The FBI-labeled domestic terrorist group BAMN (By Any Means Necessary) from Michigan has filed a lawsuit at the last minute against the Arizona Civil Rights Initiative, hoping to prevent it from getting on the ballot. They filed a similar lawsuit against the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative a few years ago, which was thrown out. This is more of their guerilla-like tactics. Last week an alleged BAMN protester was arrested for attacking a petition circulator. According to the victim, she asked two women if they were registered to vote. She got to the AZCRI petition and they said “no we don’t agree with that” and started harassing her. She turned around to walk away, and was grabbed by the back of the head thrown on the ground and they started beating her up. Her friend called the police who came and arrested the woman who had assaulted her.

BAMN claims in their lawsuit that “tens of thousands” of people were “defrauded” when they signed the petition. However, BAMN has failed to produce these “tens of thousands” of people. Maybe they’ve found one or two people so far who didn’t quite understand what they were signing (which is the case with any initiative), but as discussed in a prior post, the only person the press has reported is a Code Pink activist so she was likely set up to sign the petition and then claim she didn’t understand it.

BAMN also claims that some of the petition circulators were not Arizona residents, which would be a violation of state law. The AZCRI petition circulators were hired from several petition companies around town. Virtually all of the AZCRI circulators also circulated the other initiatives in the state, including the governor’s transportation tax initiative and probably AZCRI opponent Kyrsten Sinema’s own competing initiative. If there were any out of state circulators hired wrongly by the petition companies, they have also equally committed fraud in regards to the other initiatives. BAMN is asking the governor to investigate this. I doubt BAMN is accusing the governor of committing fraud.

BAMN asserts that AZCRI targeted homeless shelters looking for minorities to circulate the petitions. If you think about it, that’s a bit of an ironic accusation – AZCRI selecting people on the basis of their race? This isn’t true. AZCRI hired standard petition companies in town, just like any other initiative. A certain percentage of those circulators were minorities.

BAMN is a frightful group most likely funded by race-baiters like Jesse Jackson who extort their money from corporations. Since no one supports its radical agenda, BAMN resorts to contriving up protesters, driving buses into the inner city and luring minorities by telling them the Civil Rights Initiative will discriminate against them and “re-segregate” society. BAMN needs to take its hateful tactics back to Michigan where it came from.

Civil rights activists file lawsuit and demand Attorney General investigate ACRI voter fraud
PRESS CONFERENCE
Monday, June 30, 2008, 10:00am
In front of the Central Court Building (201 W. Jefferson St., Phoenix, AZ)

Read BAMN’s lawsuit
Read BAMN’s letter to the Arizona Attorney General

Former Phoenix City Councilman Calvin C. Goode, defrauded Latina/o and black Arizona citizens, and the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) will file suit in state court Monday morning to stop the fraudulent “Arizona Civil Rights Initiative” (ACRI) from getting on the ballot.

They will also file a formal complaint with Governor Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Terry Goddard calling on them to hold a public hearing and investigate the ACRI campaign and its petition companies’ racially-targeted voter fraud and the criminal violations of Arizona election law that occurred during the ACRI’s petition campaign.

BAMN will also submit dozens of notarized affidavits by voters asking that their names be removed from the ACRI’s petition.

“Tens of thousands of Latina/o, black, and Native American citizens of Arizona were defrauded and led to believe that by signing the ‘American Civil Rights Initiative’ (ACRI) they were banning racial discrimination and advancing the dreams of their children to have a better future,” said Shanta Driver, National Chair of BAMN and an attorney. “They are angry that the ACRI stole their signatures as support for a petition whose sole aim is to eliminate affirmative action, which is the only way that their children will have an equal chance for a future. The duly elected public officials of Arizona have a duty to protect them, their children, all the citizens of Arizona, and democratic norms from systematic, racially-targeted voter fraud.”

In only a short period of time, BAMN has uncovered extensive evidence of other systematic violations of Arizona’s election law. Whistleblowers who once circulated the ACRI petition and oither witnesses have verified that the ACRI targeted homeless shelters to recruit minority circulators to facilitate ACRI’s deception, offered poor voters food or money to sign the ACRI, forged signatures, and illegally used out-of-state residents, felons, and underage people as petition circulators.

“We also call on the governor and attorney general to take up the investigation of ACRI because we cannot trust County Attorney Andrew Thomas, chairman of the ACRI campaign, to investigate his own operation,” said Driver. “The whistleblowers who are coming forward need to be assured that they will be protected after standing up and telling the truth.”

Go to the FRAUD FINDER WEBSITE to see some of the growing evidence of ACRI’s fraudulent practices.

Media Information Page: http://www.bamn.com/stopacri/media
Fraud Finder Website: http://www.bamn.com/stopacri/fraudfinder.asp