FBI serves terrorism warrants in Minn., Chicago

AP/YahooNews ^ | 9/29/10 | STEVE KARNOWSKI,

[Kartographer]

The FBI said it searched eight addresses in Minneapolis and Chicago as part of a terrorism investigation Friday. Warrants suggest agents were looking for connections between local anti-war activists and terrorist groups in Colombia and the Middle East.

FBI spokesman Steve Warfield told The Associated Press agents served six warrants in Minneapolis and two in Chicago.

"These were search warrants only," Warfield said. "We're not anticipating any arrests at this time. They're seeking evidence relating to activities concerning the material support of terrorism."

The homes of longtime Minneapolis anti-war activists Mick Kelly, Jess Sundin and Meredith Aby were among those searched, they said. All three were subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury in Chicago: Aby on Oct. 5, Sundin on Oct. 12 and Kelly on Oct. 19.

[Enchante]

It’s tough to have much confidence in the FBI but I doubt they’d go anywhere near “social justice activists” aka Friends of Barack without something pretty strong to go on.... if it were mere innuendo any FBI agent would know the leftist blowback will be harsh, so I’ll take a wild guess that they have some kind of significant case building and wanted more??? otherwise it’s just hard to see that they would go near leftist activists in Chi-town and MN.

[MissyMack66]

The FBI should also be looking to round up about a quarter of a million terrorists in Boston. They’re all in Cambridge going to Harvard and MIT.

[Just Lori]

Coming soon to a neighborhood near you....

[A Navy Vet]

Good for the FBI. Between them and the CIA, NSA, DOD, England's Mi6, et al, they are doing their job.

We can argue all day about the upper politics of such organizations, but does any one on this board realized how many hard-working analysts and clandestine operatives in the above orgs have prevented more attacks? I do. We read every day that some Muslim terrorist has been arrested. How do you think that happens?

I say THANK YOU to all those working so hard to protect my family and friends.

[1010RD]

Our enemies watch what our politicians say. It is an invitation to disaster.

Missteps have started wars. See Korea & Kuwait for recent examples.

[TheOldLady]

zer0 trying to butch up before the election?

He is death and the leader of the party orchestrating death
for all people and things that are good and right.

[crosslink]

The colombians raided a FARC camp on the 20th and killed a senior commander and a number of his men. Could be a case of the colombians finding some juicy intel that mentioned the individuals whose houses were raided.

If this is were the intel originated then why the search warrants? The FBI would not announce the warrants they would have tried to get someone on the inside. The only reason to raid is intelligence about a imminent attack or political motivation. We will learn which one it was in the near future.

[WaterBoard]

Video of Jess Sundin, target of the warrant. She admits going to Iraq during the war to protest against America.

Video Link

Jess Sundin, Anti-War Committee: Speaking at the Protest RNC 2008 Organizers Conference on February 9-10th in St.Paul, MN.

[WaterBoard]

Photo of Meredith Aby, target of the FBI warrants. She was a past Social Studies / Civics teacher at Bloomington Jefferson High School.



"A raid was also conducted on the home of Meredith Aby, another local antiwar leader who was frequently the spokeswoman for the march on the GOP convention."

"Aby is apparently also quite active in promoting her political beliefs, which lean about as far left as you can get. She is a frequent contributor on Fight Back! News, the media arm of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and has been a speaker at numerous events organized by other overtly socialist groups, including the new incarnation of the SDS (Bill Ayers’ old group)."

[WaterBoard]

Here are articles by Meredith Aby and Mike Kelly writing about Columbian Unions on a pro-FARC and Socialist website. So, it does look like they were very sympathetic to a terrorist group.

Summer 2004 Colombia's Unions: Under Attack and Fighting Back by Meredith Aby

Summer 2004 Coca-Cola Attempts Union Busting in Colombia by Meredith Aby

Freedom Road Socialist Organization

[WaterBoard]

Here is Meredith Aby's employers website biography. It will be interesting if the teachers union and school does not suspend her in light of a terrorism investigation.

http://jeff.bloomington.k12.mn.us/teachers/meredith_aby/home%20page

[WaterBoard]

"But I suspect the type of behavior which got Aby and the others in her group in trouble is stuff like this:

Revolution & Socialism in Latin America

Wednesday, 10/4 @ 7pm @ May Day Bookstore, 301 Cedar Ave – 1 block west of the Carlson School of Mgmt, on the West Bank of the U of M, Mpls Every week in the news the topics of revolution & socialism are raised in discussion of the Caribbean, Central & South America. Come hear from Meredith Aby, Jessica Sundin, & Erika Zurawski, who have recently returned from meeting with revolutionaries in Colombia, Ecuador, & Venezuela, on the prospects for revolutionary socialism in Latin America. www.frso.org

And then there’s this, written by Aby last November:

In August, a delegation of North American students, trade unionists, and anti-war activists traveled to Colombia to meet with leaders in the struggle for peace and justice. In meetings with Colombian campesinos, workers, and students, we discussed the role of the School of the Americas (SOA) in training dozens of Colombian Military officers who ordered the executions of 1300 poor workers and then dressed them in FARC uniforms to claim combat kills against the revolutionaries. The US war in Colombia is a disaster! Our solidarity delegation made plans to build the movement to close the SOA, stop Plan Colombia, and oppose the seven new US Military bases being planned. The panel discussion will lead to organizing against U.S. Military bases and the escalating U.S. intervention in Colombia.

You know if you are a U.S. citizen participating in trips to Latin America where you are actively organize against the U.S. military, I think you should count on getting a little scrutiny from the FBI. And incidentally, it’s probably not very advisable to post about such activity on the internet.

The mainstream left in America has a very important choice to make soon – I’ll have more to say on this later. But if there any readers from the Minneapolis area: were Aby’s political affiliations and activities already known? Has there been any previous effort to have her removed or suspended? While I think it’s generally assumed that a majority of teachers at the high school and college level lean at least a little to the left, this is just ridiculous.

Update: a copy of the subpoena issued to one of those being investigated – Mick Kelly – is available here. Apparently the FBI has targeted the activities and members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization for their support of designated terrorist organizations in Palestine and Latin America (e.g. Hezbollah and FARC). The first amendment does not grant the right of anyone to provide material support to criminal organizations."

[norwaypinesavage]

The Obama Justice Department must have given an order to: “Arrest some white guys just before the election”. The problem is, the only ones they found were leftists.

[TheOldLady]

Yes. Out of her own mouth.

[onemiddleamerican]

Sounds like somebody (or a whole buncha somebodies) at the FBI have had it up to here with the Obama admin's Kumbaya BS regarding terrorists, terrorist sympathizers, etc., and have just fired a shot across the bow of the SS Obama by this raid.

I would say they are "going rogue", but the only thing they are going rogue against is the Obama admin's do-nothing-against-terrorists game plan. They are doing what they were hired and trained to do; find the bad guys and bust up their plots and build criminal cases against them.

Obama is likely displeased with this news.

[My hearts in London - Everett]

Both of my daughters intend to become a part of two of those groups when they finish their enlistment. And they are both trained already in tracking down the bad guys.

[LurkedLongEnough]

The Obama Justice Department must have given an order to: “Arrest some white guys just before the election”.

Exactly. An election base call-to-arms, making ordinary news too big to ignore, and nonsense to those who don't have the secret details, who are most Americans.

[denydenydeny]

I’d love to see some extraditions here. The Colmbian government takes aiding and abetting FARC seriously.

[theDentist]

has there been an uptick in terror cell arrests?

Not sure if the frequency is up, but I do believe that those who would do us harm have little fear of a government led by a part-time muzzie with an Atty General who hates Whitey.

[hoosiermama]

Any up dates?