Chuck Munson, Infoshop News
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For Immediate Release Statement from Kansas Mutual Aid Legal Collective July 22, 2004
Today we received news from friends and activists in Denver, Colorado pertaining to incidents involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation and possibly local law enforcement agencies.
It was communicated to us, that two houses in Denver had been raided by the FBI and that at least two people had been arrested. Their charges and situations are not at this time known to us. We do know that they were asked questions about the upcoming election events including the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, as well as questions about "ABC".
According to the person that contacted us, it is not thought that anything of value had been taken from the houses, but multiple checks of identification occurred. Agents were reported to have made threatening statements to individuals who were attempting to record names and badge numbers of those agents that were present.
This comes on the heels of repeated harrasment at the hands of state agencies of activists in New York and Boston, as well as more locally in Kirksville, Missouri, where activists were questioned by FBI and local agencies about upcoming events surrounding the DNC and RNC.
We here at the Kansas Mutual Aid Legal Collective, denounce these strong arm tactics by the state's law enforcement agencies. This crackdown on those planning dissent comes right after the 900th U.S. soldier was killed in Iraq, and support for the state's wars abroad and at home wanes.
We call on all activists, dissidents, radicals... all progressive peoples to join in a solid response to this encroachment on our rights as human beings.
We cannot, and will not be intimidated, nor scared into submission. There has never been a more crucial moment in our history to speak out and show opposition and defiance to those that exploit and dominate us and the rest of the world.
Kansas Mutual Aid will continue to monitor these events and find lawyers, raise legal funds, and provide assistance in whatever way we can.
Fear may be their weapon of choice... solidarity will be ours.
In solidarity, forever.
Kansas Mutual Aid Legal Collective 913-775-1399 kansasmutualaid at hotmail.com
Please send any financial contributions to: KMA c/o Solidarity Center 13 W. 14th Street Lawrence, KS 66044
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Friday July 23 2004 @ 07:10AM PDT:
IMMEDIATE UPDATE:
The FBI has made made contact with the parents of at least one person living in Lawrence, and now word has gotten to us that the FBI has visited at least one anarchist home in Columbia, Missouri!
Please spread this information far and wide... this is a far reaching coordinated effort... being conducted by the join terrorism task forces from various states.
Thanks, Kansas Mutual Aid.
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An update on our comrades arrested:
At this point, as a point of pure intimidation, our comrades in Denver that were arrested by the FBI are being charged with failure to pay bike tickets, and one is being charged with failure to appear in court from a previous arrest.
The raids on their houses, and the subsequent questioning of comrades in Denver has been followed by FBI visits to anarchists or relatives of anarchists in Lawrence and Columbia. This also comes after the FBI made visits to at least one comrade in Kirksville, Missouri.
This intimidation is happening right before major mobilizations against the ruling elite in Boston and New York and the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. We must not be allowed to be intimidated!
We will continue to mobilize, continue to organize, continue to agitate for a new way of living... and against this culture of exploitation, war, poverty, prisons, and oppression.
We will continue to update all as we get more news.
If the FBI or any other agenices try to contact you in anyway, please get in touch with a lawyer first... next, please try to clal us, so we can keep coordinating this information.
Thanks, Kansas Mutual Aid Legal Collective 913-775-1399 kansasmutualaid (at) hotmail.com
Send any donations for legal defense to: Kansas Mutual Aid c/o Solidarity Center 13 W 14th Street Lawrence, KS 66044
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Friday July 23 2004 @ 08:05AM PDT
UPDATE Two un-uniformed people carrying sidearms driving a dark SUV having been spotted knocking on the door and searching the mailbox of a Lawrence anarchist.
We have heard from Denver that the two detained have been transferred out of federal custody and are being held on failure to be appear in court and unpaid parking tickets, respectively.