Chicago, IL – Speaking at a rally of 350 supporters Jan. 25, Sarah Smith explained that being subpoenaed hasn't had the effect that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald wanted. The crowd cheered when she said, “I'm not backing down. In fact, I've been made stronger by the support from all of you to be become more politically active.”

Sarah Smith wanted to see for herself how the Palestinians lived. She traveled last summer with friends on a delegation organized by the Palestine Solidarity Group. For this she was subpoenaed to a grand jury by US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

The protest at the Dirksen Federal Building featured Smith and Maureen Murphy, two of the nine persons in Chicago who were to have appeared before the grand jury today. Murphy read the statement from the group, all of whom had been visited by the FBI in December. The crowd roared loudest when she proclaimed, “We will not participate in this fishing expedition.”

Federal marshals kick press conference out of public press area

Picketing began while a press conference was convened inside the Dirksen Building. However, before the press conference could begin, federal marshals ordered the spokespersons from the Committee Against Political Repression out of the press area. Claiming that only ‘government officials’ can hold press conferences in the federal building, four marshals and Chicago police officers took cameras out of the hands of supporters who were filming or photographing the press conference that was about to get under way. One officer was overheard threatening to issue a citation to an activist for the offense of filming the marshal who took a camera from a trade unionist. As people exited the building to hold the press conference outside, one of the network camera men said, “This has never happened before,” referring to being ejected from the press area.

Movements come together to support resisters

The crowd was lively, with trade unionists marching next to youth from the Puerto Rican Cultural Center school, members of Students for Justice in Palestine and anti-war veterans from the 1960s. Buses full of Palestinian and Puerto Rican youth joined the rally.

Bill Chambers of Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago pointed out that more than 50 organizations had endorsed the protest. Basil Ali of American Muslims for Palestine denounced the repression, but explained that the U.S. attorney and the FBI had failed, because “They have not hurt us; they have made us stronger. They have brought all of our movements together to stand in solidarity with the anti-war activists.”

Speakers also include the president Christine Boardman of SEIU Local 73; Jesse Sharkey, vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union; Ricardo Jimenez, a Puerto Rican activist for the release of political prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera. Jimenez was also a political prisoner for 20 years.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #FBI #September24FBIRaids #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #grandJury #MaureenMurphy

Chicago, IL -75 people entered the lobby of the Dirksen Federal Building here, Dec. 23, to make a statement to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and the FBI. They were there because four more anti-war and international solidarity activists have been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury.

Maureen Murphy, one of those targeted by Fitzgerald with a grand jury date of Jan. 25, made a strong statement to the press:

I have no intention in participating in the government's witch hunt. It is very clear that no crime has been committed and that the government's motivation in issuing these subpoenas is to have us name the names of other activists not only here in the United States, but also in places like Palestine and Colombia, where many of us have traveled to learn about the human rights situations in those places. We can only assume that the U.S. government shares intelligence with the governments of Israel and Colombia, whose repressive military rule the U.S. bankrolls at the taxpayer's expense. And it is essentially a prison sentence or worse for human rights activists in Palestine and Colombia to be singled out in this way. And I have no intention in playing any role in that.

#ChicagoIL #FBI #September24FBIRaids #grandJury #ElectronicIntifada #MaureenMurphy