ACTIVIST GROUPS IN UPTOWN PROTEST 'STATE-SANCTIONED' VIOLENCE

There was general agreement among the disparate group that rallied in
Minneapolis' Uptown area Saturday afternoon that "state-sanctioned" violence
must be stopped.

About 150 people attended a rally on the grassy knoll outside the Walker
Community Library near Hennepin and Lagoon Avs. to discuss topics as
different as capital punishment and legalizing marijuana to the actions of
Minneapolis police during last week's protests against a conference on
animal genetics.

"All of these groups ... we need to make a connection between the issues and
state-sanctioned violence," said Michelle Gross, one of the organizers of
the event. "We must be able to voice dissension."

Many in the group cheered as representatives of at least a dozen
organizations took the megaphone to call for protesters to stand up for the
right to free speech and the right to assemble.

Many said they believed that the city attempted to silence protesters last
Monday during the International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG)
conference downtown.

They claimed that the police prevented them from marching in public areas
and used excessive force, including pepper spray. Police officials say they
took those steps only after protesters began assaulting them.

A rallying point of Saturday's protest came when Jeff Borowiak spoke about
the drug raid at the south Minneapolis duplex where he runs Sister's
Camelot, an organization that distributes free organic produce to the needy.
People had been using the duplex to coordinate the ISAG protest.

Jordan Kushner, a Minneapolis lawyer and member of the Minnesota Chapter of
the National Lawyer's Guild, said authorities used the "war on drugs" as a
ruse.

"The next victims are us ... the people who have a problem with what's going
on." he said. "The war on drugs is a war on all of us."

Borowiak, with his two young daughters, said he's convinced that the raid
wasn't about drugs.

"It was about oppression. They don't want us to think freely," he said. "I
am honored to be oppressed by the FBI. It means we are doing a good job."