Statement From the Subpoenaed Texans

In early October, six activists from Texas were subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury in Minneapolis in relation to the protests during the Republican National Convention in September. The subpoenas were part of a much larger campaign of repression and intimidation against people organizing against the RNC that included raids, vehicle seizures, arbitrary detentions at gun point, infiltrators, and more. The last couple months have been an emotional roller coaster for us, as we dealt with the uncertainty of our situation and the constant level of stress we all felt.

But today we can declare victory: in the past week, all six of us have had our grand jury subpoenas canceled, without ever saying a word to the Feds!

In hard times it can be easy to forget what we are fighting for and lose sight of the victories we win every day. However, sometimes we get to see our communities strengthen in a way we may not have thought possible. Throughout this experience we have received support and solidarity that has been incredible and overwhelming. Many groups across the country stood in solidarity with us through our struggle by offering support, raising and donating money, setting up grand jury teach-ins and trainings, and publicly decrying the grand jury process. Through our community building and educating ourselves and others, we can support each other in ways that are truly liberating, even through the darkest times. When we reject the broken methods of the state, and instead embrace community, solidarity and each other, we create something worth fighting for. With every show of support we received, we felt even more empowered to stand up for our movement and more able to support each other.

We want to thank everyone so much for everything they did: our friends and family who supported us, Austin People's Legal Collective, the RNC Welcoming Committee, Coldsnap Legal Collective and the Felony Working Group, EWOK, and all the groups in Minneapolis, Texas, Kansas, New York, Washington, Ohio and other places across the country who stood in solidarity with us, whether they knew us or not; And a special shout out to all activists who have resisted grand juries before us, and will continue to do so after us. Thank you for everything you've done!

While we recognize and celebrate our victory, we also remember the struggles left to be fought. Most immediately we turn our attention to the remaining cases stemming from the RNC: the RNC 8, the Texas 2, and the hundreds of others in the Twin Cities and across the country still dealing with charges for voicing their opinions about the current state of affairs. We also recognize that, while we are free of this grand jury for now, grand juries remain a potent weapon for the State to use against our movement. We feel it is of great importance that we continue to educate ourselves and our communities about grand juries and other tactics of state repression, so that we all have the tools we need to resist attacks and continue the work we do.

Again, many thanks and much love and solidarity from Houston and Austin to all the people who offered their support.

In solidarity forever,
The Subpoenaed Texans
VanSolidarity@riseup.net

For more information:
http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20081009154002442&query=subpoena
http://grandjuryresistance.org/
http://www.infoshop.org/breakingglasspress/GrandJuries.PDF
http://rnc8.org/