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The homes of several peace and justice activists in Midwestern cities were searched by the FBI last Friday, prompting accusations against the federal agency of muzzling dissent. Two homes in Chicago and six in Minneapolis were searched. Some activists from Milwaukee, Wisconsin reported receiving phone calls from FBI agents but were not searched. The search warrants used by the federal agents cites laws that prohibit Americans from providing material aid to terrorist groups. The agents sought evidence connected to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Lebanese military group Hezbollah. All three foreign groups are classified as “terrorist organizations” by the State Department. Some of the activists whose residences were targeted are affiliated with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. The Milwaukee residents who received phone calls are members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Many of the activists including those named in the warrant identify as anti-war and social justice activists and were present in Minneapolis in November 2008, organizing against the Republican National Convention at the time. Additionally, some anti-war and labor activists have been subpoenaed to appear at a grand jury hearing in Chicago in October. As we covered on Uprising last week, the US Attorney General released a report on Bush-era FBI surveillance and intimidation of activists that essentially amounted to a whitewash. Many suspected the report set the stage for continued questionable activity under Obama by a Federal agency with a sordid past.

GUEST: Carlos Montes, Community organizer with Community Service Organization in East LA, writer and activist with Fight Back News

Find out more at stopfbi.net and fightbacknews.org.