Anti-War Activists Plan Protests After Raids

The government says it's investigating potential ties to terrorism, but anti-war activists say they are being targeted for their dissident views after the FBI on Friday raided the homes and offices of more than a half-dozen outspoken organizers in Minneapolis and Chicago.

Eleven other activists in Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota were also issued subpoenas to testify before a grand jury, according to the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, which is calling for nationwide protests this week.

"This suppression of civil rights is aimed at those who dedicate their time and energy to supporting the struggles of the Palestinian and Colombian peoples against U.S. funded occupation and war," the group says in a statement. "The activists involved have done nothing wrong and are refusing to be pulled into conversations with the FBI about their political views or organizing against war and occupation."

According to the committee, activists targeted in the raids were involved with organizations including the Palestine Solidarity Group, the Colombia Action Network and Students for a Democratic Society, members of which helped organize opposition to the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul -- protests that were met with a notoriously heavy-handed response from law enforcement, featuring similar raids on activists (and even the arrest of journalist Amy Goodman).

For its part, the FBI says the raids on Friday -- which came just days after the Justice Department's Inspector General released a report detailing the bureau's spying on Pittsburgh anti-war activists, about which it lied to Congress -- were in pursuit of "evidence relating to activities concerning the material support of terrorism." Keep in mind, though, that a Supreme Court ruling this summer upheld an extremely broad definition of "material support" that the ACLU warned at the time could be used against groups that exclusively embrace and encourage non-violent activities, effectively "criminalizing speech meant to promote peace and human rights," in the words of attorney Melissa Goodman. (Read more after the jump.)

Whether spurred by the groups' views or not, the raids seem bound to make at least some activists think twice before organizing protests in the future. Some suggest that was the point.

"The government's trying to quiet activists," Jim Fennerty, an attorney for one of the activists raided last week, told the Associated Press.

"These raids are an attack on the entire anti-war movement," added Maureen Murphy of the Palestine Solidarity Group. "Everyone in peace and social justice is deeply concerned."

The International Action Committee has a list of dozens of rallies planned across the country to protest the FBI's actions. You can also sign a petition demanding that the Justice Department respect the First Amendment and the right of all Americans to dissent from the government line.

If you're upset about the raids, let those who ordered them know it.

Photo Credit: the waz