Just a few days ago on October 25th, an Olympia activist named Maddy Pfeiffer received a
subpoena to appear before the special federal grand jury impaneled currently in Seattle.
Maddy, who goes by they/them pronouns, is an Evergreen student, a brilliant and skilled
organizer, and a good friend to many of us. They are also a former coordinator of Students
for a Democratic Society here at Evergreen. ---- Maddy has been called to appear at the
grand jury chamber in Seattle at 9:00am on November 7th--a date that is rapidly
approaching. They have bravely declared their absolute refusal to cooperate with the
federal grand jury witch hunt against anarchists?even though it is very likely they will
be imprisoned after they refuse to testify on November 7th, despite being charged with no
crime.
Maddy is not the first in our community to be subpoenaed by this grand jury. If Maddy is
imprisoned, they will also not be the first. Two other Olympia activists, Matt Duran and
KteeO Olejnik?a former Evergreen student and SDS member?are already sitting in the federal
detention center at SeaTac for staying silent. But the FBI?s subpoena of Maddy, a current
student and very recent SDS coordinator who is still an important presence in the
Evergreen radical community, has struck SDS and the Evergreen campus very close to its heart.
We will follow Maddy's brave example and stand strong.
For Maddy, silence is a roar of defiance; for us, silence is resignation and defeat. We
will never cooperate with federal investigations of our communities and we will use our
energy, our voices, and our actions to support those who refuse to snitch on their
friends. The government has turned its most terrifying weapons on the radical community in
Olympia and is zeroing in on Evergreen. It is an attack on every value that Evergreen
students hold dear: community, solidarity, and free political thought. The Students for a
Democratic Society will meet this attack on our community with a wall of defiance and
solidarity.
We call on all students and community members to join us in our refusal to cooperate with
the FBI?s attempts to disrupt our communities, force us to betray our friends, and lock us
in prisons. We urge all not to underestimate the significance of these recent events; we
are under attack, and to ignore this fact is to surrender to the forces attacking us. We
would like to remind all that everyone at Evergreen knows radicals, activists, and
anarchists, and so anyone could be chosen for the next subpoena, even if they do not
consider themselves of interest to the FBI. We would also like to stress this point: the
grand jury, the FBI repression, the witch-hunt are not going away?they will not pass like
a bad dream. We cannot lie low, keep quiet, be good, and hope to be overlooked. Resistance
is the only option.
For more information about this grand jury, to read Maddy?s statement, and for information
about a bus or carpool to Seattle to support Maddy on November 7th, visit
nopoliticalrepression.wordpress.com. For ideas about how to act in solidarity with Maddy
and resist the grand jury witch-hunt, visit pugetsoundanarchists.org, or come to SDS
meetings at 4pm every Wednesday in A2105.
We will not sit quietly while the state kidnaps our comrades and close friends and locks
them in cages. Now is not the time for silence and isolation. Solidarity means Attack!
In solidarity,
The Students for a Democratic Society at The Evergreen State College
Maddy's Statement regarding their subpoena and imminent imprisonment is as
follows:
"On October 25th, the day before my 23rd birthday, two FBI agents wearing
ill-fitting khakis and too much gel in their hair, served me a subpoena
for 9am on November 7th. I knew my fate right away: 18 months in SeaTac
Federal Detention Center. Matt, Kteeo and Leah have all been imprisoned
for their refusal and I will be the next. Despite the urgings of lawyers,
agents and judges, I only have one option: non-cooperation. Any other
option is unthinkable.
I am being asked to testify before a Grand Jury on November 7th and will
likely be detained on that date for refusing to cooperate. The vultures of
the state will try to imprison my comrades and I until we give in. We will
never give in.
From so many different perspectives, for so many reasons, snitching is
never an option. I will never betray the people I care about, the ideas
which I hold dear, or the commitments I have made. I will never give any
information about crimes, should I have any knowledge of them nor will I
give information about my personal relationships. I will never cooperate
with this or any attempt to stop struggle. I will never cooperate with the
systems of control which I loathe. If the federal government chooses to
imprison me for my refusal then so be it. I expect no less from them.
The official reason the state gives for imprisoning those who refuse to
cooperate is to coerce testimony. If they know anything about me or my
friends they know that this will never work. Some have said that this
Grand Jury is about trying to repress people?s political opinions and free
speech and no doubt this is true. My subpoena states that I am being asked
to testify about events that took place on May 1st. The state is trying to
use broken windows as a reason to ruin peoples lives. This is absurd and I
will oppose it to the fullest. This life ruining system which they call
?justice? is organized to defend property and capitalism. This system is
against everything I believe in.
My imminent imprisonment is an attempt to disrupt struggle against
domination in all its forms. What the vultures cannot understand is that
attempts to repress this struggle will only embolden it, whether we are
inside the walls of the Federal Detention Center or in the streets. The
growing list of solidarity actions, from St. Louis to France, demonstrates
an inspiring continuity in this regard.
In silence, we roar!
Matthew ?Maddy? Pfeiffer"
Event Date:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 - 8:30am
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* An antiauthoritarian anticapitalist network
Bron : a-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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