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<h1><font size=2><b><a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog">Update
from Green Is The New
Red</a></b></font></h1><font size=4><b><a name="1"></a>Activist to Iowa
Grand Jury: “We will not be intimidated. We will not cooperate.”
<br><br>
</b></font><font size=3>Posted: 19 Oct 2009 06:00 AM PDT<br><br>
Carrie Feldman, a 20-year-old woman from Minneapolis, has been subpoenaed
to a federal grand jury in Iowa in what appears to be yet another attempt
to harass and intimidate political activists. She faces up to a year in
jail if held in contempt for refusing to cooperate with the grand
jury.<br><br>
As you can see in
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/wp-content/Images/feldman-iowa-subpoena.pdf">
Feldman’s grand jury subpoena</a>, the government provides few details
about what is actually being investigated. That’s no accident: grand
juries, by design, are secretive and conducted outside of public scrutiny
in a legal void where basic Fifth and First Amendment rights do not
apply. [Here is
a<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/wp-content/Images/grandjury101.pdf">
handy booklet on grand juries</a> with much more information.] If
activists refuse to participate in the political witch-hunt, they can
face serious jail time.
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/jordan-halliday-contempt-indictment-grand-jury/2287/">
Jordan Halliday has done exactly that with a Utah Grand Jury</a>, and he
is facing federal criminal contempt charges. <br><br>
There’s a very good chance the grand jury is investigating a
<a href="http://www.directaction.info/news_nov18_04.htm">2004 Animal
Liberation Front raid at the University of Iowa</a> (video of the raid is
embedded here), for a few reasons. It was a very high profile crime at
the time, and both the university and the FBI have indicated it is a top
priority. Also, at the preliminary hearing by the grand jury, a witness
asked a question that Feldman says related to that investigation.
<br><br>
After that raid, the University of Iowa announced that its new, $11.2
million <a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55764/">animal
experimentation facility would be underground</a>. As an anonymous
activist wrote on the
<a href="http://tc.indymedia.org/2009/oct/local-activist-subpoenaed-federal-grand-jury-iowa-1#comments">
TwinCities Indymedia page</a>: <br><br>
</font>
<dl>
<dd>“Like the torture of animals, grand juries, too, are only at their
most effective when done as intended, in secret.”<br><br>
</dl>If the new underground lab at the University of Iowa is intended to
deter both legal and illegal animal rights activity, that’s not going to
happen. When I sent around a news article about that on Twitter a while
back, an aboveground activist responded in a way that I think reflects
the mentality of many people in the animal rights and environmental
movements: “They’re building their labs underground now? I guess we’ll
just have to get shovels.” <br><br>
And if this new grand jury is intended to harass and intimidate political
activists… well, I think they picked the wrong activist and the wrong
community to target. Carrie Feldman is active with EWOK (Earth Warriors
are OK), which has been active on local
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/green-scare">Green Scare
</a>issues. She also works with the Coldsnap Legal Collective and the RNC
8 support committee, experience that is clearly reflected in her
<a href="http://twincities.indymedia.org/2009/oct/update-local-grand-jury-resister-carrie-feldman">
statement to the grand jury</a>:<br><br>
<dl>
<dd>First of all, I would like to state, unequivocally and most certainly
for the record, that I have no intention of testifying before this grand
jury. Based on information from the prosecutor indicating that I may be a
target of this investigation, I am invoking my Fifth Amendment right
against self-incrimination. But beyond that, I am refusing to cooperate
based on a sincere belief that to do so would run counter to my deeply
held convictions and values.<br><br>
<dd>Grand juries were originally created to prevent arbitrary
indictments, but are now used as a tool of the prosecution to gather
information. Grand juries undercut basic rights supposedly granted in the
Constitution by denying access to counsel and coercing testimony. They
are now, and have been for some time, used to investigate and intimidate
those who would express dissent.<br><br>
<dd>This is only effective when we are complicit, when we are frightened,
when we are divided. Today my voice may waver, as I stand alone in this
room. But I know I speak with the voice of every one of my friends, loved
ones, and comrades when I say this: We will not be intimidated. We will
not cooperate. I have nothing more to say to you.<br><br></b>
</dl>
<ul>
<li>Carrie Feldman’s support website:
<li><a href="http://supportcarrie.wordpress.com/">
http://supportcarrie.wordpress.com/</a>
</ul><br>
Related posts:
<ol>
<li>
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/jordan-halliday-contempt-indictment-grand-jury/2287/">
Jordan Halliday Faces Trial on Contempt Charges for Resisting Grand
Jury</a>
<li>
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/grand-jury-101-from-the-rockford-files/1504/">
Grand Jury 101 From the Rockford Files</a>
<li>
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/jordan-halliday-jailed-grand-jury/1496/">
FBI Admits Utah Grand Jury May Lead to ALF “Sympathy
Attacks”</a><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
</ol><font size=3><br><br>
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