Anti-War and International Solidarity Activists Denounce FBI Infiltration

By Committee to Stop FBI Repression Posted by Kevin Gosztola OpEd News

The anti-war and international solidarity activists who are being
called before a grand jury in Chicago have learned that beginning a
few months before the protests against the Republican National
Convention in the 2008 in St. Paul, Minnesota, a law enforcement
officer infiltrated the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee (AWC). The
infiltrator went by the name Karen Sullivan, joined the AWC in April
2008, and about a year later she joined the Freedom Road Socialist
Organization.

Misty Rowan, of the Anti-War Committee, said, "The AWC played an
important role in organizing the permitted march on the Republican
National Convention on September 1, 2008, and also organized a rally
and march on the fourth day of the convention. We can only assume
that this First Amendment protected organizing was the reason that
this agent, Karen Sullivan, infiltrated the AWC. It is the same kind
of infiltration criticized in the October 2010 inspector general
report and highlighted in the recent release of documents from the
Richmond, Virginia, police, where any sort of assembly is defined as
a disturbance and threat."

Jess Sundin, of the Anti-War Committee, said; "This professional liar
posed as a fellow activist for two and a half years, and acted as if
she was our friend. She spent time around my child, and even attended
a small BBQ to celebrate my release from the hospital after I
survived a near-fatal brain hemorrhage in April of last year. This
event had no investigative value. By attending personal events like
this, she showed how unprincipled she was."

In the summer of 2009, the agent signed up to go on a solidarity trip
to Palestine. Three members of the delegation were denied entry at
the Tel Aviv airport and eventually sent back to the U.S., Sarah
Martin, Katrina Plotz and the agent. We have now learned that on the
word of this agent, these political activists were prevented from
witnessing first-hand what is paid for with U.S. tax dollars in
Israel and the Occupied Territories.

In conversations between our attorneys and the prosecutor's office in
Chicago, we have had confirmation that Karen Sullivan was in fact a
law enforcement officer working undercover.

It now appears that the investigation of the U.S. Attorney is focused
on small donations to the daycare and women's center projects of the
Union of Palestinian Women's Committees, an NGO registered with the
Palestinian Authority with local offices in towns across the the West
Bank and Gaza. The Union is a progressive women's organization that
strives to build respect for women's rights.

Steff Yorek, of Freedom Road Socialist Organization said, "We are
appalled that we were infiltrated by police agents, targeted for our
political organizing and views. This violates our rights to freedom
of association and speech."

The Committee to Stop FBI Repression is planning a National Day of
Protest for January 25, in cities across the country. This protest is
in solidarity with people refusing to testify at the secret grand
jury in Chicago on that day.