Call-in day against "honors" to Pat Fitzgerald, our original prosecutor! [Chicago]

[ckaihatsu]

Friday, January 18: Call-in day against "honors" to Pat Fitzgerald (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=39e6b06b64&e=b3b6009f90), our original prosecutor!

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Protest U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald at Chicago’s John Marshall Law School commencement
Fitzgerald is a Bully - End the Grand Jury Investigation of Anti-War Activists!

Call in day: Friday, January 18
Call Chicago’s John Marshall Law School's
Dean John Corkery
312-987-2352
Tell him not to ‘honor’ Pat Fitzgerald!

If you are in the Chicago area
Protest: Sunday, January 20
3:00 pm
Hyatt Regency Hotel
151 East Wacker Drive
Chicago, Illinois

Patrick Fitzgerald will be the commencement speaker at Chicago’s John Marshall Law School's graduation and will receive an honorary degree. Praise from the college for his "distinguished" career ignores the underside of his years in Chicago: a history of bullying and witch hunts. In fact, Fitzgerald has played a leading role in the U.S. government's undermining of civil liberties during the so called “War on Terror.”

Marshall’s press release about Fitzgerald's “high-profile investigations and prosecutions” fails to mention the 23 anti-war and international solidarity activists who in 2010 were subjected to dawn raids of their homes by over 70 armed agents. Fitzgerald convened a grand jury in 2009 under the pretext of investigating “material support for foreign terrorist organizations,” and together with the FBI, sent undercover officers to infiltrate and spy on the anti-war groups. The prosecutor in his former office, Barry Jonas, continues the investigation to this day, despite an outpouring of support for the activists from faith leaders, labor unions, and a dozen members of Congress.

The Marshall administration also ignores Fitzgerald’s prosecution of Abdelhaleem Ashqar and Palestinian American Muhammad Salah, in which Fitzgerald’s office presented evidence extracted from Salah through torture in an Israeli prison.

With the case of Aaron Swartz, the net activist who committed suicide last week under intimidation by Boston’s U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, there is growing awareness of this bullying by prosecutors.

In Illinois, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez has been exposed for bullying tactics in the prosecution of the NATO 5, young men entrapped by undercover cops before the NATO protests last May. She has piled on terrorism charges, demanded excessive bail, and then left them in terrible conditions in Cook County Jail for nine months, to coerce them into pleading guilty.

In addition, Barry Jonas was the prosecutor in the case of the Holy Land Five, in which leaders of a Muslim charity were convicted of providing material aid to terrorism, and sentenced to many decades in prison based on the secret testimony of an agent of the Israeli state.

John Marshall Law School shouldn’t honor bullies like Fitzgerald, Ortiz, Alvarez or Jonas.

So, please get ready for our Call-in day: (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=993b47adf4&e=b3b6009f90)
Call Dean John Corkery
312-987-2352
Friday, January 18
Tell him not to ‘honor’ Pat Fitzgerald!

Sponsored by:
Chicago Committee Against Political Repression (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=1eadbb03d5&e=b3b6009f90)
US Palestinian Community Network (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=b70106ec32&e=b3b6009f90)
Coalition to Protect People’s Rights (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=2eb49fb394&e=b3b6009f90)


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Copyright © 2013 Committee to Stop FBI Repression, All rights reserved.
Thanks for your ongoing interest in the fight against FBI repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists!
Our mailing address is:
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
PO Box 14183
Minneapolis, MN 55414

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[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

LOLZ. Totally dropped the word "motherfucker" on his answering machine.
I promise, the rest of what I said was polite and articulate.

[ckaihatsu]

I promise, the rest of what I said was polite and articulate.


Um, yeah, 'cause we're trying to win *political allies* here....


x D

[ckaihatsu]

Ex U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald hit by protest challenging his grand jury

By Staff

Chicago, IL - More than a dozen activists protested outside the Hyatt Regency hotel here, Jan. 20, while inside former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald received an honorary degree from the John Marshall Law School.

Fitzgerald was the architect of a Chicago-based grand jury targeting Palestine solidarity and anti-war activists. 23 activists were called to appear in front of the grand jury after the Sept. 24, 2010 FBI raids that targeted many groups, including the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee, the Palestine Solidarity Group, the Colombia Action Network, Students for a Democratic Society, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Protesters condemned the McCarthy-like witch hunt organized by Fitzgerald and leafleted the crowd at the graduation ceremony. The Committee Against Political Repression impressed upon the graduates entering the ceremony that the former U.S. Attorney should be remembered as a bully and an enemy of civil liberties.

Activists vowed to protest Fitzgerald at his new post on the Illinois Board of Trustees. “He will not be able to hide from his attacks on the anti-war movement. We will make sure that people know Fitzgerald’s grand jury attacks are still opposed by the community in Chicago,” said Joe Iosbaker, a member of Committee Against Political Repression.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]






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[ckaihatsu]

Chicago: Protest Fitzgerald at UIC and Call-in Against Jonas: Thur., Jan 24


Protest former US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald at meeting of University of Illinois Board of Trustees


Thursday, January 24th

3:30 pm

828 S. Wolcott, UIC Student Center West


Demand an End to Investigation of Anti-War Activists

Patrick Fitzgerald has been appointed to be a member of the UI Board of Trustees. His first meeting will be this week on the UIC campus. Activists who have been the targets of raids and grand jury subpoenas are calling for a protest.

Fitzgerald has played a leading role in the U.S. government's undermining of civil liberties during the so called “War on Terror.” He convened a grand jury in 2009 under the pretext of investigating “material support for foreign terrorist organizations,” and together with the FBI, sent undercover officers to infiltrate and spy on anti-war groups. The prosecutor in his former office, Barry Jonas, continues the investigation to this day, despite an outpouring of support for the targeted activists from the Arab and Muslim communities, faith leaders, labor unions, and a dozen members of Congress.

Fitzgerald also prosecuted Palestinians Muhammad Salah, who has U.S. citizenship, and Abdelhaleem Ashqar. Fitzgerald’s office presented evidence extracted from Salah through torture in an Israeli prison, and allowed the Israeli torturers to testify without allowing the defense to hear the testimony, the infamous "secret evidence." After Ashqar and Salah were acquitted of the major terrorism-related charges, Ashqar was indicted, convicted, and sentenced to over 11 years in prison for invoking his constitutional right not to testify to a grand jury--clearly a punitive response by Fitzgerald after his very public loss in the case.

In addition, Jonas was the primary investigator in the case of the Holy Land Five, in which leaders of a Palestinian Muslim charity were convicted of providing material aid to terrorism. They were sentenced to many decades in prison, based on alleged donations to the same Gaza-based charities that the U.S. government donated to, and based on the secret testimony of an agent of the Israeli state.

Also:

National Call In Day--Thursday, January 24

Call Assistant US Attorney Barry Jonas
at 312-353-5300 x 68027

Tell Barry Jonas...

"We demand that:

1. Barry Jonas drop the “ongoing investigation” against 23 anti-war and international solidarity activists in the Midwest.

2. Barry Jonas return the personal belongings of Hatem Abudayyeh, a Palestinian-American activist in Chicago.

3. The FBI and other government agencies stop the political repression campaigns against Arab-Americans and Muslims, movements like Occupy Wall Street, and the Northwest grand jury resisters--currently in solitary confinement. "

On September 24, 2010, the FBI raided anti-war and international solidarity activists’ homes, eventually serving 23 subpoenas to a grand jury in Chicago, investigating “material support for terrorism.” Grand juries are secret courts with no judge; no lawyer for the subpoenaed, and the person in charge is the prosecutor. All 23 activists invoked their constitutional rights and refused to participate, but two and one-half years later, Jonas continues to insist the “investigation is continuing.”

Most of the activists targeted in this case, including Abudayyeh, helped organize the massive protest at the 2008 Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota. At that time, an undercover law enforcement officer, going by the name of “Karen Sullivan,” infiltrated the protest efforts and stuck around to spy and lie about many of the 23 activists.

It is important to understand that Barry Jonas is the prosecutor responsible for putting Muslim charity leaders known as the Holy Land Five in prison for between 15 and 65 years in Dallas, Texas. See: http://freedomtogive.com/. Jonas is a dedicated Zionist, abusing his US government position to repress anti-war and solidarity activists.

For more on Hatem Abudayyeh and the 23 anti-war activists, go to the CSFR webpage.

The Committee to Stop FBI Repression is asking organizations to promote this national call in day on your lists and thru media for Thursday, January 24, 2013.

Let us flood Barry Jonas’ office with calls.




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Copyright © 2013 Committee to Stop FBI Repression, All rights reserved.
Thanks for your ongoing interest in the fight against FBI repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists!
Our mailing address is:
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
PO Box 14183
Minneapolis, MN 55414

Add us to your address book
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[ckaihatsu]

Ex U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald Confronted by protest at UIC

Fitzgerald organized Grand Jury against anti war, international solidarity activists

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/Frank+Johnson+photo+UIC+Fitz+protest+(2).jpg

By Staff

Chicago, IL - “Fitzgerald doesn’t belong on the Board of Trustees. He’s against the right to dissent, and he’s responsible for some of the worst persecutions of Palestinians in the US,” stated Joe Iosbaker of the Committee Against Political Repression in a statement to gathered news media, on Jan 24.

That’s what former US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald heard as he left his first meeting of the University of Illinois Board. A small crowd was on the sidewalk when he exited the doors to the Student Center West on the campus of the University of Illinois Chicago. The press conference was held to oppose Governor Quinn’s appointment of Fitzgerald to the Board of Trustees.

Fitzgerald apparently was the only member of the Board who requested two plain clothes police officers to accompany him to his car. The other members of the Board left through the same door and walked past the press conference unescorted.

Iosbaker, one of the 23 anti-war activists raided by FBI agents and subpoenaed to a grand jury in 2010 at Fitzgerald’s direction, is also a long time employee of UIC. The protest included officials from the Service Employees International Union Local 73, which represents 3000 workers at UIC. Iosbaker is an officer in the local. Others present represented student groups and Latino employees at the campus.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]






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