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.

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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.

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Chicago, IL – More than 60 people gathered at the Greek Consulate here, Jan. 19, in protest of the Greek anti-immigrant group, Golden Dawn. Golden Dawn has carried out violent attacks on immigrants and spouts fascist rhetoric. There were protests in Athens and in other cities around the world as part of a day of solidarity with recent victims of racist attacks in Greece. In Chicago, protesters included immigrant rights activists, Greek Americans and gay activists.

Joe Iosbaker, a Chicago anti-war activist and member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, gave the following speech at the rally:

“I'm one of 23 anti-war activists subpoenaed to a grand jury under suspicion of providing material support for terrorism – and facing 15 years in prison if ever charged and convicted.

For the U.S., the world is changing. The people of the poor nations hate the empire and are getting out from under it. After 911, the rulers here thought they could put U.S. corporations back on top through war, invasion and the slaughter of Arab and Muslim people. But that didn’t work – they are losing one war after another.

Here, then, the rulers promote Islamophobia, with the Tea Party as the anti-immigrant, anti-Arab and Muslim party.

In Greece, the workers have decided to kick over the rich class. What does the Greek ruling class do? They promote racist attacks on immigrants by the Golden Dawn.

More and more in the U.S., we’re seeing that repression comes with reaction. This is what happened during the Cold War, when the socialist camp threatened U.S. imperialism. Here at home they went for the communists. Now, as the nations of the oil rich Middle East challenge them, they are coming after Arabs and Muslims in the U.S. In the course of their War on Muslims and Arabs, they dragged in the 23 anti-war and international solidarity activists, and Carlos Montes in Los Angeles.

People tell me, ‘It’s your ideas that got you into trouble.’ And we agree with them. We were targeted because we didn’t just oppose imperialist wars; we supported the oppressed people resisting war.

Like the Greek workers and immigrants, we have to beat back the attacks and we have to continue our resistance. Tomorrow, we’ll be protesting outside the Hyatt on Wacker Drive because Pat Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney that sent the FBI to raid our homes, is being honored by John Marshall Law School. Please join us. And on Thursday, we’ll be protesting at UIC on 828 South Wolcott, where Fitzgerald is being honored as well, with an appointment to the Board of Trustees. We’ll be there at 3:30.”

#ChicagoIL #antiimmigrantAttacks #antiwar #USAttorneyPatrickFitzgerald #GoldenDawn #fascism

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

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**.

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**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.

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