Cleveland 4

ATTENTION OCCUPIERS!  ATTENTION ANARCHISTS!  ATTENTION ACTiVISTS!

This year, the FBI has decided to go after the Occupy movement, to shut down this vibrant community and halt the social change we’re working for.
After brutal, coordinated police evictions across the country, the FBI ratcheted up their attacks in Cleveland, OH, where the FBI entrapped five Occupy activists.  On Mayday, these guys were arrested and accused of plotting a series of bombings in the area, including a commuter bridge in a national park.  The FBI was infiltrating the Occupy protests in Cleveland as early as last fall, picked their targets and spent months orchestrating this trap.  Their timing was perfect, so that, instead of Mayday headlines covering Occupy actions around the world, the U.S. media was greeted with sensational stories about “terrorists from the Occupy movement, caught in the act.”
We know how the government operates to attack left-wing social movements, from labor movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, to civil rights movements, to environmental movements to peace movements: disrupt, discredit, and destroy.  But we can stop these ploys and strengthen our movement, by mobilizing a strong, unified defense in the media and in court this September.  We need to raise $80,000 to pay for legal fees, and get the truth in media outlet across the country.  Let’s match the FBI’s federal budgets with a national response – the power of the people!
We face challenging odds.  Media coverage has been superficial and biased.  And so far, we’ve only been able to raise $12,000, mostly from our own savings.  Worse, at the end of July, one of the five took a plea deal with the government.  Please join us in supporting the remaining Cleveland 4, to help Brandon, Connor, Doug, Josh and Tony get home to their families and loved ones.
However, this case is truly scandalous, and, with a decisive victory in court, this could be a turning point in the FBI's use of this strategy of attacking the left.  Help us turn this against the FBI and expose them in the national eye, all while saving our friends from spending the rest of their lives in prison, branded as terrorists.
More information is available at [http://www.cleveland4solidarity.org/]
Please contact us at cleveland4solidarity@riseup.net -- we'd love to hear from you!  You can also donate via our website or by sending checks to Conveyor Belt Collective c/o Cleveland 5 Justice, PO Box 602117, Cleveland, OH 44102.  If you’d like to hold a fundraiser or a media event in your area, contact us for an organizing kit.