SCHILLER PARK, Illinois – On the eve of a Republican fundraiser in Chicago with President George W. Bush and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, peace activists planning on protesting the President's war policies have faced harassment from local police and anonymous resident(s) in this northwest suburban city.

On Tuesday night, approximately five minutes after Veterans for Peace activist Jim Goodnow arrived at the Schiller Park home of Gold Star Families for Peace member Juan Torres, a Schiller Park police officer appeared at Torres's home and claimed that Goodnow's vehicle, a 40-foot Eagle bus, could not be parked on the street. The officer left without further incident.

At approximately 7:30 am today, a second officer, Officer Kubycheck, Star #68, appeared and wrote a ticket on the vehicle for "parking commercial vehicle in res." After writing the ticket, Goodnow showed his registration to Kubycheck, indicating that the vehicle was registered in Texas as a motor home. Kubycheck indicated that the matter might be taken care of by taking the ticket to City Hall.

At 11 am today two Schiller Park squad cars, one containing Kubycheck again, pulled up to the residence, and one of the officers claimed that they had received reports claiming intimidation by Goodnow and complaints about a vehicle "that had anti-American slogans on it and that had slogans supporting Saddam Hussein." Looking at the vehicle, which has the slogans "Bring the troops home now," "For what noble cause? Not one more!" and "Don't attack Iran" on it, Kubycheck acknowledged that the report was false.

At approximately 12:30 pm today another officer appeared at Torres's home and threatened to have the vehicle immediately towed. Goodnow then called Schiller Park City Hall and was told by a liaison to the police department that she had spoken with the city's chief of police and been informed that Goodnow had until tomorrow (Thursday) morning before he had to move the vehicle.

"I find this police harassment to extremely offensive not only to me," said Goodnow, "but even more to Mr. Torres, who has welcomed me into his home and whose son made the ultimate sacrifice. Schiller Park police owe him and his family a genuine apology. What exactly are the freedoms that our men and women are dying for in the Middle East, when here at home, our own freedoms are being stripped away?"

In a context where anti-Bush protesters around the country have repeated been arrested for holding anti-Bush signs along presidential motorcade routes, local peace activists consider the Schiller Park police harassment of Goodnow and Torres to be part of a larger pattern of harassment and intimidation directed towards those who peacefully exercise their 1st Amendment freedoms to oppose the war. Goodnow, who has regularly joined peace activist Cindy Sheehan at her encampments outside of Bush's Crawford, TX ranch, and Torres, the father of a son killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan, plan on participating in a protest against the President at 5 pm, Thursday in front of a Republican fundraiser at the Hilton & Towers, 720 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago.

For those wishing to protest the harassment of Torres and Goodnow, the non-emergency telephone number for the Schiller Park Police Department is 847-678-4794. The telephone number for the Schiller Park City Hall is 847-678-2550.

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