MECAWI Meeting to Feature Activist Tom Burke, A Victim of FBI Raids--Mon., Sept. 27, 7:00pm

Activists protest in support of the people of Colombia who are under attack by the U.S.-backed government in South America. Solidarity activists have been subjected to FBI raid, seizures and subpoenas.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

For Immediate Release

Event: Moratorium NOW!/MECAWI Weekly Meeting, Mon., Sept. 27, 7:00-9:00pm
Location: 5920 Second Ave., at Antoinette, WSU Campus Area
Guest: Tom Burke of FRSO (Chicago) Whose Home Was Raided by the FBI
Contact: 313.671.3715
E-mail: admin@mecawi.org
URL: http://www.mecawi.org

Weekly Meeting to Feature Special Guest Tom Burke, Anti-War Activist
Targeted in FBI Raids on Sept. 24

This week's regular organizing meeting for both the Moratorium NOW!
Coalition and MECAWI will feature special guest Tom Burke, a longtime anti-war and solidarity activist, whose home was one of those raided in Chicago along with other activists in Minneapolis. The FBI served the activists with search and seizure warrants related to an
investigation into "material aid to terrorist organizations."

All of the organizers targeted have denied the allegations and are
upholding their right to speak out against U.S. foreign policy in
Colombia and Palestine. The U.S. government provides billions of
dollars of direct assistance to both the repressive regimes in Israel
and Colombia. Anti-war, peace and human rights organizations have all
condemned the continued oppression carried out against the peoples of Colombia and Palestine.

Activists in Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids and North
Carolina were targeted in the raids. In Minneapolis and Chicago, FBI
agents entered homes and offices with drawn guns. They searched and seized personal papers, literature, organizational documents, music collections, photographs, financial records, computers and cell
phones. Several activists were served with subpoenas to appear before a federal grand jury in October in Chicago.

The Moratorium NOW! Coalition and MECAWI condemns these actions by the Justice Department and demands that all property be returned to activists representing various organizations that have been targeted incuding the Anti-War Committee, Minnesota Coalition for a People's Bailout, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (Fightback!), Women Against Military Madness and others. We stand in solidarity with those who seek to raise public awareness about the role of the Pentagon abroad and the corporate ruling class inside the U.S.

Please join us for this important meeting where Tom Burke will provide
a first-hand account of the current attacks against activists by the
federal government.

We are also urging everyone to come out at the McNamara Federal
Building, Tuesday, September 28 from 4:30-6:00pm, to demonstrate
against these outrageous attacks against our brothers and sisters in
areas throughout the mid-west and the southern U.S.