State Repression

(from the Community RNC Arrestee Support Structure)

Update from Carrie, who was subpoenaed to a federal grand jury in Iowa on October 15th:

UPDATE: After reading a statement to the grand jury, Feldman returned to the Twin Cities Thursday night with a subpoena to appear again one month from now. More, including the text of the statement, here.

Early Tuesday evening, Twin Cities activist Carrie Feldman was pulled over by Cedar Rapids, Iowa FBI agents and served a subpoena (PDF) to appear in Davenport, Iowa federal court. The subpoena, dated October 6, originally asked her to appear on Wednesday morning; that date has been pushed back to Thursday at 1pm. No other activists are known to have been subpoenaed. Feldman was also informed that her high school attendance records from 2004 were under investigation. (Read her personal statement below.)

Grand juries have been a leading tool of the Green Scare--the demonization and repression of both legal and illegal activities carried out by environmentalist and animal rights/animal liberation activists. The hearings are particularly troublesome for their secrecy; even the witnesses called to testify are often left wondering what the investigation is about. In this case, too, the nature of the investigation is at present completely unknown and left to the speculation of observers. However, a check of the Omaha, Nebraska FBI Field Office website (the office serves all of Iowa) shows that the FBI is prioritizing its investigation into a November, 2004 Animal Liberation Front action at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.

Related: Grand Juries 101 PDF zine | EWOK!/MidwestGreenScare.org

Grand Jury Subpoena of Carrie Feldman

UPDATE 9PM: We are sorry to report that Forrey was found guilty yesterday by a jury.  His sentencing was scheduled for September 17 at 1:30pm.

UPDATE 8/6: The jury has been out since 10:15am.

8/5: After three days of Jesse Forrey's trial, closing arguments and jury instructions will begin at 9am on Thursday in Room 1140 of the Ramsey County Courthouse at 15 W. Kellogg Boulevard in St. Paul.  This will be the last chance for the jury to see the crowd of supporters which has numbered 30-45 throughout the trial thus far.  Barring unusually long deliberations, the jury will likely return its verdict Thursday.  To be text messaged as soon as the verdict is in, sign up for TCIMC's twitter feed by texting follow tcimc to 40404.

UPDATE: Mahoney was originally denied vegan food at jail. | Visiting info and more

Dave Mahoney - prosecutor Richard Dusterhoft's "poster child of the RNC" - was sentenced to 90 days in jail by Judge Paulette Flynn in Ramsey County Court today.  With four days credit for time served plus good behavior, Mahoney will likely serve 56 days of the sentence, making his last day in jail September 2--the one year anniversary of the Poor People's March on the RNC in St. Paul and two days before the anniversary of his arrest.

Arriving in court wearing a "Defend the RNC 8" shirt and with 20-30 friends alongside, Mahoney put on a sweater before facing Judge Flynn.  Speaking in support of him, attorney Bob Kolstad said that he was "honored to have been chosen to represent Mr. Mahoney," and referenced his close ties family and friends whom he said "are very dedicated to what I consider a valid cause."

by MJ Essex, reposted from New Orleans Indymedia: In post-Katrina New Orleans, anarchist truths found fertile, if toxic grounds to take root and grow. New paths were walked on. Antiauthoritarian principles emerged as important guides for both reconstruction and the struggle against disaster capitalism. A million or more equally important stories can now be told about mutual aid, cooperation, subversion of authority, disruption of state and capitalist plans. And yet Brandon Darby's morality tale has become a media darling, due in no small part to his perfect and full adoption of his role as a state agent, regardless of whether it was official in 2006, or whether the FBI is still cutting him paychecks. We owe it to ourselves to tell these other stories of New Orleans, St. Paul and beyond.

Related: Months After RNC, 3 More Protesters Charged | Support the Texas 2 | CityPages: Meet Bob Fletcher

50-60 Minneapolis residents gathered at the Urban League on the north side's Plymouth Avenue Monday night to give testimony about brutality and harassment at the hands (and batons, tasers, guns, etc.) of the Minneapolis Police Department. Their stories showed that police misconduct against people of color and the homeless is not isolated, and nearly all present were in agreement that, as one speaker proclaimed, "they've got to be accountable. Minneapolis has one of the most brutal police departments in the U.S."

The primary aim of this public hearing and an upcoming hearing to be scheduled on the south side was to gather testimony, to be shared with federal officials, with the goal of putting the Minneapolis Police Department under federal receivership. With a decree of receivership from the Department of Justice, the MPD would be under official supervision from the federal government until it became in compliance with the law. This new strategy is being used, say its proponents, since a decade of organizing around civilian review boards, individual lawsuits, a class action suit, and federal mediation has not succeeded in stopping MPD violence and harassment.

With lawyers, activists, a representative of Keith Ellison's office, and many survivors present, the testimonies were mixed with calls for communal action. "The people receiving these brutalities," said one audience member after telling his story, "outnumber the people who are doing it."

Related: Cop Culture Series on KFAI Radio | MPLS Civil Rights Department on Chopping Block | Community Members Rally in Reponse to Fong Lee Verdict | Ofiong Sanders Imprisoned for Lurking |  July 11: Hastings Rally One Year After Police Killing | CUAPB