Chicago, IL – “Fitzgerald doesn’t belong on the Board of Trustees. He’s against the right to dissent, and he’s responsible for some of the worst persecutions of Palestinians in the US,” stated Joe Iosbaker of the Committee Against Political Repression in a statement to gathered news media, on Jan 24.

That’s what former US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald heard as he left his first meeting of the University of Illinois Board. A small crowd was on the sidewalk when he exited the doors to the Student Center West on the campus of the University of Illinois Chicago. The press conference was held to oppose Governor Quinn’s appointment of Fitzgerald to the Board of Trustees.

Fitzgerald apparently was the only member of the Board who requested two plain clothes police officers to accompany him to his car. The other members of the Board left through the same door and walked past the press conference unescorted.

Iosbaker, one of the 23 anti-war activists raided by FBI agents and subpoenaed to a grand jury in 2010 at Fitzgerald’s direction, is also a long time employee of UIC. The protest included officials from the Service Employees International Union Local 73, which represents 3000 workers at UIC. Iosbaker is an officer in the local. Others present represented student groups and Latino employees at the campus.

#ChicagoIL #JoeIosbaker #CommitteeAgainstPoliticalRepression #USAttorneyPatrickFitzgerald #AntiWar23 #FBIRepression #PoliticalRepression

Chicago, IL – More than a dozen activists protested outside the Hyatt Regency hotel here, Jan. 20, while inside former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald received an honorary degree from the John Marshall Law School.

Fitzgerald was the architect of a Chicago-based grand jury targeting Palestine solidarity and anti-war activists. 23 activists were called to appear in front of the grand jury after the Sept. 24, 2010 FBI raids that targeted many groups, including the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee, the Palestine Solidarity Group, the Colombia Action Network, Students for a Democratic Society, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Protesters condemned the McCarthy-like witch hunt organized by Fitzgerald and leafleted the crowd at the graduation ceremony. The Committee Against Political Repression impressed upon the graduates entering the ceremony that the former U.S. Attorney should be remembered as a bully and an enemy of civil liberties.

Activists vowed to protest Fitzgerald at his new post on the Illinois Board of Trustees. “He will not be able to hide from his attacks on the anti-war movement. We will make sure that people know Fitzgerald’s grand jury attacks are still opposed by the community in Chicago,” said Joe Iosbaker, a member of Committee Against Political Repression.

#ChicagoIL #CommitteeAgainstPoliticalRepression #USAttorneyPatrickFitzgerald #AntiWar23 #PoliticalRepression

The activists are organizing a national call-in day Jan.18, to John Marshall’s Dean, John Corkery, asking him to rescind the honorary degree.

The groups are also planning to protest outside the law school commencement on Sunday, Jan. 20, at 3:00 pm at the Hyatt Regency, 151 East Wacker Drive, Chicago.

The call-in day and protest is sponsored by the Chicago Committee Against Political Repression, Coalition to Protect People’s Rights, Palestine Solidarity Group – Chicago and the U.S. Palestinian Community Network. The effort is backed by the Committee to Stop FBI Repression

U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald had a record of bullying anti-war and Palestine activists, including:

Prosecuting Palestinians Abdelhaleem Ashqar and Muhammad Salah, using a confession forced under torture in an Israeli prison. After Ashqar and Salah were acquitted of the major “terrorism”-related charges, Ashqar was indicted and convicted for invoking his constitutional right not to testify to a grand jury—clearly a punitive response by Fitzgerald after his very public loss in the case; and

Prosecuting whistle blower CIA employee, John Kiriakou, the only person going to prison for the CIA’s torture scandals of the past decade. Kiriakou didn’t torture anyone – he’s going to prison for blowing the whistle on torture.

Holy Land Five: also in Fitzgerald’s office, Special Prosecutor Barry Jonas played the major role in the case of the Holy Land Five, in which leaders of a Palestinian Muslim charity were convicted of providing material aid to terrorism. They were sentenced to many decades in prison, based on alleged donations to the same Gaza-based charities that the U.S. government donated to, and based on the secret testimony of an agent of the Israeli state. Jonas has taken over the current investigation into the 23 anti-war activists.

Hatem Abudayyeh, a Palestinian community activist in Chicago whose home was raided by the FBI in 2010, is still waiting for his belongings to be returned by the U.S. Attorney’s office. Abudayyeh said, “The U.S. Attorney’s office has continued this witch hunt for over two years. It’s time to publicly exonerate us and admit that they found absolutely no ‘material support for terrorists,’ as they allege, but only constitutionally-protected opposition to U.S. foreign policy and support for oppressed people in Palestine, Colombia and beyond.”

Joe Iosbaker, another one of the Chicago activists whose home was subjected to a dawn raid by 25 FBI agents in 2010, said, “With the case of Aaron Swartz, the net activist who committed suicide last week under intimidation by Boston’s U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, there is growing awareness of this bullying by prosecutors.”

The Committee to Stop FBI Repression is urges people to call John Marshall Law School Dean John Corkery at 312-987-2352 and tell him that Patrick Fitzgerald should not be honored in any way.

#ChicagoIL #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #CommitteeAgainstPoliticalRepression #USAttorneyPatrickFitzgerald

Solidarity Statement against the raids and grand jury

On Wednesday July 25th, the FBI conducted a series of coordinated raids against activists in Portland, Olympia, and Seattle. They subpoenaed several people to a special federal grand jury, and seized computers, black clothing and anarchist literature. This comes after similar raids in Seattle in July and earlier raids of squats in Portland.

Though the FBI has said that the raids are part of a violent crime investigation, the truth is that the federal authorities are conducting a political witch-hunt against anarchists and others working toward a more just, free, and equal society. The warrants served specifically listed anarchist literature as evidence to be seized, pointing to the fact that the FBI and police are targeting this group of people because of their political ideas. Pure and simple, these raids and the grand jury hearings are being used to intimidate people whose politics oppose the state’s agenda. During a time of growing economic and ecological crises that are broadly affecting people across the world, it is an attempt to push back any movement towards creating a world that is humane, one that meets every person’s needs rather than serving only the interests of the rich.

This attack does not occur in a vacuum. Around the country and around the world, people have been rising up and resisting an economic system that puts the endless pursuit of profit ahead of the basic needs of humanity and the Earth. From the Arab Spring to the Occupy movement to now Anaheim, people are taking to the streets. In each of these cases, the state has responded with brutal political repression. This is not a coincidence. It is a long-term strategy by state agencies to stop legitimate political challenges to a status quo that exploits most of the world’s people.

We, the undersigned, condemn this and all other political repression. While we may have differences in ideology or chose to use different tactics, we understand that we are in a shared struggle to create a just, free, and liberated world, and that we can only do this if we stand together. We will not let scare tactics or smear campaigns divide us, intimidate us, or stop us from organizing and working for a better world.

No more witch-hunts! An injury to one is an injury to all.

Signed:

Committee Against Political Repression Freedom Archives Sacramento Prisoner Support Committee to Stop FBI Repression Critical Resistance Stop the Injunctions Coalition National Jericho Movement for Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War Civil Liberties Defense Center We Are Oregon Portland Jobs with Justice Rose City Cop Watch Bayan-USA Pacific Northwest Region Portland Central America Solidarity Committee (PCASC) Red Spark (Kasama) Earth First! Journal collective Repeal Coalition 1st of May Anarchist Alliance Black Unity Movement The Institute for Anarchist Studies Connect the Dots Oregon Jericho Parasol Climate Collective Portland Anarchist Black Cross Right to Survive Right to Dream 2 Rosehips Medic Collective Communities United Against Police Brutality The Radical Anti-Capitalist Caucus, of Occupy Portland Students on Strike Organizing Committee Autonomous Workers’ Group Occupy Oakland Anti Repression Committee Oakland Occupy Patriarchy Oakland Occupy Legal East Bay Solidarity Network Portland Animal Defense League Cascadians Against War PDX Bike Swarm Northbay Movement for a Democratic Society Solano Peace and Justice Coalition Solano Peace and Freedom Party Northbay Uprising Radio Collective MN Anti-War Committee Peoples’ Action for Rights and Community Redwood Curtain CopWatch Occupy Eureka Arizona Prison Watch All Power to the Positive podcast Justice for Palestinians, San Jose, CA OccupyLV Culture of Resistance Family & Friends of Daniel McGowan Blazing Arrow Organization Portland International Socialist Organization Anti-Racist Action-LA/People Against Racist Terror The Portland World Citizens’ United Front The Wild Poppies Collective Everglades Earth First! The Center For A Stateless Society Black Orchid Collective Hella503 Collective Portland Rising Tide Laughing Horse Book and Film Collective Occupy 4 Prisoners, Oakland Night Heron Grassroots Activist Center Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition New York Taskforce for Political Prisoners The North American Anarchist Studies Network submedia.tv Cleveland 4 Support Group Freedom Socialist Party Socialist Action Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma County Justice for Randy L. Dixon Rivera & Family Peace Resource Center Occupy Washington DC Occupy Peace House DC BDS LA for Justice in Palestine The American Iranian Friendship Committee NYC Jericho Movement Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee, NYC Chapter New Direction Fest Socialist Viewpoint Magazine Bay Area United Against War Newsletter Al-Nakba Awareness Project Social Democrats USA-Socialist Party, USA The Young Social Democrats-Young Peoples’ Socialist League Alliance for Global Justice Nicaragua Network Campaign for Labor Rights New York City Labor Against the War Labor for Palestine Libertalia Autonomous Space Community Futures Collective The International Coalition to Free the Angola 3 Workers World Party International Action Center East Bay Saturday Dialogues Soa Watch South Florida Socialist Viewpoint #OPDX WORKERS ACTION Occupy Kalamazoo Good Morning Revolution Wandering Llama Press Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Social Justice Committee Occupy Denver Citizens Against Corruption Mutant Legal Collective NYC The Northampton (MA) Committee to Stop the Wars South Chicago ABC Zine Distro Defending Dissent Foundation Occupy Seattle Street Medics Vashon Women In Black Veterans For Peace, Linus Pauling Chapter 132 Organic Consumers Association World Can’t Wait Internationalist Prison Books Collective Collective A-GoGo Alliance of the Libertarian Left of New England Earth First! Prisoner Support Project The Mineapolis Autonomous Radical Space (MARS) Collective Wensday Media Distro The Alice Committee Liberty Tree Foundation Grand Jury Resistance Project Alliance for Peace and Justice of Western Massachusetts Welfare Rights Committee (Mpls/St. Paul, MN) Socialist Organizer Occupy LCC (Lane Community College) Phoenix Class War Council The Wingnut Anarchist Collective Richmond Copwatch the ART lab The People’s Tribunal (SF Bay Area) San Jose Peace & Justice Center Citizens for Legitimate Government New York Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition Unite Left Review Anarchy-1 radio Wisconsin Bail Out The People Movement Queers Without Borders Olympia Coalition for a Fair Budget Charm City Anarchist Black Cross Blue Heron Infoshop Portland Books to Prisoners Moveon Desert Council Progressive Democrats Of America Desert Chapter Ocv Occupy Colorado Springs Support Vegans in the Prison System Denver Anarchist Black Cross Twin Cities IWW General Defense Committee Local 14 Decolonize PDX Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Animal Defense League of Salt Lake City Seattle Communist Study Group Our World In Depth Grupo El Heraldo The Portland Solidarity Network Portland IWW Workers Solidarity Alliance Occupy New Haven NYC Anarchist Black Cross Pilipino Association of Workers and Immigrants CODEPINK LI, Women for Peace OccupyWallSt.org News and Letters Committees MN Peace Action Coalition Progressive Global Commons Communities For Justice And Peace Peace Action of San Mateo County Fighting Union Caucus-Iowa No Biomass Burn (Washington State) Girl Army Self Defense People of Faith CT The Phoenix Commune Modesto Anarcho Crew May 1st Coalition 4 Worker & Immigrant Rights occupy syracuse Oakland Occubus Committee Oakland Assembly of Unemployed NATO 5 Support Committee South Bay Committee Against Political Repression CEO Pipe Organs/Golden Ponds Farm our developing world American Muslims for Palestine People’s Community Medics Responsible Marijuana Project Austin Prisoner Support CT-ABC Teamster Defense Guard Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights Prison Activist Resource Center Cascadia Earth First The Purple Thistle Centre SOAW-LA Burning Books The MOVE Organization Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace Freedom Road Socialist Organization Chicago Committee Against Political Repression International Action Center Olympia Students for a Democratic Society Seattle Young People’s Project Seattle Copwatch Bayou La Rose October 22 Coalition To Stop Police Brutality – Seattle Affiliate AK Press Third coast conspiracy opdxlive.org- the occupy portland livestream team Common Struggle Libertarian Communist Federation National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms International Action Center Seattle Austin People’s Legal Collective Occupy Together Steampunk Magazine Combustion Books Berkeley Copwatch Edmonton anarchist bookfair collective No Nukes Action Committee

#UnitedStates #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #CommitteeAgainstPoliticalRepression #politicalRepression #PacificNWGrandJuryResisters #PoliticalPrisoners

Fight Back! interviewed Newland Smith, a member of the Committee Against Political Repression in Chicago, the local affiliate of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. Smith led a campaign within the national convention of the Episcopal Church to take a stand for civil liberties in the face of repression of Arabs, Muslims, Palestinians and peace activists. The convention adopted a resolution expressing concern, which will become part of the Episcopalian legislative agenda. There are 30 to 40 members of U.S. Congress who are practicing Episcopalians.

As the first national religious denomination to adopt such a resolution, this is a very important development and sends a strong message to President Obama and Attorney General Holder that opposition to political repression is spreading.

Fight Back!: You’ve been involved in the peace movement for a while. Tell us about your history.

Newland Smith: I became involved in the peace movement in the 1980s when I became an active member of the Chicago chapter of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship. One of the members was Michael Yasutake, a Japanese American Episcopal priest who was very active in a ministry to political prisoners. I also am one of the founding members of the Episcopal Diocese’s Anti-Racism team which came together in 1999 in the struggle to dismantle structures of institutional racism. And as a Deputy to the Episcopal Church’s General Convention since 1988, I have served on the National and International Affairs Legislative Committee a number of times and have entered into the debates on social justice resolutions.

Fight Back!: You are also very active in Palestine solidarity work. How did you get involved?

Smith: In 1983 I was invited to serve as a library consultant for Saint George’s College in East Jerusalem. Seven years later, during the week of events celebrating the new college building, 60 of the participants went to Gaza City to the Anglican Ahli Arab Hospital and saw wounded Palestinians being brought into that 60-bed hospital. We were shown a bullet taken from a wounded Palestinian and saw that the bullet had been made in Pennsylvania. A director of one of the NGOs in Gaza Strip charged those of us from the United States to return home and as members of a democracy work to change our country’s policy on Israel/Palestine.

Fight Back!: You presented a resolution at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church held in Indianapolis this month. Could you talk about what happened?

Smith: As a member of the Episcopal Church’s Standing Commission on Social Justice and Public Policy, I brought up the attacks on American civil liberties at the Commission’s meeting in the Fall of 2010 and a year later drafted a resolution with suggestions from several of the other members. The resolution with explanation was incorporated into the Commission’s report which appeared in the “Blue Book,” a compilation of reports with resolutions from the Commissions and Boards of the Episcopal Church for action by General Convention which meets every three years. The resolution, “American Civil Liberties,” (A079) was assigned to the National and International Affairs Legislative Committee, of which I was a member even though I was not a member of the sub-committee that worked on this resolution. As the originator of the resolution, I spoke to it at the hearing at one of the committee’s meetings. It had already been made clear to me that the Episcopal Church through its General Convention would not get into a Grand Jury proceeding. So I took the high road, i.e., attacks on American civil liberties, which was eventually heard by the subcommittee working on this resolution. The substitute resolution, which made no mention of the FBI raids on the 23 anti-war and peace activists, was approved by the Committee, was placed on the daily Consent Calendar in the House of Deputies which meant there would be no debate on the floor of that House, passed, and the next day the House of Bishops concurred. The resolution is now in the hands of the Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations, the Church’s lobbying group in Washington.

Fight Back!: What was the message of the resolution that you submitted?

Smith: The message of the original resolution was that General Convention express its concern of the use of the two acts and Supreme Court decision which allowed a federal district court to issue Grand Jury subpoenas and the chilling effect these subpoenas have on God’s call to peacemaking as well as their impact on Arab, Palestinian and Muslim communities of the United States. The resolution is to be sent to President Obama and Attorney General Holder.

Fight Back!: Did you find support from other delegates?

Smith: I had the support of the three Bishops and 10 Deputies who were members of the Standing Commission. One Deputy who is a lawyer for a legal aid organization in the South Bronx also spoke at the hearing on the resolution. But because the resolution was not debated on the floor of the House of Deputies, it is difficult to judge how much support this resolution had in the House of Deputies, although the Bishops did vote to concur with the resolution.

Fight Back!: The resolution was amended through the convention process. Could you tell us about that?

Smith: I addressed this earlier. In short, instead of citing the Grand Jury subpoenas to the 23 anti-war and peace activists, the resolution cites the use of the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, the Patriot Act, and the Supreme Court decision, “Holder vs. Humanitarian Law Project,” to chill God’s call to peacemaking.

Fight Back!: What lessons should people resisting repression take from your experience?

Smith: To change institutional policy, one must work through the structures of the institution. In the case of the Episcopal Church, this is the General Convention. In other words, organizing is essential. I was fortunate in that I was a long time Deputy, a member of one of the Standing Commissions and was assigned to the legislative committee that considered the resolution.

#ChicagoIL #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #CommitteeAgainstPoliticalRepression #FightBackNews #TrinityEpiscopalChurch

With food, drink and music, the hall in the mainly Chicano/Mexicano community of La Villita was filled with the sounds of a party. The mood in the room was indeed jubilant when Montes appeared via Skype.

“I want to thank all of you in Chicago for the protests at the Federal Building, the statements of support from the community organizations, the teach-ins, the phone calls, the petition signatures gathered and the fundraising,” Montes said. “This is your victory as well as mine.”

Present at the event were a number of Latino activists, including Maria Pizarro, who was a victim of political repression as a young woman. Montes gave her a special greeting. As a Chilean, she was captured by the military junta of General Augusto Pinochet on Sept. 11, 1973. She was released as a result of an international campaign. She has been an active part of Montes’ defense effort.

#ChicagoIL #CarlosMontes #CommitteeAgainstPoliticalRepression #politicalRepression

Chicago, IL – While the eyes of the world are on Chicago and the upcoming NATO summit, 40 protesters spoke out May 16 against the FBI frame-up of Carlos Montes, demanding the charges against him be dropped. Montes is a prominent Los Angeles Chicano civil rights and immigrant rights activist and a leader in the anti-war movement.

Supporters say the charges against Montes are politically motivated. “Stop the frame-ups, stop the lies; Carlos Montes committed no crimes!” echoed off the walls of the Dirksen Federal Building. The Chicago Coalition Against Political Repression protests there because that is where a Chicago grand jury is investigating 23 anti-war and international solidarity activists. The case against Montes stems from this same investigation. The group held signs and chanted, “Hands off Carlos Montes, drop the charges now!” and “Opposing war is not a crime!”

Jess Sundin, of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR) said, “The attack on Carlos is an attack on the anti-war movement and is linked to the FBI repression of myself and other anti-war activists who organized the mass protests outside the 2008 Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota.” Sundin invited the crowd to join the massive rally and march against NATO planned for Sunday, May 20 at the Petrillo Bandshell in Grant Park. Montes will speak at the rally and will join a large contingent near the front of the march, with the CSFR as well as allies from the Palestinian, Filipino, Puerto Rican and other communities.

Muhammad Sankari, of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network said, “We are here at the door step of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and Assistant Barry Jonas, men who have been making their careers by attacking and repressing the Arab and Muslim communities in the U.S. These are men who lock up our community leaders for providing backpacks and shoes to Palestinian orphans.” In his remarks, he praised the contributions of Carlos Montes, alongside those of Palestinian hunger strikers, Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar Lopez and many others.

Magda Canstañeda of CAPR lead chants early in the rally and then addressed the crowd in Spanish and English. She warned that if activists fail to defend Montes and the other targeted activists, then everyone is at risk for repression.

When Sara Flounders spoke for the International Action Center, she praised Carlos Montes and the 23 grand jury resisters for their strength in the face of political repression.

One of the 23 activists targeted by the FBI and grand jury investigation of anti-war and international solidarity activists, Hatem Abudayyeh, closed the rally by asking everyone present to take out their phones and call Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley at 213-974-3512. Several callers got busy signals, but pledged to keep calling. A few got through and demanded District Attorney Steve Cooley “Drop the charges against Carlos Montes!”

#ChicagoIL #CarlosMontes #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #CommitteeAgainstPoliticalRepression #ChicagoNATOSummit #PoliticalRepression

Chicago, IL – Veterans of the Chicano movement gathered in Casa Aztlan, Feb. 26, to welcome Carlos Montes to the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. The event was hosted by Magda Castaneda, an activist who participated in many of the struggles of Pilsen, including the fight in the 1970s to open the famous political space.

Aztec dancers gave a traditional blessing to Montes, a founder of the Brown Berets, and said that his activism in East Los Angeles demanding Chicano Studies and quality high schools had helped to make the establishment Casa Aztlan possible.

Montes was also welcomed with spoken word poetry by La Pixie, which linked the Puerto Rican struggle for independence with the Chicano struggle for liberation.

In the welcome, Occupy El Barrio activist Crystal Vance Guerra spoke about how the Occupy movement has taken inspiration from veteran activists like Carlos Montes. She said they have tried to make connections to issues of racist political repression and immigrant rights to the latest Occupy upsurge.

Hatem Abudayyeh gave an update of the FBI raids and the 23 activists who all refused to participate in a grand jury about supposed ‘material support for foreign terrorist organizations.’ He said that the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net) has been told to expect indictments . Particularly chilling was when Hatem explained that the current prosecutor on the case is Jonas Barry, the same man who headed up the FBI's case against the Holy Land 5. That case is an example of the unjust targeting of the Arab and Muslim community – made more unbelievable by the 65-year prison sentences some of the people are currently serving.

Montes’ presentation added more details to what people already knew about his upcoming trial. He explained how the FBI was claiming that a charge from a 1969 demonstration and strike at East L.A. College was being used as the pretext to claim that he somehow had a current firearm code violation for several guns he had bought at a local sporting goods store over the past decade. The legal record does not support the FBI claim that the 1969 charge was a felony. In fact both sides agree that no prison time whatsoever was served in that incident.

Montes described how violently the SWAT team entered his home in the 5:00 a.m. raid. He talked about how an FBI agent attempted to question him about Freedom Road Socialist Organization while he was in the back of the police car. Many in the audience had been to the Republican National Convention protests in Minnesota in 2008 along with Montes and immediately recognized his case as a political witch hunt.

The event raised hundreds of dollars and gathered many new people who want to help make buttons, shirts, collect solidarity statements and plan more support events for Montes, and to the efforts of the Chicago-area Committee Against Political Repression.

#ChicagoIL #HatemAbudayyeh #CarlosMontes #BrownBerets #CommitteeAgainstPoliticalRepression #CasaAztlan #PoliticalRepression

On Oct. 6, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald gave a talk entitled, “Prosecuting Terrorism in the Courts” to a meeting of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) in Chicago. While 20 people gathered outside to protest, three members of the Committee Against Political Repression went inside to question Fitzgerald directly.

Fitzgerald is in charge of the grand jury that has subpoenaed anti-war and international solidarity activists.

*Fight Back!* interviewed the three who went inside: **Bill Chambers**, **Newland Smith** and **Sarah Simmons**.

---

**Fight Back!:** You went to see U.S. Attorney Pat Fitzgerald speak this morning. What was his talk about?

**Newland Smith:** The talk focused on the much improved job that law enforcement is doing in fighting terrorism now that criminal investigators and intelligence investigators can share information. He credited the Patriot Act for taking that “wall” down between these two groups so now “it doesn't matter what's motivating an investigator to share information...we can just decide whether to use criminal case techniques or intelligence case techniques.” Of course, Fitzgerald didn't comment on how the mixing of criminal and intelligence investigations can easily lead to free speech and dissent being criminalized and treated with “intelligence” techniques as if they are connected to terrorism.

**Fight Back!:** Why did you go? What questions did you want him to address?

**Sarah Simmons:** I went because I thought it a rare opportunity to get up close and ask Fitzgerald questions to make him squirm. My question would have been “What is your office doing to safeguard civil liberties in the grand jury investigation of peace and solidarity activists, and how do you justify the taxpayers' dollars being spent in this way?” Apparently his conscience is not bothered at all by what he does. His summation of the Patriot Act: It's not really bad and he doesn't know why people get so fired up about it; it just enables law enforcement to work more efficiently. I was also struck by how in awe the group seemed to be of Fitzgerald.

**Bill Chambers:** The AJC promoted Fitzgerald as this effective prosecutor of terrorists “including Osama Bin Laden for the 1998 African Embassy bombings and the 1995 bombing of the World Trade Center.” I wanted the audience to know that he is better known for the year-long grand jury investigation of 23 anti-war and international solidarity activists.

**Fight Back!:** Were you able to ask your questions? How did he respond?

**Bill Chambers:** I was able to ask this question. “There has been criticism of you and your office by ten U.S. Representatives, including Jan Schakowsky in Chicago, that the investigation of anti-war and human rights activists is suppressing their freedom of speech and right to dissent. How do you respond to this criticism?”

His response – “I can't even comment on the existence of such a case, but I can assure you my office is doing nothing to suppress dissent. There were even people out in front today protesting when I came in and they have the right to do that. Look around, there are people protesting everywhere – if I was trying to suppress dissent I would not get anything done.”

My follow-up – “Those protesters you are talking about haven't been subpoenaed to a grand jury and had their homes invaded and property taken. So you don't agree with Jan Schakowsky and the other U.S. reps’ criticisms then?”

His response: “People make all these criticisms of me and I can't respond. It's like I have duct tape across my mouth. How do you think that makes me feel?”

**Fight Back!:** Anything else you want to add?

**Bill Chambers:** I left the presentation the same time Fitzgerald did and caught up to him as he was waiting at the elevator with several others. I referred to his duct tape comment and asked him how he would feel if he was being accused in an investigation of supporting terrorists. He said no one is being accused of supporting terrorism and I reminded him that his office has acknowledged that several people are part of an investigation into material support for terrorists.

I was able to ride down all 29 floors in the elevator with him and some folks from the AJC. I continued to question him about the impact of his investigation on people who have had their reputations damaged, their homes invaded and some their bank accounts closed – all from an investigation he says doesn't exist.

Exiting the elevator, one of the AJC event organizers made a special point of saying “We are happy you are here in Chicago.” It made me think that there are 23 activists, ten U.S. reps, 800,000 union members, and 12,000 people who have signed the defend dissent pledge that don't share that same appreciation.

#ChicagoIL #Interviews #September24FBIRaids #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #CommitteeAgainstPoliticalRepression #USAttorneyPatrickFitzgerald

Chicago, IL – 1000 people rallied and marched here March 19 to mark the eighth anniversary of the war in Iraq. A large contingent was organized by the Committee Against Political Repression (CAPR), which included many of the 23 persons subpoenaed to a grand jury for because of their anti-war and international solidarity efforts. Chants and signs carried the message that activism is not a crime. Seven of those subpoenaed are Palestinians. A large group of youth, mostly Arabs, carried a 60-foot long Palestinian flag behind the CAPR banner to show the unity of the Arab and Muslim communities with the fight to resist FBI and grand jury repression.

Stephanie Weiner, whose home was raided by 25 agents last fall, was the first speaker at the rally at the end of the march. She thanked the anti-war movement for six months of support for the targeted activists, calling out, “Courage, courage, courage,” as the watchword for those standing up to the repression. She made it clear that she and the other 22 people will continue to stand on the side of the people suffering through U.S. wars and occupations.

Several speakers condemned attacks against Libya. Ironically, just as the march was ending, the U.S. launched a massive cruise missile attack on Libya. As a result, March 19 will go down in history as the start date of two wars on Arab nations.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #Afghanistan #Iraq #IraqWar #AfghanistanWar #CommitteeAgainstPoliticalRepression #Libya #LibyaWar

Chicago, IL – More than 100 anti-war, labor and solidarity activists rallied and picketed here, Dec. 6. The emergency action was organized by the Chicago-based Committee Against Political Repression after the FBI delivered or declared its intention to give federal grand jury subpoenas to solidarity and anti-war activists in Chicago the week before.

On Dec. 3, the FBI contacted Sarah Smith, a young woman who travelled to Palestine last summer. Though the FBI agent who called Smith said he merely wanted to ask her a few questions, she later found out through a lawyer that she was to be subpoenaed. Sarah’s father, veteran anti-war and solidarity activist Stan Smith, read a statement on Sarah’s behalf and also made his own statement against the harassment of his daughter.

Sarah Smith spoke about her trip to the occupied West Bank and the irony that the U.S. claims to stand for peace but is opposed to Americans travelling to learn the experiences of the Palestinian people. She thanked the Committee Against Political Repression for support in the face of this repression. Stan Smith demanded that the U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and the FBI agent who phoned Sarah apologize to his daughter for this harassment.

Before and after the speeches, people marched in the spirited picket line despite the frigid temperature, chanting “Opposing war is not a crime!”

Stephanie Weiner, one of the 14 activists originally subpoenaed in September, reminded the crowd that three of those activists are awaiting new grand jury court dates. If these women – Sarah Martin, Tracy Molm and Anh Pham, all from Minnesota – refuse to take part in the U.S. Attorney's fishing expedition, they may be held in contempt and jailed in Chicago for the life of the grand jury. If this happens, the women would be held in the Metropolitan Correction Center in Chicago’s Loop.

Protests like the one tonight show that the anti-war movement in Chicago will not be silenced, despite the threats of jail time and the ongoing witch hunt.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #Palestine #September24FBIRaids #grandJury #CommitteeAgainstPoliticalRepression