I am writing in strong support of the grand jury resistors who have recently been subpoenaed by the Federal Grand Jury in Seattle and to demand that the subpoenas be withdrawn, that all materials taken in the related raids be returned to their owners, and that the Grand Jury end. I thank the resistors for their courage in refusing to testify. This defeats one of the goals of politically-motivated Grand Juries which is to get us to inform and testify against each other—to show that solidarity can easily be broken.
This Grand Jury is a major and serious attack on the civil liberties of all of us. There was minor property destruction at the May Day, 2012 anti-capitalist march. The Seattle and other police departments, the FBI, Homeland Security, the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Justice Department are using what happened on May Day, 2012 to launch a witch hunt against activists, particularly anarchists and anti-capitalists. All who are working for economic and social justice and for the transformation of this country are at risk. Our support and solidarity for those who are the target of this Grand Jury and those subpoenaed are important for all. It should not require that we support the ideology and tactics of those who are now under attack. If those in power can get away with this repression, police state behavior will continue to grow.
Grand Juries were used in the 1970’s against many movements including the Puerto Rican independence movement, anti-Vietnam war and anti-imperialist movements. The vast majority of those subpoenaed refused to testify thereby weakening the federal government’s strategy of getting people to reveal who knew whom and who did what although many brave individuals went to prison because of their refusal to collaborate. Let us learn more and share with others how grand juries have been used in attempts to break social movements, to gain information on those who are active in these movements, and to intimidate others from participating. By our active support for those currently subpoenaed and exposing the repressive use of grand juries, let us turn this attack by the government into a defeat for them.
Peter Bohmer
For more information check out: http://nopoliticalrepression.wordpress.com
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