Green Party condemns "lawless" FBI raids of antiwar activists' homes in Minneapolis and Chicago, demands Obama end police-state policies

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org

WASHINGTON, DC — The Green Party of the United States strongly condemns FBI raids targeting antiwar activists that took place on September 24 in Minneapolis and Chicago. The FBI also attempted to intimidate activists in California, Iowa, and North Carolina.

Green Party leaders called the raids a "police-state" tactic to intimidate those who oppose the Obama Administration's foreign policies, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan/Pakistan. The activists whose homes were raided had criticized US actions in the Middle East and Colombia.

"We demand that President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder order an end to 'police state' tactics by the FBI and other security agencies and that the Justice Department investigate the Sept. 24 raids," said Theresa El-Amin, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. "We demand that grand jury investigations and subpoenas in connection with the raids be canceled immediately. We demand that President Obama restore the rule of law and order all security agencies and police forces to cease spying on citizens without obtaining a warrant. We encourage everyone to protest the FBI's lawless and outrageous actions as loudly as possible."

Greens called the raids an indication that suppression of dissent and other serious violations of the US Constitution may be increasing under the Obama Administration. President Obama has maintained the Bush Administration's warrantless surveillance of US citizens and now seeks legislation that would allow law enforcement and national security agencies to eavesdrop on Internet and e-mail communications (Associated Press, Sept. 27, http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/09/27-0). The President has also tried to justify allow secret assassinations of US citizens suspected of treason without due process or charges of any kind (see "Obama argues his assassination program is a 'state secret'" by Glenn Greenwald, http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/09/25/secrecy/ind…).

Green Party members have participated in protests against the FBI raids across the US, including several on Monday, September 27. Green leaders noted that the Green Party itself has been subject to surveillance and infiltration (http://www.aclu.org/files/assets/Spyfiles_2_0.pdf).

Party leaders also noted that the raid took place conspicuously in advance of the One Nation Working Together march and rally planned for Washington, DC and other cities on Saturday, October 2 for jobs, justice, education, and peace (http://www.onenationworkingtogether.org/content/main). Greens plan to participate in a Peace Table at the rally (http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=347).

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN

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Green Party Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus

Independent Media Center coverage of the raids, with regular updates
Minneapolis-St. Paul http://twincities.indymedia.org
Chicago http://chicago.indymedia.org/index.php

"Anti-War Activists Targeted by FBI Speak Out"
Associated Press, September 26, 2010
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/09/26-1

"Inspector General Criticism Doesn't Faze FBI Raids on Midwestern Anti-war Activists"
By Colleen Rowley, former FBI special agent, The Huffington Post, September 25, 2010
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/coleen-rowley/inspector-general-critici_b_738932.html

Video clips from the Green Party's 2010 Annual National Meeting, Detroit, Michigan, June 24-27http://www.gp.org http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus

Green Pages: The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog