Protest around the country against the Grand Jury Repression of Pro Puerto Rican Independence Activists

> From: "Grand Jury Resisters - Jan 11" resistgrandjury@gmail.com
>
> Dozens of organizations in Puerto Rico and the United States will
> participate in protests on Thursday January 10 and Friday January
> 11, 2008 against the new wave of FBI repression against Pro
> Independence Puerto Ricans. On this occasion a New York City Grand
> Jury issued subpoenas to three young Puerto Ricans. Tania Frontera,
> Christopher Torres and Julio Pabon Jr. are scheduled to appear
> before a Federal Grand Jury on January 11, 2008.
>
> Representatives of 20 Puerto Rican organizations will rally on
> Thursday January 10, 2008 at 5 pm in front of the U.S. Federal
> Court in Hato Rey. Another 40 Puerto Rican organizations in New
> York, Philadelphia , Cleveland, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco
> and Orlando will hold rallies on either January 10 or January 11.
>
> San Juan
> U.S. Federal Court House in Hato Rey
> Thursday, January 10
> 5:00 pm
>
> New York
> Rally Against Gran Jury Repression of Puerto Rican
> Independentista Activists
> Friday January 11 at 9:30 am
> U.S. Federal Court, Federal Court 225 Cadman Plaza East
> Brooklyn, New York
> Take (subway) A/C to High Street or 2/ 3 to Clark Street. M/R to
> Court St-Boro Hall, 4/5 to Borough Hall, F to Jay St-Boro Hall,
> G to Hoyt-Schermerhorn
> One of the email contracts:The Hostos 111 Grand Jury Resistance
> Movement resistgrandjury@gmail.com
>
> Los Angeles
> Friday, January 11
> Rally at the Federal Building in Los Angles
> 300 N. Los Angeles St.,
> 4:30 PM Contact: Lawrence, Puerto Rican Allliance Of Los Angeles
> 310-460-8586, alianzapr@hotmail.com
>
> Chicago
> Thursday January 10
> 5:00 pm
> Federal Building
> Dearborn corner with Jackson
> Contact: michellem@boricuahumanrights.org
>
Philadelphia
6pm Friday Jan 11th at the Federal Building, 6th and Market
>
> Other activities against Gran Jury Repression and in support of
> our Boricua brothers and sister are planned for the
> following cities:
> Boston
> Cleveland
> Orlando
> San Francisco

BACKGROUND:
> Feds target Puerto Ricans in New York
>
> Groups and individuals from diverse sectors of the Puerto Rican pro-
> independence movement and the Boricua Community in general, are
> currently urgently meeting in Puerto Rico and throughout the
> Diaspora to organize against the latest offensive by the U.S.
> Department of Justice, after being informed that several young
> Boricua pro-independence activists from New York City have been
> subpoenaed to appear before a Federal Grand jury investigating the
> Puerto Rican Independence Movement in general, and in particular,
> the Ejercito Popular Boricua (EPB: Popular Boricua Army) aka the
> Macheteros.
>
> Tania Frontera, Christopher Torres and Julio Pabon Jr. are
> scheduled to appear before a Federal Grand Jury on January 11,
> 2008. Hector Rivera, co-founder of the cultural institution The
> Welfare Poets, is also expected to be served with a subpoena to
> appear on that day. In the past, due to the fact that some pro-
> independence activists have traditionally refused to receive the
> subpoenas from the Grand Jury or to respond to its questions, many
> have ended up behind bars.
>
> Both the FBI and U.S. Dept. of Justice have made it clear that
> there is an ongoing investigation focused on the Ejercito Popular
> Boricua (EPB)-Macheteros. Special Agent Luis Fraticelli, who heads
> the FBI in San Juan, has said that the agency intends to capture
> Comandante Guasabara of the EPB, who is believed to have succeeded
> Filiberto Ojeda Rios in the leadership of the clandestine
> revolutionary organization. Ojeda Rios was assassinated by federal
> agents on September 23, 2005.
>
> The initial rumors that the recent subpoenas had been issued and
> served began to circulate almost simultaneously as the new progress
> report of the White House committee reviewing the colonial
> conditions of Puerto Rico was made public. The subpoenas, all
> served in New York City are to appear before the Federal Grand Jury
> on the following January 11.
>
> Although many are shocked by the identity of some of the particular
> individuals targeted, this latest offensive by the U.S. Federal
> Government has not come as a total surprise to the Pro-Independence
> Movement, which has been organizing to prepare for an expected new
> wave of political repression and possibly arrests.