In OKC today we held a protest of the FBI raids and harassment. We got a permit from the city to do it on one of the corners where the federal building is, which happens to be diagonally across from the Murrah bombing memorial and museum.

But security guards from the federal building, and the cops they called, forced us, on threat of arrest on federal charges, to go to another corner. We went to the Murrah corner, primarily because street construction in that whole area limited the choices and it had the most room so that we didn’t block other pedestrian traffic. Anyway, in very short order, we were asked by a museum representative to leave that corner, and since technically our permit said the NW corner, and because it’s the Murrah memorial and they have some legitimate grounds for paranoia, we moved to our third and final corner. Our NLG attorney is investigating the feds’ right to prevent us protesting on ‘their’ sidewalk outside the security barricades, so stay tuned.

We had 12 come out on pretty short notice — actually not bad for OKC. But we plan to do another on 10/5 with speakers and hopefully press coverage (though that is very hard to get here).

The attached pictures show one of us, a man holding a “Veteran for Peace” sign (John Walters), being the last hold out on the original corner, as law enforcement gave him the final notice to leave before arresting him. He at that point complied and joined us on corner 3.

stop_fbi_raids

(click image for more photos)

The organizers denounce the attacks on free speech, freedom of association, and the right to dissent that these actions represent. The raids and summonses reflect escalating hostility toward individuals and groups working in solidarity with the Palestinian and Colombian people and are blatantly political attacks on peaceful activists and an abuse of prosecutorial discretion.

The OKC action, one of many across the country in the days following the raids, will take place on Thursday, September 30 from 4:30 – 5:30 pm at the corner of NW 6th St. and Harvey. While no activists or groups in Oklahoma were the subject of the raids, the organizers say that they are concerned such events anywhere serve to intimidate peace organizers and suppress the right to dissent everywhere.

“The National Lawyers Guild is working to provide legal support to activists who are the subjects of these raids,” said James M. Branum of NLG. “We have set up a a national hotline for U.S. activists who get contacted by the FBI. Callers will be referred to NLG defense attorneys in their area.”

A national network to address and counter the harassment has been created and will plan future actions across the country and seek legislative changes to end the practice. Oklahoma activists will be part of that effort.

Info:

Press release from National Lawyers Guild:

http://nlgok.org/2010/09/29/nlg-press-release-on-fbi-raids/

Resources to protect dissent:

http://nlgok.org/protect-dissent/

WHAT: A peaceful demonstration against OU’s “CIA Officer in Residence Program”

WHEN: Demonstration from 3-4 p.m., with all participants encouraged to
then attend the scheduled “meet and greet” event with Mr. Don Hughes
(CIA officer in residence) from 4-5 p.m.

WHERE: Demonstration will happen in front of Hester Hall, the “meet
and greet” will happen in Hester Hall 160

WHY: To demonstrate against a known terrorist organization (the CIA)
being allowed to speak on campus at OU, given its long-standing
history of torture and political assassinations

FOR MORE INFORMATION: contact the Oklahoma chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, 405-46-OKNLG

GUIDELINES FOR PARTICIPANTS: Please bring signs and banners to the
public demonstration outside of Hester Hall, but do not bring in any
kind of weapons or illegal drugs. Following the demonstration, those
who wish to do so are encouraged to go in Hester Hall to attend the
“meet and greet” event and express your concerns directly to attendees
and Mr. Hughes himself

BACKGROUND: In the fall of 2010, The University of Oklahoma announced
that Don Hughes was going to be posted on campus as the new “CIA
Officer in Residence.” (see
http://oudaily.com/news/2009/sep/16/new-cia-officer-residence-provides-practical-knowl/
)

According to the CIA, this program seeks “to broaden understanding of
national security intelligence and missions in an academic setting.”
Mr. Hughes told the OU student newspaper that he hopes to “give some
students a bit of a different picture about how bureaucracies work and
the tough decisions that you have to make. The work I’ll do is a
little more practical, a little bit less theoretical.”

One would presume that this would not include discussion of the CIA’s
long history of engaging in torture, political assassinations, and the
undermining of democratically elected governments around the world.

We the people of Oklahoma, have a duty and the right to make sure the
truth is heard. We must let those in power know that the CIA is not
welcome at OU.

For more information on OU CIA Officer in Residence Program:
http://www.ou.edu/content/dam/International/SIAS/Events/Don%20Hughes.pdf
http://www.kgou.org/community.php?id=19708

For recent information on the CIA’s torture programs:

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Investigation/story?id=1322866
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/cia-secret-prison-found/story?id=9115978
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/15/AR2009031502724.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8006597.stm

We met again on 7/19, and continued plans to hold a couple of workshops on civil rights for activists in September. We will be doing outreach at law schools as the academic years starts up, and hoping to get some volunteers to staff tables and distribute literature on campuses.

We’ve done some good outreach on Facebook, where many of us have become active this past year, and will create a page there for the group.

If you are an attorney, legal worker, or law student, please feel welcome to attend our next meeting:

Sunday, August 23; 5 pm
Irma’s Burgers, 1120 N Classen Dr (just north of St. Anthony’s Hospital)