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Leah-Lynn Plante refused to share any other information besides her name at a federal grand jury in Seattle on August 2. Plante had been subpoenaed in July at the same time the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) raided three homes in Portland. She was issued a new subpoena to appear at the grand jury again on August 30.
Only one person subpoenaed appears to have gone before the grand jury. Pacific Northwest Grand Jury Resistance reported, “The remaining recipients of subpoenas either did not show up to the grand jury, had August 30 or another date on their subpoena, or have not been served.”
The FBI has subpoenaed at least five individuals, whom they suspect were involved in a “violent crime” (which many people believe refers to May Day action that included property damage).
At a press conference in Portland, Oregon, today, Plante and Dennison Williams read a statement during a press conference on the federal government’s latest effort to “investigate” anarchists. The statement they delivered was posted online by the Committee Against Political Repression (CAPR):
We are releasing this statement to make clear our intention to resist the grand jury. We will not co-operate with their investigation. If we appear before the grand jury, we will not answer any questions other than our names. If we are asked additional questions, we will invoke our First, Fourth,and Fifth Amendment rights. Under no circumstances will we talk about other people.
This grand jury is a tool of political repression. It is attempting to turn individuals against each other by coercing those subpoenaed to testify against their communities. The secret nature of grand jury proceedings creates mistrust and can undermine solidarity. And imprisoning us takes us from our loved ones and our responsibilities.
But our passion for freedom is stronger than the state’s prisons. Our refusal to cooperate with the grand jury is a reflection of our own desires for a liberated world and our support for others who are working to bring that world into being. We support the efforts of all those who will be resisting this grand jury.
Last week, Firedoglake covered the FBI’s raids in Portland and the grand jury subpoenas that were issued in Portland and Olympia and Seattle, Washington. The FBI seized computers, black clothing, and any “anarchist” literature they could find.
An organizer with CAPR reported nobody has gotten their belongings back yet. “Anarchist literature,” clothing and electronics were seized. People’s computers were taken. There is no word when they will get those items pack.
He added the people are “everyday people who were targeted just because of their political beliefs.” The fact that “the state hasn’t clarified anything about what the investigation is other than using vague language like a ‘violent crime investigation’ shows that they are afraid to show what they are really looking for.” He said they are engaged in a witch-hunt and that is evidenced by the fact that they are looking for “anarchist literature” (whatever that may be).
It was unclear whether the activists subpoenaed had participated in Occupy protests in Portland.
Over two hundred community organizations and activist groups have signed on to show support for those targeted in the raids and by the grand jury. Pacific Northwest Grand Jury Resistance also posted a collection of reports on “solidarity actions.” A few included acts of vandalism (that this post is merely reporting and acknowledging, not condoning). Other actions included banner drops and demonstrations.
From what has been reported thus far, it is pretty clear the FBI is engaged in another fishing expedition for people who engage in radical politics. They don’t know who exactly did whatever they are trying to investigate but they know if they cast a wide net and go after “anarchists” they might be able to find someone they can prosecute, which is authoritarian and understandably frightening to people who wish to engage in freedom of assembly or exercise their right to free speech.
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Earlier this week, I published an interview with GreenIstheNewRed.com’s Will Potter, who has been following the targeting of anarchists in the Pacific Northwest, closely. We discussed how the FBI uses raids and grand jury investigations as tools of political repression. The full interview can be read here.
13 Comments
Over the past few months, since Occupy, we’re seeing a shift in the Boogeyman Hit Parade. Muslims are being replaced by Anarchists. If we, as citizens, had access to how our FBI and U. S. Attorneys are spending their resources, my bet is that we’d find that is true.
I’d propose that the reasons are twofold:
1) The first is historical. Anarchists have always been considered Target #1, not because they’re more violent than other “radicals” (who could ever be more violent than the Klan and the rest of the violent Right?), but because they constitute the biggest threat to the status quo. It’s been going on since Haymarket.
2)There’s an expectation that domestic unrest is going to increase dramatically. In anticipation of that, Leftist elements will get State “attention,” while the Fascist groups get funded and encouraged.
We saw what happened to one of FDL’s own just because he stayed in the “wrong” apartment in Chicago. Many of us have been to meetings, study groups or potlucks with the “wrong” kind of folks.
None of us should ever be surprised at finding a SWAT team at the door one day. A grand jury subpoena seems almost a gentile, old-fashioned artifact of an earlier, constitutional age.
The wise will study historical precedents.
Appreciate your comment. It captures why it is necessary to cover the FBI’s investigation into “anarchists.”
And many of us appreciate your work, Kevin, along with DD.
I encourage you to continue to watch the “Cleveland 5″ case closely. It’s the model for this campaign.
I think that “anarchists”, (dirty f*cking hippies), have always been the Democrats’ go to boogeyman of choice. Republicans hate everything not white, “Christian” and male which claims to be heterosexual but Democrats would rather hate on those who would otherwise be their base.
I think you’re on track here. One of the greatest persecutions of anarchists was conducted by Woodrow Wilson’s AG: Palmer.
It goes way back.
Yes it is and thank you for the update
I would love for one of the “victims” of the grand jury to serve the prosecutor with paper suing the grand jury and the FBI for unlawful seizure of their belongings.
BTW, Kevin, keep up the good work.
Might I ask which screen name this happened to?
Kevin, this thing is incredibly bizarre. Thank you for reporting about it, the story, as it turns out strikes very close to home, once again, for me. I don’t have any way to explain it, but it is getting to be very creepy.
TarheelDem
Yeah, I, too, hae been bemoaning the fact that I missed out on the McCarthy era. (Only this time, who would play the Edward R. Murrow role?)
Is anyone going to investigate how many conservatives or people from local or federal government infiltrated the Occupy movement posing as anarchists?
The unifrm is not to hard to come by and conservatives seem to like to play dress up, judging by President Bush and that O’Keefe guy (Sorry. I always forget if he is a “journalist’ or an “activist”). Law enforcement seems to like playing dress up, too.
I know another Journalist who was jailed on Terrorism charges at the 2008 Republican Convention.
Ah, thank you, Kevin.