Minneapolis, MN – An important victory came today, March 16, in the fight for justice for Jamar Clark, who was killed by Minneapolis police in November. For months, the family and community have been fighting for prosecution of those police, and saying no to the grand jury that Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman had said he would use to bring charges in the case. Today, Freeman announced that he has decided not to send this case to the grand jury, and to end the use of grand juries in police shootings in the county.
On Nov. 24, a Ferguson grand jury decision cleared police officer Darren Wilson of the murder of Michael Brown. Michael Brown was an 18-year-old African American youth shot and killed by the white police officer as he walked to his grandmother’s house in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9. Witnesses stated that Brown, who was unarmed, had his hands up in the air when officer Darren Wilson shot and killed him. With blatant disrespect to Michael Brown, his family and the neighborhood, the police left his body lying in the middle of the street for hours after the police killing.
St. Paul, MN – Two Minneapolis anti-war and international solidarity activists will be in federal court, Nov. 1, to demand an end to the government secrecy surrounding their case. Jess Sundin and Mick Kelly are two of the 23 Midwest activists targeted by an investigation that included two years of spying by undercover agents, Sept. 2010 raids of homes and offices in Minneapolis and Chicago by the FBI, and a secret Chicago grand jury.
Minneapolis, MN – Anti-war and civil liberties activists are set to protest Sep. 24, at the Minneapolis Federal Building, at 4:30 pm. They will be demanding an end to the three-year investigation of anti-war and international solidarity activists that began with FBI raids and grand jury subpoenas on September 24, 2010.
Salt Lake City, UT – State-sponsored repression and infiltration of anti-war groups is nothing new. But it can certainly take on new and particularly nasty forms, as Jess Sundin can tell you.
The Committee to Stop FBI Repression stands in solidarity with Northwest activists Katherine Olejnik and Matt Duran, who are currently being imprisoned for refusing to cooperate with a secret grand jury in Seattle. Leah-Lynn Plante was also unjustly jailed for refusing to testify before the grand jury and has been released.
Minneapolis, MN – More than 40 people rallied outside the Federal Building here, August 2, in solidarity with the political activists who have been subpoenaed to a Seattle-based grand jury which is investigating anarchists. The protest coincided with the date that northwest political activists were called to the grand jury.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Minnesota Committee to Stop FBI Repression on repression against Julian Assange.
Minneapolis, MN – Supporters of grand jury resister Jordan Halliday gathered in front of the Federal Courts Building here, Jan 27. On Jan. 10, Jordan began serving out a ten-month prison sentence for refusing to appear before a federal grand jury investigating animal rights activists under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. The protest in Minneapolis was part of a national day of actions to raise awareness about Halliday’s case, the dangers of FBI repression and grand jury injustice. Attending the protest in Minneapolis were Sarah Martin and Jess Sundin, grand jury resisters in the case of 23 international solidarity activists under investigation for supposed material support for terrorism.
Minneapolis, MN – City Council members here signed a letter to Senators Amy Klobuchar, Al Franken and Representative Keith Ellison affirming constitutional rights of anti-war activists subpoenaed and raided by the FBI last year. The Committee to Stop FBI Repression published the letter on its website Nov. 15.
