The State Is a ‘Black Hole’ Seeking to Swallow Up People for Their Radical Beliefs
Leah Plante, Grand Jury ResisterPlante was imprisoned at the SeaTac Federal Detention Center in Seattle on October 11 for refusing to cooperate with a grand jury. She entered a jail cell knowing she could be imprisoned until March 2014. But, she was resolute and chose to resist because talking to the grand jury would mean succumbing to fear and isolation. It would mean enabling the targeting of people in society for their political beliefs.
In the final week of July, the FBI raided homes in Portland, Oregon, and issued grand jury subpoenas to activists in Portland and Olympia and Seattle in Washington.
Plante eloquently described what happened in her statement:
The raid came just over two weeks after Occupy Seattle organizers had been raided. In both raids, the FBI took books and the seizure of books was a result of the FBI’s interest in “anarchist literature.” It indicated the FBI was not interested in simply prosecuting those responsible for vandalism on May Day. The FBI was interested in casting a wide net to investigate anarchists and target them for their beliefs.On the morning of July 25th, 2012, my life was turned upside down in a matter of hours. FBI agents from around Washington and Oregon and Joint Terrorism Task Force agents from Washington busted down the front door of my house with a battering ram, handcuffed my house mates and me at gunpoint, and held us hostage in our backyard while they read us a search warrant and ransacked our home. They said it was in connection to May Day vandalism that occurred in Seattle, Washington earlier this year. However, we suspected that this was not really about broken windows. As if they had taken pointers from Orwell’s 1984, they took books, artwork and other various literature as “evidence” as well as many other personal belongings even though they seemed to know that nobody there was even in Seattle on May Day…
This suspicion was soon confirmed. A Freedom of Information Act request submitted by Lauren Regan, an attorney with the Civil Liberties Defense Center, uncovered a document showing the grand jury had been empaneled on March 2, 2012, two months before May Day and any property damage occurred.
On July 25, Plante was not one of the people subpoenaed, however, on August 2, she was issued a grand jury subpoena, along with another person, Dennison Williams. They made a statement that they would not be talking to the grand jury:
Plante refused to testify and was re-subpoenaed for August 30. Then, the date was pushed to September 13. On September 13, she was granted immunity and, as she said in her statement, she lost her right to remain silent and could now be thrown in jail for civil contempt.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.
She was not jailed then because of how long it took for Plante to consult with an attorney and an hour-long recess. She was dismissed and received a fourth subpoena ordering her to appear before the grand jury on October 10. She would face a contempt hearing and likely be jailed if she did not talk. [cont'd.]