Our Passion for Freedom is Stronger Than Their Prisons: Leah’s and Dennison’s statement of resistance to the grand jury
This statement was given by grand jury resistors this morning at a press conference in Portland, OR:
Hi my name is Dennison. I will be reading a statement on behalf of myself and Leah-Lynn Plante. The two of us were subpoenaed to the secret grand jury to begin meeting on Thursday investigating anarchists.
We are releasing this statement to make clear our intention to resist the grand jury. We will not co-operate with their investigation. If we appear before the grand jury, we will not answer any questions other than our names. If we are asked additional questions, we will invoke our First, Fourth,and Fifth Amendment rights. Under no circumstances will we talk about other people.
This grand jury is a tool of political repression. It is attempting to turn individuals against each other by coercing those subpoenaed to testify against their communities. The secret nature of grand jury proceedings creates mistrust and can undermine solidarity. And imprisoning us takes us from our loved ones and our responsibilities.
But our passion for freedom is stronger than the state’s prisons. Our refusal to cooperate with the grand jury is a reflection of our own desires for a liberated world and our support for others who are working to bring that world into being. We support the efforts of all those who will be resisting this grand jury.
If you would like to join us, please visit: http://nopoliticalrepression.wordpress.com. There you can find out how to sign on to a solidarity statement, donate money to our defense and support campaign, and write us should we be imprisoned.
More importantly, though, you can show your solidarity by refusing to co-operate with any police force and encouraging your friends and families to do the same. The police do not protect us, and do nothing to bring justice to those who have been hurt by others. If we want real safety, and real justice, we need to begin creating liberatory alternatives to the state’s institutions.
I want to bring this to the attention of all of my followers. Leah is one of my closest personal friends, and this press statement is from her and Dennison, who were both recently served grand jury subpoenas after FBI raids on their houses. They have been targeted based on their political views, as part of an on going witch-hunt to repress people whose views do not align with that of the political state’s. She has been one of my best friends in the years that I have known her, being supportive, helpful, and even putting me up in her house to stay. I cite her as being the most influential person in my growth and change as a person over the past few years, being a motivation in educating myself on oppression both in society and government, and being a more loving and accepting person in general.
Please take a minute to click through to the linked wordpress to learn about the events taking place in the NW, and learn how you can help speak out against the political repression taking place, and what you can do to help these people targeted. This is very important to me, as these are people whom I love. Thanks, and I will continue to post on this over the course of developing events.
