Below are two statements condemning violent FBI and police raids on Friday, July 29th targeting the African People's Socialist Party in Florida and Missouri, allegedly over "Russian propaganda," which even if true would seem to be protected free speech. The first document is a joint statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression and the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and the second is from the Black Alliance for Peace. For more reactions see: apspuhuru.org/category/all-news/
[The United National Antiwar Coalition has a petition at: unac.notowar.net/condemn-fbi-raids-on-african-peoples-socialist-party-and-uhuru-movement/ More statements have been posted on the APSP's website, including a statement by NC-based Black Workers for Justice. I'm posting a third statement, from Defend Rights and Dissent: www.rightsanddissent.org/news/fbi-raids-homes-and-offices-of-activist-groups-claiming-russian-influence/ ]
Condemn the FBI raids in St Louis, MO & St Petersburg, FL!
On the morning of Friday, July 29th, the FBI conducted raids at multiple locations, including the Uhuru House in St. Petersburg, Florida, the private residence of Omali Yeshitela in St. Louis, Missouri, as well as the Uhuru Solidarity Center, also in St. Louis. The FBI employed flashbang grenades and handcuffed Yeshitela and his wife while the house was raided. The FBI says that the raids are connected to the federal indictment of a Russian man, Aleksandr Ionov, alleging that he has been working to spread "Russian propaganda" in the United States.
The Committee to Stop FBI Repression and the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression unequivocally condemn these raids. We oppose all efforts by the U.S. government to target activists in any progressive movement in this country. We call for an end to investigations, political harassment, and threats against activists and our movements.
The DOJ is alleging that those raided collaborated with a "Russian asset" to spread "Russian propaganda." At a time when the U.S. is engaged in an imperialist proxy war with Russia in the Ukraine, these raids have all the makings of a witch hunt. All progressive people should oppose any attempt by the FBI and police to attack people's movements and organizations. We must always be vigilant about defending our democratic rights to organize and speak out against injustice - including communicating with activists in other countries and building international solidarity. It should also be said this repression come in the context of upsurge of struggle in the Black community.
The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression are committed to pushing back against this repression and we stand in solidarity with those under attack.
We know from experience how importance resistance to repression is. On September 24, 2010 the FBI raided seven homes of anti-war activists and the office of the Twin Cities Anti-War committee. Twenty-three activists were subpoenaed to a Chicago-based grand jury that claimed to be investigating "material support for terrorism." As time went on, the FBI continued their attack on anti-war and international solidarity activists by targeting important veterans of the movement who worked with the Anti-war 23, including Chicano activist Carlos Montes in Los Angeles and Palestinian organizer Rasmea Odeh in Chicago. A national defense campaign defeated most of these attacks.
All those active in the movements for peace and justice should use this moment as a reminder to never speak with agents of the federal government prying into your activism or the activism of others. "I have nothing to say, please speak with my lawyer," are all that need to be said. If you are being taken into custody, all you are required by law to do is confirm your name and tell them that you would like to speak with your lawyer. If federal or local agents show up at your home or organizing office, do not let them in without a warrant, and if they have a warrant, inspect the details of the warrant closely - if any detail is incorrect, such as the spelling of a name or address, point out the error and do not permit entry onto the premises.
Don’t talk to the FBI!
Stop FBI repression!
Black Alliance for Peace Condemns FBI Attack on the African People’s Socialist Party
For Immediate Release
Media Contact
communications [at blackallianceforpeace]
[ ]
AUGUST 01, 2022—The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) unequivocally condemns and opposes the latest domestic U.S. state repression and intimidation tactics currently being leveled against the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP).
On Friday, July 29, 2022, the FBI executed multiple raids against APSP’s Uhuru House in St. Petersburg, Florida and their Uhuru Solidarity Center in St. Louis, Missouri and the private residence of APSP Chairman Omali Yeshitela also in St. Louis. The FBI employed flashbang grenades and handcuffed Yeshitela and his wife while their house was raided. The FBI claims that the raids are connected to the federal indictment of a Russian national, Aleksandr Ionov, alleging that he has been working to spread "Russian propaganda" in the United States.
BAP believes that these raids continue the history of state repression directed against Black people in the U.S. This repression now occurs under the guise of opposing “adversary” nations but regardless of how these actions are characterized, Black people still bear the brunt of surveillance and police violence. The APSP has the right to freely associate with people around the world, to hold any political beliefs it may choose, and to express them without fear of intimidation, persecution, or prosecution.
We believe this repression to be a hysterical response to the United States’ loss of legitimacy in the context of the deepening crisis of capitalism and U.S. global hegemony. The unleashing of policing and counterintelligence forces domestically and increased militarism and warmongering abroad in the name of national security are the only avenues left to the U.S. ruling class that is engulfed in an irreversible economic crisis. They represent the hallmarks of a naked fascism that the U.S. ruling class appears to be increasingly committed to in order to maintain the rule of capital.
BAP reminds the public that the war against working class people generally, and Black, Brown, and Indigenous workers particularly, is ongoing. The masses must acknowledge and resist this reality. While it is APSP today, it will ultimately be the rest of us tomorrow. Resistance is our only option.
Given our steadfast commitment to rebuilding the broader anti-war, anti-imperialist peace movement, BAP is not intimidated and will not retreat. We are guided by the position articulated by the Black is Back Coalition, of which BAP is a proud member, that "Now is the time to throw off all hesitation, open up new forms of struggle and to launch every protest, demonstration, and anti-imperialist action - from the ballot box to the barricades - as an act to deepen the crisis of imperialism."
The treatment of the APSP is reminiscent of McCarthyist witch hunts that targeted and criminalized workers, immigrants, and colonized people who organized domestically and internationally against capitalist imperialism. Likewise, the FBI’s actions represent COINTELPRO-like tactics employed to crush organizations and individuals fighting to protect and expand the rights of oppressed people in general, and Africans in particular.
These tactics came back forcefully in response to the 2014 uprisings in Ferguson, Missouri. FBI agents tracked the movements and monitored the individuals tied to the protests. In 2016, when the murder of Freddie Gray ignited protests in Baltimore, the FBI admitted to providing an aircraft for surveillance in the weeks following the unrest. In 2017, the FBI created the designation “Black Identity Extremist” to monitor Black movement organizers. The term was updated to “Racially Motivated Violent Extremism” in 2018. FBI surveillance was rampant going into the summer 2020 rebellions, with FBI agents attempting to infiltrate protests in Portland.
The Black population in the United States has historically stood at the forefront of resistance and condemnations of war and state repression. In this spirit, the Black Alliance for Peace reiterates the critical, moral stance against such government aggression and stands in resolute solidarity with the APSP.
By comprehensively linking the issue of state violence and militarism, BAP will continue to concentrate its efforts on not only opposing the U.S. war agenda globally but the war and repression being waged on Black and Brown communities within U.S. borders.
In this charge, The Black Alliance for Peace says there will be "No Compromise and No Retreat!”
BAP Coordinating Committee
Link to online version: https://blackallianceforpeace.com/bapstatements/bapsolidaritywithapsp
[ FBI Raids Homes and Offices of Activist Groups, Claiming Russian Influence
On Friday July 29, 2002 the FBI raided homes and offices associated with the African People’s Socialist Party and Uhuru Solidarity Movement in St. Petersburg, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri. These related groups describe their political views as socialism and African Internationalism. Property, including cell phones and computers, documents, and a car were seized. One member of the party alleges that during the raid FBI agents set off flash bang grenades, used drones, and handcuffed him.
None of these individuals have been charged with any crime, however, they are widely understood to have been labeled as unindicted co-conspirators in the indictment of Alexander Viktorovich Ionov. According to the indictment, the US government believes Ionov and the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia acted with Russia intelligence to get three domestic US political organizations to act as unregistered foreign agents of the Russian state. Ionov has been charged with “conspiracy against the United States.” Multiple unnamed US political activists and unnamed Russian intelligence operatives are described as “unindicted co-conspirators.” Given that Ionov is a Russian national who lives in Russia, it is unlikely that this case will ever be brought to trial.
Defending Rights & Dissent takes seriously the problem of a foreign intelligence service interfering in the domestic political affairs of another nation. Nonetheless, we have serious concerns about the raids, which seem deeply disproportionate to the allegations, as well as the potential chilling impact an overly broad response to perceived foreign influence could have on dissent in the US. While the indictment alleges the group received money from the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (which they have denied), it includes as overt acts in the conspiracy a speaking tour in support of reparations for slavery and a petition to the United Nations condemning the US’s treatment of Black Americans as “genocide.” These views have been held by the African People’s Socialist Party, and other Pan-Africanist and Black Liberation organizations for decades. Conflating these points of view with “Russian misinformation” and foreign attempts to “sow division” runs the risk of stigmatizing dissent.
This is made all the more concerning given the US government’s history of suppressing Black Liberation organizing based on fears of foreign influence. The Uhuru Solidarity Movement’s UN petition appears modeled after the “We Charge Genocide” petition of the Civil Rights Congress. Paul Robeson and W. E. B. DuBois were unable to deliver the petition in France, as they had their passports revoked. When William Patterson of the Civil Rights Congress did so, the US government seized his passport while he was abroad. DuBois was later himself indicted as an unregistered foreign agent, but was acquitted. Similarly, in the early 1970s J. Edgar Hoover kept a file on “Foreign Influences in the Black Extremist Movement” and tasked the NSA with helping the FBI to reveal it.
While this does not refute the veracity of the indictment, it gives reason for caution. Defending Rights & Dissent will continue to monitor this situation as it develops. ]
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