to point this out.

In the years ahead, it is vital that we resist each and every attack on our democratic rights and that we stand with those facing repression.

The powers that be are not going to transform themselves. Exploiters and oppressors are true to their nature, and repression is what they do. We are activists and we are certain that change will come. And we are revolutionaries and socialists – we are certain this system cannot last.

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #InJusticeSystem #Editorials #PeoplesStruggles #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganization #September24FBIRaids #AntiWar23 #FBIRepression #GrandJuries #PoliticalRepression

The raids and grand jury investigation were designed for three purposes.

First, as an act of repression against the antiwar movement. The homes and office targeted in the raid were those of organizers of the anti-war march on the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 2008.

That objective backfired instead, as the anti-war movement was revived by the defense campaign of the 23 grand jury resisters, and later by the case of Carlos Montes. We defeated the threats to compel us to testify or face prison time for contempt; then we won a victory in court for Carlos. Many of the targeted activists went on to help lead the largest anti-war march during the Obama years, protesting the NATO summit in Chicago in 2012.

Second, while our solidarity with the struggle in Colombia was the thing that first got the attention of the undercover cop who infiltrated the Twin Cities based Anti-War Committee in 2008, the U.S. Attorney leading the investigation subsequently became focused on the growing movement in support of Palestinian rights. That repression continues today with the increasingly desperate efforts by Zionists, politicians, the FBI and university administrators to attack the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement that targets Israel for its crimes against the Palestinian people. But the movement in support of Palestine continues to grow.

The most powerful show of support for Palestine has been the movement that embraced Rasmea Odeh as she resisted the racist attack that resulted in her deportation last week. We miss her terribly, and even though the cabal within the Department of Justice was successful in taking her from her home in Chicago, the courage and steadfastness she taught us helped the forces in the U.S. supporting Palestinian liberation make a great advance over the four years since she was arrested.

Of course, Rasmea’s case itself grew from the unconstitutional case against the Anti-war 23. When Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas failed to get any of the 23 to testify to his grand jury, the Joint Terrorism Task Force first went after Carlos, and then Rasmea.

Last night, Hatem Abudayyeh and I spoke with Chicago Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa after he was honored at the dinner of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. We thanked him for having the courage of his convictions by refusing to renounce his pro-Palestinian views, a decision that caused him to lose his position as candidate for lieutenant governor in Illinois, as the running mate of Daniel Biss, who dropped him from the ticket. This is one more example that solidarity with Palestine is taking hold in the hearts of people from all nationalities here.

Finally, the raids were an attack on Freedom Road Socialist Organization. We know that we were singled out among the forces in the anti-war movement because we were becoming more effective as an organization. I’m here to report that our effectiveness continues to grow. To see evidence of that, you need only read the stories of struggle across the country that are posted every day at FightBackNews.org - most of which involve members of our organization.

On this morning, I salute my fellow grand jury resisters.

Stop FBI Repression! From Syria to Colombia to the Philippines, End U.S. Wars! From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free!

#ChicagoIL #FBI #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #AntiWar23 #PoliticalRepression