Will Potter's Blog, page 26

“From Activist to ‘Terrorist’” — Now Booking Fall & Spring Lectures!

I’m excited to announce that former political prisoner Jake Conroy and I will be speaking together at universities in the Fall of 2012 and Spring of 2013.

The events are being coordinated by Aid & Abet (to book, please get in touch with Jen Angel). Here’s more:

From Activist to “Terrorist”: True Stories From the Green Scare

The FBI labels animal rights and environmental activists the “number one domestic terrorism threat,” and new laws turn activism into “terrorism” if it hurts corporate profits. Unlike anti-abortion extremists and hate groups, though, these protesters have never harmed a human being.

How did this happen? Why are undercover investigators and those who use non-violent civil disobedience being treated so disproportionately? And what are the real life consequences for the activists who are investigated, and even sent to prison, as domestic terrorists?

In this presentation you’ll hear from:

Jake Conroy is a long-time animal rights activist who was sentenced to 4 years in prison for his involvement in one of the most successful animal rights campaigns in history — Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty. He will discuss being the target of a multi-agency terrorism investigation, learning he was on a high-profile prisoners list, and navigating living a life branded as a terrorist in post-9/11 society.

Will Potter, an award-winning journalist who, after being told by the FBI he was on a domestic terrorist list, went on to investigate and expose these efforts in his book, Green Is the New Red. He will discuss how corporations manufactured the idea of “eco-terrorism,” and why all social justice activists are at risk. His reporting and commentary have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Mother Jones, and the Vermont Law Review, and he has testified before Congress. Green Is The New Red was awarded a Kirkus Star for “remarkable merit” and named one of the best books of 2011.

Book an event at your college or community center! Contact Jen Angel, jen@aidandabet.org, (510) 910-5627.

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3 NATO Protesters Charged With “Terrorism” in Chicago — Identical to Other FBI Plots

Three activists who traveled to Chicago for mass protests against NATO have been arrested and charged with “terrorism” in a case that is representative of a pattern of government misconduct.

This most recent case is nearly identical to the arrests preceding May Day demonstrations just weeks ago, and many others in which the FBI played a critical role in manufacturing “terrorist” plots in order to disrupt and discredit progressive social movements.

Details of the case are sparse, but Brian Church (22), Jared Chase (27), and Brent Betterly (24) were arrested on Wednesday and charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism, providing material support for terrorism and possession of an explosive incendiary device. Two other protesters, Sebastian Senakiewicz and Mark Neiweem, have been arrested on unrelated explosives charges.

The arrests came in the leadup to NATO protests in Chicago. Chicago cops and the FBI warned the public that “self-proclaimed anarchists” were about to attack Barack Obama’s re-election headquarters and the home of Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel with molotov cocktails. As tens of thousands of people took the streets in protest, the terrorism arrests stole headlines and sent a message, both to the movement and to the public.

According to court documents, the FBI and local police began a “covert investigation” in early May. The government says the defendants are “self-proclaimed anarchists, and members of the ‘Black Bloc’ group, who traveled from Florida to the Chicago area in preparation for committing terrorist acts of violence.”

This allegedly includes preparing molotov cocktails along with obtaining a mortar gun, swords, hunting bow, throwing stars, shields, gas masks and brass knuckles. At one point in the investigation, Church allegedly said that if a cop was going to point a gun at him, he would be “pointing one back.”

According to the police, danger to the public was imminent.

However, undercover cops and FBI agents were there, by their own admission, every step of the way. According to defense attorney Michael Deutsch, three undercover cops nicknamed “Nadia,” “Mo” and “Glove” befriended the defendants on May Day. And 2 of 9 people arrested were themselves undercover agents.

“From our information, the so-called incendiary devices and the plans to attack police stations — that’s all coming from the minds of the police informants and not coming from our clients, who are non-violent protesters,” Deutsch said.

PATTERN OF REPRESSION

This case is nearly identical to other high-profile “terrorism” arrests that occurred just prior to mass non-violent protests. For example:

Cleveland 5 — just a few weeks ago, and days before national May Day protests coordinated by the Occupy movement, the FBI announced the arrest of activists on terrorism charges for plotting to destroy a bridge. FBI informants and undercover agents had a heavy hand in creating the alleged plot.
RNC 8 — leading up to the 2008 Republican National Convention, 8 local organizers were arrested and charged with “conspiracy to riot in furtherance of terrorism.” Charges were all later reduced to a misdemeanor carrying no jail time.
Bradley Crowder and David McKay — arrested and accused of “terrorism” days before RNC protests. Activist-turned-informant Brandon Darby coaxed the two into plans for molotov cocktails (for more on this plot, see the excellent documentary Better This World).

All of these cases share key elements:

FBI infiltration, and reliance on government informants to manufacture the “plot”
Terrorism charges
Labeling the defendants “self-proclaimed anarchists” (not only in the press, but in court documents). [Here is a bit more on the demonization of anarchism.]
Unveiling the “domestic terrorism” arrests days before key protests

A SHIFT IN INTIMIDATION TACTICS

It’s nothing new to see widespread police misconduct and abuse in the days leading up to high-profile demonstrations. Anyone who has been to a few — whether it’s WTO, World Bank, IMF, or the Democratic and Republican national conventions — can see the pattern. In the late 90s, this often meant police raids of Indymedia centers, or evictions of community spaces on specious “fire code violations.” Cops take equipment, make a few arrests of “leaders,” and try to remind the rest of the protesters who is in charge.

In the last several years, though, that decades-old model has been transforming. All the old tactics are still there. But now the message is being sent not just through arrests or police violence, but through the FBI working with local cops to infiltrate and disrupt protest groups, provoke and coordinate illegal activity, and then charge some activists with “terrorism.”

The activists arrested in Chicago and Cleveland are going to have a very long, difficult time ahead. It’s important to support them and remind them that they are not alone. But it’s also critical that we recognize that they are not the only targets of these tactics.

These arrests, and many others like them, are not about thwarting a “terrorist plot.” They are preemptive attacks on radical social movements in order to instill fear in protesters (that they too could be targeted) and instill fear in the general public (that the “99 percent” are really “self-proclaimed anarchists” and “terrorists”).

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June 11th Day of Support for Eco-Prisoners — What Are You Planning?

What would you do if someone you cared about was sentenced to 20 years in prison? I don’t mean this as an empty rhetorical question. Stop and think for a second. How would you stand by them? Both personally and politically, what would “solidarity” mean? What would you do to show them they are never alone?

Unfortunately the environmental movement has had to grapple with what should be incomprehensible questions, first as Jeff “Free” Luers was sentenced to 22 years in prison, and then later when Eric McDavid was sentenced to nearly 20 years, and Maris Mason was sentenced to nearly 22 years.

June 11th became an international day of solidarity with long-term political prisoners. Last year there were events in 30 cities around the world, including film screenings, lectures, banner drops, and benefit dinners.

The Earth First Journal has some information on planning. And June11.org has sample posters, fliers, and other information.

At the very least, please take this opportunity to write Marie Mason, Eric McDavid, and other eco and animal rights prisoners a letter (there’s a list in the sidebar).

And now would also be a great time to donate to the Rosenberg Fund for Children, which provides crucial support to the children of political prisoners.

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New Grand Jury Subpoenas Related to UC-Santa Cruz Investigation

Resist grand jury witch hunts.

At least two individuals have been subpoenad to a federal grand jury that appears to be investigating a 2008 fire at the home of an animal experimenter at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

One of the people subpoenaed, José Palafox, said:

“I was approached by two FBI agents at the BART Station at 19th and Broadway in Oakland. They asked my name, identified themselves as Carrie and Matt from the FBI, and served me a subpoena to testify before a federal Grand Jury. They informed me that I had been served and left without asking me any other questions….

“I know nothing about the Santa Cruz action but believe this is a political prosecution and part of a government attempt to gather information on activists, specifically involved in the animal rights movement.”

Grand juries are often used to compel political activists to testify about their political beliefs and political associations. When activists enter a grand jury, they check their rights at the door. Those who refuse to take part in these political witch hunts face prison time. [Utah animal rights activist Jordan Halliday is currently in prison for his principled stand .]

In addition to Palafox, at least one other person has been subpoenaed, and another received a visit from the FBI.

Grand juries are secret, but there is some information about the scope of this one. The 2008 fire was also at issue in the prosecution of the “AETA 4″ on animal enterprise terrorism charges (which were all dismissed). And the prosecutor in that case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Elise Becker, is also involved in this grand jury.

I’ll post more information as it becomes available. In the meantime, if you are contacted by the FBI or receive a grand jury subpoena, immediately contact the National Lawyers Guild hotline,  (888) 654-3265. Also, watch this video.

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17 “Anarchists” According to Stock Photos

Anarchists have been hugely influential in the creation and rapid growth of Occupy Wall Street. General assemblies are using non-hierarchical consensus models, and national media outlets are talking anarchist theory with folks like David Graeber.

For most Americans, though, “anarchism” isn’t about helping each other out (without the government). Anarchism is chaos. Anarchism is destruction. Anarchism is kids with green hair playing smashy smashy. 

When a group of activists were arrested for an alleged plot to blow up a bridge in Cleveland, Ohio, we saw the power of this cultural framing on display. The government came out swinging, labeling the defendants “self-proclaimed anarchists” and “terrorists” (a bit overkill, because as we’ll see the two are often interchangeable). The intention, of course, is to use the labels to skew public opinion (and distract from the unsettling role the FBI played in creating and supplying the plot).

In most of my work I’ve focused on how language is used to demonize dissent. But, as the cliche goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

So to illustrate how powerful labels can be in shaping discourse, let’s look at what the top stock photo websites have to say about anarchists. You don’t find images of community gardens or activists stopping home foreclosures. Instead, you learn:

1.) Anarchists never leave home without a good brick.

 

2.) No brick? A bat works.

3.) Anarchists only use turn of the (19th) century technology.

4.) Anarchists aren’t fans of subtlety.

 

5.) Anarchists like to use MS Paint.



6.) Anarchists always circle their A’s. Even in a PowerPoint.

7.) Anarchists look cooler than Tea Partiers.

8.) Anarchists part the sea with their molotovs.


9.) Anarchy is just around the corner! Mom, are we there yet?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10.) Anarchists have mental health problems.

 

 

 

 

11.) 95% of molotov-throwing anarchists are either 1) undercover cops or 2) Greek.

12.) Portrait of an Anarchist as Young Man.

13.) I’m not sure what is going on here, but it needs to be a video game.




14.) Super Anarchist’s superpowers include community building and consensus-based organizing. BAM! POW!


15.) WHY AM I JUST NOW LEARNING THAT THERE IS AN ANARCHY BUTTON?!

16.) This speaks for itself.

17.) But this one is more accurate…

*Thanks to SadAndUseless.com for the inspiration.

 

 

 

 

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2012 Europe Lecture Tour — Fighting Back Against the War on Activism, Across Borders and Across Movements

This has been a grassroots effort. Please considering making a donation to support!

The corporate-led crackdown on the animal rights and environmental movements originated, and has grown most rapidly, in the United States. But many of these tactics have been exported to other countries, in some cases aided by U.S. law enforcement. As the U.S. grapples with “Ag Gag” legislation, for example, EUROPOL describes animal right activists and environmentalists as “terrorists,” and warns that their tactics include undercover investigations and “images of sick and abused animals.”

Copycat prosecutions have appeared in Austria, Finland, Spain, and elsewhere.

This is a troubling trend, and activists in many other countries are closely watching the United States’ war on “eco-terrorism.” 

Last year I lectured at a conference in Germany focused on working together across social movements and across borders to fight back. I had some wonderful conversations with people about the need for activists to recognize, and prepare for, a U.S.-style backlash against animal rights and environmental activism.

To this end, I am very excited to announce that I’ll be going on a speaking tour through Germany, Switzerland, and Austria next month.

The tour includes:

June 3, 2012 — Hamburg, Germany

June 4, 2012 — Bremen, Germany

June 5, 2012 — Dortmund, Germany

June 6, 2012 — Düsseldorf, Germany

June 8, 2012 — Freiburg, Germany

June 9, 2012 – Tübingen, Germany

June 10, 2012 — Zurich, Switzerland

June 11, 2012 — Vienna, Austria

June 12, 2012 — Innsbruck, Austria

June 14, 2012 — Berlin, Germany

(I’m exhausted just looking at that!)

This has been a completely DIY effort, organized by incredible friends with Assoziation Dämmerung (click through to read their mission statement about connecting social movements).

The sponsoring organizations in each city will be helping out with travel costs once I’m overseas, but by far the most substantial cost has been airfare from the U.S. If you’ve thought about buying a book, poster, or making a donation, now would be a wonderful time to do it — it would help cover these costs.

This is an incredible opportunity to build international solidarity and organize proactively. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.




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The Rhetoric of Eco-Terrorism

Harlot is a publication about rhetoric and persuasion published out of Ohio State University’s English graduate program. They’ve got a great post up reviewing the book, and discussing the power of language in demonizing dissent.

Tim Jensen writes:

Regardless of where you stand with regard to environmentalism or monkey-wrenching, it’s nevertheless important to understand how the term terror is being specifically deployed in an age increasingly defined by such a label…

Use of the “eco-terrorist” label picks up substantially throughout the nineties, especially following the well-reported arson of a Vail ski resort in 1998.  It was 9/11, however, as the phrase goes, that changed everything.  Greg Walden, a Republican Representative from Oregon said on September 12 that the Earth Liberation Front was a threat “no less heinous than what we saw occur yesterday here in Washington and New York.”  Before the steel of the towers had even stopped smoldering, “Industry groups hired PR firms to insert eco-terrorism into the national security dialogue,” writes Potter.  Since 9/11, “the eco-terror language went viral, replicating by spreading from host to host.”

But this is not a conspiracy, Potter is right to point out.  It’s framing.  It’s the introduction of and normalizing of key terms that shape attitudes and perspectives.

Check out the full article at Harlot. And you can see what others are saying about Green Is the New Red and order online.

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New Billboard Says Believing in Climate Change Makes You the Unabomber

Are you concerned about climate change? According to a new billboard campaign by the right-wing Heartland Institute, that makes you no different than the Unabomber, Fidel Castro, or Charles Manson.

The first billboard went up in the Chicago area this week.

I’ve written about nutty corporate ads labeling animal environmentalists and animal rights activists as terrorists, but this goes even further. It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re an activist, the Heartland Institute says, because even thinking about these things makes you dangerous.

Here’s how they explain it:

Why did Heartland choose to feature these people on its billboards?

Because what these murderers and madmen have said differs very little from what spokespersons for the United Nations, journalists for the “mainstream” media, and liberal politicians say about global warming. They are so similar, in fact, that a Web site has a quiz that asks if you can tell the difference between what Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, wrote in his “Manifesto” and what Al Gore wrote in his book, Earth in the Balance.

The point is that believing in global warming is not “mainstream,” smart, or sophisticated. In fact, it is just the opposite of those things. Still believing in man-made global warming – after all the scientific discoveries and revelations that point against this theory – is more than a little nutty. In fact, some really crazy people use it to justify immoral and frightening behavior.

Of course, not all global warming alarmists are murderers or tyrants…

Heartland is the engine behind climate change denialist efforts around the country. The group doesn’t reveal its funding sources, but Desmogblog obtained internal documents that show funding from ExxonMobil, GlaxosSmithKline, and Pfizer among others.

Heartland is also a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council, including its Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force (here’s more about ALEC’s ties to recent Ag Gag bills). The corporations mentioned above are ALEC members also.

According to Heartland, there are also plans in the works for comparing “global warming believers” to Osama bin Laden.

In related news, I heard from reliable sources that Timothy McVeigh believed in gravity. YOU DON’T WANT TO BE LIKE THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBER, DO YOU?!?!

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FBI Supplied the Anarchist “Terrorists” Arrested in May Day Plot

As the Occupy movement carries out massive May Day protests around the country, the FBI Joint Terrorism Task force is trumpeting the arrest of “self-proclaimed anarchists” and “terrorists” who allegedly conspired to destroy a bridge in Ohio. Integral to the development and advancement of this plot, however, were FBI agents themselves and an informant with a drug and robbery record.

Douglas L. Wright, 26; Brandon L. Baxter, 20; and Anthony Hayne, 35, Connor C. Stevens, 20, and Joshua S. Stafford, 23, were arrested by the FBI on April 30, just in time to make the announcement as the nation turns its attention to May Day protests.

The affidavit reveals a plot by the FBI that continues a pattern of behavior in “terrorism” investigations against political activists. Most importantly, undercover FBI agents helped shape the “plot,” offered advice on how and where to use explosives, and allegedly sold explosives to the activists.

Pervasive Use of Informants and Undercover FBI

The informant in the case has been working with the FBI since July 20, 2011, and has a criminal record including possession of cocaine, conviction for robbery, and four convictions for passing bad checks. (The FBI’s proclivity for using down-and-out criminals was a key issue in the “Operation Backfire” Earth Liberation Front cases. The lead arsonist and informant, Jacob Ferguson, had a heroine addiction, and is now back in prison on drug charges).

The informant and the others haphazardly talked about various plans, starting with the use of smoke grenades and destroying the banks signs off the top of large buildings.

For instance, on April 10, 2012: ““…BAXTER explained that he does not know what to do with the explosives and he has never considered blowing anything up before.”

Conversation shifted to other outrageous plans. According to the affidavit, “WRIGHT joked that he would wear a suicide vest and walk in and blow himself up, but advised he would have to be very drunk.”

“The CHS [the informant] asked the others what it is they wanted to do… BAXTER said that they had never decided on the bridge, they were just throwing out options and they had never decided on anything.”

FBI Guidance

The defendants flitted between hyperbolic conversations -– some about destroying bank signs, some about destroying a boat, some about a bridge — and various spy tactics such as secret email accounts, wiping computer drives, and disrupting surveillance. At every step of the way, the informant (who was paid nearly $6,000, plus expenses) and undercover FBI agents were there to correct course.

At one point Wright asked the undercover FBI agent “if there was any work he could do… to pay for the items he was going to purchase” from the agent. Later, Wright told the confidential source that he no longer wanted to be part of the plan, but wanted to know if the informant might hire him to do some work on his house.

At another point, Wright told the informant that he and others thought one of the individuals involved was an undercover cop (which he was). To allay his fears, the informant said he would help provide the explosives.

Clamoring to Thwart “Terrorist Plots”

U.S. Attorney Dettelbach called this a violent terrorist plot, and said: “The defendants stand charged based not upon any words or beliefs they might espouse, but based upon their own plans and actions.”

What’s troubling is that the government has had a heavy hand in creating the very plot it thwarted.

And on top of that, the defendants, by the admission of the FBI, said repeatedly that they had no intention of harming anyone. At one point Baxter and Wright “stated they don’t want people to think they are terrorists.”

This isn’t an isolated instance.

The criminal complaint reads like the spitting image of the case of Eric McDavid, who was coaxed  by an undercover FBI operative named “Anna.” In that case, like this one, the FBI supplied bomb making recipes, bomb making materials, and attempts to distill activist boasting and hyperbole into a coherent plan.

McDavid did nothing, and was arrested on conspiracy charges, like these defendants have been. As readers of this site know, conspiracy charges are the fall-back for the government when there is not enough evidence to get anything else to “stick.”

Demonization of Anarchism

In addition to a continuation of undercover informants and FBI-manufactured plots, this case also reflects on an-going focus on demonizing anarchists.

The government’s press release proclaims that the defendants are “self-proclaimed anarchists.” The affidavit notes that they attended anarchist protests and carried anarchist flags.

The affidavit also says that the defendants talked about anarchists “rioting and destroying each city” that holds May Day protests, and that it will be “off the hook.”

Demonizing anarchists has gone one for over a century, of course, but in recent years the rhetoric has dovetailed with “War on Terrorism” hysteria.

For example, in Scott Demuth’s case, the government argued that: “Defendant’s writings, literature, and conduct suggest that he is an anarchist and associated with the ALF movement. Therefore, he is a domestic terrorist.”

In another case, the government sought a high cash bond against environmentalist Hugh Farrell because “the defendant has been observed advocating literature and materials which advocate anarchy.”

It should come as no surprise, then, that the announcement of these arrests was carefully unveiled yesterday, so that the top news story this May Day would not be about how anarchists are preventing home foreclosures, starting community gardens, teaching collective organizing skills, and re-framing class consciousness, but about how they were part of an FBI-guided “terrorist plot.”

 

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Incredible Photos from Daylight Raid at Green Hill Dog Breeder in Italy

A protest in Italy against Green Hill, a breeding facility for dogs used in animal experimentation, spontaneously turned into a daylight rescue when dozens of activists rescued more than 40 dogs who would have been used in testing.

Police stopped a few cars leaving the village, and captured a few activists and dogs, but others escaped according to Animal Equality.

News of the protest and rescue has quickly circulated around the world and inspired grassroots activists. When I saw the photos, I immediately thought of a similar protest in 1997, that galvanized an international movement. As I discuss in Green Is the New Red:

Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty was born in a riot. On April 24th,1997, World Day for Laboratory Animals, protest organizers ar-rived at Consort Beagle Breeders near Hereford in England. They had campaigned for a year to close the breeder, which housed abouteight hundred dogs—beagles sought for invasive experiments be-cause of their small size, docile temperament and loving nature. The dogs would be sold to laboratories like Huntingdon. The organizers expected a few dozen activists, maybe a hundred. More than fivehundred showed up.

The activists used this moment of surprise to swarm the facility. Police in riot gear kept most at bay, but somehow a few activists slipped inside the dog sheds. Muscles tensed. Did they makeit? Were they arrested? Should everyone go back to chanting andholding signs? Moments later, two activists in masks appeared onthe roof, cradling a beagle. They yelled to the crowd for help.

Riot cops were overwhelmed as people climbed over, and toredown, the razor-wire fence. More police arrived and swarmed thefields like locusts: reserves had been waiting inside the building,and others had been waiting in vans lining the streets. Dr. King once said, “A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard.” One could argue that for too long the activists in this crowd—from students to “raging grannies”—had not been heard. Their leafleting,letter-writing, marching and protesting had earned some victories,yes, but not enough. Perhaps they felt they needed a new voice, a new language.

At this time, 12 people, 8 women and 4 men are imprisoned in Brescia, Italy, awaiting charges. You can sign the petition calling for their immediate release.

For more information:

Website of the campaign Occupy Green Hill

Website of the campaign Fermare Green Hill

News coverage from Italy

Photos from Animal Equality:

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