45 Groups Seek Congressional Investigation of FBI

Contact:
Shahid Buttar, (202) 316-9229, media@bordc.org
Jen Nessel, (212) 614-6449, jnessel@ccrjustice.org

On Friday, November 19, 45 prominent national, statewide, and community organizations wrote to President Obama, Attorney General Holder, and the US Congress seeking a robust investigation of FBI abuses violating the constitutional rights of activists pursuing First Amendment protected activity. The coalition shared its concerns regarding the September 24, 2010, FBI raids and targeting the offices and homes of 14 peace and anti-war activists in Minneapolis and Chicago who were later served grand jury subpoenas. On the same day, agents also attempted to question activists in San Jose, California; Durham, North Carolina; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The letter states, in part, that “these raids suggest an ongoing trend of intrusive government surveillance of progressive activists in the United States. Prosecutions for protected political activity have a chilling effect, not just in the communities in which they occur, but also on the First Amendment rights of all Americans.”

The group called on Congress to initiate a robust investigation, modeled on the Church Committee. FBI abuses, including the practice of targeting protected political speech and assembly, reflect a pattern of politicization that has repeatedly occurred and has not been adequately addressed.

The group further called on the Department of Justice to revisit and amend the Attorney General’s Guidelines and the FBI’s Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (DIOG) to better respect fundamental constitutional protections.

The groups write, “there is a lengthy record, indeed, of grand juries being used to intimidate and harass activists, and we caution the Obama administration not to become part of that history.” September’s raids targeted anti-war activists, Palestinian and Colombian solidarity activists, and union members, but FBI abuses of environmental and animal rights activists as well as Muslim American communities have long prompted similar criticism.

Read the complete text of the letter.

The organizations signing the letter are listed below.

American Friends Service Committee, Philadelphia, PA
American Muslim Voice, Newark, CA
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Washington, DC
Arab American Association of New York, New York, NY
Arab American Institute, Washington, DC
Arab Community Center for Economic & Social Services (ACCESS), Dearborn, MI
Arab Muslim Federation, Brooklyn, NY
Asian Law Caucus, San Francisco, CA
Bay Area Association of Muslim Lawyers, San Francisco, CA
Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Northampton, MA
Brooklyn For Peace, New York, NY
Center for Constitutional Rights, New York, NY
Civil Liberties Defense Center, Eugene, OR
Community to Community Development, Bellingham, WA
Council on American-Islamic Relations – Cincinnati Chapter, Cincinnati, OH
Council on American-Islamic Relations – Cleveland Chapter, Cleveland, OH
Council on American-Islamic Relations – Columbus Chapter, Columbus, OH
Creating a Culture of Peace Training, Robbinsdale, MN
Defending Dissent Foundation, Silver Spring, MD
Desis Rising Up & Moving (DRUM), Jackson Heights, NY
Electronic Frontier Foundation, San Francisco, CA
Filipino Advocates for Justice, Oakland, CA
Humanitarian Law Project, Los Angeles, CA
Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, Anaheim, CA
Muslim American Civil Liberties Coalition, New York, NY
Muslim Legal Fund of America, Richardson, TX
Muslimah Writers Alliance, Washington, DC
National Lawyers Guild – New York City Chapter, New York, NY
National Lawyers Guild International Committee, Vancouver, BC
National Lawyers Guild – New York City Chapter Anti-Racism Committee, New York, NY
National Lawyers Guild – Los Angeles Chapter, Los Angeles, CA
National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC), Dearborn, MI
NBPA International Leadership Institute, Washington, DC
Network of Arab American Professionals, Washington, DC
Nevada Desert Experience, Las Vegas, NV
Rights Working Group, Washington, DC
Satrang, Los Angeles, CA
South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), Takoma Park, MD
South Asian Bar Association of Northern California, San Francisco, CA
Standish E. Willis, Attorney-at-Law, National Conference of Black Lawyers – Chicago, Chicago, IL
The Sikh Coalition, New York, NY
Trikone Northwest, Seattle, WA
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Washington, DC
US Palestine Community Network, San Francisco, CA
WESPAC Foundation, White Plains, NY

# # #