[I'm glad to see that Brian was the first (full-time) reporter to pick up the phone and call the FBI. I'm in Malta right now and not in a position to do long-distance research myself. Indymedia proponents have been telling me, correctly, in private email that they were the first site to publish news of the raid. The problem is that anyone can post anything on Indymedia, so an appearance on such a site by itself is not more credible than a Usenet post or barroom gossip. Some threads are researched and include legitimate news reporting; others are mere rants. Below "sf imcista" tells us we can email imc-sf-editorialat_private if we want to tell the difference, but that's not a great solution for individual readers. --Declan] --- Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 00:48:44 -0500 From: Brian McWilliams <brian@pc-radio.com> To: declanat_private Subject: Re: FC: Why no confirmation on raisethefist.com reported raid? Declan, The FBI has confirmed the raid but has not yet charged Sherman Austin, the 18-year-old operator of Raisethefist.com. The warrant was issued on the basis of the bomb information published at the site and several alleged instances of computer abuse & fraud (defacements) by Austin. Story going up shortly at Newsbytes.com. Brian --- Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 08:12:50 -0500 From: Brian McWilliams <brian@pc-radio.com> To: declanat_private Subject: FBI Raid Silences Teen Anarchist's Site Declan, Here's that story. Brian +++ FBI Raid Silences Teen Anarchist's Site http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174092.html SHERMAN OAKS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 31 Jan 2002, 12:15 AM CST In a case that may test limits on Internet free speech in the wake of Sept. 11, armed federal agents last week raided the home of a Los Angeles teenager suspected of hacking into several Web sites to post anarchist messages and using his own site, Raisethefist.com, to publish bomb-making information. Sherman Martin Austin, 18, is believed to have violated federal computer fraud and abuse laws, as well as statutes prohibiting the distribution of bomb-making information, according to an FBI affidavit. FBI agents conducted the raid on the afternoon of Jan. 24 at the Sherman Oaks residence owned by Austin's mother after receiving a federal warrant. The agents seized several computers and documents, according to an FBI spokesperson. In an interview Wednesday, Austin told Newsbytes he was interrogated for more than six hours but has not yet been charged with any crimes. [snip] --- Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 16:03:01 -0600 From: Jay Edwards <jayedat_private> To: declanat_private Subject: More raisethefist.com links Well, slashdot has put something out at: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/01/31/1820238 That story has a link to LA Weekly at: http://www.laweekly.com/ink/02/11/new-mikulan.shtml (middle of the page) This story relies heavily on the www.newsbyte.com posting. Jay Edwards --- Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 02:34:45 From: Bodhi Man <bodhimanat_private> To: declanat_private Subject: Re: FC: Why no confirmation on raisethefist.com reported raid? I am the person who reported the closure of the RATM.com website back in august to the LA times. The raisethefist.com site provided a fan photo album for the RATM.com site. RATM.com BB was closed due to secret service pressure on INFOPOP, the host for RATM.com in wake of the sept. 11 attacks. I know the owner of raisethe fist.com because of my membership at ratm.com. His name is sherman, he goes by the name of "antigovernment" or "anti" for short. He is african american and wears a black mask at all of his protests which included the BIODEV in San Diego couple months ago. This is no hoax. if he says he got raided, it is for real. I have confirmation from several other activists in the los angeles area that this did occur. matthew dickinson --- Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 20:26:58 -0800 From: mark burdett <markat_private> To: declanat_private Subject: RAISETHEFIST.COM > I hope that you're enjoying your touristy-stuff. When I lived in > Europe, Turkey was one of my favorite vacation spots -- different enough > to be interesting without being so foreign as to be difficult to adjust > to. > I've done a few quick google searches about the supposed raid. I found > mentions of it on all of the indymedia (of course) sites, kuro5hin, > mediageek and a few personal web sites. All of these sites use the same > two articles as their primary source. > I checked to LA Times website and there are seven articles that mention > "FBI" and "raid" since Januray 23, 2002. None of these articles have > anything to do with raisethefist.com. > This seems to be some type of hoax. It's a wee bit hard to think that > no reputable news agency (or even slashdot) hasn't mentioned this. San Francisco Indymedia reporters confirmed the story with the FBI on Friday, Jan 25. If anyone has doubts please call the FBI and re-confirm it. The FBI/Anti-Terrorism Task Force did not issue a press release or hold a press conference on the raid, therefore there has been no corporate media coverage; i.e. the they are trying to keep it quiet. I wonder why? --mark B. --- Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 07:33:47 From: mike sysiuk <msysiukat_private> To: declanat_private, politechat_private Subject: Why no confirmation on raisethefist.com reported raid? FYI, Mike CIA Sabotage Manual: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Opening/7482/cia1.html http://www.smog.net/curiosities/sabotage/ Numerous links to web archives of much of Raise the Fist's content can be found in the articles below. ALERT: Feds Shut Down Protest Site; Smear Campaign Underway by Freedom Corps. Free Speech Protection Departm 3:22pm Wed Jan 30 '02 (Modified on 4:27pm Wed Jan 30 '02) Jan. 23, 2002 - Heavily armed federal officers raided a private home in L.A. and confiscated all traces of RaiseTheFist.com, an activist web site with an Indymedia-style format. Software, computers, web servers, backups, and other materials were hauled away by FBI, Secret Service, and LAPD agents. Corporate media remain silent on the story, in which no one was arrested and no charges have been filed. Links to upcoming WEF protest information and resources for protesters were among RaiseTheFist.com's alternative news coverage, lost in Bush's War on Free Speech, one week before the WEF protests begin. Jan. 23, 2002 - Heavily armed federal officers raided a private home in L.A. and confiscated all traces of RaiseTheFist.com, an activist web site with an Indymedia-style format. Software, computers, web servers, backups, and other materials were hauled away by FBI, Secret Service, and LAPD agents. Police encountered no resistance during the raid on the First Amendment. Corporate media remain silent on the story, in which no one was arrested and no charges have been filed. Early reports of the raid: http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2002/01/114428.php http://thehacktivist.com/article.php?sid=278 FBI confirms raid with SF Indymedia: http://indybay.org/news/2002/01/114474.php SF and LA Indymedias are following the story: http://sf.indymedia.org/ http://la.indymedia.org/ Links to upcoming WEF protest information and resources for protesters were among RaiseTheFist.com's alternative news coverage, lost in Bush's War on Free Speech, one week before the WEF protests begin: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Araisethefist.com+WEF Some activists foresee the feds misrepresenting the web site's content in the corporate media smear campaign on WEF protests. What the FBI Doesn't Want You to See at RaiseTheFist.com: http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/raisethefist/ Post-raid interview with RTF's 18-year-old webmaster. Web logs prior to the raid showed extensive government monitoring of the web site. http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2002/01/114583.php http://politechbot.com/p-03075.html Allegations from the fed's search warrant: http://politechbot.com/p-03066.html Local activists in L.A. are calling for solidarity protests http://la.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=14372 and a temporary defense fund has been set up for RaiseTheFist's defense: http://la.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=14503 In the latest report from SF Indymedia, webmaster "Sherman" is busy trying to get his web site back up (see comments): http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2002/01/114770.php --- Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 09:42:51 -0600 From: "Quinn, SallyAnn" <SallyAnn.Quinnat_private> To: "'declanat_private'" <declanat_private>, politechat_private Subject: RE: Why no confirmation on raisethefist.com reported raid? This story is reported in a respected Italian daily, La Repubblica (Rome) http://www.repubblica.it/news/ired/ultimora/rep_nazionale_175851.htm It doesn't mention the raisethefist name, but it could be relevant. Translation: Federal agents <recently> conducted a raid on a group of teenage anti-globalization hackers. The raid was carried out on 24 January in Los Angeles but confirmation by the FBI was only issued today. FBI agents entered the home of 18 year old Sherman Martin Austin, suspected of having posted anarchist messages and information on how to build a bomb on his website. Agents confiscated his computer and several documents. Austin may be charged with computer fraud and dissemination of bombmaking instructions. The teenager, who claims to be a member of an antiglobalization group, bitterly condemned the use of firearms by agents. "They surrounded my home with machine guns and shotguns while wearing bulletproof vests. They had more firepower than they typically use againt street gangs or in drug busts." Matthew McLaughlin, a spokesman for the FBI, confirmed that the agents participating in the raid were heavily armed. "We made sure they were protected. We don't conduct raids using slingshots.", said McLaughlin. <End> .. Sally Ann Quinn, Software Test Engineer The West Group 150 State Street, Rochester, NY 14614 Mail Drop B8-3 (716) 231-6052 SallyAnn.Quinnat_private --- Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 07:47:58 -0800 From: mark burdett <markat_private> To: declanat_private Cc: ACLUinfo@aclu-sc.org Subject: laweekly.com report on raisethefist.com raid The media has been nearly silent for 7 days since a prominent LA-based activist website was shutdown by the Los Angeles Anti-Terrorism Task Force. On the afternoon of Jan. 24, 20 well-armed agents of the FBI, Secret Service, and LAPD served a 25-page search warrant on the San Fernando Valley residence of 18-year-old programmer/activist Sherman. By the end of the evening, federal agents had driven off with the entire home computer network that hosted http://www.raisethefist.com/ and laanarchists.org (http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.laanarchists.org/) - including 8 computers and even the DSL modem. Sherman, who prefers to use only his surname, 'had bomb-making information on his website, which under the terms of the Patriot Act is illegal,' FBI Spokesman Matthew McLaughlin told the LA Weekly, which published a news report on Jan. 31 (http://www.laweekly.com/ink/02/11/new-mikulan.shtml). Sherman, however, was not arrested, and is now working on restoring his websites from an old backup while he awaits further legal developments (http://la.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=14555). The RTF raid was first reported late Jan. 24 on Indymedia, the network of open-publishing news sites. It was confirmed the next day by Indymedia volunteers in San Francisco, who spoke with Cheryl Mimura from the Los Angeles FBI Field Office. Mimura described an ongoing investigation into 'computer fraud and abuse' as well as 'distribution of information related to explosives, destructive devices, and/or weapons of mass destruction,' and confirmed that the site had been 'shutdown' -- but declined to provide Sherman's full name or any other information, since no arrests had been made. Over the weekend an interview with Sherman appeared on Kuro5hin (http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/1/26/112847/742#71), in which he denied that anything illegal was hosted on his servers, describing himself as a victim of an FBI attempt 'to silence' his increasingly popular, allbeit politically-'radical' websites. Sherman's take on the episode rings true in light of comments by FBI agents that it was the particularly 'militant,' anarchic content he hosted that precipitated the investigation and raid. Within days over a dozen reports were circulating on various e-mail lists and websites. Mysteriously, however, no mainstream media had picked up the story... Was this course of events perhaps all according to plan? Given the absence of the usual FBI press conference or press release after a successful anti-terrorism operation, and possible first ammendment implications of the case, it does appear that the FBI is hoping to keep a lid on the story. Needless to say, all manner of treasonous banter, bomb recipes, and worse are available on newsgroup archives (such as http://groups.google.com/), as well as current listserv and discussion sites... One wonders which website(s) the FBI will target next. The Los Angeles Anti-Terrorism Task Force was christened shortly after the events of Sep. 11 (http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/cac/pr2001/141.html), and includes remnants of the Joint Terrorism Task Force cobbled together to oversee security for the 1984 Olympics. The now nationwide Anti-Terrorism Task Forces enjoy greatly enhanced power and prestige since the Patriot Act was signed into law on Oct. 26, 2001. This 'homeland security' measure not only expanded police powers of surveillance and 'secret searches,' but also redefined a variety of low-level computer crimes as 21st-century 'terrorism' (http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/Terrorism_militias/20011031_eff_usa_patriot_analysis.html). --mark Burdett http://sf.indymedia.org/ --- Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 16:03:43 -0800 (PST) From: sf imcista <anarchocipherat_private> To: jayedat_private Cc: declanat_private Subject: raisethefist.com "It's a wee bit hard to think that no reputable news agency (or even slashdot) hasn't mentioned this." Think again. Indymedia broke this story first. In addition, members of the San Francisco Indymedia Editorial Collective researched and provided confirmation from the Los Angeles FBI Field Office. Apparently, this isn't "reputable" enough, so finally, a corporate media source has picked up this story and spoken with the FBI: http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174092.html There's lots of references to Washington Post and other corporate media symbols on there, so their decades of branding will make you feel better about this being a hoax. In the future, you can email imc-sf-editorialat_private if you are wondering about the authenticity of items which appear on the site. They can tell you one way or another if it has been researched, verified, etc. I don't believe you did this ... you just emailed Declan, who reposted something from indymedia. I don't know why you are so surprised that corporate media lets stories like these go. Indymedia is filled with verified (and yet suppressed) incidents which do not even make politechbot's radar. ---
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Feb 01 2002 - 02:22:51 PST