Synopsis of “The Growing Menace of FBI Repression”

By Lauren Marcous

In December, the Western New England College chapter, along with Alliance for Justice, American Friends Service Committee and more than one dozen other organizations co-sponsored a talk in Northampton on the growing menace of FBI repression. The event featured a discussion with targeted activist Meredith Aby, a prominent member of the progressive community in the Twin Cities who is a mother, a high school government teacher and a leader in the Minneapolis Anti-War Committee. Following Aby’s talk, Bruce Miller, a civil rights attorney and professor, provided attendees with information on how to handle a visit from the FBI. Aby and Miller shared the chilling details of FBI raids on peace activists that took place on September 24th, 2010, the equally chilling legal ruling upholding the “material support of terrorism statute” (see article on page 9 for details), and what can be done to fight back against the FBI’s repressive regime.

Meredith Aby, Minneapolis Anti-War Committee leader, speaks out about the FBI raids that took place on September, 24, 2010 and the grand jury subpoenas that were served to 14 activists that day.

Aby and the other activists who are being targeted by today’s FBI are unsurprisingly similar to the targeted political dissidents of the past. They are loudly speaking out against U.S. foreign policy during a time of war and attempting to hold the U.S. government accountable for their imperialistic exploits across the globe. Although these are protected activities under the First Amendment, ever since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project in June of 2010, the attack on freedom of association and political speech has heightened. Aby pointed out that if the current material support statutes were in place during Obama’s college years, he may have been subjected to criminal investigation for his advocacy on behalf of Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress. Aby believes this an important story in fighting back against the FBI’s continued attacks on civil liberties. “We need to make these connections . . . [that] disagreeing with your government does not make you a terrorist.”

Both Aby and the Guild attorneys who are defending those who have been subpoenaed believe this investigation is a test case for the Department of Justice to see how far they can extend the material support of terrorism statute. In response to this attempt to revive the witch hunts that became commonplace in the dark era of McCarthyism, Aby says “we have a responsibility to defend our movement. We have a responsibility to push back and say ‘this is a ridiculous waste of resources and this doesn’t make us safe.’” She suggests that activist groups stand together in solidarity against these egregious violations of First and Fourth Amendment rights by starting or joining a local chapter of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. By signing the petition to end FBI repression online at stopfbi.net, emails stating opposition to the FBI investigation of activists will automatically be sent out to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Barack Obama, and other key politicians who hold seats on relevant congressional committees. Responding to and participating in the Committee’s national calls to action is also a critical way to build political pressure and being an end to the FBI’s repressive tactics.

Lauren Marcous is a 2L at Western New England College School of Law and President of her school’s NLG student chapter.