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Music Video by “Against Me!” About Eric McDavid and Anna the FBI Informant

Jan 9th, 2009 by Will Potter

This is Tom Gabel of Against Me! playing at the Nimbus Dam, the site Eric McDavid was allegedly plotting to blow up with Zachary Jenson and Lauren Weiner. An FBI informant named “Anna” provided the group with bomb-making recipes; at times financed their transportation, food and housing; strung along McDavid, who had the hopes of a romantic relationship; and poked and prodded the group into action.

Mark Reichel, McDavid’s attorney, said:

“There has never been a case in America that has involved this much entrapment, this much pushing by an informant, by the U.S. government and by the FBI behind it.”

McDavid was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

“Anna the Stool Pigeon”
by Tom Gabel

Eric, Ren and Jensen were activists
Heads loaded with theory, their hearts are filled with passion
Shared the same left wing politics
Liked the same music, they were part of the protest movement
Now, Anna presented herself as a feminist
Studied the way they talked and dressed
Fashioned herself an anarchist
Eric fell in love with Anna at the meeting of the CrimethInc conference
He didn’t know it but Anna was an FBI informant

Eric fell in love with an FBI informant
Shared his dreams of revolution
Now he’s sitting in solitary confinement
Be careful what you think
Be careful what you say
It might be used against you in court one day
Well Anna thinks she’s a hawk
She’s just a fucking snitch

The headlines called them the believers
Comparisons were made to a terrorist organization
Well Anna had the car, Anna paid the rent
Anna helped find the recipe to make the explosives
She encouraged her friends to follow through with their plans
They were gonna build a bomb and blow up the Nimbus Dam
Their conversations were being recorded
They didn’t know it but Anna was an FBI informant

Eric fell in love with an FBI informant
Shared his dreams of revolution
Now he’s sitting in solitary confinement
Be careful what you think
Be careful what you say
It might be used against you in court one day
Well Anna thinks she’s a hawk
She’s just a fucking snitch

Black suburbans and AR-15 rifles
Agents made their arrests in a K-Mart parking lot
Caught with the supplies for the bomb in hand
The three were charged with conspiracy against the government
Ren and Jensen traded testimony in exchange for leniency
Eric was sentenced to twenty years in the penitentiary
Eric, Ren and Jensen were activists
They didn’t know it but Anna was an FBI informant

Eric fell in love with an FBI informant
Shared his dreams of revolution
Now he’s sitting in solitary confinement
Be careful what you think
Be careful what you say
It might be used against you in court one day
Well Anna thinks she’s a hawk
She’s just a fucking snitch

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Posted in Legal Issues, Prisoner Support

  • Miles
    I'm not familiar with this case - I heard the song on XRT in Chicago and thought it was cool. But I have to make a comment @lantz regarding this concept of "conspiracy" being a fancy term for thought crimes.

    Wrong. A conspiracy is when 2 or more people work together to commit a crime. For example, I hire you to kill someone. You do so. We have conspired in execution of that crime. I am just as guilty as you.

    Again, I'm not saying anything about this particular case. The charges may be a bunch of BS. But to entirely dismiss the crime of conspiracy as a way for the "man" to keep you down is just childish.
  • @Miles:
    That's simply not true. With a conspiracy charge, the government is arguing that two or more people conspired to engage in a criminal activity at some point in future, and that some steps towards that end had been taken (to make a very complicated and confusing explanation as simple as possible). In this case, those steps were no more than talking about the possibility of direct action.
  • Laney
    Actually, if you go through and read the court documents, pretty much all of them, "Anna" included, agree that Nimbus dam was never actually a real target...it was a thought, checked out, deemed not really possible and dismissed. In fact there were never any set targets, just thoughts. Again, all of them, "anna" included agreed on that as well. The FBI and the goverment should been ashamed and embarassed as to how this case was handled. It's so sad to think we live in a society where an adult can exploit and abuse a child, and have a lighter punishment than a man who basically just thought of doing something, somewhere!
  • Mr. Marine and Scholar
    You're smart people to know "Joe" dimwit and his clan (fbi; homeland "security"; etc.) are full of it.

    America will be a free country again someday without the likes of chertoff whom is a dual citizen of israel and America, and the shameful cowards of the fbi, who have nothing better to do than lead Americans to break the law of the land. What the hell, the most powerful leaders, the federal politicians, are dishonest, so why not every other part of the federal government?

    What made America greatest of all nations was the honesty that prevailed at EVERY level of American society, federal and state...remember that.
  • lantz.
    Yeah, I don't really believe that knife thing. Cops (I use this as a sweeping term to include local militarized police officers, FBI, and military forces) lie, kill, and do whatever it takes to cover up their mess.

    "Conspiracy" is a fancy term for thoughtcrime. Entrapment is a better term to become acquainted with.
  • Joe
    lantz, I not trying to push buttons and I don't believe I stated any " stupid shit". What is stupid is believing that arson or conspiracy to commit arson is protected under the first amendment.

    Mcdavid is not the innocent boy scout he is made out to be. Anna may have provided money and materials but Mcdavid provided the targets. He considered bystanders " collateral damage" and threatened to kill Anna with a knife if he found out she was FBI.
  • Actually, Joe, Anna provided the targets as well.

    And the famous knife incident you mention had quite a few holes poked in it by the defense (which even made it into that Elle article, if I recall."
  • lantz.
    Against Me! attempts to regain SOME credibility after they were last seen Rocking The Vote.

    (For the record, they do regain *a little* of it...but they are not entirely redeemed)

    And at the same time, Joe continues to push peoples' buttons and say stupid shit. I wish he would give us his badge number or business card already.
  • I saw the harmonica and was expecting a kind of whiny, folk song. I expected not to like it, but I really liked the song :) He's not faking that emotion. It's cool.

    Hey, Will, did you see this?
    http://www.garstangcourier.co.uk/news/Garstang-...
    Haha, "living hell." Please. Sounds a lot like the typical junior high school experience for a nerd :)
  • Forager
    "Eric Mcdavid did not care who got hurt in his plans to further his political view, which makes him a terrorist and prison is where he belongs."

    Same old bullshit argument. By your definition, every person in power is a terrorist (which I'm not going to disagree with), funny how you can't take it to that level though.

    It's alright for the US government to go and kill millions of Iraqi's to steal their oil but when someone supposedly THINKS (thinks being keyword there, as that is what he is accused of and convicted of, thinking of blowing up a dam, it's not they were all there at the dam with explosives in hand) of blowing up a dam for the sake of liberating the rivers that dams are killing then it's all wrong.

    "Did she in some way also take away his ability to say NO, blowing up dams is wrong??"

    She did all she could to convince all of them to do it. As Potter said: "'Anna' provided the group with bomb-making recipes; at times financed their transportation, food and housing; strung along McDavid, who had the hopes of a romantic relationship; and poked and prodded the group into action." She did all she could to make sure no one would change their mind. And as the lawyer said, that's entrapment, which is against the law.

    It is the fault of the government though, and this entire fucking civilization for putting up the dams in the first place and then for not removing them. People shouldn't have to take action to save the Earth, because the Earth shouldn't be being destroyed, there shouldn't be a system in place which is ecocidal. That's the problem with all of this. And what's even more stupid is that when the Earth is being killed that people such as yourself act as if we should just sit on our ass and watch TV while the world burns, pretending everything is fine while everyday it becomes worst.
  • Joe
    Will, I think the people and animals that live downstream of the dam might disagree with you.
  • Will
    "I love how its always the fault of the government, never the defendant."

    It's just a dam. It's not like we're talking about killing anyone. Who cares if we lose a few dams? Well, except the fish and other animals (including humans) who depend upon the free flow of water. They would much appreciate the removal of dams.
  • jake
    and you mention it in the post. . . um, reading comprehension isn't my strong suit clearly.
  • jake
    I didn't realize it at first, but he's at the Nimbus Dam. Nice touch.
  • Stretch
    Ditto what Judah posted!
  • Judah
    Joe, consider that Eric did (and does) care, very much. More than most of us. He cared about the life of humans and non-humans; he cared about the future. We need more people like Eric on this planet.

    The people who didn't care about life or health or the future were the people who built the dam. All they cared about was money. People who put money above all else are the *real* terrorists. They do an immeasurable amount of legal harm every day, and are praised and rewarded for it.

    And Anna was more than just a snitch, because she fucked with a good man's heart. I don't know if there is a word for that kind of woman, but there are plenty of adjectives.

    (I hate the fact that I almost didn't post this comment because I'm afraid of who might read it. That means they've got me in prison, too.

    So if you are reading this and you have some pathetic low-level government job trolling for online 'terrorists,' for the love of god, QUIT YOUR JOB and start working for life, not the machine.)
  • james
    Well Joe, you have familiarized yourself with the evidence, right?
  • Joe
    I love how its always the fault of the government, never the defendant. I guess Eric was sitting at home reading the Bible when Anna came in and forced him to make plans to blow up the Nimbus dam? Did she in some way also take away his ability to say NO, blowing up dams is wrong??

    Eric Mcdavid did not care who got hurt in his plans to further his political view, which makes him a terrorist and prison is where he belongs.
  • You do realize McDavid didn't actually DO anything, right Joe? He didn't blow up anything, he didn't hurt anyone, he didn't burn anything, he didn't break anything. He "conspired" to do so... at the prodding of an FBI operative.

    If you think that talking about illegal tactics and "planning" illegal activity warrants going to prison as a terrorist, shouldn't Anna be in prison for the same thing?
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