On April 26, 2011 Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder seeking additional information about the 2010 FBI raids that targeted Midwest peace activists. In the letter, she wrote that these law enforcement “investigations into individuals and organizations engaged in peaceful anti-war demonstrations” are continuing a trend of intrusive government surveillance. Schakowsky is the fourth member of Congress to write to either President Obama or Holder asking them to look into law enforcement treatment of those who are exercising their constitutional rights to organize and protest. The other letters were written by Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Rep. David Price (D-NC).

In her letter to Holder, Schakowsky included a message from Michael Deutsch, one of the attorneys representing the activists whose homes were raided and who have been issued grand jury subpoenas. Deutsch said the targeting of “peaceful political activists and their organizations creates an anti-constitutional ‘chilling effect’ on all activists.” He asked Holder to “speak out against this dangerous…use of the broad powers of federal law enforcement.”
Deutsch’s letter also asks that no activists be indicted because prosecution would be based upon a “distorted and dangerous interpretation of the law prohibiting ‘material support’ for designated foreign terrorist organizations. We also believe that these indictments will rely on the false claims of at least one government infiltrator/provocateur.” In early 2011, members of the Minneapolis based Anti-War Committee learned that an undercover FBI agent had infiltrated their organization and conducted extensive spying over a two year period.
In his April 5 letter, Rep. Price writes to Holder that “none of the individuals who received subpoenas or were questioned in the case have been informed of the potential charges against them or the specific focus of the investigation.” He is also concerned that “the Bureau might be targeting these individuals and organizations because of their political views,” and not because of a criminal investigation.
On Jan. 25 anti-war activists subpoenaed by the FBI refused to appear before a grand jury in Chicago. They and other activists who had their homes and offices raided in September 2010 characterize the grand jury investigation as a “fishing expedition” to suppress the anti-war movement and infringe on their First Amendment rights. Three of the activists were offered immunity and are at risk of being held in contempt of the court and could be sent to jail for the duration of the grand jury. No charges have been filed.