•  new york
• Saturday, October 30, 2010
• Inter Press Service

Recent raids by federal agents on the homes and offices of peace activists are being viewed by civil libertarians and civil society groups as further proof that the U.S. is morphing into a 'surveillance state' where the right to privacy and other constitutional protections are being quietly whittled away.

On Sep. 24, agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided the Minneapolis homes of five anti-war activists, the office of a Minneapolis anti-war group, and the Chicago homes of the head of an Arab-American organisation and a prominent peace activist. The Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper reported that the raids were part of a probe of 'activities concerning the material support of terrorism'. No one was arrested in any of the raids.

FBI spokesman Steve Warfield told the newspaper that the searches were conducted at about 7 a.m. Lawyers said the agents seized computers, cell phones and documents in the protesters' homes. Chip Pitts, president of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, told IPS, 'The continued shocking harassment of peaceful anti-war, environmental, and other activists and dissidents under the Obama administration in this and other recent cases - such as those highlighted in the DoJ Inspector General's recent report - is inexcusable and must stop.'

He added: 'This once again highlights the urgency for folks of all parties, ages, and viewpoints to join the civil liberties community in efforts to resist the growing surveillance state, and restore the usual constitutional requirements for individualised suspicion that has been watered down by the Patriot Act and similar laws enacted in the post-9/11 climate of politically manipulated fear.' Protest leaders are quoted by the Minneapolis newspaper as saying the raids 'surprised them'. One of the targets, Mick Kelly, whose home was searched, played a central role in the 2008 demonstrations at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.

Asked by the Star Tribune if he was involved in illegal activities, he replied, 'Absolutely not.'' The newspaper said Ted Dooley, Kelly's attorney, called the raids 'a probe into the political beliefs of American citizens and any organisation anywhere that opposes the American imperial design.'

He said the warrants cited a federal law making it a violation to provide or conspire to provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organisations. The warrants were said to have focused on terrorist groups in the Palestinian territories and Colombia.

© Inter Press Service (2010) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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