FBI’s tactics can suppress dissent

By Robert Ehl ---

We are former members of an anarchist group from Iowa City no longer in existence, Wild Rose Rebellion. Recently, the Des Moines Register reported about how the FBI performed extensive surveillance while we planned attendance at the protest of the Republican National Convention of 2008. It has become obvious to us that there are a lot of misconceptions floating around.

From the Palmer raids and the Red Scare of the 20th century to the prosecution of animal rights activists and protest organizers of today, our history is full of stories about civil rights leaders, union organizers and activists of all stripes being under surveillance and often prosecution by the federal government. We were not surprised this happened to us. From our very first meeting, we shared stories about what had happened to those who protested at the political conventions of 2004 and what we could expect to encounter.

Eight organizers of the 2008 RNC protests from Minneapolis-St Paul were initially charged with "conspiracy to commit riot in furtherance of terrorism," and notably these are conspiracy charges for crimes they were not directly connected to. Four still face trial for "conspiracy to riot," historically a charge brought when nothing else exists to prosecute organizers.

The extensive surveillance and infiltration of their aboveground work by federal authorities was one part of the same effort used against us here in Iowa City. The documents released to us by the FBI also show that it attempted to connect our organizing work to animal and environmental liberation activities, something authorities have been criminalizing to a greater degree in recent years, called by some the "green scare."

We condemn this repression and declare our solidarity with those under such persecution.

Like many involved in work for social transformation, we are working-class people with rather limited resources. Not everyone involved in the planning could go to the conventions but they helped with things like donating gas money and getting the word out. The idea of facing serious federal charges for protest activity is certainly a scary one.

However, the problem for us is not that they went through our trash and watched us walk from our meetings at the library to a restaurant, bar or grocery store. The real problem is that this seems intended to intimidate people from getting involved in such work.

Whether you think it was a good idea that the FBI kept an eye on us just in case we were "dangerous extremists" or you are outraged at the waste of taxpayer money and intrusion on our rights, the bottom line for us is that you should know this goes on. You should know what the FBI is doing and the effects that it has on dissent. You should know what we are doing and why, and that message seems lost in the controversy.

Besides the protest activity in question, members of our group worked on a number of issues - from supporting a union picket of Wells Fargo Bank to putting on a benefit for those affected by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids here in Iowa, we confronted neo-Nazis in Des Moines and helped organize a community garden in Iowa City.

Simply put, we are for directly democratic and self-organized social movements, and we continue to be involved in such projects.

Robert "Ajax" Ehl of Iowa City was a founding member of Wild Rose Rebellion and University of Iowa Anti-war Committee, as well as being involved in several other activist groups. He wrote this column also on behalf of former Wild Rose members Ryan Spurgetis and Warren Conatser Echevarria, also of Iowa City. Comments:

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