Bay Area Friends of the Filipino People Statement on FBI repression of activists

The Bay Area chapter of the Friends of the Filipino People denounces the Federal Bureau of Investigation harassment of anti-war and solidarity activists.

The FBI raided seven houses and an office in Chicago and Minneapolis on Friday, September 24, 2010. The FBI handed subpoenas to testify before a federal grand jury to eleven activists in Illinois, Minnesota, and Michigan. The FBI also attempted to intimidate activists in Wisconsin, North Carolina and California, one of whom is a member of the FFP.

This suppression of civil rights is aimed at those who dedicate their time and energy to supporting the struggles of the Palestinian and Colombian peoples against U.S. funded occupation and war. The FBI has indicated that the grand jury is investigating the activists for possible material support of terrorism.

The activists involved have done nothing wrong, are not charged with anything, and are refusing to be pulled into conversations with the FBI about their political views or organizing against war and occupation. The activists are involved with many groups, including: the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee, the Palestine Solidarity Group, the Colombia Action Network, Students for a Democratic Society, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization. These activists came together with many others to organize the 2008 anti-war marches on the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.

The FBI is trying to criminalize a point of view, one that stands in solidarity with people struggling against oppressive government backed by the United States, and those who oppose continued U.S. military support for repressive regimes. This is a threat to the Philippines solidarity and anti-intervention movement in the United States. We ask people of conscience to join us in fighting this political repression, as we continue working to build the movements against US war and occupation.

• Stop the repression against anti-war and international solidarity activists.
• Immediately return all confiscated materials: computers, cell phones, papers, documents, etc.
• End the grand jury proceedings against anti-war activists.