Seven members of Greenpeace have been arrested for painting anti-drilling slogans, in crude oil, on a drilling support ship in the Gulf.

Greenpeace says the ship is scheduled to sail to the Arctic this summer, so they rappelled down the side and painted “Ban Arctic Drilling” in oil on the side of the Shell-owned ship.

According to the New York Times, the New Orleans Joint Terrorism Task Force of the FBI “is looking into the matter” of whether the non-violent activists will face terrorism-related charges.

If you’ve been to GreenIsTheNewRed before, you know “terrorism” laws have been recklessly used against non-violent activists for years. The scare-mongering around this disaster has been particularly bold, though. Just a few weeks ago, Rush Limbaugh was trying to blame the oil spill on “eco-terrorists.” Now, in the wake of the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, we are to believe it is the activists, not the oil corporations, who are the criminals?

Phil Radford of Greenpeace put it well:

“It is outrageous that prosecutors would confront peaceful protesters with such a heavy hand while not a single BP executive has been charged for the devastation they have wrought on the Gulf of Mexico and the people and animals that depend on it…”

Thanks to B. Shuga for the link.

After the recent bombings in California–which the press, industry groups and FBI recklessly rushed to attribute to animal rights activists—I reported that the Humane Society of the United States donated money to the “eco-terrorist” witch hunt. That didn’t sit well with many people, even those who oppose direct action. Now, HSUS’ Wayne Pacelle has come out to not only defend the donation, but endorse California’s version of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act.

Much of Pacelle’s blog post is standard rhetoric condemning illegal activity. But what truly surprised me is that Pacelle acknowledges that nobody even knows if animal rights activists were involved in the attack.

So, if the perpetrators of the Santa Cruz attacks turn out to be agents hostile to animal protection, it would not surprise me, because this is a tactic that malicious forces have used in the past to discredit many good causes. I’d feel especially good if our reward money helped to catch an infiltrator and exposed this person to the harsh glare of public opinion.

Huh? So let’s get this straight: HSUS gave money to this Green Scare witch hunt and condemned “extremists,” without even knowing if animal activists were involved. But if they were involved, this donation would help oust infiltrators?

Fat chance. HSUS’ actions will never help reveal an infiltrator, in part because the FBI are the ones doing the infiltrating (remember Eric McDavid’s case?). And besides, the damage has been done. The FBI, corporations and even animal groups have blamed this on animal activists, and those parties won’t be coming out and saying, “Oops, we were wrong.” Why? Because, at best, they don’t care that they’re wrong, and, at worst, they know it and are recklessly smearing animal activists anyway.

Pacelle writes as if the actions of HSUS exist in a political vacuum, and completely ignores the larger political climate. It’s bad enough that some groups are remaining silent about all of this “eco-terrorism” rhetoric, but for the largest animal protection organization in the country to come out and support it… that’s another story entirely. It lets law enforcement know that their actions can proceed unchecked and unquestioned by the few groups in the country who are actually paying attention.

The government and corporations have responded to this endorsement accordingly:

• “Eco-terrorism” legislation. Surprise surprise, corporations used the bombings to rush through “eco-terrorism” legislation called the California Animal Enterprise Protection Act (here’s a critical look at the CA AEPA). And, disturbingly, here’s Pacelle applauding the legislation (in its original, even-more-absurd form, no less).
• Police raids. FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces have raided a college activist house and an anarchist bookstore. The bookstore, the Longhaul Infoshop, is also a community space, with public computers (14 were seized by the police).
• Frivolous arrest. One activist, Nathan Pope, who lives in the raided house, was arrested for felony perjury. He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail. What was Nathan Pope’s crime? Investigators said Knoerl [Pope] checked the ‘no’ box in response to the questions ‘have you applied for a driver’s license or identification card in California or another state/country using a different name within the past 10 years?’” The police acknowledge the arrest was “”unconnected with what we were searching for,” and had nothing to do with the crimes. They still have no suspects in the bombing cases.

It’s clear that HSUS needs to distance itself as much as possible from the firebombing because of the pending factory farming ballot initiative in November. It’s already going to be a dirty fight: the egg industry admits Proposition 2 would be a “major blow”. But guess what: the loyalty oaths and condemnations haven’t protected HSUS from “extremist” and “terrorist” smear campaigns.

The Center for Consumer Freedom is waging a media campaign to wrap up mainstream, national organizations with underground saboteurs. The CCF’s David Martosko writes: “If law-enforcement agencies are serious about attacking the growing problem of animal rights violence, they should start looking for clues inside some of the better known animal-protection charities.” It looks like they should also start investigating the Wu-Tang Clan.

[On a bittersweet note, as this Green Scare continues in California, the California Senate is finally trying to gut Red Scare legislation: under this bill, membership in the communist party would no longer be a fireable offense. Geez. It's 2008. Kudos to lawmakers for their speedy, principled stand against the Red Scare.]

Wayne Pacelle’s blog doesn’t allow public comments. But he posted a few messagesthat he received, and whaddayouknow, every single one is supportive of HSUS’ donation to the witch hunt.

So I’ll open it up to you all for a more honest discussion: Is HSUS justified in donating money to the “eco-terrorist” witch hunt and supporting legislation against so-called “animal rights extremists,” in hopes of passing this ballot initiative? If not, what should HSUS have done?

News continues to come out of the Twin Cities and the Republican National Convention of what I can only describe as a police state showing its true colors. If you read this site regularly, you know I stay far away from language and descriptions like that, because I think it’s best to let the stories speak for themselves. But I’m at a loss of how else to describe this. Here as some of the highlights that the mainstream press has overwhelmingly ignored:

• Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com writes: “Protesters here in Minneapolis have been targeted by a series of highly intimidating, sweeping police raids across the city, involving teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets.” Here’s another wrap-up with a video interview of an attorney on the scene. Police claim the raids targeted protest “leaders.”
• Police raided what’s called the convergence space, a place with computer access, free food, and child care for out-of-town protestors. The raid took place while folks were having a group dinner and watching a video, with children. Police took laptops, schedules and 7,000 “welcoming guides” organizers would have distributed at protests.
• Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman was arrested while reporting about her two producers, who were arrested for “conspiracy to riot” while covering the RNC protests. An AP photographer was arrested at the same time. David Ake, an AP assistant chief of bureau in Washington, said, “Covering news is a constitutionally protected activity…Photographers should not be detained for covering breaking news.”
• Filmmakers who traveled from NYC to document, among other things, police conduct had video equipment seized when they came into town.
• Police raided the home of I-Witness video, whose video coverage exposed police abuse, and lying under oath, during the 2004 RNC. Eileen Clancy was able to write this as police swarmed the home: “We have locked all the doors…The police say that they are waiting to get a search warrant. More than a dozen police are wielding firearms, including one St. Paul officer with a long gun, which someone told me is an M-16.”
• Police raided and seized an Earth Justice bus, used to educate people about environmental sustainability. Check out the number of squad cars in this video.
• Even the local alt-weekly joined the scare-mongering leading up to the RNC, with a tongue-in-cheek “field guide” to the “deranged” people coming to town, including “eco-terrorists” (“Weapon of Choice: Their ability to chain themselves to stuff.”) To be fair, they also listed “FBI moles”.

What’s particularly disturbing is that the federal government and Joint Terrorism Task Forces have been instrumental in all of this. Minnesota Public Radio reported that the FBI was involved in the raids, and the Star Tribune reported that the raids were specifically “aided by informants planted in protest groups.”

You’ll remember that this is the same town where Joint Terrorism Task Forces were recruiting folks to infiltrate vegan potlucks. And you’ll also remember how the government has used “infiltrators” to instigate and provoke illegal activity, such as with “Anna” in the Eric McDavid case, among others.

The mass media have overwhelmingly ignored all of this, while repeating absurd “official” soundbites. Headlines that proclaim “Police hope violent St. Paul protests will end” ignore the simple, crucial facts that police have stormed homes, confiscated leaflets, confiscated cameras, arrested journalists, arrested attorneys, and more. Stories of “protestors turning violent” are quite Orwellian, considering police kicked in the doors of peaceful protestors, armed to the teeth.

How can there be any discussion about protestors (both legal and illegal) without this context? Considering the overwhelming, unconstitutional assaults by the police, I think protestors should be praised for being so restrained.

The purpose of all this, as we’ve seen time and again, is two-fold. The first, through the press, is to further the myth that if you protest the right way you have nothing to worry about. The mayor said it well: “To pick up a protest sign, that’s fine. If you’re here to pick up a brick or some other instrument, there’s a problem.” If people continue to believe lies like this, while ignore attacks on First Amendment activity, this government repression will continue unabated.

The second purpose, regardless of the myths people believe, is to instill widespread fear in anyone who might even consider taking action.

On that note, it’s inspiring to see how folks have responded. I’ll leave you with an excerpt from today’s press statement by the RNC Welcoming Committee

The actions taken yesterday prove that the tactics of intimidation, harassment, violent oppression, the snatching of specific individuals, and the profiling of activists will not stop committed people from taking to the streets for what they believe in and putting their bodies behind those convictions. These tactics were seen yesterday in the targeting of medical workers, journalists, legal observers, and the public. They are the same tactics used daily by police and governments around the world to terrorize and oppress those that they claim to serve…

The infrastructure that has been created for these actions with the help and support of the twin cities community has been amazing. 100′s of people in Minneapolis and St. Paul have opened their homes to 1000′s of protesters, Locals and newcomers have taken time off work and from their lives to cook meals, provide medical care, legal support, and transportation. We understand that it must be intimidating to see people organizing for themselves around the idea of mutual aid and solidarity, but in doing this we are actively creating the world we want to live in. This is work that we will continue to do for the rest of our lives.

What do you think? I know police response at big protests like this (WTO, FTAA, DNC/RNC) has often been extreme, but is this above and beyond?

From DC Indymedia:

On Saturday, April 12, an FBI agent arrested an animal rights activist at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. The activist was charged with wearing a mask in public—a Class 6 felony in Virginia.

On April 5, the arrested activist attended a protest at GMU and wore a mask. After the GMU Police Department identified the activist, a warrant was issued for his arrest. When he appeared at a protest one week later, he was identified and subsequently tackled and arrested. The arrested activist was protesting Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus for their history of animal abuse.

The FBI agent who arrested the activist is part of the Joint Terrorism Task Force and is based in Prince William, VA. His name is Vincent Antignano and his badge number is #1035. He was stalking the arrested activist after he protested on numerous occasions against a private company, Huntingdon Life Sciences, which conducts medical tests on animals.

I spoke with the activist arrested, and I think it’s critical to note that neither he, nor the other protestors, were charged with anything like property destruction. He simply wore a mask at a lawful protest.

To those unfamiliar with activist groups or protests, that may seem odd. Why wear a mask if you aren’t going to do something wrong? What do you have to hide?

For some, it might be an attempt to look intimidating, tough, or just cool. But for many, many activists I’ve interviewed, it’s viewed as a necessity in this political climate. With the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces harassing and filming lawful protests, creating files on political activists, harassing them at home, and bringing grand jury witch hunts, activists don’t want to be singled out and targeted, and they also don’t want to stop speaking up for what they believe.
Ominously, a previous post on Indymedia about the FBI harassment said:

Help is urgent and we cannot continue this alone. Activists feel intimidated and threatened from many sides. Help is needed.

The bigger question here, though, beyond the absurdity of charging a non-violent, lawful protestor with a felony for wearing a bandana, is why the Joint Terrorism Task Force is monitoring a circus protest.

Even if you believe that groups like the Animal Liberation Front are truly the “number one domestic terrorism threat,” even if you believe that breaking a window in the name of the environment is a national security concern, protests against Ringling Bros. haven’t seen very much of that. Elephants have not been “liberated,” and the use of non-violent civil disobedience at circus protests isn’t nearly as common as it was in the late 90s. Ringling, though, has been relentless in targeting activists.

What the FBI is doing could be described, to borrow another Orwellian phrase from this “War on Terrorism,” as a pre-emptive war. Activists aren’t breaking the law, but they must be arrested because they MIGHT break the law.

Think that’s absurd? Check out the comments by FBI Special Agent Robert Springer Springer, who told a university crowd that the construction of a highway in Indiana could “arouse an eco-terrorist attack.”

But don’t worry, dear readers. As this FBI agent says, “We uphold the Constitution in everything we do…By working in domestic terrorism investigations, you get to see the First Amendment in action.”

From The Santa Cruz Sentinel:

Dozens of police cars surrounded a home on the 700 block of Riverside Avenue in Santa Cruz on Sunday night as a crowd of onlookers gathered to watch the events unfold.

According to Frank Male, the owner of the house, three UC Santa Cruz seniors live at the residence. Male said police contacted him earlier Sunday because they wanted to talk to the students about an ongoing investigation. Male said he later learned the students were animal rights activists.

Male said police told him they went to the house in the late afternoon to talk to the students, but the students slammed the door in their face and told them to get a search warrant…

Police on scene declined to say why they were there.

Santa Cruz has also been in the news for the recent tree sits.

I don’t have any more details on this right now. If you do, please post a comment…