PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Dan Kenney
Co-coordinator of noprivatearmies.org/Clearwater Project
dkenney53 (at) hotmail.com
815.501.1028 (April 27th only) after the 27th, 815.793.0950


A Citizens' Foreclosure At Northwest Illinois Blackwater Site

Over 20 individuals face possible arrest as part of a demonstration of over 50 at the gates of Blackwater(Xe) midwest site in Jo Daviess's County in the northwest corner of Illinois. The citizens will be going onto Blackwater's property to serve a notice of foreclosure on the property of a company that is morally bankrupt.

The demonstration is the final action of the weekend Midwest Regional Catholic Worker Retreat and Clearwater Conference. Clearwater is a citizen's group formed to stop Blackwater, one of hundreds of private military companies making billions of tax dollars for actions that were once only the purview of the US military. And even though they are making billions of tax dollars Blackwater, who recently changed their name to Xe to hopefully escape public attention, is also being investigated for tax evasion, they are being investigated by the AFT for illegal possession of firearms at their North Carolina site, they are under investigation for illegal smuggling of weapons into Iraq, and are fighting in the courts nine wrongful death lawsuits. Five of their contractors are also facing voluntary manslaughter charges for the shooting in September of 2007 that led to the death of 17 unarmed, innocent Iraqi citizens.

When so many citizens are facing joblessness, homelessness, and inadequate wages, and when many hard working citizens are trying desperately to escape the foreclosure of their homes the citizens participating in the protest tomorrow believe it is wrong for these private military companies like Blackwater to be making millions of dollars in profits with taxpayer money. They believe that the privatization of the military that is taking place at an alarming rate presents a threat to our democracy. A private shadow army operating outside of national and international law with public oversight should not be allowed to continue. And to have these same companies involved with the training of our police officers is also a danger to American civil liberties.

If we continue to outsource our security to private companies soon security will not be a right for all, but a privilege for those who can afford the price.