CISPES Statement on FBI raids

CISPES wishes to express our solidarity with the anti-war and solidarity activists whose homes and offices in Chicago and Minneapolis were raided by the FBI on September 24, 2010. The activists in Minneapolis and Chicago 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.

There is a long history of FBI raids, subpoenas and harassment of international solidarity activists, especially those who express political support for resistance movements who the U.S. government is vilifying at the moment and in countries with whom the U.S. is at war, directly or by proxy. CISPES has been one of the many organizations who have been unjustly investigated by the FBI for our opposition to U.S. intervention in Central America. We also wish to recognize that these attacks have been most violent against activists and organizers of color, many of whom have paid the highest prices for their work in resistance and solidarity movements.

Ted Dooley, attorney for Mick Kelly, one of the activists subpoenaed, called the raids “a probe into the political beliefs of American citizens and any organization anywhere that opposes the American imperial design.” In this spirit, CISPES extends our solidarity to these activists, their friends and families, remaining strong in our collective resistance to this intimidation tactic by the federal government.

For interviews with several of the activists on Democracy Now!, please click here.

To find the schedule for solidarity demonstrations being held nationally on Monday 9/27 and Tuesday 9/28, please click here.

To send a letter or make a call to U.S. Attorney General Erik Holder, please click here.