Thursday February 28, 2013

Early on the morning of Thursday, February 21st, U.S. Marshals arrested Dane Rossman at his home in Tucson, AZ on a provisional arrest warrant issued by the U.S. Attorney’s office, acting on a Canadian extradition request. Dane is one of five Americans sought in Canada for alleged offenses stemming from the G20 summit.

On June 26th and 27th, 2010, tens of thousands of individuals gathered in Toronto to protest the G20 summit. The G20 is a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from nineteen powerful countries plus the European Union. During the 2010 summit, Canadian authorities specifically targeted people involved in migrant justice, indigenous solidarity and anarchist organizing for prosecution. Dane was arrested along with over 1,100 other protesters in the largest mass arrest in Canada’s history. He was processed and released without charges. Now, three years later, he is facing three charges related to alleged property damage.

Dane is a dedicated social justice advocate, humanitarian aid volunteer, and student. He has spent the past several years in Arizona providing humanitarian relief on the US/Mexico border, and organizing against racist profiling laws and mass incarceration.

The extradition of an individual from the U.S. to Canada for property damage is almost unheard of. Dane’s extradition is political in nature because it is meant to create fear and criminalize dissent. As long as global institutions exploit our communities for profit, people will cross nation-state boundaries to protest and make known the suffering in their home communities.

Dane is currently being held at the federal Corrections Corporation of America facility in Florence, AZ, a private prison where most of his fellow inmates are being held on immigration related offenses. As Dane’s supporters and friends, we extend solidarity to all those who face state repression, those in prison due to G20 protest charges, and those incarcerated for crossing nation-state boundaries. Dane has an extradition hearing set for April 16th, 2013.

Check back for further updates on his case and please consider donating to his legal defense fund.