WeAreChange recently got a chance to meet citizen journalist Alex from Federal Jack and Hack Miami, to get the full story of his arrest and destruction of evidence by the Miami Police Department. Alex was arrested for merely filming the police in Miami, the police later illegally deleted the footage from Alex’s camera and charged him with resisting arrest. The Miami Police officer who made the arrest, Richard Anastasi was later arrested nearby for and found guilty of extortion and kidnapping in an unrelated case.
Alex describes how he was able, forensically, to recover the deleted video exposing the brutality, abuse, and corruption of the cops on the scene from multiple agencies.
‘Pack the courtroom’ was the word that went out on various local (A)narchist websites in response to criminal charges filed against a few suspects arrested for actions in the most recent Seattle May Day demonstrations. Whether this display of support for those suspects would alter the course of their prosecution was necessarily speculative, but if success was to be measured by some being denied access to the jailhouse courtroom due to its seating capacity having been reached, the indication could be seen in the faces of about a dozen youthful self professed (A)narchists grouped in the jailhouse plaza at 5th & James during the 2:30 pm court docket. The surrounding 1984 style architecture along with the arrogant dismissal of procedural Constitutionally mandated safeguards inside was inescapable. It resembled a gorgon-like hybrid of the Nuremberg trials setting, the Israeli courtroom that held the Eichmann trial, a scene from Hannibal Lector, the movie BRAZIL, and 1984’s room 102. This was King County’s version of Dr. Moreau’s Island, the place where human vivisection was practiced. From the outdoor jailhouse courtyard, Inmates began whistling and calling from their cells/cages inside the multi-tiered structure. The (A)narchists, in turn, hooted and called back in solidarity with those incarcerated inside. The upper reaches had the look of an abattoir complete with its own stairway to heaven. Its courtyard had the smell of money replete with expensive tile artwork, some in the form of dark objects rising from the concrete. It was landscaped, but felt lifeless nevertheless. Here, human spirits were dashed upon the stones before returning to the dust from whence they came. It could have doubled as an abortion clinic without a face-lift.
Chad Bylsma
(A)narchist ‘Maddy’ Pfeiffer hiding in the Scrum
Slimmer, Shorter Hair
The bus trip to the Bremerton ferry terminal was uneventful. The vehicle was replete with full-time surveillance video cameras that recorded every whisper and could see in the dark…no expectation of privacy here. In fact, there was virtually no expectation of privacy from the time of boarding the bus until returning home later that evening. The dominant state security apparatus had seized virtually all public spaces within its lethal coiled embrace. After being required to leave any/all camera gear behind in a coin operated storage locker in the public lobby/entrance, a visit to one of the two courtrooms was revealing. Thick bullet proof partitions and barriers crisscrossed the court at every angle. A glass cage suitable for Hannibal Lector was in one corner, an impregnable cubicle in which heavily chained defendants stood in the other. Presiding over this entire orchestrated exercise of deprecating the humanity of what appeared to be the most violently dangerous miscreants in the world judging from the looks of the expensive security features, was a robed judge pronouncing platitudes as pained tearful relatives/dependents of the accused looked on while their lives/homes/future was usurped. Yet this was not a courtroom that conducted murder trials. This was what awaited those accused of petty misdemeanors. The courtroom which conducted arraignments and preliminary hearings for those charged with more serious felonies was locked. One can only imagine what security looked like in that venue. Perhaps defendants were immobilized, strapped to tables, or forced to don 200,000 volt stun vests their interlocutors could activate with the press of a remote button.
Cameron?(red hair dreads) w/p@ls
Cameron?(red hair dreads) w/p@ls also seen in Seattle Occupy footage
Cameron?(red hair dreads) w/p@ls at 5-6-13 Seattle County Jail Courthouse plaza
Cameron(?) @ 1:10, unemployed, identifying to photojournalist in interview
A floor to ceiling bullet proof glass partition separated the public benches from the court in place where the ‘bar’ (a 2′ high banister) might normally have been except for a narrow transom at the top through which few words of the proceeding could be heard despite dead silence in the space. A picture would have been worth a thousand words, but this independent photojournalist was denied an opportunity to take them. As it turned out, the key to access was whether you had a large corporate media sponsor.
When the woman bailiff in courtroom #2 that morning was told little/nothing could be heard of the proceedings, she demurred by stating speakers had been connected the previous week for the benefit of the mainstream press attending those hearings. She offered no explanation about the lack of the same on this occasion, simply rolling her eyes when it was mentioned. She refused to allow a camera, at least by this photojournalist, into the courtroom, usurping 6th and 1st Amendments determinations properly belonging to an elected judge.
When an effort was made to bring this violation of due process to the presiding judge’s attention, it was quashed. In fact, from the minutes the courthouse had opened that morning, multiple phone calls were placed in an attempt to get permission to photograph the court proceedings. All efforts were stonewalled, even after successfully negotiating the lengthy frustrating phone maze labyrinth with a month’s worth of cellular air minutes. A county with impressively huge resources proved incompetent and indifferent to insuring procedural safeguards for the accused or allowing the proceedings to be meaningfully covered by an independent photojournalist. The smell of corruption was intense. The smell of incompetence was stronger yet. The 6th Amendment rights to a truly open public trial at each and every step of the proceedings was ignored and the public’s right to have non-corporate media voices observing criminal proceedings was arrogantly violated.
Opting to photograph who showed up in the jailhouse plaza in support of the accused, the weather proved to be warm, cloudless, and inviting. Springs are like that. It started out slow but picked up as 2:30 pm drew nearer. The jailhouse guards assured the excluded photojournalist NO hearing was scheduled this day for any of those accused of Seattle May Day transgressions. But as time wore on, KOMO arrived, then KIRO, KING 5, and the Seattle Times, et ux. Each, in turn, entered the jailhouse and proceeded on to the courtroom, camera gear in tow, with barely a ripple.
This reporter was advanced on by 3 jailhouse guards for even poking his head into the entryway where the public telephones were. When asked why the double standard, the guards offered the silly explanation that the photojournalist hadn’t received ‘credentials’ from the State. The fact no such process exists for the reason that if it did, it would render 1st Amendment guarantees for freedom of the press moot apparently didn’t occur to them or their supervisors. As it turned out, one of the main complaints by (A)narchists relating to how corporate media has been bought and paid for was reflected in how the State’s muscle treated an independent photojournalist with mind-numbing arrogance/incompetence.
With plenty of time on their hands before the 2:30 pm courtroom proceedings began, the corporate newsmen began to interview the excluded photojournalist, each in turn as they arrived on site. The light was good, their rigs were massive, and they arrived in paired teams. At one point, the diesel engine of a nearby armored car collecting court/county loot proved disruptive.
The inmate noise from the upper tiers of the jailhouse grew as the day wore on. The argument by many (A)narchists for the elimination of jails/prisons seemed especially relevant in this setting. The brute police power of the State seemed particularly oppressive on this occasion. The competence of those officials charged with serving the public at large was egregiously absent. The zoo was now being run by the monkeys, each convinced their authority made them infallible. The idea of anti-hierarchy felt profoundly relevant at this moment, but all the sadder from not being properly nourished to where it could survive public scrutiny by its most youthful and more vacuous proponents. It remained more of an extension of punk culture than a serious political position on this day in Seattle.
10-5-11 Seattle Westlake Park eviction: Name? Do YOU know it or the case #?
SEATTLE – Protesters and Seattle police officers clashed at Westlake Park as officers tried to remove protesters at Occupy Seattle. Many of the protesters ignored orders to pack up their tents and move out of the city park.
10-5-11 Seattle’s Westlake Park
Police officers on bicycles and in paddy wagons arrived around 1:20 p.m., telling protesters who camped out overnight to move their tents to allow park workers to clean the park. A few protesters at the scene were rolling up their tents while others still remained.
Mark Taylor-Canfield of Seattle’s Sac Lunches is interviewed by media.
Joshua Ryan Patterson (aka: Irwin-Patterson) court documents, police report, and finding of probable cause can be seen by clicking HERE. Mr. Patterson has a long convoluted history with the court system, but in this instance, the case # is: 13-1-09605-2
Eric discusses his organization’s efforts to use environmentally responsible methods of feeding the poor, comparing its differences with Food Not Bombs, and how it interfaces as an NGO with agencies such as the Dept. of Health.
Pay particular attention to the last minute, or so of the clip as the guy who has been particularly camera shy this afternoon in the jailhouse courtyard at 5th & James stalks, circles behind the photojournalist, then casually saunters off as he realizes he has been noticed. Notice the reaction of his comrades at this moment. Like a shark bumping its quarry to determine if it is prey. The behavior was reminiscent of what happened during the assault-robbery of a photojournalist at the Evergreen State College (TESC) campus on 4-20-13 @ ~11:30pm in the Seminar II, Bldg ‘C’, 3rd floor location. See http://amicuscuria.com/wordpress/?p=9505 for details
(A)narchists Hoot Solidarity to Inmates During Courtroom Vigil
Having been told the courtroom was ‘full’ and contrary to some mainstream press reports alleging no (A)narchist supporters came to the Seattle’s King County jailhouse courtroom in solidarity with defendants accused of felonies arising from the City’s 2013 May Day demonstrations, over a dozen sat in the jailhouse courtyard at 5th & James in a show of support.
Inmates from the upper stories of the jailhouse began to whistle to the (A)narchists below which prompted hoots and shrieks of solidarity in response. One Afro-American demonstrator answers an inmate’s plea to “get me out of here” with “We’re working on it!” The same street radical is later heard challenging the photojournalist for wearing an American flag themed tie and disparaging him as a ‘Nazi’Fascist’ sympathizer for doing so. A spirited exchange of views follows if somewhat pandering to the camera and a bit disingenuous.
(A)narchist Argues American Flag Symbol of Oppression @ Court Vigil
The black (A)narchist in the video clip was seen on 9-13-12 at the Seattle federal courthouse plaza participating in a demonstration of support for the Grand Jury Resisters (Leah Plante and Matt Duran) subpoenaed to appear that day. He spent time manning the sound system to hurl egregious juvenile insults at the numerous riot gear clad police, federal protective service officers, and U.S. Marshalls.
Here, he temporarily adopts an only slightly less insulting tone to challenge the reporter for wearing an American Flag themed tie, arguing it reveals the photojournalist must be a Nazi/Fascist or one of their sympathizers and an oppressor siding with the ‘enemy’ against the ‘people’. The fact the vast majority of Americans would sooner be rid of his comrades than the reporter isn’t discussed. The exchange devolves into preening and playing to an audience.
10-5-11 Seattle Westlake Park Arrests
10-5-11 Seattle Westlake Park Red-Haired (A)narchist Obstructing Police @ 3:45
This is the largest free festival of its type in the world and has been held for the past 43 years. “There ain’t nothing else like it in the whole damn country!” -Geoffrey Castle-
There are over 2 dozen stages with hundred of acts scheduled roughly 10-10, Friday through Monday of the Memorial Day weekend. In 2010, on Saturday, there were over 400,000 attendees.
Are all telephone calls recorded and accessible to the US government?
A former FBI counterterrorism agent claims on CNN that this is the case
Former FBI counterterrorism agent Tim Clemente, discussing government’s surveillance capabilities Photograph:
The real capabilities and behavior of the US surveillance state are almost entirely unknown to the American public because, like most things of significance done by the US government, it operates behind an impenetrable wall of secrecy. But a seemingly spontaneous admission this week by a former FBI counter-terrorism agent provides a rather startling acknowledgment of just how vast and invasive these surveillance activities are.
Over the past couple days, cable news tabloid shows such as CNN’s Out Front with Erin Burnett have been excitingly focused on the possible involvement in the Boston Marathon attack of Katherine Russell, the 24-year-old American widow of the deceased suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev. As part of their relentless stream of leaks uncritically disseminated by our Adversarial Press Corps, anonymous government officials are claiming that they are now focused on telephone calls between Russell and Tsarnaev that took place both before and after the attack to determine if she had prior knowledge of the plot or participated in any way.
On Wednesday night, Burnett interviewed Tim Clemente, a former FBI counterterrorism agent, about whether the FBI would be able to discover the contents of past telephone conversations between the two. He quite clearly insisted that they could:
BURNETT: Tim, is there any way, obviously, there is a voice mail they can try to get the phone companies to give that up at this point. It’s not a voice mail. It’s just a conversation. There’s no way they actually can find out what happened, right, unless she tells them?
CLEMENTE: “No, there is a way. We certainly have ways in national security investigations to find out exactly what was said in that conversation. It’s not necessarily something that the FBI is going to want to present in court, but it may help lead the investigation and/or lead to questioning of her. We certainly can find that out.
BURNETT: “So they can actually get that? People are saying, look, that is incredible.
CLEMENTE: “No, welcome to America. All of that stuff is being captured as we speak whether we know it or like it or not.”
“All of that stuff” – meaning every telephone conversation Americans have with one another on US soil, with or without a search warrant – “is being captured as we speak”.
On Thursday night, Clemente again appeared on CNN, this time with host Carol Costello, and she asked him about those remarks. He reiterated what he said the night before but added expressly that “all digital communications in the past” are recorded and stored:
FBI looking at wife’s phone call:
Let’s repeat that last part: “no digital communication is secure”, by which he means not that any communication is susceptible to government interception as it happens (although that is true), but far beyond that: all digital communications – meaning telephone calls, emails, online chats and the like – are automatically recorded and stored and accessible to the government after the fact. To describe that is to define what a ubiquitous, limitless Surveillance State is.
There have been some previous indications that this is true. FormerAT&T engineer Mark Klein revealed that AT&T and other telecoms had built a special network that allowed the National Security Agency full and unfettered access to data about the telephone calls and the content of email communications for all of their customers. Specifically, Klein explained “that the NSA set up a system that vacuumed up Internet and phone-call data from ordinary Americans with the cooperation of AT&T” and that “contrary to the government’s depiction of its surveillance program as aimed at overseas terrorists . . . much of the data sent through AT&T to the NSA was purely domestic.” But his amazing revelations were mostly ignored and, when Congress retroactively immunized the nation’s telecom giants for their participation in the illegal Bush spying programs, Klein’s claims (by design) were prevented from being adjudicated in court.
Every day, collection systems at the National Security Agency intercept and store 1.7 billion e-mails, phone calls and other types of communications.
It would also help explain the revelations of former NSA official William Binney, who resigned from the agency in protest over its systemic spying on the domestic communications of US citizens, that the US government has “assembled on the order of 20 trillion transactions about US citizens with other US citizens” (which counts only communications transactions and not financial and other transactions), and that “the data that’s being assembled is about everybody. And from that data, then they can target anyone they want.”
Despite the extreme secrecy behind which these surveillance programs operate, there have been periodic reports of serious abuse. Two Democratic Senators, Ron Wyden and Mark Udall, have been warning for years that Americans would be “stunned” to learn what the US government is doing in terms of secret surveillance.
Strangely, back in 2002 – when hysteria over the 9/11 attacks (and thus acquiescence to government power) was at its peak – the Pentagon’s attempt to implement what it called the “Total Information Awareness” program (TIA) sparked so much public controversy that it had to be official scrapped. But it has been incrementally re-instituted – without the creepy (though honest) name and all-seeing-eye logo – with little controversy or even notice.
Back in 2010, worldwide controversy erupted when the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates banned the use of Blackberries because some communications were inaccessible to government intelligence agencies, and that could not be tolerated. The Obama administration condemned this move on the ground that it threatened core freedoms, only to turn around six weeks later and demand that all forms of digital communications allow the US government backdoor access to intercept them. Put another way, the US government embraced exactly the same rationale invoked by the UAE and Saudi agencies: that no communications can be off limits. Indeed, the UAE, when responding to condemnations from the Obama administration, noted that it was simply doing exactly that which the US government does:
“‘In fact, the UAE is exercising its sovereign right and is asking for exactly the same regulatory compliance – and with the same principles of judicial and regulatory oversight – that Blackberry grants the US and other governments and nothing more,’ [UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef Al] Otaiba said. ‘Importantly, the UAE requires the same compliance as the US for the very same reasons: to protect national security and to assist in law enforcement.'”
That no human communications can be allowed to take place without the scrutinizing eye of the US government is indeed the animating principle of the US Surveillance State. Still, this revelation, made in passing on CNN, that every single telephone call made by and among Americans is recorded and stored is something which most people undoubtedly do not know, even if the small group of people who focus on surveillance issues believed it to be true (clearly, both Burnett and Costello were shocked to hear this).
Some new polling suggests that Americans, even after the Boston attack, are growing increasingly concerned about erosions of civil liberties in the name of Terrorism. Even those people who claim it does not matter instinctively understand the value of personal privacy: they put locks on their bedroom doors and vigilantly safeguard their email passwords. That’s why the US government so desperately maintains a wall of secrecy around their surveillance capabilities: because they fear that people will find their behavior unacceptably intrusive and threatening, as they did even back in 2002 when John Poindexter’s TIA was unveiled.
Mass surveillance is the hallmark of a tyrannical political culture. But whatever one’s views on that, the more that is known about what the US government and its surveillance agencies are doing, the better. This admission by this former FBI agent on CNN gives a very good sense for just how limitless these activities are.
Prosecutors started filing charges Thursday against some of the 17 people arrested during a violent May Day protest in Seattle.
Six people who spent the night in the King County Jail face misdemeanor charges that include obstructing officers, resisting arrest, property damage and failure to disperse, the City Attorney’s Office said.
Three who bailed out of the jail could be charged later, and five others were expected to make their initial appearances in King County Superior Court to face more serious charges later Thursday.
In all, 17 people were arrested after the “anti-capitalism” demonstration turned violent, with protesters pelting police with rocks and bottles and police firing flash-bang grenades and pepper spray.
[It is believed some of those arrested in Seattle, according to the following article, may have also been responsible for an assault-robbery on a photojournalist at the TESC event billed as an (A)narchists Convergence around 11:30 am on 4-20-13. Their mug shots are being sought for identification independent of the course of criminal charges against them in King County.]
By Sara Jean Green (4-2-13)
Five protesters arrested during May Day’s “anti-capitalism” demonstration that turned violent made initial court appearances Thursday, with a King County District Court judge finding probable cause in each of the cases for crimes of rioting, assaulting Seattle police officers or both.
Four of the five men don’t live in Seattle, and the fifth is an unemployed 21-year-old with a lengthy juvenile criminal history, including a number of assaults in Spokane County, according to court records.
Marcel Davis, 20
Marcel Lamar Davis
That man, Marcel Davis, 20, was ordered held in lieu of $60,000 bail for investigation of second-degree assault and felony rioting. He is accused of passing out large rocks to other demonstrators and hurling rocks at police, one of which struck a female officer, injuring her left leg, according to the probable-cause statement outlining the police case against him.
A public defense attorney told Judge Arthur Chapman that Davis receives mail at The Orion Center, a Seattle drop-in service center for homeless youth.
“I think that’s reprehensible,” Chapman said of the allegations against Davis, calling his case “egregious.”
Joshua R. Patterson, 18
Chapman set bail at $20,000 for Joshua Irwin-Patterson, 18, of Olympia, after finding probable cause for investigation of third-degree assault and felony rioting.
Daniel T. Satterberg, prosecuting attorney; W554 King Co. Courthouse, 516 3rd Ave, Seattle, WA 98104; (206)296-9000, fax (360)296-0955
As a crowd of 200 to 300 people moved from Fourth Avenue and Pine Street to Olive Way, Irwin-Patterson was seen by officers with his arm cocked back, ready to throw a large rock at them, the probable-cause statement says.
As officers yelled warnings to each other, Irwin-Patterson put the rock in his pocket and attempted to blend back into the crowd, but an officer grabbed his T-shirt and took him into custody, it says.
Joshua R. Irwin-Patterson, 18, who also has a lengthy criminal juvenile history, told the judge he was living at an addiction-recovery house, working in construction and anticipating the end of his parole this month in connection with an earlier case.
“If I don’t get out before the 5th, I’m going to lose my house,” Irwin-Patterson said, reacting to the amount of bail set in his case. Patterson was charged with third-degree assault. He remains held on $20,000 bail.
“Mr. Patterson, that’s my order,” Chapman replied.
Raymond T. Miller, 28
The judge also found probable cause that Raymond Miller, 28, shoved a Seattle officer in the chest at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Stewart Street. Miller was charged with third-degree assault.
Given Miller’s lack of a criminal history, Chapman agreed to release him on personal recognizance. Miller, 28, limped into the courtroom, a bruise visible on his left temple. The judge heard that Miller works as a housekeeper and is living out of a recreational vehicle with his girlfriend in Shelton, Mason County.
The judge ordered Miller not to have any contact with Seattle police unless there was an emergency, possess no weapons and commit no new crimes.
Chapman also released two other men on personal recognizance with the same conditions. The judge determined there were questions about the men’s identities and ordered the media not to photograph their faces. The Times is not naming the men due to identity concerns.
Joshua C. Wollstein, 28
Joshua Wollstein says he’s no angel, but neither, he insists, is he a bottle-tossing, window-smashing anarchist. This afternoon, he appeared in a King County jailhouse courtroom where he was arraigned on charges of felony riot. A young clean-cut man, Wollstein is accused of knocking over a couple of garbage cans and hurling a few bottles at police during theMay Day protest.
He conceded he may have had his way with a garbage can or two, but as far as throwing bottles — no way.
“I am not an anarchist, I am a libertarian,” he told a handful of reporters after leaving the small courtroom following a brief hearing. Wollstein added that “I am informed by Marxism and I believe Marx’s theories about capitalism have to come to bear.”
Wollstein says he was arrested under the monorail tracks at Fifth and Olive, where a large hostile crowd converged last Wednesday night. Many of them were masked and hooded and, according to police, were hurling baseball-size rocks, along with bottles and other objects.
“I went as a free-market believer,” he said. “My goal was not to smash property.”
Joshua C. Wollstein, 28, was charged with felony riot.
Both Miller and Wollstein appeared in court Monday (5-6-13) and spoke to reporters.
The judge found probable cause that a 19-year-old unemployed machinist from Lynnwood committed gross misdemeanor rioting. Wearing a distinctive white fedora and a black leather jacket, the man is accused of throwing items at officers, then running from them as the police tried to arrest him.
He was later arrested in Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill.
The fifth man is a 19-year-old Tacoma Community College student who allegedly turned over a trash can and fished out two beer bottles that he hurled at officers, according to the probable-cause statement. Chapman found probable cause that he committed the crimes of third-degree assault and gross misdemeanor rioting.
All five are to return to court Monday.
The five charged with felonies Monday join six others who were charged with misdemeanors Thursday by the Seattle City Attorney’s Office.
Earlier Thursday, the City Attorney’s Office charged six people with misdemeanor crimes in connection with the May Day violence.
They are:
Sebastian Harris, 21: charged with obstruction of an officer and resisting arrest. He was arrested at Eighth Avenue and Howell Street;
Name
Court
Case Number
Judgment Record
Court Information
1
Harris, Sebastian Faro
New Name
Island County Dist
CV13-0023
01-11-2013
2
Harris, Sebastian Maury Defendant
Seattle Municipal Ct
588517
05-02-2013
Gregory Hustead, 22: obstruction of an officer and resisting arrest; arrested in the 400 block of Olive Way;
Name
Court
Case Number
Judgment Record
Court Information
1
Hustead, Gregory Reid
Defendant
King County District
1Z0469961
07-12-2011
2
Hustead, Gregory Reid
Defendant
King County District
711215938
09-29-2011
3
Hustead, Gregory Reid
Defendant
King County District
CS01734KC
10-31-2011
4
Hustead, Gregory Reid
Defendant
King County District
711215938
11-10-2011
5
Hustead, Gregory Reid
Defendant
King County District
I06210023
06-22-2010
6
Hustead, Gregory Reid Defendant
Seattle Municipal Ct
588514
05-02-2013
Bryanna Stader, 27: obstruction of an officer; arrested at Sixth Avenue and Olive Way;
Name
Court
Case Number
Judgment Record
Court Information
1
Stader, Bryanna
Defendant
Grays Harbor Dist #1
CR0044210
09-03-2008
2
Stader, Bryanna Naomi Defendant
Seattle Municipal Ct
588520
05-02-2013
Paul Novasky, 44: obstruction of an officer, failure to disperse and resisting arrest; arrested at Ninth Avenue and Pine Street;
Benjamin Padgett aka Ben White aka Benjamin Michael Padgett, 23
Convicted Felon, Ben Padgett, 23, is currently being prosecuted for multiple felony crimes in Port Orchard Superior Court, Kitsap County Superior Court and in Jefferson County, Washington.
The not at all an innocent street urchin; rumored drug dealer, obvious thug, and convicted felon (see Kitsap County Superior Court case 12-1-00355-4) “Ben” aka “Trash” Padgett, who is known to harass, and intimidate residents trying to enjoy Seattle’s Westlake Park, may finally be getting a little well deserved justice after his long history of ongoing criminal activity. It has been clear all along that “Trash” is not all the “innocent” “child” that his mostly criminal cohorts have claimed since the inception of this facebook page!
In Kitsap County he was charged with and convicted of felony burglary after the vacant house he burglarized burned to the ground. The case number is 12-1-00355-4 in the Kitsap County Superior Court. Padgett pleaded guilty to those felony charges before Judge Sally F. Olsen.
Benjamin Padgett then failed to show for subsequent post conviction hearings. The court has since issued a warrant for his arrest.
According to other court records and jail registries. Benjamin Padgett has also been arrested and booked into the King County Jail multiple times since late December 2012, but apparently, and inexplicably, made bail.
Ben Padgett, aka Benjamin Michael Padgett was arrested on 12/04/2012 under booking number 2Z0784504 for charges in Jefferson County, with a bail amount of $10,100.00. Padgett was arrested on 12/28/2012 under booking number 212033796 for felony charges in Port Orchard Superior Court. Padgett was previously arrested on 08/22/2012 under King County Jail booking number 20326801 for charges in Jefferson County, with a bail amount of $10,000.00.
May Day 2013 Violence in Wash DC
Undercover cop drops GUN, sparks Furious street fighting @ DC 2013 Mayday GAP protest
by (A)non
When marchers at the Mayday march in Washington DC rushed into the GAP outlet on Connecticut Ave, the shit really hit the fan. Protesters were there because GAP labels were found in the infamous Tazareen factory fire in Bangladesh, where workers are fighting furiously to put an end to sweatshops and factory deaths.
Police vigorously resisted protests at the GAP, and at one point appeared to try to seal several protesters inside. At least one person, maybe more, was arrested there. Suddenly, a person dressed as a protester tackled another protester-and a GUN and holster tumbled out of his clothing to the street. That person was an undercover cop, and their carelessness could have killed people.
With life and death potentially on the line, an incredibly furious street battle erupted instantly. I do not know if the cops managed to make any further arrests, but it was very clear they had to give some to get some, the fight appeared almost evenly matched or possibly a slight edge favoring the protesters. The video really can’t capture the incredible swirling fight this was, I would have had to be on an elevated postion and often farther back. Sometimes elbows and asses are all you see in something like this!
I have not seen this kind of fighting over protesters entering a public building since IMF protesters stormed the Washington Circle Hotel back in Spring 2010, and even that was not as violent. Since then, protesters rushing the doors, occupying a lobby, then leaving after half an hour or so has been a common occurance in DC with little violence resulting-until now.
Street fighting at 2013 DC Mayday parade
By (A)non
The Mayday parade from Malcolm X Park to Lafayette Park in front of the White House was supposed to end with speakers and a traditional Maypole ceremoney. Only thing was, the “White Student Union” from Towson, including outright neo-Nazis, was also by the White House to counterprotest, sparking a third round of the day of street fighting and wrestling over
asphalt.
Despite more police attack and at least one more person assisted from the field by medics, the Nazis were pushed away-and at least one Nazi flag ended up a trophy of war, with pieces of it tied to an activist’s bike.
Video from INSIDE the Washington, DC Gap
WARNING: The Following Video Contains Obscene Langu(a)ge–parental discretion advised
Seattle Police Heckled/Provoked by 2013 M@y D@y Protester
Phoenix Jones @ 2012 Seattle May Day attack on federal courthouse
Wisconsin (A)narchist Thistle Pettersen speaks to the MacIver News Service on June 6, 2012, the day after Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker thwarted attempts to recall him
516 Third Avenue, Room C-203 (Superior)
500 5th AVE at JAMES ST. (Seattle City Ct.)
Seattle, WA 98104
Phone: 206-205-9200
Rioters Assault LEO
Above is an excellent clip of a LEO being mobbed by black bloc participants in a May Day(?) demo. Notice how the officer’s back is unprotected. One assailant circles behind and strikes him with what appears to be a skate board. The officer’s night stick is inadequate to fend off the mob. Another assailant sprays the LEO with what appears to be pepper spray. The LEO is very vulnerable here because he doesn’t have backup (at least 1) to cover his back-Better non-lethal mob tools are needed.
Also, notice the split second rapidity necessitating an instant response. Predictably, someone will eventually be maimed/killed in such stressful life threatening circumstances. Less than lethal repetitive weapons such as bird-shot may be in order. Dept. policy on force appears to have made the LEO an easy target here. Pepper balls might have worked. Paint-balls would have marked suspects. Lack of backup could have proved fatal.
Some of the assailants appear to have clubs. Others appear to have blankets intended for such confrontations. The weapons present seem to indicate premeditated planning to riot. This clip reveals a sporadic low grade civil war by street radicals who have openly declared war on the State and society itself, proclaiming, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.” The malefactors involved are enemies of the State. They are an ongoing threat to the people, their institutions, private property, public safety, and the rule of law. They readily accept and even boast of this. Existing State laws treating them as petty criminals are inadequate for petty traitors. WA State has laws against treason–USE them!
For their part, (A)narchists who subscribe to the theology of insurrection argue as follows:
Seattle police detectives are working “feverishly” to find additional people suspected of May Day violence, Capt. Chris Fowler said this afternoon.
Fowler, who was incident commander for Seattle police during Wednesday’s May Day events, said detectives and prosecutors are working together to build cases against the 17 suspects arrested last night. So far, six have been charged with misdemeanor offenses by the Seattle City Attorney’s Office, while an additional five, suspected of felonies, appeared this afternoon at the King County Jail courtroom.
Police are also using photographs and video from May Day to identify additional suspects, he said.
Fowler, speaking during a media availability at police headquarters, said officers used the minimum amount of force necessary to respond to the vandalism and assaults that erupted during the May Day march from Seattle Central Community College.
He said officers followed their training and he was proud of the police response. “They did the job that we expected them to do,” Fowler said of police.
Of the five suspects who appeared in the King County Jail court this afternoon, three were released on their own recognizance.
The two ordered held include a 21-year-old man accused of throwing a rock that struck a female police officer on the leg. He is being held in lieu of $60,000 bail for investigation of second-degree assault and felony riot.
The second suspect was allegedly spotted by police preparing to throw a rock and is being held in lieu of $20,000 bail for investigation of third-degree assault and felony riot. Both suspects have previous histories of violence, according to court records.
The air was like honey and the spring’s blossoms bathed in amber as prognosticator’s predicted uninterrupted sun, sun, sun for the next several days. And to sweeten the mood even more, the young women wore their summer dresses to Olympia’s Sylvester park for the May Day festivities. Little girls danced with colored ribbon about a makeshift May Pole and a band performed from the gazebo. A free picnic buffet was organized, the grass was green, and despite a massive police presence literally outnumbering the evening’s march participants, everyone was on their best (well mostly) behavior. The police were professional and congenial. Larry Hildes showed up with a coterie of National Lawyer’s Guild legal observers including LeGrande Jones.
If they were present, this reporter did not see KteeO, Matt Duran, ‘Maddy’ Pfeifer, or Portland’s Wanda or Kerry Cunneen. Peter Bohmer appeared absent, but others like Media Island’s Ava, James, Dana, and Rick Fellows were there. So were some folks regularly making Food Not Bombs happen at the Olympia Timberland Library on Saturday afternoons. Mary Hath came as Lady Liberty. Mike Coday came as himself. A few homeless arrived and a sprinkling of ethnic minorities. For the most part, the crowd seemed like they haled from Evergreen…white yuppies to the core in all but name only.
None of the participants had bothered to obtain a parade permit, but in a display of professionalism and flexibility, the police allowed the marchers to block traffic anyway. A few of the more juvenile personalities invoked insulting invective directed at the police present. In turn, the cops did not react. They’d been friendly earlier, smiled, and avoided arresting anyone. No windows were smashed or property destroyed. The usual airheads were lurking in the wings, challenging this photographer for taking pictures in the public venue at Sylvester Park as well as on the sidewalks of Olympia…some more aggressive/threatening than others.
Flag poles sporting various banners were seen…poles that could be used as weapons in a pinch. At least one man was carrying a wooden club while the police geared up with thinner longer clubs than their usual nightstick. There were police cruisers, bicycle cops, foot patrols, and a KOMO news helicopter with a high definition camera pod on its nose hovering about the crowd from about noon onward…i.e. all day. Olympia police had evicted any transients found in the train tunnel running under Sylvester Park a couple of days ago to prevent any possibility it would be torched in protest. Rumors of street violence in this year’s Seattle May Day demonstration reached Olympia late in the day.
The City of Olympia, for its part, had drawn police from Tumwater, Lacey, Olympia, the Capitol Campus WSP, state police, federal undercover agents (no doubt). The mainstream media was present in force with large video rigs, expensive cameras, and reporters teamed in pairs. Few homeless, poor, or ethnic minorities were visible.
The warm weather brought out soap bubbles, small children, and physical games adults could enjoy. A number of large dogs including pit bulls, German shepherds, and assorted mutts accompanied their owners without much incident. Most of the rhetoric was more subdued than what can be found on area (A)narchist websites. Some notable exceptions were toward the end of the evening march while participants were allowed to block the main thoroughfares of the city without a permit. The police present (who, in total, outnumbered the marchers) were rudely castigated but showed remarkable restraint and professionalism. Chalk art/messages were left on the sidewalks of Sylvester park including a few so vulgar/juvenile some local residents living across the way complained of them.
The KOMO news helicopter hovered overhead for the entire day beginning at around noon. It sported a large high definition camera pod beneath its nose. A few individuals including one young white man w/dreadlocks were aggressively hostile to having their picture taken though he was engaged in photographing the police. Links to audio excerpts are included in this report. The right of the people to full press coverage of events in public venues remains a hot-button issue for some. The violence and threats leveled at those bold enough to exercise 1st Amendment principles remains as well. The double standards inveighed were and remain stark.
Hooliganism was kept in check. Overall, the day was a complete success for those who valued non-violence, pleasant surroundings/company, hospitality, youthful vigor, free speech and 1st Amendment guarantees for all, and professional competency on the part of the police keeping the peace.
Impromptu May Pole
Talking About My Generation
Helping Hands
Boys from the Band
From Down Under
On Location
Castle in the Park
Car 54, Where Are You?
Tension w/the Press
Bruce Wilkinson
Mary as Lady Liberty
LEO’s behaved professionally this day
Lady Liberty (Mary) appeals to the public conscience.
James’/Dean’s Complaint
Unhappy Camper
Dana, kicking it
Beam Me Up
Food Not Bombs volunteer
Invitation to Insurrection
Hanging Together or Hanging Separately?
Somewhere Left of Center
Mary Phagan?
Smiling Faces I Can See…
Surf City
Bubble Machine
Frankly Speaking
Mary Hath as Lady Liberty
Bearing the Torch
Keeping Score
Sylvester Park Sirens
Defending the Environment
Keeping It Cool
Are You Serious?
With Malice Toward None
Masking Up
Guardians of the New Order?
Bubble Bath
Dream Team
Seriously?
Emma Mead – Just Sayin’
Feathered Boa and Emma
People’s March on Olympia
Redhead
Private Pleasures
Batman
Prime Time
Coday May Day
Strange Bedfellows
The Twist: Anti-Statism on a Scholarship/Student Loan
Grim Reminder
Dog Daze In Olytown
Optimist
Sidewalk Artist
Lawn Pebbles
Shotgun
Eye of Mordor
Youth Challenges 1st Amendment
Capitol Way tuffs
F*** Your Fotos
Komodo Journalism
Bringing Up Father
Anarchy Freedom?
Larry’s Brigade
Larry Hildes
People Power
Arm Candy
Triplicate
Public Transport
Haven’t We Met Before?
Overtime
Which Way Did They Go?
Irish Sea Dog
Defacto Enemies of the State, Constitutional Rights, Public Safety
In a cooperation accord which will soon be negotiated between the European police and the Mexican government, a report on “terrorist trends in the EU” is about to be published. A recount of the attacks in Italy and Mexico would explain Europol’s alarm.
BRUSSELS (Proceso) — The police force of the European Union (EU), Europol, intends for the cooperation accord it will negotiate with Enrique Peña Nieto’s government to include the exchange of information about anarchist groups operating in Mexico.
Last October 4th, the EU Cabinet approved Europol’s beginning of accord negotiations with the Mexican government. Its primary–but not sole–component would be the fight against narco-trafficking.
The eventual collaboration of the Mexican and European police against the anarchists would fall within the framework of European politics of fighting terrorism, according to a Europol document dated April 4, 2012 of which Proceso has a copy.
The document specifies, “At this time there has been no cooperation between Mexico and the EU in matters of the fight against terrorism. Nevertheless, Mexico is relevant for Europol because there have been reports of the presence of members of terrorist groups based in Europe (for example ETA). Mexico is also very relevant for Europol due to the numerous extremist anarchist attacks that have been committed there (…) Allegedly, they were perpetrated in solidarity with anarchists incarcerated in the EU.”
According to the document, the information that the Mexican police would give about this would be incorporated into an operational database with which Europol works and which corresponds to “domestic terrorism.” Its official name is Analysis Work Files Dolphin.
On April 25, 2012, Europol published their EU Terrorism and Situation and Trend Report, which is the most recent [actually the 2013 report is out now -TN] and corresponds to events that happened in 2011.
Europe traditionally dedicates a part of this report to “leftist and anarchist terrorism.”
The document says that in 2011 there were 37 terrorist attacks–attributed to anarchist and revolutionary groups–in Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy and Spain. In 2010 there were 45 attacks of this kind. The majority being acts of arson.
The Europol report counts 23 bombing attacks in 2010 and 11 the following year. These attacks caused 6 deaths in 2010 and 1 in 2011 in Greece when an activist was fabricating an explosive device in a building’s basement. In Italy, two persons were wounded in two different attacks in 2011.
The FAI
In their report, Europol puts emphasis the activity of the Informal Anarchist Federation(FAI) of Italy. They explain that this group claimed attacks in 2011 in their country and in Greece, Germany and Switzerland, and confirms that its modus operandi “for years” has been the coordinated sending of explosive devices by mail. Recently the FAI also started to operate in the UK.
The FAI was created in 2003. That year and the following, they sent a series of explosive letters to representatives of the European Parliament in Brussels and to officials of other European institutions, such as the then-president of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, or that of the Central European Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, as well as the headquarters of Eurojust (an organization for legal cooperation) and of Europol itself in The Hague, Holand.
The FAI is one of the anarchist groups with the greatest strength and determination in Europe, as their recent activities demonstrate.
On December 9, 2011, a bomb–inside of a yellow padded envelope–exploded in the tax office of Equitalia in Rome. The explosion destroyed a desk’s glass and caused injuries to a hand and the eyes of the agency’s director, Marco Cuccagna.
Two days earlier the FAI had sent a letter-bomb to the executive director of Deutsche Bank, Josef Ackermann. The letter, which contained a combination of explosive and shrapnel, was discovered by the bank’s security services. The return address corresponded to the Central European Bank, located a few blocks from the Deutsche Bank headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany.
On this occasion the police found a message from the FAI that warned of three bomb attacks “against banks and bankers, fleas and bloodsuckers.”
Days later, on May 16, the FAI–through a letter published by regional papers of Southern Italy–threatened the Prime Minister Mario Monti, and declared that they were preparing more actions to avenge the incarceration of eight anarchists in Greece.
In this three page letter, the group claimed the attack against Adinolfi and referred to the Equitalia tax agency, which had become a symbol of the crisis that swept the country. The strong pressure the tax authority exercises against its citizens has provoked numerous suicides.
The FAI warned in this message that they would attack the Italian State, “likewise through Equitalia, until it changes its politics and starts to protect the people,” as a response to the statements from the Ministry of the Interior, Annamaria Cancellieri, to the tune that the attack against the tax agency was considered an aggression against the State.
The underground organization added that every suicide provoked by the economic crisis would be considered an “assassination committed by the State.”
Also receiving police protection were eight businesspeople, including the CEO and Chairman of Finmeccanica, Giuseppe Orsi, who was arrested last February 12th for having committed alleged acts of corruption in the sale of 12 helicopters to the Air Force of India when he was the general director of Augusta Westland.
The Mexican network
Many anarchist groups in other countries have claimed–with the name of the Italian organization–their own actions: Mexico has a “faction” (the Informal FAI of Mexico) with presence in various states.
The Informal FAI of Mexico and other anarchist groups have a close relation with their Greek peers. The activity of these groups has grown over some four years, according to the expert Jorge Lofredo of the Center for the Documentation of Armed Movements.
The Italian anarchists think that the State’s most recent offensive against them began in 2001 with the creation of special police groups for their surveillance. Those in Mexico claim that the repression against them hardened in Mexico City during Marcelo Ebrad’s term (2006-2012).
Anarchist attacks in Mexico are numerous, but very few are divulged by the media. This was the case of the explosive package deposited in a postal box that exploded on February 21st in the hands of a worker of the Postal Service who took it illegally.
In a communique dated February 22nd, this attack was claimed by the anarchist groupIndividualists Tending toward the Wild, one of the most active in Mexico and whose attacks against the “techno-industrial system” are directed at academics and scientists from centers like the UNAM or Monterrey Tec. This group claimed the murder–committed in Cuernavaca on November 8, 2011–of Ernesto Méndez Salinas, a biotechnology expert of the UNAM.
The Informal FAI of Mexico and other anarchist groups have carried out recent actions: On Friday the 5th, the Emile Henry Insurrectionalist Revolutionary Group Tending toward Anarchy – Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI) / International Revolutionary Front (IRF)claimed the January 18th arson of a passenger bus of the Tucdosa line in Oaxaca, the “sabotage” of four Telmex telephone booths and the sending of “a homemade incendiary bomb” on March 29th to a PAN office.
This last action, the anarchists said, was done in solidarity with the community radios and communities that oppose the wind power megaprojects in Istmo de Tehuantepec. The explosive was deactivated by the police.
Last March 6th a group of anarchist youth announced that a “solidarity activity” (a rally) would be celebrated in front of the embassy of Italy in Mexico. They protested the arrest of several of their companions in Europe, in particular eight of them in Italy, one in Switzerland and another in Germany, as a result of the police Operation Ardire on June 13, 2012. Some of those captured were bloggers from the internet site Culmine.
They also expressed in this peaceful action their solidarity with two more anarchists arrested in Italy on August 27, 2012 and manifested their support of the Greek anarchists of the CCF group imprisoned in their country.
Earlier, the Mexico City faction of the Informal FAI of Mexico and another of the CCFclaimed the arson of two pharmeceutical product stores in San Juan Xalpa, Iztapalapa, last September 18th.
The Mexican anarchists mentioned in a communique that the purpose of this action was to express their solidarity with their compañero Mario López, with Gabriel Pombo da Silvaand Marco Camenisch, imprisoned in Germany and Switzerland respectively; with the prisoners of the CCF in Greece and with those arrested on June 13, 2012 in Italy.
López was captured on June 29, 2012 after setting off an explosive in Coyoacán, imprisoned in the Southern Detention Center and released on bail last December 29th.
On August 21, 2012, the Informal FAI of Mexico and the CCF claimed authorship of another intentional fire, this time at the Plásticos Viga business, in Apodaca, Nuevo León, another in the Museum of the Mexican Revolution in downtown Puebla.
These actions, they said, were to express solidarity with the “eco-anarchist” Braulio Durán, imprisoned in León, Guanajuanto for allegedly having set fire to an HSBC ATM on September 17, 2009, as well as with Mario López and again with the anarchists imprisoned in Italy after Operation Ardire.
But the attack most obviously close to the Italian anarchist movement was that of the early hours of December 12, 2011 against the Italian Institute of Culture in Coyoacán. It wasclaimed by the Revolutionary Anarchist Cell – Gabriella Segata Antolini and theAutonomous Cells for Immediate Revolution – Práxedis G. Guerrero (CARI-PGG) / Faction of the Informal FAI of Mexico.
In the communique claiming the attack on the Italian Institute of Culture in Mexico, the anarchists expressed again their suport for their imprisoned compañeros in Italy and in particular Federico Buono, an anarchist arrested on June 15, 2011 in Milan in possession of two homemade bombs.
The Mexican anarchists said that this attack against the cultural institute–a branch of the Italian government–was also to affirm their “presence” in the FAI and the IRF.
Melbourne, Australia – riot at (A)narchist solidarity party, real estate agent smashed
by Corey Delaney Brigade
On the evening of friday 26th of april, cops raided a solidarity party for anarchist prisoners at a squatted warehouse in Clifton Hill. Upon entry the pigs were immediately pelted with bottles and forced to retreat. However backup was called, and shortly after the warehouse was surrounded by riot squad, regular cops, and dogs. The occupants were forced out of the building and on to the street where the cops were attacked a second time with bottles, rocks, and other projectiles while the party goers chanted “A.C.A.B!”
A police radio was stolen and used to taunt and verbally abuse the bastards. The cops responded with baton charges, pepper spray, and mauling people with their dogs. At this point the revellers disappeared into the night to party elsewhere. Many were heard to comment “best party ever!”
As a response to this police attack, and as an act of solidarity with this small rupture and an attempt to broaden its horizons we went to North Fitzroy and smashed up a real estate agent.
We also express our solidarity and warm regards to anarchist Felicity Ryder who is still on the run, and to Jock Palfreeman, antifascist prisoner in Bulgaria.
A non-commercial tradition of over 20 years, Oly folks kick off their shoes to celebrate our planet and all living things in a madcap parade suitable for young and old alike. Though Olympia was the cradle of this theme, it has found a new home in cities all over the world eager to emulate the good vibes, the reminder that all living things, great and small, are kindred spirits.
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Sadly, this year’s Procession of the Species had a certain je ne se quois tension that might be attributed to the Boston Marathon bombings, the Strong (A)rm Robbery-Assault on a photojournalist @ a TESC public event days earlier, a sense of foreboding that Olympia could be on the (A)narchist menu for this coming May Day actions, a sense some in the community have of being hunted for their affiliation with criminality associated with certain (A)narchists, or any of these. A camera reveals much…more than the subject realizes. There was a look on the faces of many attendees that wasn’t present in previous years. Time will tell as the City’s security apparatus gears up to try to protect property as well as prevent force and fraud from a group openly declaring war on the State, society, its institutions, its businesses, private property, the notion of ‘rights’ or law, as well as many of its citizens including photojournalists.
Judith Alexander
Hank Bradley, Candy Goldman, Bill Meyer
Day Laborers and Petty Intellectuals
Riley and Johnny Calcagno
Tom Colwell & The Southbound Odyssey
The Sojourners
Emerald City Songwriter Circles hosted by Wes Weddell, Nancy K. Dillon, Tai Shan, Mark Iler, Carolyn Cruso, Steve Wacker
Gary Lee Moore
Imps and Monsters
Tom Wilkinson
