In a series of preemptive raids to crackdown on planned protests of the NATO summit in Chicago activists are being held in jail without charge.
According to Truth-out, at least 20 activists have been rounded up and thrown in jail in a series of preemptive raids conducted to crackdown on planned protests.
CBS news reports following the kidnapping of the activists Occupy Chicago protestors have taken to the streets and started blocking traffic to demand the immediate release of the people being illegally detained.
According the NLG, 9 of those activists simply disappeared Wednesday evening when the Organized Crime Division of the Chicago Police Department raided the home of two Occupy Chicago activists without a warrant and hauled them off without ever charging them.
The NLG said the police denied the raids or that anyone had even been detained and they were only able to locate the activists, who were being detained in the organized crime facility, over 12 hours later after working through out the night.
After locating the activists, the Illinois States Attorney at the station were the activists are being detained refused to meet with NLG or even discuss the reason for the arrests.
More than 24 hours later 4 of the activists were released without charge while the other 5 arrested during that raid are still being held without charge.
Despite President Obama’s promises that NDAA powers to detain U.S. citizens without charge would not be used the government is doing just that and setting a dangerous precedent of throwing activists in jail just for planning to engage in constitutionally protected free speech activities.
The Chicago Police have released a statement that their warrant-less raid recovered Molotov cocktails but the activists say the equipment is part of a home alcohol brewing apparatus.
Is this the beginning of a new escalation of the American police state in which activists will now be illegally jailed to prevent them from planning or participating in protests coming to their area?
The Examiner reports:
Lawyers Guild claims NATO activists “disappeared” without warrant or charges
According to an interview with National Lawyers Guild (NLG) spokesman Kris Hermes, Chicago police officers raided a Bridgeport apartment complex on Wednesday evening without a valid warrant and detained up to nine people without cause.
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The NLG worked through the night to locate the arrested activists. They were unable to get any information from the Chicago Police Department (CPD) or even any acknowledgement that a raid had taken place.
“We’ve called police officials at every level trying to find out where they were being held. We were denied any information at all about any people being arrested, let alone a raid happening last night. So essentially these people were disappeared for more than 12 hours until we could finally locate them,” said NLG spokesman Kris Hermes.
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Lawyers from The NLG were allowed to meet with nine individuals and reported that they were in low spirits, confused about why they were arrested and shackled at both their hands and feet at the meeting. No charges have been filed against them almost 24 hours after their arrest and an Illinois States Attorney at the station refused to meet with the NLG lawyers.
Source: The Examiner
The raids in Chicago are not unique and in fact follow similar preemptive raids carried out by the NYPD to terrorize activists planning protests during Occupy Wall Street’s May Day rally on the first of this month.
Death Of The Constitution: From Preemptive Attacks To Preemptive Protest Crackdowns
The Orwellian nightmare of ‘thought crime’ prosecution is becoming more of a reality in the US as the government launches preemptive raids and crackdowns on Occupy protestors.
While history may most remember President Bush for preemptive attacks on other nations Obama’s legacy will be permanently scarred by launching preemptive crackdowns against on protestors wishing to do nothing more than exercise their first amendment rights to demand the government change status quo corruption.
As Gawker reported activists homes were raider prior to yesterday’s May Day protests in several preemptive raids by police and the FBI.
As reported earlier:
Feds Declare Martial Law Red Zone Around Chicago Loop For NATO Meeting
A ‘Martial Law Red Zone’ will be put into effect around the Chicago loop and as the feds plan to prepare for mass detentions by heavily armed security teams.
Martial Red Zone In America: Heavily Armed Security Teams To Patrol Chicago, Feds Prepare for Mass Detentions, Evacuation Planning Underway
If Transportation Security pat downs at public venues, thousands of drones over the skies of America, and the National Security Agency’s new Echelon-like listening center in Utah weren’t enough to convince you that we’re living in a police state, then perhaps the latest news out of Chicago will change your mind.
As world leaders prepare to meet in the windy city for their annual NATO summit, U.S. federal officials are working feverishly to implement a security net so broad that it encompasses the entirety of Cook County, Illinois. While international summits are traditionally met with a larger police presence and preparations for the possibility of protests or rioting, what’s taking place on American soil in anticipation of the May 20 meeting in downtown Chicago can be interpreted in only one way – the implementation of regionalized martial law.
Last week Red Cross officials reported that the City of Chicago, Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service had instructed them to prepare for a mass evacuation of the city in the event of an emergency during the NATO summit. The Red Cross was to prepare to shelter and feed residents in the event of such an evacuation.
Feds Declare Martial Law Red Zone Around Chicago Loop For NATO Meeting
On the heels of that announcement, more details have emerged and they suggest the Federal security apparatus has completely lost its marbles.
The Illinois Department of Transportation is testing an emergency plan to shut off access into and out of downtown Chicago. The plan uses a network of highway security gates that are designed to shut down all traffic coming in and out of Chicago in the event of a terrorist attack.
The Illinois DOT is warning truckers that it’s best to avoid the city during the NATO Summit in Chicago May 20-21. There will be a number of driving restrictions and rolling street closures, and the Illinois DOT is testing highway barricades that will block access to all major highways in and out of Chicago.
These barricades, which started being installed on Chicago highways back in 2005, are deigned to restrict or cut off access to roads during an emergency like a bioterrorism attack.
…The Illinois DOT’s testing of these highway entrance ramp gates has many worried about the chaos that NATO may bring to Downtown Chicago. There is already talk about widespread city wide evacuations, rioting, terrorist attacks and even large scale detention centers and arrests.
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Detention Centers
It’s been reported by the local media, that Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is devising a strategy to deal with large-scale mass arrests during the NATO Summit meeting. In fact, the Chicago Sun Times is reporting that the once abandoned Joliet State Prison may be reopened as a mass detention center for NATO.
Joliet prison is about 40 miles from Chicago and can hold about 1,300 prisoners. The Sheriff is also reportedly looking at building tents in the yard at Cook County Jail.
Militarized Red Zone
Starting May 1st, a full three weeks before the NATO Summit, the Federal Government will be setting up a Militarized Red Zone in the streets of Downtown Chicago.
In a Chicago Sun Time Article:
The head of Chicago’s NATO Host Committee said Thursday she was blindsided by the federal government’s decision to create a militarized “Red Zone” in the Loop to protect federal buildings in the run-up to the May 20-21 summit at McCormick Place.
The news of federal agents on the streets of Chicago isn’t sitting well with many. From last months urban warfare drills, to residents being warned of possible citywide evacuations, the city of Chicago is starting to look like a city that may already be under martial law.
City planning officials with the Chicago NATO host committee have been reportedly kept in the dark about Federal security plans and Federal agencies like the aptly named Secret Service refuse to release any details:
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