Dallas-Forth Worth, Texas — A week after the arrest of 10 protestors at a demonstration at Prairieland ICE Detention Center and the subsequent arrest of the spouse of an arrestee, Johnson County Jail is obstructing the defendants’ access to legal representation and retaliating against them for exercising their 5th and 6th amendment rights pursuant to the U.S. Constitution. These constitutional violations have occurred in conjunction with a far-reaching investigation that has included numerous instances of excessive force and intimidation by various police agencies, friends and family of the defendants reveal. Continue reading “DFW Support Committee Denounces Abuse of Prairieland Defendants (USA)”
Tag: DFW Support Committee
Prairieland Defendants – 11 charged after July 4th shooting at North Texas ICE facility (USA)
Prairieland Defendants Support Group Releases Statement and Begins Fundraiser
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX — Today, members of the DFW Support Committee, a group supporting the 11 Prairieland Detention Center arrestees, released a public statement and legal support fundraiser. On July 4th, a group of people protested against the kidnappings and renditions of ICE at the Prairieland Detention Center. By the next day, 10 people were arrested and their loved ones and friends were scrambling to locate them and find out what had happened to them. On July 6th, the spouse of one of the defendants was arrested by the FBI and later charged with obstruction of justice. The police’s story did not make sense to the arrestees’ loved ones and friends, so they began organizing to free the arrestees. Recognizing a need to raise funds to support the defendants and to address the political context in which this is occurring, the DFW Support Committee is releasing a statement and starting a fundraiser for defendants.
The committee’s statement has been released after the arrestees were subsequently charged by the US Department of Justice in a charging document that frames the protest as a violent ambush. Additionally, the spouse of one of the initial defendants was detained by the FBI. The statement categorically rejects this narrative and suggests instead that, “The glaring inconsistencies in the official narrative and the alarmist accusations are a clear attempt to bolster the Trump administration’s claims that the United States is on the verge of chaos, warranting a dramatic increase in militarized police action.”
In addition to the statement, the committee has launched a fundraiser for the defendants. This fundraiser’s description states that it is intended to “raise legal fees and living expenses for all those facing repression connected to the protest at the Prairieland Detention Center.” At the time of release, over $11,000 has been raised. Continue reading “Prairieland Defendants – 11 charged after July 4th shooting at North Texas ICE facility (USA)”