Direct attack against free speech by US secret services!

[chequita guevara]

INFORMATION OBTAINED BY SF INDYMEDIA
FROM LOS ANGELES FBI FIELD OFFICE

http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2002/01/114474.php

On Thursday, January 24th, around 4pm, the Los Angeles FBI served a search warrant to the owner of anarchist website raisethefist.com. The search warrant was based on charges around "computer fraud and abuse" as well as "distribution of information related to explosives, destructive devices, and/or weapons of mass destruction." When asked if they had raided raisethefist.com, FBI spokesperson Cheryl Mimura from the FBI Los Angeles Field Office confirmed that it "was shut down." The warrant was served by the Los Angles Task Force on Terrorism, but the FBI denies that this warrant is related in any way to the September 11th attacks. Ms. Mimura could not confirm that law enforcement entered raisethefist.com owner's house with "machine guns, shotguns and hand guns" as reported in the original notice about this raid, found here:

[axi]

thanks che

Specially thanks for the mirror url, cause I was really curious about the site's content. It looks alot like an anarchist run indymedia. Nice site.

Btw, che, does your organisation/group/collective has a website?

[chequita guevara]

Which one, the Communist Party of Apolyton?

Seriously, try this one. Socialist Party USA

[axi]

I thought you were more radical than this che...
We have similar thing here too, although their history doesn't go that far into the past...

Debbs and DeLeon were a wholly different brand of socialists than today's folks, no?

[chequita guevara]

There are some extremely radical elements of the SPUSA. I'm probably the most radical, but I could be wrong. I've heard from some pretty hardcore left SPers down here in Florida. Guess the fresh OJ fortifies them My big prob;lem is that the organizations I'm closest to politically demand ideological purity (I always disagree with someone about something). Furthermore, there are a lot of cults on the far left in the US.

[Ramo]

You know, there's a reason they're called "illegal" aliens...just because you believe people should be free to move about doesn't change the fact that this is a crime...

Yeah, how dare they protect the freedom of the people from tyrants! Just because you oppose freedom of movement doesn't make this just...

3. The Peru branch of raisethefist has been under investigation for connection to the Shinning Path guerillas.

I can't find any such reference (though I did only a few searches). Would you mind providing a link?

Sounds fishy to me, though - anarchists in bed with Maoist guerillas?

I am not qualified to quantify what is and is not a qualifying event and I can imagine this forum will be flooded with so called"experts" but seriously, we do need cyber policing and intervention so as to avoid hate groups and violent protest groups causing internal strife.

Absolutely! Internal dissent to the state's policies must end! Nothing wrong with that; look at the fine examples states such as the Soviet Union have shown us.

We might hate concepts such as authoritarianism and racism, but anarchism is certainly not a "hate group"; and we're hardly any more violent, as a whole, than other politically active groups in the US.

You might not approve of our beliefs, but if you allow the state to censor our beliefs, what will stop the state from censoring yours?

Perhaps, you could also tell me what interest the Finnish government would have in the site in an effort to rehabilitate the article?

Ya know, the Finnish gov't isn't exactly exemplary of a libertarian state.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Ramo
Ya know, the Finnish gov't isn't exactly exemplary of a libertarian state.

That still doesn't explain the multinational cabal that was organized to frame one man on trumped up charges, Ramo. axi never came up with a reason for that one that didn't make him sound more than a little paranoid.

[Ramo]

You don't think gov'ts habitually monitor dissident groups? They don't have to be part of this cabal of yours to monitor the site.

[Xuenay]

Why would the SS be involved in going after some website guy? Their jurisdiction is Counterfeiting, etc and threats to the President.

Why would the SS be involved in going after an RPG company?

http://www.sjgames.com/SS/index.html

[axi]

Cabal?

Can somebody explain to me what cabal means?

The only cabal I know of is a cool arcade game I play on mame.

The one where you hear the bad guy giggling, as he throws his platoons in front of your machine gun...

[Dis]

yeah, sock it to those anarchists.

I envision a america where everyone will be the same. everyone will like and buy britney spears cd's, watch hollywood blockbuster movies, and watch must see tv. This will be the greatest america ever.

[axi]

More info...

Sherman's full interview to laanarchists.org, which I also found in indymedia.

Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2002 15:15:07 -0800 (PST)
From: Arm The Homeless
[Ed. note: This e-mail interview is reproduced uncut and
unabridged. Only spelling, punctuation, and basic grammar
have been corrected.]
Hello, feel free to publish my responses to your questions
anywhere.

-Was there any warning that investigation of your website
was heating up?
-Yes. I have been monitoring government agencies
connecting to the site for a long time. I'd been noticing more frequency with them coming back to the site. They had also started intercepting all packets on my DSL line, and seized one of my older AIM screen names for 12 days, so I knew something was going to happen - soon. It was really obvious. I even saw them outside my house at times. They have been monitoring the site very, very extensively LONG before the "incriminating content" which they were "concerned" about was posted onto the site. They simply used this content as an excuse to obtain a warrant for the raid.

-As a victim of one of the first post-Patriot Act
anti-"terrorism" raids, why do you think the Feds chose you?
-Simply because Raisethefist was effective in what I was
doing. It's the same reason why Feds raid other activist
organizations. They're effective. And effectiveness within our movement scares them. They're afraid. And they're going to try and silence us any way they can.

-Do you have a copy of the warrant that was served? What
did it say they were looking for?
-I cannot post any contents of the warrant online. Yes I have a copy of it. The warrant contains a lot of bogus information and misinterpretations. The warrant has information on me since I was 14 (I'm 18 now, almost 19).

-Any idea how many agents/officers participated in the raid?
-Yep, there was about 25-30 of them. They surrounded my
house with guns. Blocked off the garage door with a big bench,
had a door bammer, had cars all up and down the streets, then
2 agents knocked at my door, pulled me outside, and the FBI
came in and raided. My sister and her friends were home at
the time, and she refused to answer the door. I was currently taking a nap and she woke me up to tell me that there were police and undercover/FBI people all up and down the streets looking at the house. That's when I got up and approached the door.

-Can you remember any exact quotes that the agents told
you - what precisely did they say about 9-11, your web site,
what they were looking for, etc.

-They told me the main reason for the raid was because of
the content on the site, and they wanted to see who was
looking at it. This was not the main reason. It was an excuse.
The alledged content which they claim they were so concerned
about is from the Reclaim Guide. It's posted on thousands of
other web sites around the internet. Why didn't they raid
those? Why did they only come after Raisethefist.com? Again,
they've been watching the site for a long time, long before the Reclaim Guide was even posted onto the site. They used this as an excuse to get a warrant for the raid and seize all computer equipment. I can't discuss the specifics over the internet, but I know for sure that they didn't raid simply because they wanted to see who was looking at the content on the site.

[Ed. note: The Reclaim Guide does not appear to be
readily available elsewhere, in its entirety, although the topics
covered are.]
One of the first things one of the head agents conducting the raid asked me was, "why did you grow your hair out?" The picture they have of me is a bit older when I had short hair.
They were acting as if I was trying to "hide my appearance"
from them. They then sat me down, started asking me
questions, etc. All this while the FBI was in my house with guns drawn, and seizing all computer equipment.

The FBI, Secret Service, LAPD and LASD (Sheriffs Dept.)participated in the raid. The Secret Service person kept asking me if I'd like to see Bush killed. They were asking me a lot of loaded questions.

-What exactly did the agents take? How many computers
and how much was it all worth? What were some titles of the
books, literature, and other items they confiscated?

-I have about 12 computers. About 8 of them were running
on the network. They took all of the computers in my house
which had a hard drive in them. Which was basically all of
them, except for the few broken ones which I was working on
fixing. So yeah, they basically took everything. They ransacked my entire room. I don't have any more computers. They took all the hubs, DSL modem, etc., etc. I had thousands of dollars worth of equipment which was seized until further notice. They told me I probably won't be getting it back for a while (I doubt I ever will be) because they have to go through all of the files on
all of the hard drives, which is a lot of data.
They also confiscated all of my political liturature.
Everything from independent political newspapers to protest
flyers, etc., etc.

-Why do you think the FBI raided RaiseTheFist.com? Do
you think they were out to shutdown something unique to your
site, such as the photos of undercover cops?
-They raided it simply because it was effective. It had a lot of potential, and was really moving, not just as a web site, but essentially as an anarchist/activist collective - kids were starting to set up clubs in their schools called "Raisethefist" - we were also beginning to put together an anarchist collective for Los Angeles, amongst other things. I believe one of the main things that got them scared about the site, is that we called for an actual change. Raisethefist was a bit more radical than other web sites, and seeing how it was getting so popular, they wanted to shut it down.

-Based on what the agents told you, and your suspicions,
do you have any idea if other participants or contributors to the website, or other websites, are also under investigation?
-Yes. Those whose web sites I was hosting on the server
will most likely be under investigation. How soon, or how much, I don't know. It could be going on right now. But i can't confirm. As far as I know, they are pretty overwhelmed with all the paperwork and other stuff they have to do with me, so who knows. I just advise those to be careful. Nothing illegal was being done, but the FBI likes to interpret things with a lot of prejudice against anarchists/activists, especially now after 9-11.

-Did RaiseTheFist.com have any external backup? Do you
expect to get your computers back any time soon? Do you
have any plans to resume web operations?
-I had the site backed up on a CD-ROM, which they took.
Right now, we're just trying to find bits and pieces of the site in peoples cache so we can get it back up as soon as possible. There are people working on getting the site back up on another host. Getting the site back up is the first step, then trying to resume with it is the second step. It's going to take some time to get everything back together. I put alot of time into programming all of the things into the site. I don't think I'm going to get my computer equipment back. If I do, it won't be for
a long time. They already told me that I probably won't be
seeing any of it any time soon. They also told me that i was in some "serious trouble," etc., etc.

-A webposting states that you are "a kid" who lives with his
parents. Any comment as to whether you are under or over 18,
and who you live with?
-I'm 18 years old, almost 19. I currently live with my mom.
The computers were also used for my job. I've been supporting myself through them doing independent programming. So not only is Raisethefist.com gone, but I'm out of a job for the time being.

-By the way, there are a lot of stupid-ass rumors going on
out there. I think I heard one about someone saying I was
making "weapons of mass destruction" or something. Just
shows the ignorance amongst a lot of people out there.

-Do you think the Bush Administration is just trying to see
what it can get away with? What would you predict will be the outcome of this episode?
-They're going to try and get away with anything, and
everything.
-What does the future hold?
-Nothing but a barcode.

-What can we do to protect ourselves?
-This was one of the main concerns Raisethefist.com
addressed. My best advice is to not give in to their
fear-tactics. Keep fighting, and fight hard. Don't stop.

-With a newly-empowered FBI, is the web perhaps too open
a medium for revolutionary expression? Are there alternatives whether through new technology or the lack thereof?
-There is less security on the internet, as there really has
never been any. But I'd suggest not to be discouraged by it.
Keep utilizing the internet as an information resource.

[Bereta_Eder]

Originally posted by Dissident
yeah, sock it to those anarchists.

I envision a america where everyone will be the same. everyone will like and buy britney spears cd's, watch hollywood blockbuster movies, and watch must see tv. This will be the greatest america ever.

When your only form of protest is buying Pepsi instead of Coke you are truely dead.

[Berzerker]

Harboring illegal aliens is now a crime? Someone please go and arrest Gray Davis!

[mactbone]

After google searching this and altavista searching this, I have found no mention of it outside of an indymedia or similar website.

This makes me wonder... if this happened, the way the guy says it did... how come some ultra-conservative group hasn't mentioned it and tried to point this to all those who disagree with them? Wouldn't this be a potentially good way for them to point out some "no good punk" who "got what was coming to him"?