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Update On Charges Against University of Minnesota SDS

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 11/25/2009 - 13:44
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As many know, members of SDS at the University of Minnesota are facing charges, having supposedly breached the student conduct code by dropping banners at freshman convocation on September 3rd of 2009. These charges include theft, disorderly conduct, misuse of university facilities, and unauthorized access of a university building. What is more, SDS members were charged without proof or evidence of any particular individual’s involvement.



Individuals still enrolled at the U of M were obligated to meet individually with the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity (OSCAI). After the first few meetings it was clear to us that the university was employing scare tactics as a way to dismantle the group and turn members against one another. The OSCAI interviewers claimed that suspension, expulsion, and a revocation of degrees would be possible, and one member did in fact note that the interviewer questioned their ability to graduate.


Minnesotans to Join Gaza Freedom March

Submitted by SylviaSchwarz on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 21:29
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A brochure distributed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) shows a picture of President Ahmadinejad of Iran, speaking about Zionism.  The caption says “Israel’s greatest threats,” echoing the line that Israel intends the world to believe: that Iran poses the greatest threat to Israel, and therefore to the US, because of its crazy dictatorial leader, and his talk about wiping Israel off the map. 

But on the facing page of the same brochure is a picture of a young woman holding a sign that says “End Aid to Israel.”  Still under the same heading of “Israel’s greatest threats,” AIPAC shows that this non-violent demonstrator clearly poses the greater threat to Israel, greater even than that psychotic Ahmadinejad. 

Related: Political Prisoners' Rights Activist Visits Twin Cities from Palestine | Video: Omar Barghouti: The Need to Boycott Israel More: Twitter: MinnesotaToGaza | DFL SD61 support | GazaFreedomMarch.org

Tea-Party Prankster Robert Erickson and Other European Illegals Attempt to Self-Deport at ICE

Submitted by Twin Cities Indymedia on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 16:01
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This morning, tea-party prankster Robert Erickson - who last week infiltrated a right-wing "Tea Party Against Amnesty" at the Minnesota State Capitol, sparking an internet sensation - attempted to turn himself in for self-deportation at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Bloomington.  Along with seven other illegal European immigrants wearing orange jumpsuits and about 25 supporters, the pranksters chanted "Columbus go home!" and "Deport us now!" to stubborn ICE officials.

Video and editing by Twin Cities IMC w. help from Bluestem Prairie and I Don't Hate America. (6:06)

Text of "Robert Erickson's" Speech at ICE | MIRAC (More) | Unsettling Minnesota | Earlier: Anti-Racists Steal the Show at Tea Party (video) | May 11: Hearings about Postville | Apr. 26: MIRAC ICE organizing | Robert Erickson Facebook & Twitter | Youtube (8:50) (3:30) | Related Event: An Evening of Reparations Dec. 6

DeMuth Charged with "Animal Enterprise Terrorism," But Could Possibly Be Released Next Week

Submitted by haloka on Fri, 11/20/2009 - 18:28
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Thursday morning, Minneapolis grand jury resister Scott DeMuth was charged with conspiracy to commit animal enterprise terrorism in Davenport, Iowa federal court.  He is currently being held in the disciplinary block at the Muscatine County Jail after he was found to be in civil contempt of court for refusing to cooperate with the grand jury that convened in Davenport on Tuesday.  Because the civil contempt charge was later dropped, on Friday he attended a hearing to decide on his possible release on unsecured bond; a final decision has not yet been made by the court.  

Late Friday, Iowa corporate media reported that DeMuth also pleaded not guilty at the hearing.  The article also reported that Assistant U.S. Attorney Cliff Cronk cited items seized from DeMuth during a raid before the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Since the passage of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA, an expansion on a previous act) in 2006, the law has only been used twice before yesterday: once in California and once in Utah.  The act criminalizes and brands as "terrorism" actions which injure no one - such as like leafletting and sidewalk chalking - and are routinely undertaken by non-radical activists and ordinary citizens.  The only criteria is whether the act "damag[es] or interfer[es] with the operations of an animal enterprise," such as by affecting profits.  In the California case, one of the alleged crimes, reads the indictment there, was "us[ing] the Internet to find information on bio-medical researchers at the University of California."

Davenport Grand Jury support site | AbolishTheAETA.org | Listen to EWOK! on KFAI's Catalyst: Politics and Culture | Previously @ TCIMC: Feldman and DeMuth Jailed for Contempt |  New Support Info | Press Release from EWOK!, Statements from Carrie and Scott | Video: Feldman on Grand Juries & Luce Guillen-Givens on the Green Scare

Feldman and DeMuth Jailed for Contempt; DeMuth Now Charged Under AETA

Submitted by Twin Cities Indymedia on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 10:31
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The federal government's Green Scare campaign took another depressing turn Tuesday morning as a federal district judge in Iowa ordered the detainment of Twin Cities activists Scott DeMuth and Carrie Feldman at a contempt hearing. As previously reported, DeMuth and Feldman were subpoenaed to a grand jury in Davenport, Iowa, compelling them to testify regarding a animal rights-related vandalism incident at the University of Iowa.

Feldman and Scott spoke to the local press and 30 to 40 supporters at a rally beforehand in Davenport, then refused to testify. At the contempt hearing, the judge offered both immunity, but they still refused to talk, and were taken away. The judge believes they will remain in jail until they comply or the jury ends (likely in 11 months). 

Related: Feldman Interviewed by Peter Young | New Support Info | Press Release from EWOK!, Statements from Carrie and Scott |  Video of Davenport Support Rally | TCDP: Minnesota EWOKs Jailed in Iowa (Photo credit) | Dallas, TX: Grand jury resistance action Previous Coverage: Second subpoena issued | Subpoena PDF |  Video: Feldman on Grand Juries & Luce Guillen-Givens on the Green Scare | Local Activist Subpoenaed to Grand Jury in Iowa Also: Bogus Subpoena Against US Indymedia | Feds' Search of G20 Twittering Anarchist Upheld

TCIMC Video: Robert Erickson Punks Tea Party - The Full Story

Submitted by Twin Cities Indymedia on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 02:03
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In this new TC Indymedia video, we give a new look (in HD!) at the now-infamous Robert Erickson Tea Party punk with added footage of crowd reactions and interactions with counter-protesters.  Erickson's speech exposed the hypocrisy of the white supremacist, racist and xenophobic rhetoric of right-wing extremists, who use dangerous imagery to frame the immigration debate.  It also drew attention to the plight of the Dakota people, who currently control .006% of their original land base, which was stolen via fraudulent treaties, genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Video and editing by Twin Cities IMC with additional footage from Bluestem Prairie and I Don't Hate America. (6:06)

Article: Anti-Racists Steal the Show at White Supremacist "Tea Party Against Amnesty" | Robert Erickson Fans on Facebook & Twitter | Youtube | Blip.TV | Related Event: An Evening of Reparations Dec. 6

Anti-Racists Steal the Show at White Supremacist "Tea Party Against Amnesty"

Submitted by TCIMC on Sun, 11/15/2009 - 11:01
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Forty-five anti-immigration activists held a small rally outside the state capitol on Saturday. Counter-protest from members of Anti-Racist Action, Bash Back, the Minnesota Immigrants' Rights Action Coalition and others was frequent, vigorous and hilarious.  ("America is not for Russians!  America is not for Germans!  Europeans go home!")  Update: New TC Indymedia video "The Full Story" at YouTube / Blip.TV / Quicktime

The cheerful crowd of immigrants' rights activists held a banner reading "Stop the raids and deportations".  In conversation with members of Minnesotans Seeking Immigration Reform, the activists repeatedly pointed out that all non-native people in Minnesota are illegal immigrants--Minnesota was taken by force by whites from the native people who lived here for centuries before white arrival.  One activist, under the name "Robert Erickson," managed to get on the list of speakers and riled the crowd into a frenzy about the theft, murder and disease inflicted by illegal immigrants... from Europe, upon indigenous populations.  In a "Yes Men" moment, the anti-immigrant crowd sat in silence, trying to figure out what just happened. (transcript below) *NEW* TCIMC Video | Video from Bluestem Prairie & I Don't Hate America (1, 2) | Fight Back News: Anti-Immigrant "Tea Party" Confronted | Robert Erickson on Facebook & Twitter

Political Prisoners' Rights Activist Visits Twin Cities from Palestine

Submitted by katrina plotz on Fri, 11/13/2009 - 00:02
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This week nearly 70 people packed into a classroom at the University of MN to hear a presentation from Ala Jaradat, the program manager for Addameer, a Palestinian prisoner support and human rights organization in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah. Jaradat was in the Twin Cities for 2 days as part of a national speaking tour to raise awareness about the plight of political prisoners in Palestine, and the specific practice of administrative detention where Palestinian detainees can be held indefinitely without charge or trial. 
 
Over 750,000 Palestinians have been arrested by the Israeli government since 1967. Of the 3.8 million Palestinians currently living in the occupied territories, nearly 35% of them have been arrested by Israeli officials at least once. Since the majority of those arrested are males, it’s estimated that 70% of Palestinian men have been held prisoner by Israeli security forces at some point in their lives.

Second Subpoena Issued for Iowa Grand Jury

Submitted by haloka on Tue, 11/10/2009 - 22:57
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Almost a month after Twin Cities activist Carrie Feldman was subpoenaed to an Iowa grand jury, another activist was served a subpoena on the same street corner at the same time and same day of the week.  Late Monday afternoon, Scott DeMuth's car was surrounded by a gaggle of local and federal unmarked vehicles on 31st Street near Powderhorn Park.  Several men got out, nervously walked to the car, and handed DeMuth the subpoena requesting his fingerprints.

Both activists have been asked to appear next Tuesday before the Davenport, Iowa grand jury that appears to be investigating a 2004 Animal Liberation Front action targeting vivisection at the University of Iowa.  At the time, Feldman was a 15-year-old high school sophomore in Minneapolis.

Related: Subpoena PDF | Statement from DeMuth/Support Info | Thursday: Grand-Jury Send-off Potluck and Hip-hop Show @ Seward Cafe | 10-14: Local Activist Subpoenaed to Grand Jury in Iowa | Solidarity Rally Also: Bogus Subpoena Against US Indymedia | Video: Carrie Feldman on Grand Juries & Luce Guillen-Givens on the Green Scare

Condi chat at Beth El brings secret permit, First Amendment Area, dissing Goldstone & anti-torture demonstration

Submitted by Dex on Tue, 11/10/2009 - 02:04
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On Sunday, November 8th, Beth El Synagogue in St. Louis Park hosted former Secretary of State, National Security Adviser and oil company apparatchik Condoleezza Rice; Twin Cities Indymedia got footage of Rice attacking the Goldstone Report which exposed Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

Members of Beth El's congregation protested the offensive invitation for months, only to get refused access to the congregation newsletter and board discussions. Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) led the organizing of an anti-torture protest outside.

During the action, Beth El security and the police attempted to demand the protest relocate away from the nearest public sidewalk into a so-called "FIRST AMENDMENT AREA" because Beth El had obtained its own protest permit from the St Louis Park police, apparently a 'covert op' of sorts. (The police didn't indicate if free speech still existed in other 'areas'.) On two occasions beforehand the police refused to return calls about any possible permits, then they attempted to spring this setup on WAMM, merely proving further the hopeless corruption and futility of the entire demonstration permit system itself. Of course profits were involved for Rice, who netted cash from the high-price event. Below: more videos, photo stills, detailed notes on Rice's speech, and the fight inside Beth El.