Orange County antiwar protester held by FBI
Yesterday, on September 11, five vehicles described as a “FBI caravan” in Santa Ana ,California followed antiwar protester Josh Canolla after the regular Thursday antiwar/anti occupation of Iraq protest at Santa Ana College Campus. Protesters said five cars were following them all afternoon and evening.
Canolla, who is about 20, was arrested by the FBI in a 1 am raid of his home for reasons yet unknown. He will be arraigned at the Roybol Federal Bldg in downtown L.A. between 3:00 – 5:00 PM today. The house where he lives with other peace activists is described as “under FBI siege” at this moment and the occupants are not allowed to leave or enter their home without being searched by FBI.
Jim Lafferty of the National Lawyers Guild is directly involved. For any activist in L.A., this is all you need to know. For those who don’t know Jim, he’s the best – tireless and effective.
From la.indymedia.org, from people inside the house
At 1 am PT Fri. 9.12.03 FBI and ATF agents approached our collective home and arrested one of our members. They would not provide a reason but we knew it was politically motivated because that member has been a key organizer in anti-war and antiBush protests. Since 2 am they have completely surrounded our home. They will not let us come or go with any boxes or bags, incl school notebooks. They cut our Net access. They say they will be there until their warrant arrives so they can search our house.
More on this once we know why he was arrested. Whatever it is, it sounds serious. And this is FBI, not local police.