On Friday June 27, 2008, Blank Rome LLP Counselors at Law contacted Shanta Driver and George Washington, By Any Means Necessary’s (BAMN) attorneys, and requested that petitions belonging to the Arizona Civil Rights Initiative be returned immediately. The deadline for submitting signatures to the Secretary of State was July 3, 2008. To date no signatures have been returned.

At a press conference on June 19, 2008 Shanta Driver and other members of BAMN flaunted Arizona Civil Rights Initiative petitions that they had in their possession. Video of the press conference can be viewed at BAMN’s Youtube site: http://youtube.com/watch?v=9yAdP59v1hU

Max McPhail Executive Director of the Arizona Civil Rights Initiative, stated, “Members of BAMN have hijacked signatures that Arizona voters signed with the intent of having their voices heard. BAMN has disenfranchised voters of our state.”

Andrew Thomas, Maricopa County Attorney and Chairman of AzCRI added, “Arizona citizens have a constitutional right to petition the government. Arizona voters should have the chance to debate and ultimately decide if government should utilize race and gender preference policies in our state.”

BAMN is a radical organization, on 8/30/2005 Norman Sinclair of The Detroit News reported BAMN was listed in an FBI Report of potential terrorists. The document, prepared by a counter-intelligence agent at the Detroit FBI office, summarized information on possible "terrorist activities" for a 2002 Domestic Terrorism Symposium hosted by the Michigan State Police and attended by law enforcement groups. "The purpose of the meeting was to keep the local, federal and state law enforcement agencies apprised of the activities of the various groups and individuals within the state of Michigan who are thought to be engaged in terrorist activities," the report said.

The Arizona Civil Rights Initiative is dedicated to giving the people of Arizona the opportunity to end preferential treatment based on race, sex, ethnicity or national origin by state or local governments. AzCRI will make Arizona a place of equal opportunity for all, not a state that uses discrimination as a tool to create “diversity.” Achieving “diversity” should never be an excuse to discriminate.

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