Carlos Montes back in court, pushes for info on frame up

[ckaihatsu]

Carlos Montes back in court, pushes for info on frame up

By Staff | February 9, 2012

Los Angeles, CA - Veteran Chicano leader Carlos Montes was back in court here, Feb. 8, winning a small legal victory. Superior Court Judge Lomeli agreed to review records on the sheriff’s deputy who transported Montes the East Los Angeles jail after the FBI-orchestrated raid on his home last year. The judge will review the files and turn over to Montes’ attorney any relevant documents.

Supporters of Montes rallied outside the court house, where Montes told of the May 17, 2011, 5:00 a.m. raid on his home, where the L.A. County Sheriffs Emergency Operations Bureau/ SWAT Team, armed with automatic weapons, smashed down his door, creating a life threatening situation.

“The government knows its case against Carlos Montes is really weak,” said Mick Kelly, of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. “This a political prosecution and they have made up a lie that Montes admitted to a felony record while he was being held in squad car after the raid on his home.” The point of the Feb. 8 proceeding was to get to the bottom of this false allegation.

Background

Carlos Montes is one of the 24 anti-war and international solidarity activists who have been hit by FBI and grand jury repression since Sept. 24, 2010. Like many of the others who have been caught up in this witch hunt, Montes was one of the organizers of the massive protests at the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Montes' defense has challenged the state’s claim that he has a felony record from his 1969 arrest for leading a student strike demanding Chicano Studies and Black Studies at East L.A. College. That the legal record does not support the claim of a past felony should rule out the District Attorney going ahead with this case. The government is alleging that it was a crime for Montes to buy several guns at a local sporting goods store, because of the (nonexistent) felony record.

The prosecution is basing their evidence on a 42 year old incident, where, during this student strike and rally, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department invaded the East L.A. college campus, beating and arresting student protesters. In the aftermath of the turmoil, Montes was arrested while driving home with a fellow activist and family. He was charged with assaulting a sheriff’s deputy. Even then, the sheriffs targeted Montes because of his politics - he was a leader of the La Vida Nueva on campus and the Brown Berets in the community.

Growing support

Support for Montes and 23 other activists under attack by the FBI and U.S. federal grand jury is growing. Recently, Montes received a letter of support from the 350,000-member California Teachers Association and the 40,000 members at LAUSD United Teachers of Los Angeles and the UAW local at UCLA. Solidarity events, demanding the charges against Montes be dropped, have taken place across the country.

“Carlos Montes is a hero who has worked tirelessly to build the anti-war, trade union, immigrant and education rights movements. We must not let the government put him in jail,” said Kelly.

Montes is facing up to 18 years of prison time.

FBI the issue at next court appearance

The next court hearing will be on March 2, in Department 123, where Montes’ attorney Jorge Gonzalez will press a motion to obtain documents on the role of the FBI in instigating the raid and prosecution of Montes.

There is ample evidence that the FBI was behind the attack on Montes. When Montes was placed in a squad car after the May 17 raid, an FBI agent tried to question him about Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

The LA Committee Against FBI Repression is urging all supporters of Montes to attend this hearing.


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[ckaihatsu]

Carlos Montes will be in Chicago, Sunday, February 26th


CARLOS MONTES WILL BE IN CHICAGO …

SUNDAY, FEB. 26

6:00 pm

CASA AZTLAN, 1831 S. RACINE

For more info: Magda Castaneda, 773-216-8180, Committee Against Political Repression



On May 17, 2011 at 5 AM the SWAT Team of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Dept. and members of the FBI raided the home of Carlos Montes, a long time Chicano activist and active member of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. The SWAT Team smashed the front door and rushed in with their automatic weapons as Carlos slept. They also ransacked his home, taking his computer, cell phones, photos, diskettes, and hundreds of documents along with mementos of his current and historic political activities in the immigrant rights and Chicano civil rights movement.



The District Attorney has charged Carlos with felony charges based on an alleged 42 year old conviction and recent firearms code violations. The DA claims he has a felony record from his 1969 arrest for leading a student strike demanding Chicano Studies and Black Studies at East L.A. College. The FBI is dredging up a case over four decades old because of Carlos' involvement in the anti-war, immigrant rights and international solidarity movements today.



Carlos Montes has committed no crime and has done nothing wrong! This is an attack on him and an attack on the Chicano Movement. Carlos has been involved and a committed leader in the immigrant rights, anti-war, international solidarity, and quality education movement his whole adult life.



Committee Against Political Repression

Coalition to Protect People’s Rights

[ckaihatsu]

Veteran Chicano activist back in court, faces FBI frame up

By Charla Schlueter

Los Angeles CA — Early on the morning of March 2, supporters of veteran Chicano activist Carlos Montes gathered outside the downtown Los Angeles courthouse. After holding a brief rally outside to demand that the trumped-up charges against Montes be dropped, the crowd joined him inside the courtroom in a show of solidarity.

Montes and his lawyer, Jorge Gonzalez, were in court that day to file a discovery motion requesting documents from the government to establish facts about the case. Friday's hearing was brief: the prosecuting District Attorney announced that he was not prepared and requested a continuance, claiming that the CA Department of Justice had not yet released the requested documents.

However, one important development did emerge during the day's proceedings. In response to the legal discovery process, the District Attorney produced an important document that states Montes’ legal record stemming back to 1969 was a misdemeanor, not a felony. In 1969 Montes was arrested after leading a student strike that demanded Chicano studies and Black Studies at East L.A. College. Montes was accused of assaulting a sheriff’s deputy (with an empty soda can), and this charge was sentenced as a misdemeanor. The prosecution is basing their case on this 42-year-old misdemeanor, disguising it as a bogus felony. Without a past felony all of the charges Montes is facing now relating to his legally purchased firearms would be dismissed.

Over 40 members of the community came out to show their support for Montes at the Friday hearing. “It is not just Montes who is under attack,” Kwazi Nkrumah, an Occupy LA organizer and founder of the Los Angeles MLK coalition said. “It is all of us. That is why we have to come out here to show the FBI that they cannot beat our solidarity.”

Carlos Montes is one of the 24 anti-war and international solidarity activists who have been hit by FBI and grand jury repression since Sept. 24, 2010.

Mick Kelly, one of the activists targeted by the September 2010 FBI raids, told the crowd at the courthouse that there was no doubt that these attacks on Carlos Montes were direct orders from the FBI: “We know that Special Agent Matt Webber contacted Donald Lord of the Los Angeles’ Sheriff’s department. We know that the operation that smashed in Carlos’ door at 5:00 a.m. was orchestrated by the FBI. In fact, their tactics in ransacking Montes’ home were very similar to the ransacking that took place in my home.”

Montes, Kelly, and many of the other targeted activists worked together to organize the protests against the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.

Even with the weak evidence of the prosecution, Montes is facing a tough struggle. “We are fighting this tooth and nail,” attorney Jorge Gonzales told the crowd. “Your job as the community is to speak out against the injustices that are taking place here.”

Speaking in front of the court building after the hearing, Carlos Montes thanked supporters and pointed to the growing the growing support and publicity his case is receiving. “In the past months, unions representing hundreds of thousands of working people have spoken up, calling for the charges against me to be dismissed. In the weeks ahead we are going to step up the pressure on the government to bring this case to an end.”

Protests against Montes' prosecution took place in several other cities around the country that day, and activists also organized a national call-in to the White House and the Justice Department to demand that the charges be dropped.

The LA Committee Against FBI Repression is urging supporters of Montes to attend the March 27 hearing, which will in part deal with the role of the FBI in this case.
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