[Ppnews] Carlos Montes Court Appearance: Activists say “Drop the Charges!”

[Political Prisoner News]

Carlos Montes Court Appearance: Activists say “Drop the Charges!”

Thanks for your calls to President Obama and A.G. Holder on Monday!

http://www.fightbacknews.org/2011/11/15/carlos-montes-court-appearance-activists-say-drop-charges

By Charla Schlueter
Los Angeles, CA – Activists gathered outside the 
Los Angeles courthouse Monday morning, chanting 
“FBI don’t scare me, we’ve got solidarity,” as 
they rallied in support of veteran Chicano 
activist 
<http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=dd66f35817&e=b7378561ef>Carlos 
Montes. Over 40 supporters packed the courtroom 
as Montes’ case began the ‘discovery’ phase. “We 
are demanding the communications, documents, and 
information that shows the collaboration of the 
FBI and L.A. County Sheriffs,” said Montes outside the hearing.

During this phase of the legal proceedings Jorge 
Gonzalez, Montes’ attorney, is working to 
establish that the FBI was behind every step of the attack on Montes.

The L.A. Sheriff’s department has confirmed that 
the May 17 raid on Montes’ home was initiated by 
the FBI. After Montes was arrested, he was 
questioned by plainclothes FBI agents – not about 
prior arrests or gun purchases (the stated 
pretext for the raid), but about his political 
activism and his relationship with the 
<http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=e4bca7be83&e=b7378561ef>Freedom 
Road Socialist Organization. Montes maintains 
that he was targeted for his opposition to U.S. 
military aggression and his activism in 
solidarity with the people of Colombia and Palestine.

“I just can’t believe that the FBI think they can 
get away with crap like this,” said Joshua 
Taylor, a participant in Occupy LA. “These 
charges are clearly bogus, they’re an attack on 
the movement as a whole.” Taylor has been at 
Occupy L.A. for 22 days now, and says he came out 
to support Montes because “it could be any of us, we have to stand together.”

The discovery phase of Montes’ case will continue 
on December 14, at the Los Angeles Superior Court 
on Temple Street, Department 123 on the 13th floor.

Speaking in front of the courthouse, Mick Kelly, 
of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, stated, 
“What is happening inside this courthouse is 
wrong. The U.S. government wants to put Carlos 
Montes in jail for his anti-war and international 
solidarity activism. We cannot allow this to happen.”

Montes is part of a larger group of 24 activists 
around the country who have been hit by FBI 
repression and a federal grand jury investigation 
looking into “material support for terrorism.” 
Many of those activists, including Montes, were 
involved in organizing the massive protests at 
the 2008 Republican National Convention.




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San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
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