This latest attack on civil society organizations includes teachers, state government and small-business workers, and veterans, all of whom were exercising their constitutional right to protest against the state-sponsored terror of violent, racist ICE attacks in their community.
The DHS surveillance operation, dubbed Operation Puppet Master, sent undercover agents into houses of worship, libraries, schools, and union halls, and obtained organizations’ financial records. It is yet another example of how the current regime tramples the Constitution. While spying on protected speech, DHS is blocking investigations into the killings of Alex Pretti and Rene Good at the hands of its own agents.
As veterans who pledged to defend the Constitution, we have an obligation to speak out against violations of people’s rights, and we will continue to do so. These repressive tactics, which are intended to intimidate and instill fear, only strengthen our resolve. We are not afraid. We support Minneapolis Veterans For Peace in its efforts. We call on all our chapters and members to protect one another and defend our neighbors from illegal and unconstitutional attacks by an out-of-control government.
These domestic attacks are coinciding with an illegal and deeply unpopular war against Iran, heightened U.S. intervention against Venezuela and Cuba, and attempts to undermine the integrity of upcoming midterm elections. We call on people across the nation to join together to oppose authoritarian repression in the U.S., to defend our elections, and to resist U.S. militarism around the globe, including the huge proposed increase in the already bloated Pentagon budget.
PEACE AT HOME, PEACE ABROAD!
*CLICK HERE to read the statement released by Twin Cities VFP Chapter 27.
Veterans For Peace is a global organization of Military Veterans and allies whose collective efforts are to build a culture of peace by using our experiences and lifting our voices. We inform the public of the true causes and the enormous costs of wars, with an obligation to heal the wounds of wars. Our network is composed of over 100 chapters worldwide whose work includes: educating the public, advocating for a dismantling of the war economy, providing services that assist veterans and victims of war, and most significantly, working to end all wars. Veterans For Peace is dedicated to restraining the US government from intervening in the internal affairs of other nations, and calls on the US to end its complicity in the Gaza genocide by stopping the flow of US weapons to Israel.
Veterans For Peace was founded in 1985 by military veterans opposed to the Reagan administration’s war against the people of Central America. It includes men and women veterans of all eras and duty stations spanning the Spanish Civil War, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Persian Gulf, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, other conflicts and periods in between. Read other articles by Veterans for Peace.