LA VOZ DE AZTLAN
Los Angeles, Alta California
May 27, 2011
Brown Berets co-founder's home raided
by FBI and LA County Sheriff's
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| Carlos' door after SWAT team's visit |
In the very early morning hours of May 17, the SWAT Team of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s and members of the FBI raided the home of Carlos Montes, a co-founder of the Brown Berets in 1967 and a long time activist leader of the Chicano community. The SWAT Team smashed the front door and rushed in with automatic weapons as Carlos slept. The team of Sheriffs and FBI proceeded to ransack his house, taking his computer, cell phones and hundreds of documents, photos, diskettes and mementos of his current political activities in the pro-immigrant rights and Chicano civil rights movement. Also taken were hundreds of historical documents related to Carlos Montes’ involvement in the Chicano Movement for the past 44 years.
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| Carlos Montes at time he, David Sanchez and others founded the Brown Berets |
After the raid, Carlos was arrested on one charge of possessing a firearm in his home and was released on bail the following morning. His first court appearance is set for June 16, 2011 in Alhambra.
The attack on Carlos Montes is part of a campaign by the FBI to harass anti-war and pro-immigrant Latino leaders. Carlos Montes was a committed leader in the Chicano Moratorium Movement against the Vietnam War that included the Brown Berets, MEChA, Latinos Against War and other groups.
His supporters are demanding that all politically motivated charges be dropped against Carlos Montes and that his property, confiscated during the raid, be immediately returned. Carlos Montes' first court appearance is scheduled for June 16, 2011 at the Alhambra Superior Court located at 150 West Commonwealth Avenue
Alhambra, CA 91801.
A February 1, 2003 interview of Carlos Montes:
