THE GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA
www.cagreens.org
Monday, June 21, 2005
Contact: Sara Amir, GPCA spokesperson 310.270.7106
saraamir@earthlink.net
Beth Moore Haines, GPCA spokesperson 530.277.0610 beth@ncws.com
Cres Vellucci, GPCA Press Secretary 916.996-9170 civillib@cwnet.com
Peter Camejo says 'Christian Taliban'
responsible for attacks on civil liberties.
SACRAMENTO (June 20, 2005) - Former Green Party
gubernatorial candidate Peter Camejo said this week a "Christian
Taliban" is responsible for attacks on the civil liberties of all
Americans, and the harassment of the Muslim community of Lodi during
an ongoing probe of alleged terrorist links there.
Camejo, the Green Party candidate for governor in
2002 and the 2003 recall election, joined the ranks of civil rights
organizations who have charged the FBI has intimidated the Muslim
community during an investigation in Lodi.
The ACLU and other groups have said they are
filing complaints against the FBI, including one involving an
11-year-old girl who fainted when the FBI broke the door down at her
home, and then was denied medical treatment by the FBI. She eventually
was treated but the FBI initially wouldn't let her go to the hospital.
Green Party members from Sacramento, San Francisco
and other parts of the state are participating in community forums and
other events to support the Muslim community, which feels "under
siege" because of the intense FBI tactics.
Camejo, describing the government's crackdown on
civil rights in Lodi and via the USA Patriot Act during a talk at a
civil rights workshop for the Muslim community, said there is a
"consciousness developing in America...a new form of
discrimination and hostility.
"Until Americans learn how to live and
respect others, we will never be free ourselves," said Camejo,
who said the "challenge to our own civil rights" has caused
a real "crisis" in America.
He added that much of the blame on attacks on
basic constitutional rights in the U.S. can be blamed on the
"extremist" wing of the Christian church, a "Christian
Taliban which taking over this country. The greatest danger in America
is coming out of the White House," said Camejo.
