Carlos Montes’ trial sparks protests

Carlos Montes Photo: Robert Stuart Lowden

Movement activists are poised to protest the frame-up of veteran Chicano organizer Carlos Montes in Los Angeles. Montes’ trial is set for May 15.

Montes was a founder of the Brown Berets, a founder of Latinos Against the War, and a founder and leading activist in the Southern California Immigration Coalition. He was featured in the HBO movie “Walkout” about the East Los Angeles high school walkouts that won important victories for Chicano/a students in 1968.

His activism has made him a popular and respected figure in the Los Angeles movement. His case has drawn union support as well. Hundreds of supporters have turned out thus far at court appearances.

Despite local and national support for Montes during a series of pre-trial court appearances, Superior Court Judge George Lomeli repeatedly passed on the opportunity to throw out the FBI’s phony case.

The charges against Montes stem from a 1969 arrest when police attacked a demonstration demanding Chicano studies at East L.A. College. Montes was a leading organizer of the demonstration. A cop claimed he was hit by an empty soda can; then cops charged Montes with throwing the can.

Prosecutors are sticking with their claim that the 1969 arrest was a felony, even though the defense produced a document from 1969 that calls it a misdemeanor — a vital legal difference.

Montes is a legal gun owner. His application to purchase a firearm in 2009 was approved by the U.S. Justice Dept — as all gun permits must be. Yet the charges against him now center around questions answered on that permit application.

Two of the original six charges have been dismissed because of the statute of limitations. If the prosecution succeeds in getting the 1969 arrest characterized as a felony, such charges as perjury, felony possession of a firearm and felony possession of ammunition could stick, and Montes could face two to three years in prison for each of four charges.

Behind phony charges

There is a crystal-clear connection between the phony charges against Montes and an earlier FBI campaign targeting organizers in another region of the country. Montes’ name was listed on a search warrant that FBI agents produced when they raided the Minneapolis office of the Anti-War Committee in September 2010.

Twenty-three activists were subpoenaed over the next several months. All those activists have bravely and defiantly refused thus far to answer questions in front of a grand jury. In fact they formed the Committee to Stop FBI Repression in order to combat the attack on the movement. Refusing to testify before a grand jury can result in jail sentences.

In May 2011, an FBI SWAT team, along with Los Angeles County Sheriffs, smashed down the door to Montes’ home at dawn and arrested him. Their conduct belied their claim that the case is over gun possession.

During more than 40 years of activism, Montes had accumulated writings and other papers, as well as photos of many demonstrations. With Montes handcuffed, the agents spent hours going through a 40-year accumulation of papers, writings and photos, questioning him about the Freedom Road Socialist Organization and taking his computer and cell phone. Clearly this was a political raid by a repressive arm of the capitalist state.

District Attorney Steve Coolie’s office has been flooded with phone calls demanding that the charges against Montes be dropped. An online petition sent out by the International Action Center (iacenter.org) has gathered thousands of signatures.

The trial is set for 8 a.m. starting May 15 at the Criminal Courts Building, 13th floor, Department 100 at 210 West Temple Ave. in Los Angeles. More information about support for Montes and how you can help is at stopfbi.net.