Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression.

The Committee to Stop FBI Repression is calling on organizations across the U.S. to join a national day of action on June 27 and demand that the charges be dropped at once. Organizations, national and local, are releasing statements of support for Alejandro Orellana and supporters will call into the U.S. attorney’s office to voice this demand.

Alejandro Orellana is an activist in the Chicano-led organization Centro CSO and was raided by the FBI for protesting deportations in Los Angeles. He faces two bogus federal charges, conspiracy to commit disorder which carries up to 5 years in prison, and a charge of aiding and abetting civil disorder. On June 27, Alejandro Orellana, an immigrant rights activist and leader in Centro Community Service Organization, of East Los Angeles, will have his preliminary hearing and first court appearance.

Orellana has done nothing wrong. We believe that protesting ICE raids and deportations is not a crime. Orellana has been a leading member of the Chicano-led organization Centro Community Service Organization, or Centro CSO, for over 10 years. He has been public and forthright in organizing against ICE raids and the Trump administrations. His activism and visible resistance to Trump and ICE serves as a model and inspiration for us all.

It is for this reason and no other that he is being targeted. To protect our First Amendment rights, our freedom of speech, and our right to say no to the ICE operations and the Trump administration, we believe it is critical to defend Alejandro Orellana.

We are calling on supporters in all cities and towns to:

1. Organize a protest for June 27 at your federal courthouse to demand that the U.S. government drop the charges on Alejandro Orellana.

2. Call U.S. Attorney Bilal Essayli on June 27 at 213-894-2400 and demand that the charges be dropped.

3. If you are in an organization, release a solidarity statement to demand that the charges be dropped.

4. Donate to the legal fund: Venmo @CentroCSO or Zelle CSO at: +1 (323) 580-3764

Follow his case and find flyers and more for Alejandro Orellana at www.stopfbi.org.

#LosAngelesCA #CA #ImmigrantRights #StopFBIRepression

On Tuesday, April 18, a federal grand jury in Tampa, Florida indicted four U.S. citizens and three Russian nationals with charges of “acting as agents of the Russian government within the United States without prior notification.” The U.S. citizens indicted are: Omali Yeshitela, chairman and founder of the African Peoples Socialist Party and the Uhuru Movement (APSP); Penny Joanne Hess, a leader of APSP; Jesse Nevel, a member of APSP; and Augustus C. Romain Jr., aka Gazi Kodzo, a former leader of APSP. If convicted, they face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The Russians indicted are Aleksandr Ionov, founder and president of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR); Aleksey Sukhodolov, and Yegor Popov. This is a repressive escalation by the U.S. state, following up on the FBI raids of July 29, 2022, which targeted Yeshitela's residence and an Uhuru/APSP office.

Freedom Road Socialist Organization unequivocally condemns these indictments. These activists are being targeted for their political positions, not due to any actual wrongdoing. We oppose all efforts by the U.S. government to target activists in any progressive movement in this country. We demand that these charges be dropped immediately. We call for an end to investigations, political harassment, and threats against activists and our movements.

The DOJ is alleging that those indicted were “working on behalf of the Russian government and in conjunction with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to conduct a multi-year foreign malign influence campaign in the United States.” The State Attorney's press release mentions an alleged video conference in which APSP members and Ionov discussed support for independence for the People's Republic of Donetsk and that fascist ideology is prevalent among parts of the Ukrainian military. Apparently, the U.S. Attorney wants to make it a crime to disagree with the U.S. State Department on geopolitical matters.

At a time when the US is engaged in an imperialist proxy war with Russia in the Ukraine, this year's indictments, following up on last year's FBI raids, have all the makings of a witch hunt. All progressive people should oppose any attempt by the FBI and police to attack people's movements and organizations. We must always be vigilant about defending our democratic rights to organize and speak out against injustice – including communicating with activists in other countries and building international solidarity. It should also be said this repression comes in the context of an upsurge of struggle in the Black liberation movement.

Freedom Road Socialist Organization is committed to pushing back against this repression and we stand in solidarity with those under attack.

We know from experience how importance resistance to repression is. On September 24, 2010 the FBI raided seven homes of anti-war activists and the office of the Twin Cities Anti-War committee. All told, twenty-three activists were subpoenaed to a Chicago-based grand jury that claimed to be investigating “material support for terrorism.” 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. A national defense campaign defeated most of these attacks.

Drop the charges!

Hands off our movements!

#TampaFL #PoliticalRepression #StopFBIRepression

Minneapolis, MN – More than 50 supporters of civil liberties join a protest at the office of Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar under the slogan, “Say no to NSA surveillance.” The protest was organized by Anti-War Committee and the MN Committee to Stop FBI Repression, and had the backing of the Twin Cites peace and justice community.

It has recently been exposed that the majority, if not all, of U.S. telephone calls are monitored by the NSA (National Security Agency) and have been for seven years. Also, the U.S. government is monitoring emails through a secret NSA program called PRISM. Edward Snowden is the whistleblower who made these revelations possible.

Misty Rowan of the Anti-War Committee told the crowd, “Edward Snowden is a hero for risking his life to shed light on this total surveillance state and sparking this conversation. We should thank him, right after we hold some people in Congress responsible for their actions and their compliance – people like Senator Klobuchar who is on the Senate Judiciary committee but doesn't think we should have been told any of this!”

Both Minnesota Senators, Klobuchar and Al Franken, have told the press that they knew of the NSA surveillance, yet aren’t concerned.

Mick Kelly, of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression said, “All of us should be inspired by the courage and determination of Edward Snowden. He is an example to all of us. The U.S. government is beset by resistance at home and abroad. It is like a frightened giant lashing out with repression and spying.”

Kelly is one of the anti-war and international solidarity activists who were raided by the FBI and called before a grand jury in 2010.

#MinneapolisMN #politicalRepression #NSA #StopFBIRepression #CSFR