Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Support the Love Park 4!

Anti-Racists Face Serious Legal Battle in Philly:
UPDATE AND PLEA FOR LEGAL FUNDS!

On Monday July 23rd, four anti-fascists from the Philadelphia, PA area
were arrested at what was supposed to be a Ku Klux Klan rally in
Center City Philadelphia. Jared Schultz, Tom Keenan, Jason Robbins -
all of Philadelphia Anti-Racist Action - and Jim McGovern - of the
Progressive Labor Party - were all arrested and charged with a series
of trumped up misdemeanors in a situation that - for all practical
purposes - was straight up entrapment.

Rumors spread through Philadelphia starting Friday July 20th that the
Ku Klux Klan was supposed to show up for an 11AM rally on Monday at
Love Park. While anti-fascists were present in the area starting at
10:30AM, no racists showed up for the rally until noon when two men
wearing what appeared to be neo-Nazi t-shirts showed up in the area.
Anti-fascists approached the men, confirmed they were neo-Nazis and
told them to leave. Words were exchanged between the Klansmen and the
anti-fascists, and then the neo-Nazis said they were leaving. The
anti-fascists then followed behind them to make sure that they kept
their promise.

Strangely, Civil Affairs cops remained on the other side of the park
the entire time and made no efforts to follow the group even when they
were out of their sight. The boneheads got into an SUV around the
corner and were driven away. As they attempted to drive off,
conveniently blocked by traffic, a verbal confrontation ensued with
the anti-fascists lasting several minutes before a window of the SUV
was smashed. The driver – who could have flashed his badge at anytime
to disperse the crowd - then ordered Schultz, Keenan, Robbins and
McGovern against the wall.

While the arresting officer was a Philadelphia Police Department
detective, the SUV was, according to paperwork received by the
arrestees, the vehicle of FBI Special Agent Sean Brennan, also present
during the arrests. What an FBI agent was doing escorting neo-Nazis
away from the park remains a total mystery.

After the arrests, all four of the anti-fascists were transported to
the 9th Police Precinct where they remained for approximately 27 hours
awaiting notice of their charges and bail amounts.

Initially, the arrestees were informed that for some odd reason,
Internal Affairs was investigating their case and that they would be
facing 10 charges - 4 felonies and 6 misdemeanors. In the end,
however, all of the felonies were dropped, leaving the arrestees with
8 misdemeanor charges of varying degrees upon being bailed out. The
fact that the charges were dropped so quickly proves just how trumped
up these charges are. However there's still a lot at stake for The
Love Park 4.

Currently, everyone is facing the same 8 charges - Possession of an
Instrument of Crime With Intent, Criminal Conspiracy Engaging with
Possession of Instrument of Crime with Intent, Institutional
Vandalism/Illegal Possession, Reckless Endangering Another Person,
Resisting Arrest, Criminal Mischief, Harassment - Subject Other to
Physical Contact, and Disorderly Conduct/Grading.

At this point, everyone is out of jail, doing fine and just taking
some time to relax for a few days before what could be a lengthy and
expensive legal ordeal. All of the defendants are scheduled for court
on October 3rd, and are in the process of establishing a legal defense
fund and securing legal counsel.

We are confident that with the right resources, all of the
anti-fascists arrested will be able to defeat these outrageous charges
which could result in tens of thousands of dollars in fines and years
of jail time

*But we sure can't go it alone*

We need the resources to win this legal battle and you can help right now!

Simply go to http://www.paypal.com, click on the "send money" tab and
make a donation to cyndipitt@gmail.com. If you wish to send funds
through the mail a check or well concealed cash to

Heartsville Community Space
PO Box 5917
Philadelphia, PA 19137.

Make sure to note that it is for The Love Park 4.

Write to philly_ara@yahoo.com to receive updates on how you can lend a
hand. They'll be plenty of work to do.

GIVE THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING: SOLIDARITY!

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