Speak Out Against FBI and Grand Jury Repression and Intimidation:
National Day of Action!
4:30 to 6:00 pm: Protest outside FBI offices at 26 Federal Plaza, Downtown Manhattan (Broadway side)
6:00 to 6:30 pm: March to Justice Department at 1 St. Andrew's Plaza, (East Side of Foley Square & Centre Street, Sourth of Pearl Street)
Sponsored by: NYC Working Group to Stop FBI Repression
Endorsed by: Brooklyn For Peace
FBI raids, and subpoenas to the Grand Jury, threaten the First Amendment rights of all of us.
Last September, the FBI raided homes of anti-war and international solidarity activists in Chicago and Minneapolis. Doors were kicked in during the early morning raids and personal belongings including childrens' artwork, posters of Martin Luther King, Jr, were taken, as well as cell phones, computers and boxes of paper records. Fourteen activists from Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan were subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury; however all fourteen announced that they would not participate, and those subpoenas were subsequently cancelled.
In December, the FBI re-activated the subpoenas for three of these activists, and also delivered nine new subpoenas in Chicago to anti-war and Palestine solidarity activists, ordering them to appear before a Grand Jury. They face immediate jail time if they do not cooperate.
The FBI claims that evidence is being collected regarding the possible 'material support' of terrorism. The 'material support' statute is so broadly written that it can, and does, criminalize international peace-building activities whose only connection to terrorism is to fight against it.
The Justice Department's own Inspector General has released a report documenting political surveillance by the FBI. We protest this continuing pattern, whose purpose is to intimidate and suppress dissent rather than in any way protecting U.S. citizens.
Questions? Call 718-624-5921 or e-mail bfp@brooklynpeace.org
