D.C. and Federal Governments Sued for Orchestrated "Political Round-Ups" of Protestors Mass Arrests Used for Intelligence Gathering by F.B.I. on Political Activists The Partnership for Civil Justice, Inc. and the National Lawyers Guild Mass Defense Committee filed a lawsuit today for violations of the constitutional rights of political activists, legal observers and passers-by who were subjected to arrest and detention on the morning of September 27, 2002 in advance of several days of planned protests against corporate globalization and war in Iraq. "D.C. and federal law enforcement authorities executed an illegal and unconstitutional coordinated plan to sweep the streets of political activists and place them in preventive detention," said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, attorney with the Partnership for Civil Justice and the National Lawyers Guild representing the plaintiffs in Barham et. al. v. Ramsey, et. al. "On September 27th, police officers told those being rounded up that they were just 'following orders.'" stated plaintiffs' counsel Carl Messineo, attorney with PCJ and NLG. "This complaint sues Chief Ramsey, Mayor Williams and every supervisor in the chain of command who is responsible for issuing and ratifying those blatantly unconstitutional orders. These plaintiffs are sending a clear message: there will be zero tolerance for the criminalization of dissent in the Nation's Capital. There will be accountability for these unconstitutional mass arrests and punitive tactics." The mass arrests were also used for a mass intelligence gathering operation by the F.B.I. on lawful political activity. Using the false arrests, confinement and compulsion of identification information including fingerprints and photographs, the D.C. police allowed the F.B.I. to collect intelligence and identification information on the political activists and persons associating with or in the proximity of the demonstrations. The plaintiffs bringing this action include protestors, National Lawyers Guild legal observers, and passers-by, including nurses attending a nearby conference, the Executive Director of Greenpeace, a professor, and bicyclists, all of whom were suddenly surrounded by pop-up police lines of armor-clad riot police brandishing clubs who would not let plaintiffs leave. Plaintiffs were rounded-up, taken away on busses, shackled and hogtied right-wrist to left-ankle and detained for up to 30 hours, many being released on the streets outside of the Blue Plains police training center in the middle of the night with no knowledge of where they were and no access to transportation. "The hallmark of a democracy is the ability of people to take to the streets, sidewalks and parkland and express opposition to government policies without the threat of illegal arrests or government surveillance and cataloguing of their lawful political activity. Our ownership and responsibility for the Constitution and Bill of Rights is collective. We are confident that people will stand in opposition to the efforts of the MPD, Justice Department and FBI to target political speech and assembly and that they will not remain silent and allow these brazen repressive tactics to continue and fester." said Ms. Verheyden-Hilliard. The complaint seeks, in addition to damages for the government's illegal conduct, a permanent injunction barring the use of illegal tactics used by law enforcement to disrupt and infringe upon constitutionally protected speech and assembly. The attorneys at the Partnership for Civil Justice also represent the plaintiffs in the litigation stemming from the IMF/World Bank Protests of April 2000 as well as the Counter-Inaugural demonstrations from January 2001, both of which also seek relief from similar tactics employed during those demonstrations, including the unlawful use of "pop-up" police lines and mass false arrest and detention. Copies of the complaint, Barham et. al v. Ramsey, et al. are available from the Partnership for Civil Justice and online at www.Civil-Rights.net