Nationwide - Justice Department Charges Filed Against ACORN: Monday, January 12, 2009
Today began a quiet revolution in the national grassroots community. ACORN board members across the country took a collective breath and screamed “YES WE CAN.” In US Attorney’s offices from Washington DC to California including Minnesota, Missouri, Texas, Georgia, Michigan, Rhode Island, Ohio, Louisiana, North Carolina, Kentucky and Mississippi; ACORN members began the arduous process of demanding justice and accountability from ACORN. The US Attorney’s Office and/or the FBI have been contacted in fourteen states and the District of Columbia. The allegations include RICO, ERISA and criminal civil rights violations against ACORN’s low-income membership. The dispute started following embezzlement and an eight year cover up by ACORN founder, staff and executive committee members.
The estranged members of the National Board of ACORN filed criminal charges against senior staff members operating that venerable organization. For decades, ACORN has operated in silence, preferring to keep its members marginalized, while at the same time using them to intimidate banks, politicians and business owners. These ACORN members have sacrificed personal time and money to fight for the liberation of the poor from ACORN. In ACORN offices across the country there is an unofficial policy of removing anyone who questions ACORN or dares to ask for any type of reporting and accountability. After hard work by ACORN 8 members across the country; the advent of the Obama administration, with its pledge of truth and transparency in the government, heralds a new day for ACORN.