FC: FBI raids Seattle journalist collective, delivers gag order

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Tue Apr 24 2001 - 13:12:07 PDT

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    This was reportedly posted on then removed from vermont.indymedia.org:
    >"There is a report of FBI Officers currently located within the Seattle 
    >IMC demanding the location of the person who's name is the registered name 
    >of indymedia.org. Apparently, they have an arrest warrant for Jonathan Jay 
    >because of a supposed threat against President Bush on the Montreal IMC 
    >site. They are making threats that the IMC is not supposed to send out 
    >*any* emails regarding this issue, according to the warrant. However, 
    >this, according to the IMC lawyer, is Prior Restraint, which is 
    >unconstitutional. The closest story mentioning Bush on the Montreal site 
    >is the following: story mentioning bush Please look to 
    >seattle.indymedia.org as well as other sites for updates on this situation."
    
    The name "Jonathan Jay" does indeed appear in the "whois" database:
    http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois?STRING=indymedia.org
    
    But each Independent Media Center is a collective that includes hundreds of 
    loosely-affiliated journalists and activists. Holding the whois registrant 
    responsible for what appears on the site -- if that is what happened -- 
    makes little sense. He may have simply donated the domain name years ago, 
    or may be no longer involved in the publication of the site.
    
    Also, the gag order -- the sketchy little we know of it -- seems remarkably 
    broad. Why shouldn't a news organization be able to report on a raid of its 
    office?
    
    Background:
    http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,38286,00.html
    http://www.cluebot.com/article.pl?sid=01/04/24/1857245
    
    -Declan
    
    *********
    
    Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 12:07:54 -0700
    From: Warren Cowley <wdcowleyat_private>
    To: declanat_private
    Subject: Indymedia raided by the FBI and gag order placed on discussion of 
    the issue
    
    Declan,
    Please sound the alarm. The FBI has chosen another target. They raided the 
    Indymedia center on sat  04/21/01.
    In the process they have placed a gag order on indymedia.
    the story is here :
    http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0424-04.htm
    and
    here:
    http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=36185&group=webcast
    
    Thanks
    A very concerned citizen
    
    *********
    
    http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/local/19980_security24.shtml
    
        FBI raids media center
        Stolen security plan for Quebec meeting was put on Internet here
    
        Tuesday, April 24, 2001
    
        By PAUL SHUKOVSKY
        SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
    
        Security plans intended to protect Western leaders attending a trade
        summit in Quebec City were stolen from a car there over the weekend
        and posted, hours later, on a Seattle-based Web site, authorities said
        yesterday.
    
        On Saturday night, FBI agents raided the offices of the Independent
        Media Center in downtown Seattle, seizing computer-log records,
        according to federal sources.
    
        No arrests have been made.
    
        Center spokeswoman Sherry Herndon said she and other staff have been
        told "not to talk about" the incident under threat of being held in
        contempt of court.
    
        She referred inquiries to attorney Bob Goodman of the Center for
        Constitutional Rights in New York City, who also declined comment.
    
        He said the court order that was served on the IMC "contains a fairly
        broad gag order; therefore, we cannot talk."
    
        ...
    
        No mention of the FBI raid could be found yesterday on the IMC Web
        site. But the organization's home page carried a boldface note
        stating, "Everything is fine at the Seattle IMC. We will keep you
        posted on any further developments."
    
        ...
    
    *********
    
    
    
    
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