posted by solidarity books collective Friday August 15 2003 @ 08:48AM PDT
Over the past weeks, Solidarity Books has experienced a steadily-increasing amount of police repression. There has been a continuous stream of undercover police agents in and out of the space, a marked rise in parked marked and unmarked police cars and tech vans on the Boulevard Ave., and allegations that the infoshop was responsible for vandalism at a downtown Starbucks and at St. Mary's Church (which is the parish providing the NGA protests with a convergence space).
All this came to a head last night,Thursday, August 14th, at approximately 9:00 pm. After forming an initial perimeter in the 2 blocks around the collective space, the police proceeded to pull over 2 cars as they tried to leave, claiming minor traffic infractions. The police then moved in on the space itself. Tickets were issued to many of the cars parked outside, as fire marshalls demanded entry to make a safety inspection. These marshalls lacked any documentation of a complaint or report, let alone a warrant. Nevertheless, they not only entered the house, but they were accompanied by police officers who were supposedly protecting the marshalls. These police officers then searched every room in the house, including the personal belongings of the collective members who live on the second floor.
These police officers were shortly followed by officers with the ATF, bomb squad, and the Seattle Police Department (who stated that they were acting as consultants to the Indianapolis Police Department over the weekend). There were no weapons or other contraband in the space.
We had set up a phone list prior to the raid, and had between 30 to 50 supporters on the scence within a half hour. We staged an impromptu rally, and also amply documented the raid, with notetaking, photo cameras, and video cameras. Apparently due to this show of strength (since there were reports of multiple ATF officer staging points with dozens more officers), there were no arrests made.
As the convergence against the National Governors' Association draws closer (tomorrow is the first day of protests), we fear a repeat or an escalation. We would appreciate any shows of solidarity possible. Please call the following people to voice your opposition to the police repression we are experiencing:
IPD Chief of Police- 317 327 3282 Mayor's Office- 317 327 3601 Sheriff (Frank Anderson)- 317 231 8201
Get in touch with us at solidaritybooks at riseup.net
For more information on the NGA protests, email stopnga at ziplip.com or visit the convergence center at 311 N. New Jersey.
Please forward.