January 25, 2011

SUPPORTERS OF the right to dissent are turning out this week to defend antiwar, pro-Palestinian and socialist activists who have become targets of federal prosecutors as part of an investigation into supposed "material support of terrorism."

Since September, at least 23 activists in Minneapolis, Chicago and other cities have been issued subpoenas to appear before a federal grand jury.

In a series of raids conducted last September on the homes and offices of members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), Twin Cities Anti-War Committee and a pro-Palestinian organization, FBI agents removed financial records, personal documents--even children's artwork--reportedly as part of an investigation into "material support" of groups on the State Department's list of "designated foreign terrorist organizations." The investigation is alleged to be related to the interaction various activists may have had with groups in Colombia, Lebanon and Palestine.

In a show of solidarity, all of the 14 activists who initially received subpoenas declared that they would refuse to take the stand, invoking their Fifth Amendment rights. The U.S. Attorney's office, in turn, allowed the grand jury term to expire, voiding the subpoenas.

Students rally against FBI intimidation of antiwar and solidarity activists

But in late November, three of the original 14 activists--Minneapolis residents Tracy Molm, Anh Pham and Sarah Martin--were re-subpoenaed under a new grand jury term. The three have been offered immunity from prosecution for their testimony, meaning that if they refuse to testify, they face a civil contempt charge and prison for the rest of the term of the grand jury--well over a year.

In December, prosecutors issued at least six more subpoenas to activists in the Chicago area, including several student activists who had traveled to Palestine last summer, as well as Maureen Clare Murphy, an organizer with the Palestine Solidarity Group in Chicago and managing editor of well-known Electronic Intifada Web site.

These nine activists are being called before the grand jury in Chicago on January 25--and they deserve the support of anyone who stands in defense of civil liberties and the right to free speech.

AS MURPHY explained in a press release in December, she and other activists have been subpoenaed not because they are "supporters of terrorism," but because of "the work we do to end U.S. funding of the Israeli occupation, ending the war in Afghanistan and ending the occupation of Iraq. What is at stake for all of us is our right to dissent and organize to change harmful U.S. foreign policy."

What you can do Join the National Day of Action protest in your city on January 25. Visit the Committee to Stop FBI Repression Web site for a list of events in the U.S. and around the globe, and updates on the case. In Chicago, come to the solidarity rally called for January 25 at 4:30 p.m. at the Dirksen Federal Building, at 219 S. Dearborn. Click here to sign the national petition addressed to Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder in support of the activists.

According to Tracy Molm, one of the activists who was initially subpoenaed in September and has since been re-subpoenaed, the government has been attempting to intimidate their targets into taking the stand. Molm explained to Democracy Now! last month:

Right now, our individual lawyers are being called into meetings with the District Attorney, Fox, in Chicago. They're essentially trying to scare us into talking, into naming names and giving them a case against the movement and against the people that we have worked with historically to fight for justice for the people of Palestine and the people of Colombia.

In addition to these intimidation tactics, activists have identified the undercover agent who reportedly infiltrated their ranks. Going by the name "Karen Sullivan," she reportedly spent more than two-and-a-half years "undercover" in the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee--a group engaged in legal protests that targeted the 2008 Republican National Convention.

According to a report in the Minneapolis City Pages, Sullivan told members of the Anti-War Committee that she was a lesbian single mother who had served in the military and was discharged under "don't ask, don't tell." According to the City Pages, she became one of the "most regular attendees of the group's meetings" and even "volunteered to represent the group at various other coalitions, and attended the meetings of other activist groups."

Later, Sullivan "joined a group in opposition to the war in Gaza, and she asked to join a delegation being planned to visit a Palestinian women's group." When the delegation arrived at the Tel Aviv airport, it was met by Israeli officials--who turned it back. Activists now believe that Sullivan or her bosses warned Israeli authorities that the group was coming.

Later, activists said, Sullivan would join FRSO. When talking with other activists, she began "making extreme statements." It only later became clear that she had been acting as a provocateur inside the activist community.

IT SAYS something about the nature of the "war on terror" that police would send an undercover agent into legitimate antiwar and socialist organizations for two-and-a-half years to manufacture a case. The activities of these groups are protected by the First Amendment--but federal prosecutors seem intent on using a recent Supreme Court ruling to attack what should be legally protected speech.

In June, in the case Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, the court ruled in favor of the Justice Department that certain types of speech--even if they do not advocate or lead to violence--can be considered "material support" for terrorism so long as they are in coordination with a group on the State Department's list.

As Mike German, National Security Policy Counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union and a former FBI agent specializing in domestic counterterrorism, explained to Democracy Now! the scope of the government attack on these activists is particularly chilling given that none are considered a threat--as even the government has admitted.

"In fact," German said, "the FBI spokesman said immediately after the raids that there wasn't a threat to the community. So it sort of leads to a question of why there is this nationwide, you know, early morning raids--as if these are Mafia groups." German went on to point out that the materials requested in the search warrants are clearly protected by the first amendment, like "address books, computer records, literature and advocacy materials."

The stakes for all activists are high. As an editorial statement from Electronic Intifada in December noted, this attack on the rights of activists is a threat to the civil liberties of everyone on the left:

Although the Electronic Intifada itself has not been a target of any of the subpoenas--contrary to some media reports--we consider the grand jury investigation and all of the subpoenas to be part of a broad attack on the antiwar and Palestine solidarity movements and a threat to all of our rights. We offer our full support to our colleague Maureen Clare Murphy, and all those who are being harassed for their lawful advocacy of a just and violence-free U.S. foreign policy. A grand jury, no longer in use anywhere outside the U.S., is an investigative tool that allows the government to compel citizens to testify even if they are not suspected of any crime. In this case, as has happened many times in past decades, according to lawyers and experts interviewed by the Electronic Intifada in November, the government appears to be using the grand jury as a form of political inquisition and intelligence gathering targeting groups and individuals working for ending war, and for a more just U.S. foreign policy in Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq and Colombia.

Activists must stand in support of those facing subpoenas in the days and weeks to come. We have to organize to push back against this government assault on our right to dissent.