Three San Diego Activists Face Jail for Refusal to Cooperate in Federal Grand Jury

One hundred years ago, San Diego was at the forefront of the war for freedom of speech. The "wobblies" of the International Workers of the World (IWW), who were seeking to organize the most exploited and neglected workers of this oligarchical border town, set up free speech platforms across the city of San Diego.

Today, we are embroiled in another major battle as a nation and as a city over whether or not we have the right to freely assemble, organize and speak in order to makes changes here in this world. For standing up for those rights supposedly protected by the first amendment, the "Wobblies" were jailed by hundreds, terrorized, murdered and driven out of a town by both the police and the vigilante mobs here in San Diego less than one hundred years ago.

Tuesday morning at 9am, three of our fellow community organizers, friends, and San Diego activists appear before a federal grand jury where they will face likely imprisonment for nothing more than standing up for those same rights; freedom of speech, freedom of association, and the freedom to assemble.

Three weeks ago at least nine activists were subpoenaed from San Diego and the surrounding region to appear before a federal grand jury. Dating back to Medieval Europe, the federal grand jury has been used intensely for the last half-century as a means of intelligence gathering and a weapon against political movements across the spectrum. It is a two-fold weapon of injustice. Firstly, it is a way for federal prosecutors to throw out due process when there is no evidence or leads in a crime investigation, the 2003 burning of a La Jolla apartment complex in this case. Secondly, it is a way for the federal government to divide, harass and crush political groups and movements it has deemed an unacceptable threat to the status quo. The government has made no qualms about its desire to label animal rights and environmental activists as terrorists and it has proceeded in its attempts to divide, undermine, and destroy these movements which are very diverse and garnish considerable public support. Furthermore, many of the activists subpoenaed are not even "animal rights" or "environmental activists," but merely attended a public lecture by the well-known radical, Rod Coronado.

The US is the only remaining industrialized nation to use grand juries and in contemporary history they have always been quick to follow social unrest, throwing key individuals and groups into expensive and lengthy legal battles against a federal government with virtually limitless resources and arbitrary power.

Because people become overwhelmingly appalled at the draconian and intrusive nature of the process as when they learn about it, public pressure and media coverage is precisely what the federal government does not want. A recent grand jury in Iowa was quashed after public outcry at the McCarthy-style fishing expedition. when people learn that the grand jury can subpoena anyone and everyone it wants, drag them before a jury and federal prosecutor (no judge) order them to testify about anything and everything without telling them why (because there is not necessarily any specific crime being investigated), deprive them of their right against self-incrimination, their right to have an attorney present, etc., people get a little pissed off.

Activists in both Seattle, Washington and Eugene, Oregon have been targeted and paralyzed by six years of ongoing grand juries. There are currently grand juries ongoing in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Jersey and other cities, all targeting public activists and political groups.

People in San Diego have already voiced their opposition to the increasingly repressive conditions we are living under in this country and after pressure and media coverage of this fishing expedition, a number of people have already been released from subpoena. Three people. Danae Kelley, David Agranoff, and Michael Cardenas, all respected and well-known activists in San Diego, have refused to cooperate with the proceedings.

Tuesday morning they will be delivering arguments to Federal Justice Gonzales, detailing why the grand jury is an illegal and outrageous attack on the first amendment. If Gonzales rejects the motion, she then is likely to throw the activists in jail for contempt of court, refusing to testify. These activists need all of your support right now. We didn't give up 100 years ago and the free speech movement spread from San Diego to the rest of the country. We must do the same today.

8am RALLY AND PRESS CONFERENCE!!!!

is scheduled at the steps of the Federal Courthouse on Front and Broadway, Tuesday July 12th. Michael, Danae, and David will be speaking at the press conference and we need all of you, with your signs and outrage to come support them. If they are thrown in jail there will be an 8pm vigil and rally at the jail, and jail support will be necessary.

Considerable expenses are being incurred from this process and support is needed, especially if they are put in jail. Donations can be made online through the organic collective at http://www.organiccollective.org, or alternative arrangements can be made by contacting Rich at (619)546-7648 or plantlife at resist d0t ca