WAMM Statement in Solidarity with Carlos Montes

WAMM (Women Against Military Madness) stands in solidarity with Carlos Montes, cofounder of the Brown Berets, as an activist for immigrant and Chicano rights and national antiwar leader for 44 years. We condemn the brutal raid by the SWAT team of the LA sheriff’s department and the FBI, when Montes was awakened at 5 a.m. with a rifle in his face after his door had been broken down and smashed; his computer was seized along with documents from his many years of activism. Montes was an organizer for the protests at the Republican National Convention in 2008 and organizes the Committee to Stop FBI Repression work in Los Angeles.

This attack is an escalation of the raids and subpoenas to a Chicago grand jury of the 23 antiwar and international solidarity activists for what they believe, say, and with whom they associate. WAMM demands an end to the grand jury investigations of domestic nonviolent activists and that all charges against Carlos Montes be dropped and his materials be returned to him immediately.