Subpoenas on Antiwar Protest Are Dropped (Des Moines)

[kskiska]

DES MOINES, Feb. 10 — Facing growing public pressure from civil liberties advocates, federal prosecutors on Tuesday dropped subpoenas that they issued last week ordering antiwar protesters to appear before a grand jury and ordering a university to turn over information about the protesters.

The protesters, who had said they feared that the unusual federal inquiry was intended to silence and scare people who disagreed with government positions, declared victory.

"We made them want to stop," Brian Terrell, executive director of the Catholic Peace Ministry here and one of four protesters who received subpoenas, told a crowd at the federal courthouse. "We're here to make them want to never let it happen again."

Representatives of the United States attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, Stephen Patrick O'Meara, declined to comment on what prompted the reversal. Mr. O'Meara's spokesman, Al Overbaugh, said he could not comment on information related to grand jury subpoenas.

more…
http://nytimes.com/2004/02/11/national/11PROT.html

[DU9598]

1. Thanks

Great article, thank you for the link.

[teryang]

2. This police state crap is off the table

...for now that the camgaign is on. After Nov. it will be back in spades unless we win.

[scottxyz]

3. Hallelujah!

Score another one for democracy.

And we should ask ourselves - do you think all the commentary and finger-pointing on the web helped call the henchmen off?

Could be...

[bvar22]

4. Pictures of protest rally in Des Moines....

are posted here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=106&topic_id=5456#