So discourse has become an exercise in who can shout the loudest or use the most vulgar language? Is this an example of the alternative? Crassness and verbal abuse are today’s currency in community activism? Lord, help us!

“I have seen the enemy, and it is us!” -Pogo-

SNARLING AS DISCOURSE

OCCUPY protesters attempt to argue with AFP members until an elder teaches them shouting is easier than thinking.

Salish ‘Clown’ Harasses Elderly, Bystanders, Peacekeeper

Footage shot during the Seattle “Bring the Fight to the Banks” rally on July 20th, 2012.

One of the ‘clowns’ seen in the video was present at the 9-13-12 Seattle federal courthouse rally in support of the Grand Jury resisters.

Fool on the Hill

Clown @ 9-13-12 Seattle federal courthouse rally for Grand Jury Resisters

POLICE HECKLER REVERTS TO TYPE

Here, the Seattle police spokesperson shows great restraint and professionalism on May Day, 2013, a trait increasingly in demand from today’s LEO’s. The heightened training they receive today was sorely lacking not so long ago. Moreover, this officer’s professionalism discredits his antagonist better than any arrest could.

Malicious Clown Baits Seattle Police

The following video was produced in 1989. It was included as part of an internal training PD video as the boys in blue best attempt at humor.

At the time, commanders immediately judged the content as inappropriate. The video was ordered to be destroyed and to not be distributed internally. Now, as the Seattle Viaduct is being reduced to rubble, this collector’s item of the fond memories it brought to area residents remains. Viewer discretion as to how this reflects on the LEO’s sensitivity to social justice issues is advised.

UNDER THE VIADUCT

By Jim Walsh, 5-17-13 (Contributing Reporter: Andy McNeil)

Caleb “Kai’ Lawrence McGillivary, ‘Hatchet Hitchhiker’

KILLER ON THE ROAD?

HADDONFIELD, N.J. — An Internet celebrity-turned-homicide suspect was arrested in Philadelphia on Thursday, two days after he was reportedly spotted in New Jersey.

Caleb “Kai” McGillvary, who gained fame online as the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker, was taken into custody around 6:30 p.m. at a Greyhound bus station in Center City, authorities said.

McGillvary, accused of killing a North Jersey man Sunday, was last seen Tuesday at “a light-rail station in (the) Haddonfield, N.J., area,” according to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office.

McGillvary, a 24-year-old homeless man, had been considered armed and dangerous.

Delaware River Port Authority spokesman Tim Ireland said the suspect had spent a night in Gloucester County with close friends, who gave him $250 and drove him to the Woodcrest station of the PATCO Hi-Speed­line. After dropping him off, however, the friends called police.

Surveillance cameras, Ireland said, showed the man boarding a westbound train. Alerted by the DRPA, Philadelphia police arrested McGillvary at the Filbert Street bus station.

McGillvary became a YouTube star after he claimed to have intervened in a Feb. 1 attack on two people in Fresno, Calif. In a TV news interview that went viral, McGillvary described in graphic but disjointed style how he wielded a hatchet against the alleged assailant, a man who had picked him up while hitchhiking.

Both the attacker and his victims survived the California incident.

McGillvary is accused of killing 73-year-old Joseph Galfy Jr. of Clark. The victim, an attorney, was found in his home around 2 p.m. Monday, when police were asked to check on his well-being. An autopsy on Tuesday determined Galfy died from blunt force trauma.

McGillvary posted a possible reference to the Clark assault on his Facebook page.

“What would you do if you woke up with a groggy head, metallic taste in your mouth, in a stranger’s house … realizing someone had drugged (and) raped (you)?” he wrote on Tuesday. “What would you do?”

Authorities said McGillvary relied on strangers for food, lodging and transportation.

Prior to his arrest, some people in Haddonfield expressed little concern over the fugitive’s possible presence.

“I actually would’ve been really hyped (to meet McGillvary),” said John Devine, an employee at Kinetic Skateboarding on Kings Highway. Devine noted he would have recognized McGillvary from Internet videos.

The suspect will be processed in Philadelphia and returned to New Jersey. Authorities said McGillvary’s bail was previously set at $3 million.

NJ police found the body of Joseph Galfy, an attorney and a member of the Clark Chamber of Commerce, on Monday in his home. Galfy was severely beaten (he died of blunt force trauma) and the Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said Galfy was just wearing underwear and his socks.

According to the Star-Ledger, “They met, an unlikely pair, in Times Square last Saturday night… Their rendezvous, most of it later spent in and around Joseph Galfy Jr.’s ranch-style house on Starlite Drive in Clark, would last about 24 hours, until sometime Sunday evening when, authorities said, their encounter turned violent after a sexual tryst.”

On Tuesday, McGillvary had written on his Facebook page, “what would you do if you woke up with a groggy head, metallic taste in your mouth, in a strangers house… walked to the mirror and seen come dripping from the side of your face from your mouth, and started wretching, realizing that someone had drugged, raped, and blown their fuckin load in you? what would you do?” but prosecutor Theodore Romankow had called the status update “self-serving.”

Kai McGillvary in Times Square 2 days before the Killing

by Rania Khalek on May 14, 2013

Rania Khalek

Florida Passes Bill To Speed Up Executions

For a state with 24 death row exonerations under its belt (the highest in the country), you would think Florida might want to slow down its execution process to avoid putting innocent people to death. But Florida lawmakers are doing just the opposite.

Late last month both the Florida House and Senate passed the “Timely Justice Act”, which Republican Gov. Rick Scott is expected to sign into law, according to Reuters.

Under Florida’s current process, the Governor signs and issues death warrants at his discretion. The Act would change this by setting up automatic deadlines for filings to speed up the appeals process. Once appeals are exhausted and clemency denied, the Governor would be forced to issue a death warrant within 30 days and an execution date within 180 days.

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, or FADP, says 13 of the 405 inmates on death row in Florida fall within this category and would therefore be issued death warrants immediately. Another 80 prisoners have exhausted their appeals and are waiting on clemency hearings, making them vulnerable to immediately issued death warrants as well. That means that if the “kill them faster” Act is signed into law, the state of Florida could execute as many as 90 inmates within the first six months of its signing.

Proponents of the Act argue that the appeals process is too lengthy, costly and delays justice. Indeed, the process can take decades and cost million$, but that is to ensure justice not delay it. After all, several of Florida’s condemned were on death row for over a decade before proving their innocence. One example is Juan Melendez, who spent 18 years on death row and lost three appeals in front of the Florida Supreme Court before his release. Had the “streamline murder” Act been in place at the time there’s a good chance Melendez and others like him would have been killed for crimes they didn’t commit.

If the state insists on taking someone’s life (a morally corrupt position to start with), shouldn’t it be 110 percent certain the accused are guilty? And therein lies just one of the many, many problem with the death penalty; rarely does this kind of certainty exist. The state can always overturn a sentence if an inmate is later found innocent, but not if they’re already dead. Lethal injection is permanent.

Republican Senator Rob Bradley basically admitted that he doesn’t care if Florida puts innocent people to death, saying, “this is not about guilt or innocence, it’s about timely justice.” Apparently, in Flordia, convenience is more important than life-or-death justice.

As appalling as Bradley’s comments were, his argument was at least based in reality (a morally deficient one), as opposed to the many legislators who cited scripture as the basis of their claims.

Matt Gaetz, a Republican lawmaker who sponsored the House bill, actually said during the House debate, “Only God can judge. But we sure can set up the meeting.” Last I checked, the constitution made no reference to the judicial power of the mythical being in the sky.

One reporter described the House debate as, “sound[ing] like a church service at times, with quotes like ‘Vengeance is mine, sayeth the lord,’ ‘Genesis 9:6. If man sheds blood, by man shall his blood be shed,’ and ‘Those of you who are without sin, cast the first vote yes’ echoing through the chambers.”

Instead of citing scripture, how about using facts, beginning with this one: Florida inmates spend an average of 13 years on death row, which is already below the national average. On top of leading the country in exonerations, Florida has executed 75 inmates (second only to Texas, which is nearing 500) since resuming capital punishment in the 1970s, which comes out to one exoneration for every 3 executions. And for the past two years in a row, Florida has sentenced more people to death than any other state, a result of its failure to require unanimous jury recommendations for death sentences, among other deficiencies.

Despite all of this, Florida’s GOP, the same party that claims to value life above all else, wants to speed up the death penalty conveyer belt. As more and more states lean towards abolition, Florida seems to be sprinting in the opposite direction, so much so that Gov. Scott is fast tracking inmates to the death chamber with or without signing the Act.

Since entering office in 2011, Scott has signed nine death warrants, three of which were issued recently with executions scheduled over a 26 day stretch beginning May 29. Of course, this shouldn’t come as a surprise considering this is the same man who axed the commission that oversaw capital cases to save $400,000 per year, a pittance to be exact.

Seth Penalver, who was acquitted last year after spending 13 years on Florida’s death row (18 years behind bars) for a triple murder he did not commit, said that if given the chance he would say the following to Gov. Scott:

“Before he signs it, I would ask him to sit down with those who were convicted and later exonerated or got new trials because of evidence that was withheld. By speeding up the appeals process, are you willing to kill an innocent man? Would you kill me?”

I urge you, particularly Floridians, to contact Gov. Scott’s office and demand he veto this bill. Otherwise I’m afraid his answer to Penalver will be “yes”.

So called ‘Yuppie Development’ on the right

The following is re-posted from the Puget Sound (A)narchists site as a non-trivial example of the world envisioned by certain violent street radicals:

Vancouver, BC: Arson claim

(A)narchists held a ‘LAW & DISORDER’ conference at Portland State University recently where two ardent feminist women were tabling literature from their group. Reportedly, 2 male ‘transgender women’ approached and challenged the feminists for the views of their group respective of gender politics regarding trans men and women. When the feminists refused to mollify the 2 males, they were assaulted. One male took out a magic marker and began to deface some books/literature on the table. Shortly thereafter, one grabbed a stack of literature and fled the premises on the college campus.

Nobody present during the attack did anything to discourage it. Later, blaming the victims, the organizers of the event apologized to the group said to be associated with the attackers, i.e. the ‘trans’ community. The following posts/comments gleaned from a site reflecting on the incident, attitudes, and those responsible are published here to provide a glimpse of the same to ensure against deletion.

Peacey Spacegoat, Seattle, WA

Gregory Lewis

Lauren Riot

Bryan Michael Wiedeman, 25

 As reported in the Portland Radicle:

Portland, OR (6-9-12) — By Anon.

“Revolutionary solidarity is, above all, a revolutionary practice. What this means is that it carries within itself the aims of revolution. For this reason, as anarchists, we cannot base solidarity on any authoritarian or economic foundations. It is not a matter of obligation, duty, or debt. No one owes anyone solidarity, regardless of what they have done or what they are going through. Rather the basis of solidarity is the recognition of one’s own struggle in that of others – in other words, complicity. This is of major importance. If solidarity is the recognition of my own struggle in the struggle of others, it is carried out in practice precisely through continuing that struggle, continuing to attack this social order, and doing so with a focus on what unites my struggle with that of others.”

-“Revolutionary Solidarity: A Challenge” by Wolfi Landstreicher

On the morning of May 3rd, members of the Portland Police Bureau broke into and ransacked Pax’s house and arrested him on 36 felony charges of Criminal Mischief and 36 felony charges of Conspiracy to Commit Criminal Mischief. The police claimed this arrest was the result of a two-year ongoing investigation and that further arrests are possible.  Bail was initially set to $360,000, an absurd amount considering the relatively minor crimes of which Pax is being accused. After the initial court appearance 64 charges were dropped and the state lowered its ransom fee to $40,000, only $4000 of which actually had to be paid. Friends and community members pooled resources to bail him out. At the arraignment one more charge of Criminal Mischief and one more charge of Conspiracy to Commit Criminal Mischief were added, bringing the total to 10 felonies.

Pax is a proud anarcho-communist with a fierce and uncompromising commitment to anti-oppression and liberation. He is known for his goofy humor and love of anarchist banners. He has been involved in various anarchist projects since his teens.

It is important to note the context in which Pax’s arrest occurred.  Over the last few years an insurrectionary anarchist milieu in Portland has emerged, despite the overwhelmingly activism-oriented tendencies of the visible anarchist scene in town. Just in the last year there have been attacks on an Umpqua Bank, multiple branches of Wells Fargo, Chase Bank, US Bank, Bank of America, Key Bank, as well as Starbucks. According to communiqués and news reports, most of the attacks have consisted of rocks through windows. So far no one has been caught engaging in any these acts of resistance. Pax has very clearly become a scapegoat for these acts – the police want to make an example of him.

The police clearly recognize some truth in the old Wobbly maxim “an injury to one is an injury to all,” and we must as well. By kidnapping Pax on some extremely trumped-up charges, they hope to scare the rest of us into passivity and complacency. But locking up our friend won’t lessen our hatred for capitalism and the state – if anything, they have stoked the fires in our hearts that we one day hope to see actualized as fires to every police station, bank, prison, and border.

We must extend our support to Pax, but also recognize our own struggle in his struggle for freedom. We must see ourselves not as benevolent charity workers lessening the pain for someone unfortunately caught up in a government witch-hunt, but as comrades, as co-conspirators, and as friends with Pax and with whomever committed the attacks of which Pax is being accused.  For a permanent practice of revolutionary solidarity! Until every prison is razed to the ground we are at war!

For updates on Pax’s legal situation visit www.freepax.org. His next court appearance is July 2nd [2012] at 1:30 pm at the Multnomah County Courthouse.

*****************************

As part of Occupy Portland, Bryan “took over” (cough *stole* cough)  a house from a 66-year-old African-American woman named Gloria Canson (WATCH THE VIDEO ).

Bryan was arrested in 2012 in Portland on 72 felony counts of vandalizing ATMs.

Bryan accepted a plea in the fall of 2012 for his ATM-bashing that apparently included 5 years supervised probation, 20 days of weekend jail, 80 hours of community service, and $43,084.59 in restitution.

He was also ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and any recommended treatment that comes as a result of it.

Bryan Michael Wiedeman, 25

Bryan Michael Wiedeman, 25

Bryan, et al, Complains of CPD Violating his Photojournalism Rights

Bryan @ 9-13-12 Seattle federal courthouse rally for Grand Jury Resisters

Housing Wanted

By Paxana Non Grata (aka: Bryan Michael Wiedeman, 25. Paxana Parsons) · Friday, May 29, 2009

Looking for a room starting the first of july. I’m not terribly picky, just a few things. I’m being evicted (another landlord selling the place), so these conditions may go more lax as the clock continues to tick. Also vanc is looking for a place too, but not quite as dire-ly as me. Also a few of these conditions could flex if you’re looking for a subletter or something less long-term. Must: Be a vegetarian house. Not necessarily ideologically, but in practice around the house. Be nearer-in than East 122nd. Be nearer-in than Lombard Be nearer-in than West 24th. Be nearer in than Gladstone. Be no more than $350 a month. Not allow indoor-smoking. Should: (though not required) Not have many pets. One or two are ok. I’m allergic, but have lived with pets before. Just not uber-cat-house or anything. Be vegan or no-meat-freegan (again, in practice) Be politically left-wing. (i.e. bare minimum: If I mention something fucked up the cops did, don’t explain to me how hard their job is) Be on bus-routes. (I’m planning on getting back into biking, but I need that safety net) About me: My name is Paxana or Pax for short. I’m a twenty-two year old vegan anarchist. a TON of my time goes into my job, a barista at the Red & Black Cafe. I’m involved in some political organizing, though not as much as I’d like to be. I’m a non-smoker, non-420 (whatever that means), sporadic drinker, though I find drinking around the house to be pretty depressing, My work hours are subject to widely vary, so on work-days I would be getting up anywhere between 6am and 2pm, and getting home anywhere between 4pm and 1am. I’m a heavy sleeper, so you needn’t worry about having to tip-toe around your own house, but a party-every-weekend kinda house just isn’t going to work for me. I some bad rental history from my teenager-ness, and some good rental history from my most recent accommodations. Uh, yeah. I’ll update this as I think of more thingys. If you’d like to interview me for your place, send the details to my email at VeganBikePunk@gmail.com, call me at my number, which is on my facebook, or message me on here.

DGR Discusses Gender Debate

By Andrew Rafferty and Daniel Arkin

Akein Scott

New Orleans – Police have identified a 19-year-old man as a suspect in the  Mother’s Day shooting that wounded 19 people marching in a parade.

New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas said at a press conference late Monday that an arrest warrant has been issued for Akein Scott. He was positively identified by more than one person, Serpas said.

Authorities searched three different addresses Monday night but were unable to find Scott, NBC New Orleans affiliate WDSU reported.

“We will be looking for Akein Scott for the rest of the night and tomorrow until we find him, and I would strongly recommend that Akein turn himself in,” said Serpas.

Scott has a criminal background which includes charges of resisting arrest and possession of a fire arm, Serpas said.

Earlier in the day, New Orleans police had released dramatic images early that show what authorities believe is the moment a buoyant Mother’s Day celebration was brought to a halt by a barrage of bullets.

Surveillance images recorded on North Villere Street in the 7th Ward neighborhood show a man police consider a potential suspect appearing to open fire on a crush of people gathered for a festive holiday parade. An adult male can be seen charging with raised hands, sending parade-goers scrambling in all directions of the surveillance camera’s frame.

On Sunday, Serpas said there may have been as many as three shooters in Sunday’s attack, which left 19 people injured – including two young children.

And at a press conference earlier Monday, Serpas asked that anyone who may have photos, videos or witnessed the possible shooter to contact law enforcement, stressing a $10,000 award for information leading to an arrest.

“I want to remind you that two children were struck in this incident,” he said. “And if you choose not to tell the police what you know, then you’re choosing to stand with those who shot those children.”

At least three people were spotted running away from the scene after the gunfire erupted at 1:45 p.m.

Police said 10 adult men, seven adult women, a 10-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were struck by bullets. The injured children were grazed by the bullets and were in good condition Sunday evening, New Orleans Police spokesman Garry Flot said in a statement. A woman and a man were reportedly in surgery Sunday evening, but there were no fatalities and most wounds were not life-threatening, police said.

The victims were marching in what is known as a second line parade, a buoyant New Orleans tradition inspired by the city’s iconic jazz funerals: A brass band plays as it marches in the streets, while a lively “second line” of people follows the band, celebrating and dancing.

Officials said the parade was two blocks long and included about 400 people, though only half that number were close to the gunfire. The crime scene was about 1.5 miles from the heart of the French Quarter and near the Treme neighborhood, which has been the centerpiece of the HBO TV series “Treme.”

“These are unusual circumstances. We have second lines which occur in the city of New Orleans virtually every weekend at this time of the year,” Serpas said.  “We had a full complement of police officers. It appears that these two or three people just for a reason unknown to us, started shooting at, towards, or in the crowd. It was over in just a couple seconds.”

Shermaine Tyler, 32, was celebrating Mother’s Day just a block away from the barrage of bullets.

“Me and mom were going to the second line. I told her I didn’t want to go because there are always shots at a second line,” Tyler told The Times-Picayune. “And the second I heard shots, I heard shots fired, we ran outside and one man fell in my lap who had been shot.”

She told the newspaper that the man who tumbled into her lap had been shot in his groin area and in his hand.

“This is all ridiculous. We all bleed the same blood. We all come from the same God,” Tyler told the newspaper. “Everyone is getting shot, and for what?”

Leonard Temple, who waited outside New Orlean’s Interim LSU Public Hospital on Sunday evening while a friend was in surgery after being shot three times during the parade, described the scene before shots rang out.

“People were just hanging out. We were just chilling,” Temple told The Associated Press.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu said Sunday that the shooting was part of “the relentless drum beat of violence” on the streets of New Orleans.

“It’s a shame and it’s got to stop,” Landrieu told The Times-Picayune from outside the hospital. “You see it cascading across the country but we have more of it than anyone else.”

Second lines have been targets for violence in New Orleans in recent years. In the past, shooters have targeted a specific person in the crowd, which authorities say may have been the case Sunday as well.  But Landrieu dismissed the notion of outlawing the Louisiana tradition.

“It’s not the second line that did the shooting,” he said. “The cultural events are very important to us, it’s like calling for an end to Mardi Gras because someone takes an opportunity to shoot someone during one of our parades.”

Landrieu called for residents to gather at the site of the shooting Monday evening as a show of solidarity and commitment to stopping gun violence in the city.

RE: Portl(a)nd State University’s ‘L(A)W and Disorder Conference’

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.” -(A)narchist Mantra-

(“It’s easy to disparage working with the gendarmes when it’s not you getting assaulted or receiving death threats.” -anon-)

Since when have the violent street elements calling themselves (A)narchists respected the rights of others to free speech or any other 1st Amendment principle, for that matter? It’s not surprising those who advocate ‘smashing the state’ utilize state sponsored college campuses for their platforms/events, even drawing (in the case of professors within their ranks) salaries from the state…or that a crowd of onlookers gawked during the assault. It’s been perfectly clear to many photojournalists for some time these elements are not only enemies of the state they loathe, but the rights of others in general. (See: TESC 4-20-13 Strong (A)rm Robbery-Assault on Photojournalist)

That these self appointed Brown Shirts of political rectitude reject the notion of ‘rights’ ab initio doesn’t alter the fact. Fewer people will consider coming to their advertised events to avoid being caught up in mob psychology or trapped in a virtual battle zone between warring gangs/factions. Rather than being genuine agents for social/political revolution, what many of the more delinquent youthful members of this group seek is an excuse to turn public events/rallies into a Punk inspired ‘mosh pits’. But, a group/individuals openly professing being at war with the state and society itself must be managed not as petty ‘criminals’, but as petty traitors. i.e. They should be taken at their word. The society and state they openly declare war against will, unsurprisingly, hunt them down. This process is, obviously, already afoot. The strongest evidence against these harbingers of the Apocalypse is offered by themselves, such as the instant story above. They will be excised like any other cancer.

From the GenderTrender website comes the following news:

Feminists assaulted in Transgender Attack at Portland conference for Social Change: Women’s books destroyed and bodies defaced with permanent magic markers (5-13-13)

(A)fter The (A)pocalypse

Breaking News: In what has been described as a “horrifying” incident two women were attacked  by a group of men who identified themselves as “transgender women” at the Portland State University “Law and Disorder Conference” which billed itself as a “provocative space for comparative critical dialogue between activists, revolutionaries, educators, artists, musicians, scholars, dancers, actors and writers”.

The women were attacked in a coordinated assault as they sat at a table which sold feminist books and literature. The men destroyed the books and marked up the table display with permanent markers. One of the women was also marked up by the men. Predominantly male conference onlookers by all reports allowed the attack to take place, watching in stunned silence. Two males affiliated with the same group as the feminists –Deep Green Resistance– were also in attendance and the “trans women” threw a projectile at the head of one of them.

According to reports, the transgender males or “trans women” took issue with the feminist content in the Deep Green Resistance materials. Specifically, a portion of the materials reflected the feminist position that social roles based on sex are undesirable and harmful to women.

The transgender males believe that social roles based on sex are natural and innate and that it is instead the unchanging nature of biological sex that is undesirable. They believe that women should not criticize social roles based on sex, in deference to the feelings of men like themselves who embrace such roles. The men reportedly stated that all feminist writing and voices should be silenced by males with force if necessary, and they then proceeded to do just that.

Conference organizer Brandon Speck posted a statement on Facebook today following yesterday’s attack. He claimed that women should not be able to disseminate materials that might offend those men who support sex-roles. He claimed that the women deserved to be attacked for offering materials that contained feminism. He stated that no feminists should be permitted to sell books that men might not like. He said that as a man he had no authority to dictate the behavior of other men who might choose to assault women who offend them. Here is his statement:

Conference statement condoning attacks

Here is the link to the page where his statement is posted:

https://www.facebook.com/lawanddisorderconference?ref=stream&hc_location=timeline

The attached comments include threats by transgender activists to continue violent attacks against women who promote feminist thought.

I am withholding the names of the women who were attacked until they issue a public statement, which will be published here. The feminists are reported to be terrorized but did not require medical care. No arrests have yet been made. Stay tuned for updates.

*UPDATE* the statement and thread referenced above have been deleted. Here’s a link to the page where the former statement was posted:

https://www.facebook.com/lawanddisorderconference

Comments:

• GallusMag Says:

  May 13, 2013 at 3:26 am Welcome to the 21st century violent roll-back of women’s rights.

•  michelle Says:

  May 13, 2013 at 4:59 pmLitigation of a civil rights claim is next to impossible against an individual…those tend to be more effective against agencies based upon how the statutes are usually written in the States (no matter whether filed as a State claim or as a federal claim). Then there is the whole problem of collecting on any damages that are awarded…even if you prevail, you can find yourself having gone through a lot of time and energy and money in the course of litigation to wind up with little more than a piece of paper that says you won. Litigation is not a cheap endeavor…our last significant case in federal district court saw us awarded roughly a quarter-million in fees for our efforts. And that was on a case involving ONE client (filed against a State agency).

  Reply
  • Bob Says:

    May 13, 2013 at 9:13 pmI would think that destroying property and assault would warrant police action. What blows my mind is the number of people think the attack was justified.

•  Derrick Jensen Says:

  May 13, 2013 at 10:10 pm The labeling of the “trans boys” as Taliban in a skirt got another piece of validating evidence today, as they called for members of DGR to be lined up and beheaded.

LAW & DISORDER TALKS BACK:

Any critique of this article should be directed toward the author “Trashy,” whose manner and tone do not reflect Earth First! as a whole. Furthering infighting and divisions only benefit the ones destroying the planet.

DGR in Trouble

At the annual Law and Disorder Conference, radical ecology group Deep Green Resistance (DGR) was confronted by trans-women. In the aftermath, books were destroyed, verbal assaults were exchanged, organizers declared regret about inviting DGR in the first place, and a DGR lawyer accused the trans-women of the Class A Misdemeanor offense of “Menacing.”

No salmon were harmed in the process.

Law and Disorder

The Law and Disorder Conference is a relatively large gathering of radical-minded folks in the Cascadia bio-region in its fourth year. This year’s roster of speakers and panels included Rising Tide, eviction defense activist, Ajhamu Umi, awesome eco-defense lawyer Lauren Regan, the Jericho Movement, and more. The community event also hosted interesting tables for groups like PM Press, Jericho, the Portland Radical, and Deep Green Resistance.

DGR’s relationship to the radical community was put to the test during the three days of events. In one tense moment, a grand jury resister, who is also a trans-person, was present as a conversation about gender disintegrated into an argument wherein the DGR table expressed total opposition to a critical analysis of cis-gender identity.

Burritos flew when, on a totally different occasion, a similar argument blew up between an anarchist and a DGRer.

The RadFem Controversy 

DGR has been criticized for the “Radical Feminist” views of one of its leaders, Lierre Keith. Radical Feminism views trans-women as men who, at best, cannot possibly understand femininity and, at worst, are misogynists intent on undermining and subverting the feminine. The controversial essentialization of gender (penis = men) led to a large campaign against the RadFem 2012 conference in London, and its eventual cancellation by the venue, Conway Hall, on the grounds that speakers “actively discriminate” and “foster hate” against trans-people.

DGR is also outspokenly anti-anarchist, and their literature repeatedly attacks anarchism. Experts note that this is a new trend in the writing of some of their leaders, particularly Derrick Jensen who wrote persuasively in favor of black bloc militancy before  collaborating with Chris Hedges to malign the black bloc as “the cancer in Occupy.” Jensen tells Hedges, “[black bloc] attacks on cops are simply a means to an end, which is to destroy a movement that doesn’t fit their ideological standard.”

Questions have been raised in the past about DGR’s participation in an event about radical responses to law enforcement, since the leaders of DGR have actively participated with and collaborated with law enforcement. On at least two occasions, Lierre Keith has worked with police officials. Jensen collaborated with the FBI to track down an emailed death threat.

Tensions Escalate

Tensions at Law and Disorder escalated to a head when, on the final day of the conference, a confrontation between two trans-women and two cis-women tabling for DGR turned to vandalism. As the cis-women denied the trans-women’s identity, the trans-women took out a black marker and proceeded to draw on DGR’s text books. One of the cis-women stretched her hand out to protect the valuable words of their leaders, and the marker grazed her hand.

After reporting the “assault” to the organizers of the conference, the Law and Disorder organizers resolved to post a public response on their Facebook page. Insisting that the conference appreciates safer spaces policies and listens to everyone who makes claims about disruptions, the organizers declared that DGR does not fit their safer space policy, and will not be asked back in the future. The thread was immediately packed with more than 80 comments, which became so blatantly trans-phobic that the organizers finally removed it from Facebook.

Among the Facebook commentators was Derrick Jensen, himself, who was also found recently on the comment section of the EF! Newswire arguing that EF! hates women and accusing a moderator of being a rape apologist. On the Newswire, Jensen declared that he will be writing a new article attacking queer-theory and (A)narchists as misogynistic.

What is to be done?

Many activists feel that local DGR activists are different from their ideological leaders, and deserve inclusion in the radical community. Others insist that DGR is based on an authoritarian-hierarchical model wherein “autonomous” local chapters are suborned to an informal ranking that accumulates in central ideological figureheads, much like Maoism in the late 1960s or even Scientology.

The confrontation at Law and Disorder may set back relations between local DGR activists, the ideological leaders of DGR, and the radical community for some time. Activists in other groups around Portland are currently contemplating how to address “solidarity” from DGR in the future.

Upon leaving the conference, some wild-eyed radicals were heard to say, “We did it! We finally won!” When asked what it was that they won, the young ferals shrugged their shoulders and walked away.

Derrick Jensen is a leader of DGR

AP Phone Records Subpoenaed

WASHINGTON, May 14, 2012 by Jacquie Kubin

Jacquie Kubin

This is not the first time AP has come under government scrutiny. Or that the Justice Department has sought the phone records of reporters.

The news gathering organization Associated Press has announced that the Justice Department “secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press” in what the news cooperative’s top executive called a “massive and unprecedented intrusion” into how news organizations gather the news.

But it is hardly the first time the Justice Department has flexed its muscle to demand reporter source information.

In September of 2008, Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) asked then Attorney General John Ashcroft for “documents related to the government subpoena of an Associated Press reporter’s telephone records.”

The focus of that investigation included the subpoena of now Washington Times editor John Solomon in an attempt to identify law enforcement officials that had given information on a wiretap intercept of NJ Sen. Robert Torricelli’s conversation to the Associated Press.

At that time, Grassley wrote to Ashcroft saying:

“I know you share with me the belief that the protection of the freedom of the press is a central pillar of our democracy. There is no question that efforts by the Justice Department to subpoena the records of a reporter should be done with caution and only when the needs of justice are great.”

“Going after reporters’ telephone records with a subpoena should happen almost never,” Grassley stated in a further written statement. “When it does, the bar should be very high and the circumstances extraordinary. It should never happen until every other avenue is exhausted.”

The response to the 2001 DOJ request was strong, with The Washington Post editorializing that, “The Justice Department has a legitimate interest in uncovering the source of leaks in sensitive investigations. … So if officials who saw the AP’s story wanted to know who was responsible, the instinct was understandable. It was, however, an instinct that should have been resisted or pursued by other means.”

In May of 2006, Time magazine was ordered to turn over documents relating to the defense of vice president Dick Cheney’s former Chief of Staff, I. Lewis “Scooter’ Libby. The order by U.S. District Reggie B. Walton said that, citing a lack of relevancy, former Time reporter Miller would not have to provide notebooks, calendars, or phone records, to lawyers for Libby.

Walton further opined, “The First Amendment does not protect a news reporter or that reporter’s news organization from producing documents … in a criminal case.”

In 2004 US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald issued subpoenas for the phone records of New York Times reporters Philip Shenon and Judith Miller. Fitzgerald asserted that the reporters alerted Islamic Charities, under investigation for funding terrorist operations, to a 2001 planned government raid of their offices and blocking of assets. (“2nd Circuit OKs look at Times’ phone records,” Associated Press, Aug. 1, 2006)

On Feb. 24, 2005, a federal judge ruled in favor of the Times, saying that the paper had a First Amendment right to protect the confidentiality of its sources by refusing to give up its phone records to the government.

A divided three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit later overturned the lower court’s decision and ruled that the government could inspect the reporters’ phone records. (Aug. 1, 2006).

This most recent effort by the government to obtain reporter’s phone records included records of incoming and outgoings calls, including the length of each call, for both work and personal phone number of reporters in AP offices in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn. and the AP reporters phones in the House of Representatives press gallery.

The government’s recent sweep resulted in the gathering of records from more than 20 separate telephone lines assigned to AP and AP journalists during the period of April and May of 2012. The Justice Department offers no “explanation for the seizure” according to AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt who calls the seizure “extraordinary.”

Pruitt wrote AG Eric Holder saying:

“There can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters. These records potentially reveal communications with confidential sources across all of the newsgathering activities undertaken by the AP during a two-month period, provide a road map to AP’s newsgathering operations, and disclose information about AP’s activities and operations that the government has no conceivable right to know,” Pruitt said.

Pruitt is asking for the destruction of all records being held by the AG.

The Government is saying the records are necessary to conduct a criminal investigation where an AP reporter gathered leaked information pertaining to a May 7, 2012 story concerning a foiled Yemen terror action stopping an airliner bomb plot scheduled for around the one-year anniversary of the May 2, 2011, killing of Osama bin Laden.

The plot was significant because the White House had told the public it had “no credible information that terrorist organizations, including al-Qaida, are plotting attacks in the U.S. to coincide with the (May 2) anniversary of bin Laden’s death.”

Associated Press had, at the request of the government’s citing that release of the story would jeopardize national security, held the story until government officials told the news agency that releasing the story was no longer an endangerment to national security.

CIA director John Brennan talked about the AP story and leaks investigation in written testimony to the Senate:

“The irresponsible and damaging leak of classified information was made … when someone informed the Associated Press that the U.S. Government had intercepted an IED (improvised explosive device) that was supposed to be used in an attack and that the U.S. Government currently had that IED in its possession and was analyzing it,” he said.

He also defended the White House’s plan to discuss the plot immediately afterward. “Once someone leaked information about interdiction of the IED and that the IED was actually in our possession, it was imperative to inform the American people consistent with Government policy that there was never any danger to the American people associated with this al-Qa’ida plot,” Brennan noted.

Brennan has said that the FBI investigated whether he was AP’s source, which he has denied calling the release of information about the terror plot to the media an “unauthorized and dangerous disclosure of classified information.”

In 2001, when Solomon’s records were subpoenaed Invetigative Editors and Reporters (IRE) executive director Brant Houston wrote Ashcroft concluding that

“While we understand that the Attorney General has disqualified himself from the AP subpoena, we nevertheless believe that this incident may be part of an unsound trend and reflects a change of policy that has occurred at the Department. We seek assurance that the Justice Department will take heed in the future to give proper deference and consideration of the First Amendment and qualified privilege.” (see complete letter and DOJ response pdf above)

However, reporters do not enjoy Consitutional protection of their sources. The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…” which means that news media should not be subject to governmental censorship. That the government cannot block the press from publishing a story.

That does not, however, guarantee absolute protection for the newsgathering records that a journalist may develop in the development of that story.

Gosnell guilty of 1st-Degree murder

Washington, 5-13-13 by Jacquie Kubin

Jacqie Kubin

Physician Kermit Gosnell was convicted Monday of three counts of first-degree murder and could face execution in the deaths of three babies who were delivered alive after abortion attempts, and then killed by severing their spinal cords with scissors. Gosnell, 72, was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the overdose death of an abortion patient.

Physician Kermit Gosnell was convicted Monday of three counts of first-degree murder and could face execution in the deaths of three babies who were delivered alive after abortion attempts, and then killed by severing their spinal cords with scissors. Gosnell, 72, was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the overdose death of an abortion patient.
He was cleared in the death of a fourth baby, who prosecutors say let out a whimper before the doctor cut the spinal cord.

He was cleared in the death of a fourth baby, who prosecutors say let out a whimper before the doctor cut the spinal cord.

Over a 30-year career Gosnell performed thousands of abortions, some on patients as young as 13, earning he and his wife Pearl, a cosmetologist, about $1.8 million annually, much of it in cash.

Authorities found $250,000 hidden in a bedroom when they searched his house. As a result of his predatory practices, Gosnell was also able to acquire a beach home and several rental properties.

“He created an assembly line with no regard for these women whatsoever,” McDonough County (PA) Assistant District Attorney Ed Cameron said. “And he made money doing that.”

What may be the longest lasting impact to the abortion debate is that Gosnell portrayed himself as an advocate for the poor women living in the West Philadelphia neighborhood where is clinic was located. The clinic was sanctioned by Planned Parenthood, which apparently failed to do even the least rudimentary checks on Gosnell’s practice.

The jury deliberated for 10 days on what was a compiicated, emotionally charged case with multiple charges. Defense attorney Jack McMahon called it a “very difficult case” to defend and said there was “a little bit of feeling on the defense part of what salmon must feel swimming upstream.”

“There’s a lot of emotion. You have the baby factor, which is a big problem. The media has been overwhelmingly against him,” he said. But noting that Gosnell was cleared on some of the charges, McMahon said the jurors “obviously took their job seriously.”

Following the jury’s verdict, prosecutors showed restrained smiles while District Attorney Seth Williams declined comment, citing the court’s gag order.

Clinic employees testified that Gosnell routinely performed post 24-week abortions, past Pennsylvania’s legal time limit and that when babies were delivered “moving, whimpering or breathing” he murdered the newborns by “snipping” their spines at the base of the skull.

“Are you human?” prosecutor Cameron snarled during closing arguments. “To med these women up and stick knives in the backs of babies?”

His co-defendant, former clinic employee Eileen O’Neill, was convicted of taking part in a corrupt organization and illegally billing for her services as if she were a licensed doctor.

The toll of the trial was visible on the jury as, before the verdicts were read, the foreman let out a big sigh, while another juror could be seen visibly crying.

Over the two year investigation, details of unspeakable horrors and malfeasance emerged during what was first an investigation of simple prescription drug trafficking. Entering the clinic, investigators said it was a “foul-smelling “house of horrors” with bags and bottles of fetuses, including jars of severed feet, along with bloodstained furniture, dirty medical instruments, and cats roaming the premises.”

The trial of Kermit Gosnell, and the horrific conditions and inhumane practices committed in the clinic have energized both sides of the abortion debate.

Anti-abortion activists point to the fact that Pennsylvania authorities failed to conduct routine clinic inspections for more than 15 years by the time Gosnell’s facility was raided as proof that abortions should not be legal.

In the scandal’s aftermath, two top state health officials were fired, and tougher rules for clinics in Pennsylvania have been enacted.

“This has helped more people realize what abortion is really about,” said David O’Steen, executive director of the National Right to Life Committee. He said he hopes the case results in more states passing bills that prohibit abortion “once the unborn child can feel pain.”

Supporters of legalized abortion said the case was a preview of what poor, desperate young women could face if abortion is driven underground with more restrictive laws.

“Kermit Gosnell has been found guilty and will get what he deserves. Now, let’s make sure these women are vindicated by delivering what all women deserve: access to the full range of health services including safe, high-quality and legal abortion care,” said Ilyse G. Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.

The trial also ignited debate when anti-abortion activists accused the liberally oriented mainstream news media of deliberately ignoring the case, publishing pictures of an empty courtroom devoid of reporters or cameras.

Major news organizations denied that they were intentionally avoiding coverage of the trial, many citing that it was a “local” trial, though a number promptly sent reporters to pick up coverage.

About 30 reporters were in court for the verdict.

NOTE: Some of the following details may be disturbing to readers.

Citing lack of evidence, three of seven murder counts involving aborted fetuses were thrown out by Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Minehart. That left the jury to weigh charges involving fetuses identified as Baby A, Baby C, Baby D and Baby E.

Of those infants, prosecution experts said one was nearly 30 weeks along when the abortion took place. It was this baby that that Gosnell allegedly morbidly joked could “walk to the bus.”

A second baby was said to be alive for about 20 minutes before a clinic worker snipped the neck. A third was born in a toilet and was moving before another clinic employee severed the spinal cord, according to testimony.

Baby E, it is alleged, let out a whimper before Gosnell cut the neck. Gosnell was acquitted in that baby’s death, the only one of the four in which no one testified to seeing the baby killed.

Gosnell’s defense attorney McMahon argued that any movements following birth were “posthumous twitching or spasms” and not indications of life. McMahon also said that prosecutors were “elitist” and “racist” for pursuing his client, who is black and whose patients were mostly poor minorities.

“I wanted to be an effective, positive force in the minority community,” Gosnell told The Philadelphia Daily News in a 2010 interview. “I believe in the long term I will be vindicated.”

The 2009 death of 41-year-old Karnamaya Mongar of Woodbridge, Va., a Bhutanese immigrant who had been given repeated doses of Demerol and other powerful drugs to sedate her and induce labor, was caused by unforeseen complications and did not amount to murder, as prosecutors charged, according to McMahon.

Bernard Smalley, a lawyer for the woman’s family, said he now hopes to bring “some sense of justice and quiet to this family that’s been through so much.”

Gosnell still faces federal drug charges. Authorities said that he ranked third in the state for OxyContin prescriptions and that he left blank prescription pads at his office and let staff members make them out to cash-paying patients.