5/26/2005: Nine local activists have been subpoenaed in the last week to appear before a federal grand jury convened in SF. Federal agents have been increasingly targeting animal rights activists in the Bay Area recently. They arrested 7-year fugitive Peter Young in San Jose, have followed and detained others, raided two homes, and posted a new bulletin for a "wanted" suspect.

In recent decades, the federal government has increasingly used the grand jury to intimidate and harass activists pushing for social justice. Pressure on the animal rights, environmental justice, anti-war and anarchist movements has been escalating. At a recent hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, John E. Lewis, Deputy Assistant Director of the Counterterrorism Division of the FBI, testified that, "Investigating and preventing animal rights extremism and eco-terrorism is one of the FBI's highest domestic terrorism priorities."

An Emergency Grand Jury Teach-in was held on Tuesday May 31st at 7pm at 3030-B 16th Street near Mission in San Francisco. Speakers included Mark Vermeulen from the National Lawyers Guild, Claude Marks from Freedom Archives, former grand jury resister Anita Carswell, and local activists with grand jury experience. Enemy Combatant Radio provided a live stream of the audio.

Links for more information about grand juries: ECR archived audio of teach-in | Faultlines Article | Things you should know about grand juries | Who to contact if you are detained or contacted by the FBI about the Peter Young case | Just Cause Law Collective's Grand Juries Page | No Compromise's grand jury articles: 1 | 2 | More about the teach-in | More info on harassment of animal rights activists