News & Blogs Update on Seattle House Raid

[kokomojoe]

http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/leah-plante-grand-jury-seattle-anarchist/6448/

“Today is October 10th, 2012 and I am ready to go to prison.”

by WILL POTTER on OCTOBER 10, 2012
in TERRORISM COURT CASES

​

Today Leah Plante will again appear before a federal grand jury in Seattle, Washington, for the third time, and refuse to testify about her political beliefs and political associations. It is likely that she will be imprisoned for her principled stance against what she calls a witch hunt against local anarchists.
The grand jury is investigating anarchists in the Northwest, following FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force raids in search of “anarchist literature.” Two other anarchists, Matthew Kyle Duran and Katherine Olejnik, have already been imprisoned for refusing to cooperate.
Plante wrote a powerful statement to her friends and supporters in preparation for today’s hearing. Here is an excerpt:

On the morning of July 25th, 2012, my life was turned upside down in a matter of hours. FBI agents from around Washington and Oregon and Joint Terrorism Task Force agents from Washington busted down the front door of my house with a battering ram, handcuffed my house mates and me at gunpoint, and held us hostage in our backyard while they read us a search warrant and ransacked our home. They said it was in connection to May Day vandalism that occurred in Seattle, Washington earlier this year.​

“They want us to feel isolated, alone and scared.”​

However, we suspected that this was not really about broken windows. As if they had taken pointers from Orwell’s 1984, they took books, artwork and other various literature as “evidence” as well as many other personal belongings even though they seemed to know that nobody there was even in Seattle on May Day. While we know that knowledge is powerful, we suspected that nobody used rolled up copies of the Stumptown Wobbly to commit property damage. We saw this for what it was. They are trying to investigate anarchists and persecute them for their beliefs. This is a fishing expedition. This is a witch hunt. Since then, thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request, we have learned that this Grand jury was convened on March 2nd, 2012, two months before the May Day vandalism even took place…​

​

This is from a FBI training guide about anarchist "terrorists." "Non-cooperative" is one of the only things they got right.​

I do not look forward to what inevitably awaits me today, but I accept it. I ask that people continue to support us throughout this process by writing us letters, sending us books, donating and spreading awareness.I cannot express in words how grateful I am to all those who have shown us support and solidarity, especially our friends, partners and loved ones. We will all get through this together. I know I am a broken record with the following sentiment, but I feel like it’s worth repeating. They want us to feel isolated, alone and scared. I know that even though Kteeo has been held in what is essentially solitary confinement, she does not feel alone. I know that Matt does not feel alone. I know that I will not feel alone. When they try to mercilessly gut communities, we do not scatter, we grow stronger, we thrive. I view this State repression like this: The State thinks it is a black hole that can destroy whatever it wants. In reality, it is much more like a stellar nursery, wherein it unintentionally creates new, strong anarchist stars.

My convictions are unwavering and will not be shaken by their harassment. Today is October 10th, 2012 and I am ready to go to prison.​

 

[Matt Derrick]

man this situation is such fucking bullshit, it makes me want to move to another country. here's some more info:

http://rt.com/usa/news/refusing-grand-jury-plante-196/

Third anarchist jailed for refusing to testify before secret grand jury
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Published: 11 October, 2012, 20:58

TAGS:
Law, USA, Court

Leah Plante (Image from leahxvx.tumblr.com)

A third self-described anarchist from the Pacific Northwest has been jailed by federal officials for refusing to speak before a secretive grand jury that the accused have called a politically-motivated modern-day witch-hunt.
Leah-Lynn Plante, a mid-20s activist from Seattle, Washington, was ushered out of court by authorities on Wednesday after refusing for a third time to answer questions forced on her by a grand jury — a panel of prosecutors convened to determine if an indictment can be issued for a federal crime.
Plante was one of a handful of people targeted in a series of raids administered by the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force on July 25 of this year which the feds say were in conjunction with an investigation into acts of vandalism that occurred during May Day protests in Seattle nearly two months prior. As part of their probe, search warrants were issued at multiple residences of activists in the area, including Plante’s, demanding that dwellers provide agents with“anti-government or anarchist literature” in their homes and any flags, flag-making material, cell phones, hard drives, address books, and black clothing.
“As if they had taken pointers from Orwell’s 1984, they took books, artwork and other various literature as ‘evidence’ as well as many other personal belongings even though they seemed to know that nobody there was even in Seattle on May Day,” Plante recalls in a post published this week to her Tumblr page.
Only one week after the raid, Neil Fox of the National Lawyers Guild told Seattle Times that raids like this are create a“chilling effect” by going after lawful, constitutionally-allowed private possessions.
“It concerns us any time there are law-enforcement raids that target political literature, First Amendment-protected materials,” Fox said.
This week Plante still maintains her innocence, now she has reason to believe that the raid that has left her suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome may have been more than an investigation into an activity, but an ideology. Plante says a Freedom of Information Act request she filed in the months after her apartment door was broken down by armed officials reveals that the grand jury investigating her was first convened in March, two months before the vandalism she is being accused of even occurred.
“They are trying to investigate anarchists and persecute them for their beliefs. This is a fishing expedition. This is a witch hunt,” she says this week.
On the day of her third meeting with the grand jury on Wednesday, Plante wrote on her blog that she’d almost certainly be jailed on charges of contempt for refusing once again to testify about herself but said she was willing to face the consequences for exercising her right to remain silent.
“I do not look forward to what inevitably awaits me today, but I accept it,” she writes. “My convictions are unwavering and will not be shaken by their harassment. Today is October 10th, 2012 and I am ready to go to prison.”
Hours later, her Tumblr was updated with a note authored by one of her supporters confirming that Plante “was thrown into prison for civil contempt” after her court date. Plante is now the third anarchist to be imprisoned in the last month for refusing to answer questions about their belief and behavior before a grand jury.
Last month, Plante spoke openly about the grand jury before refusing their questioning for only her second time. “I believe that these hearings are politically motivated,” she wrote in a September 16 statement. “The government wants to use them to collect information that it can use in a campaign of repression. I refuse to have any part of it, I will never answer their questions, I will never speak.”
“While I hate the very idea of prison, I am ready to face it in order to stay true to my personal beliefs. I know that they want to kidnap me and isolate me from my friends and my loved ones in an effort to coerce me to speak. It will not work. I know that if I am taken away, I will not be alone.”
Katherine “KteeO” Olejnik, a fellow anarchist from the Seattle area, was taken into federal custody on September 28 for refusing to cooperate with a grand jury, a decision she said was based on humanity and her First Amendment protections.
“I cannot and will not say something that could greatly harm a person’s life, and providing information that could lead to long term incarceration would be doing that,” Olejnik wrote before being booked. “Icannot and will not be a party to a McCarthyist policy that is asking individuals to condemn each other based on political beliefs.”
On the No Political Repression blog, a support of Olejnik writes that she was prohibited from taking notes during her time on the stand, during which she says she resisted questioning.
Days before her imprisonment began, Matt Duran was also jailed for contempt. According to his attorneys, Duran was not only imprisoned by placed in solitary confinement, denied intimate contact with his lawyer, denied visitor requests forms, personal dietary requirements and sunlight an fresh air.

 

[Earth]

good point matt, for if they can do this in Seattle, they can do it anywhere...
one nation, one government......
1984 was not supposed to be an instruction manual.
Even scarier, how Fahrenheit 451 is now there blueprint for the new world order.....

 

[Earth]

Thee blueprint for the new world order.....

 

[bryanpaul]

this gal is a HERO........ COURAGE, HONESTY, INTEGRITY......all the things people mumble about offhandedly.............much love to her

 

[Matt Derrick]

it's depressing to think about how good people are being victimized by our government all the time.

 

[Kim Chee]

Dissent does not equal terrorism.

I'm curious what laws may have been offended.

 

[EphemeralStick]

Sounds like the didn't offend any laws. It's look like pretty clean cut case of persecution due to ideology. I'm going to write them each a letter thanking them for holding on to their beliefs.

Seems like the governments pile of bullshit is getting stacked rather high as of late.

 

[Earth]

Ha!!! But it does (dissent = terrorism) per the Patriot Act.
Even all my eco jihad oops... river clean ups / wildlife monitoring / rescue stuff, I'm labled as a terrorist because I act on my own...
Brothers and Sisters, 9/11 changed everything!!
You've got to believe me about that if nothing else.
We thought things were scary in the late 1970s, man that was nothing compared to what's happening today....
And forget about voting for a positive change , as our last presidential election proved ...

 

[scatwomb]

They refused to testify to a grand jury, which is apparently against the law.

They were targeted based on their political beliefs. So, apparently being an anarchist is illegal.

Two of these folks are friends of friends of mine. So, this makes me very upset for multiple reasons.

Sick to my stomach thinking about this.

 

[kokomojoe]

If people don't defend their rights, then their rights become obsolete.
It's alot like laws that are put into place but police don't enforce it and then that law becomes obsolete as well.

 

[Kim Chee]

I have experience with being accused of a crime I did not commit many times, don't speak in my defense and have extended jail stays and psychiatric hospital stays. Lately though, it seems like the man has been evolving and the judge has been dismissing charges. Yes, there is no right to remain silent.

If she has not committed a crime except for not speaking, her lawyer could have had a probable cause hearing and had the charge dismissed.

Personally, I'm a little tired of there not being a problem UNTIL the police arrive.

 

[VomitIsJustSkimMilk]

It's an anarchist witch hunt. I think they know we're on to their bullshit. They're in jail for not snitching on comrades; fuck Grand Juries. ACAB.

 

[Deleted member 5971]

leave it up to the pigs to take it to far. fuck them asshole

 

[kokomojoe]

I dont know about anyone else but I've seen more coverage about this everyday. It's not in the mainstream media but i've seen alot of people talking about this on facebook/blogs/the honest form of media.