This morning Andy Stepanian and I were on Democracy Now talking about secretive political prisons called Communications Management Units. Stepanian is believed to be the first inmate ever released from one of the secretive facilities; he is one of the SHAC 7, a group of animal rights activists convicted of “animal enterprise terrorism” for running [...]
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Posted in Legal Issues on Jun 17th, 2009
Hugh Farrell and Gina “Tiga” Wertz have their first court date on July 14th: they’ve been charged with racketeering-–charges originally intended to target the mob–-for allegedly “conspiring” to engage in tree sits, participate in non-violent civil disobedience, and make an inflammatory blog post against the I-69 NAFTA superhighway.
When I reported on their arrest, though, [...]
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Posted in Legal Issues, Opposition on Jun 11th, 2009
A right-wing Christian group and an anti-gay Michigan church are suing gay activists who “terrorized” the congregation by protesting, distributing leaflets and kissing.
The far-right Alliance Defense Fund is taking on the lawsuit on behalf of Delta Township’s Mount Hope Church, which was “invaded” by queers in November.
Accounts of the day differ, of course, but [...]
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Posted in Legal Issues, Prisoner Support on Jun 9th, 2009
The Huffington Post has published a letter from Daniel McGowan about his transfer to a Communication Management Unit without notice, without explanation, and without due process for appeal. [Here is some background on Communication Management Units, if you are unfamiliar.]
Here’s an excerpt from Daniel McGowan’s essay on the Huffington Post:
Many of the men here (both [...]
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Posted in Activists Arrested, Legal Issues on Apr 29th, 2009
Two environmental activists in Bloomington, Ind., have been charged with racketeering–charges originally intended to target the mob–for allegedly “conspiring” to engage in tree sits, participate in non-violent civil disobedience, and make an inflammatory blog post.
Hugh Farrell and Gina “Tiga” Wertz are organizers in the campaign to halt expansion of the I-69 NAFTA superhighway. They were [...]
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I was on Democracy Now this morning talking about my investigation of Communication Management Units, secretive prison facilities housing inmates of being tied to “terrorism” groups. They overwhelmingly include Muslim inmates, along with at least two animal rights and environmental activists. Here’s the video from the segment.
It was really an honor to be on the [...]
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Posted in Activists Arrested, Legal Issues on Apr 14th, 2009
Welcome to everyone visiting from Democracy Now, Digg, BoingBoing, Reddit and elsewhere! After you read this article, you can learn more about the Green Scare, and other attacks on civil liberties in the name of fighting “terrorism.” Thank you!
The government is using secretive prison facilities on U.S. soil, called Communication Management Units, to house inmates [...]
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Posted in Activists Arrested, Legal Issues on Mar 25th, 2009
Corporate provocateurs turned Fran Trutt into an “animal rights terrorist.”
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Posted in Grand Juries, Legal Issues on Mar 24th, 2009
A Utah animal rights activist, Jordan Halliday, has been jailed for refusing to testify before a grand jury about his political beliefs and political associations. But you know what, he’s in good company. Check out this clip of Jim Rockford in the Rockford Files as he is hauled before a grand jury and jailed for [...]
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Posted in Activists Arrested, Legal Issues on Mar 19th, 2009
When four animal rights activists were arrested under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, it was unclear how prosecutors would proceed, and what specific accusations the activists would face. Now, the government indictment, available here for the first time, makes it strikingly clear that prosecutors intend to use terrorism laws to target First Amendment activity.
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