Hearing for Puerto Rican activists

Two Puerto Rican independence activists, their family and supporters came to Brooklyn, N.Y., Federal Court June 27 to witness a “motion to quash” the subpoena demanding their presence at an inquisition. About a dozen people marched outside the courthouse as an equal number accompanied Tania Frontera, Christopher Torres and a team of eight lawyers.

In a surprise development, the court “sealed” the motion to quash, which means it is now supposed to be heard in secrecy without the public present in the courtroom, according to a report from Ana Lopez of the Hostos Grand Jury Resistance Coalition. The two activists’ attorneys, Susan Tipograph and Martin Stoler, said that in their 25 years of doing these types of cases, they had never seen a “motion to quash” sealed. The next hearing, this one on the seal order, is set for July 28 at 10:30 a.m.

—Report and photo by John Catalinotto