When Kosta Harlan’s mother answered the door early Friday morning, she found two men who identified themselves as FBI agents, asking to question her son.
Harlan, a member of Students for a Democratic Society and the Colombia Action Network, came to the door. “They said they had a lot of information and there was an ongoing investigation,” Harlan said at a press conference in Durham today. “I said I would not speak to them without a lawyer present.”
Harlan was one of about a dozen anti-war activists targeted by the FBI that day; the rest were in Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, California and Wisconsin. Federal agents raided seven houses and an office in Chicago and Minneapolis, confiscating cell phones, computers and other personal items. Agents also subpoenaed 11 anti-war activists to testify before a grand jury about their activities.
Today’s press conference is one of about 30 events scheduled nationwide protesting the FBI’s actions.
Harlan said the two agents left, but two other men stood by his house, then eventually got into their car and drove away. However, Harlan said he saw the car pass his home about once an hour.
Later that day, Harlan met with a fellow activist. Within hours agents visited that person about the meeting, he said.
“I am proud of all the anti-war organizing I’ve done. It’s all been public and above board,” he said, adding that activists across the U.S. should not “be intimidated by the FBI’s activities.”
Another protest is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 28, at 9 a.m. at the Federal Building in Raleigh, 310 New Bern Ave.
See the upcoming print edition of the Indy for an update.
