MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - 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. "The FBI is
harassing anti-war organizers and leaders, folks who opposed U.S.
intervention in the Middle East and Latin America," Kelly said before
agents confiscated his cell phone. Sundin said she believes the
searches are connected with the Minnesota Anti-War Committee's
opposition to U.S. military aid to Colombia and Israel, as well as its
opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "It's kind of
outrageous that citizens of the United States could be targeted like
this," Sundin said. In Chicago, the home of activists Joe Iosbaker and
his wife, Stephanie Weiner, was searched by more than a dozen agents
who carried out boxes full of their possessions - including their cell
phones - and loaded them into a white van, the couple's attorney said.
Stepping outside his house briefly as FBI agents searched inside,
Iosbaker was clearly shaken when he told The Associated Press: "I have
done nothing wrong." Their attorney, Melinda Power, said the warrant
cited possible support, in her words, "for unnamed terrorist
organizations." Iosbaker and Weiner were summoned to testify before a
grand jury on Oct. 5. "These are people committed to social justice,"
Power said. "That is not a crime in this country." As news of the raid
spread around the neighborhood, friends and fellow activists gathered
outside the house and several sang John Lennon's, "Give Peace a
Chance." "These people have been activists all their lives," said Bob
Hearst, who said he was a family friend. "I can't imagine why the FBI
would have any interest in them." Warfield said he couldn't comment on
whose homes were searched or give details on why because it was an
ongoing investigation. "There's no imminent threat to the community,"
he said. The Minneapolis searches were first reported by the Star
Tribune. The warrant for Kelly's home, provided by his attorney, sought
evidence on travel he did as part of his work for the Freedom Road
Socialist Organization and information on any travel to Colombia, the
Palestinian territories, Jordan, Syria or Israel. The warrant for
Sundin's home was similar but included a slightly different list of
targeted groups. Kelly's warrant also said agents sought information on
contact with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Hezbollah. The U.S.
government considers those three groups terrorist organizations. "It
appears to be a fishing expedition," said Kelly's attorney, Ted Dooley.
"It seems like they're casting a huge seine or net into the political
sea and see what they can drag up on shore and dry out. There's no
rhyme or reason to it in a free society." The federal law cited in the
search warrant prohibits "providing material support or resources to
designated foreign terrorist organizations." "I'm having a hard time
paying my rent," Kelly said. "There is no material support." In June,
the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a free-speech challenge to the law from
humanitarian aid groups that said some provisions put them at risk of
being prosecuted for talking to terrorist organizations about
nonviolent activities. Two groups use the name Freedom Road Socialist
Organization, one based in Chicago and one in New York. They split
several years ago, and the New York group said it was not targeted. The
website for the Chicago group, which describes itself as a
"revolutionary socialist and Marxist-Leninist organization," shows
Kelly and Sundin have been affiliated with it. Kelly edits FightBack!,
a Minneapolis-based website and newspaper for the group. Kelly's
subpoena also commanded him to bring records he might have relating to
the Middle East and Colombia, along with "all records of any payment
provided directly or indirectly to Hatam Abudayyeh." The subpoena did
not further identify Abudayyeh, but FightBack has interviewed and
carried articles by a Hatam Abudayyeh who's the executive director of
the Chicago-based Arab American Action Network. Abudayyeh did not
immediately return a phone message left at his office. Kelly said he
went to Lebanon two years ago for a Palestinian solidarity conference,
and he's been on Colombian radio by phone from the U.S. Sundin said she
visited Colombia 10 years ago for a conference organized by a social
movement there in opposition to U.S. military aid. Aby said she went to
Palestine in 2002 and Colombia in 2004 and 2006 to meet with activists.
She said anyone who's an activist in those counties gets labeled as a
terrorist. Both Sundin and Kelly were organizers of a mass march on the
first day of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul two years
ago, and recently appeared at a news conference to announce plans for
another protest if Minneapolis is selected to hold the 2012 Democratic
National Convention. Police estimated the peaceful march in 2008 drew
10,000 protesters; organizers put the figure at 30,000. Other protests
were marked by destructive acts by anarchists. More than 800 people
were arrested during the four days of the convention, including Sundin
and Kelly. Other Minnesota anti-war activists whose homes were searched
included Anh Pham, Sarah Martin and Tracy Molm, Dooley said. He said he
didn't know whose homes were searched in Chicago. The FBI's spokesman
in Chicago, Ross Rice, would only say two searches were conducted
Friday in Chicago and there were no arrests. Asked about the reports,
the U.S. Attorney's office spokesman in Chicago, Randy Samborn,
confirmed warrants were served in the city "in connection with a law
enforcement investigation." He also declined to provide details. ___
Associated Press Writers Michael Tarm in Chicago and Martiga Lohn in
Minneapolis contributed to this report.
FBI targeting lead
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