[wordup] Reported interview with anarchist site reportedly raided

[Adam Shand]

If people are curious there are links the the exit guide in the comments
on the indymedia article.

Adam.

Via: politech at politechbot.com

[Again, I have to treat the raid as unverified. No Politech member has yet
sent me a news article about this, and my Internet connectivity here in
Istanbul is limited, so I can't search for myself. --Declan]

From: http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2002/01/114583.php

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2002 17:46:16 -0800
From: mark burdett <mark at indymedia.org>
To: declan at well.com
Subject: An Interview with Sherman of RaiseTheFist.com/LAAnarchists.org

An interview with Sherman, formerly of RaiseTheFist.com and 
LAAnarchists.org, whose home was raided by the LA Joint Terrorism Task 
Force on Jan. 24; the websites were shutdown and his computers confiscated.

  Sherman denies involvement with any illegal activity, saying of the Feds,
  "They're afraid. And they're going to try and silence us any way they can.
  ... My best advice is to not give in to their fear-tactics. Keep fighting,
  and fight hard. Don't stop."  

Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2002 15:15:07 -0800 (PST)
From: Arm The Homeless <food_should_be_free at yahoo.com>
To: mark burdett <mark at linefeed.org>
Subject: Re: please relay: questions for Sherman

> [Ed. note: This e-mail interview is reproduced uncut and unabridged. Only 
> spelling, punctuation, and basic grammar have been corrected.]

Hello, feel free to publish my responses to your questions anywhere.

> Was there any warning that investigation of your website was heating up?

Yes. I have been monitoring government agencies connecting to the site for 
a long time. I'd been noticing more frequency with them coming back to the 
site. They had also started intercepting all packets on my DSL line, and 
seized one of my older AIM screen names for 12 days, so I knew something 
was going to happen - soon. It was really obvious. I even saw them outside 
my house at times. They have been monitoring the site very, very 
extensively LONG before the "incriminating content" which they were 
"concerned" about was posted onto the site. They simply used this content 
as an excuse to obtain a warrant for the raid.

> As a victim of one of the first post-Patriot Act anti-"terrorism" raids, 
> why do you think the Feds chose you?

Simply because Raisethefist was effective in what I was doing. It's the 
same reason why Feds raid other activist organizations. They're effective.
  And effectiveness within our movement scares them. They're afraid. And 
they're going to try and silence us any way they can.

> Do you have a copy of the warrant that was served? What did it say they 
> were looking for?

I cannot post any contents of the warrant online. Yes I have a copy of it.
The warrant contains a lot of bogus information and misinterpretations. 
The warrant has information on me since I was 14 (I'm 18 now, almost 19).

> Any idea how many agents/officers participated in the raid?

Yes, there were about 25-30 of them. They surrounded my house with guns. 
Blocked off the garage door with a big bench, had a door bammer, had cars 
all up and down the streets, then 2 agents knocked at my door, pulled me 
outside, and the FBI came in and raided. My sister and her friends were 
home at the time, and she refused to answer the door. I was currently 
taking a nap and she woke me up to tell me that there were police and 
undercover/FBI people all up and down the streets looking at the house. 
That's when I got up and approached the door.

> Can you remember any exact quotes that the agents told you - what 
> precisely did they say about 9-11, your web site, what they were looking 
> for, etc.

They told me the main reason for the raid was because of the content on 
the site, and they wanted to see who was looking at it. This was not the 
main reason. It was an excuse. The alledged content which they claim they 
were so concerned about is from the Reclaim Guide. It's posted on 
thousands of other web sites around the internet. Why didn't they raid 
those? Why did they only come after Raisethefist.com? Again, they've been 
watching the site for a long time, long before the Reclaim Guide was even 
posted onto the site. They used this as an excuse to get a warrant for the 
raid and seize all computer equipment. I can't discuss the specifics over 
the internet, but I know for sure that they didn't raid simply because 
they wanted to see who was looking at the content on the site.

> [Ed. note: The Reclaim Guide does not appear to be readily available 
> elsewhere, in its entirety, although the topics covered are.]

One of the first things one of the head agents conducting the raid asked 
me was, "why did you grow your hair out?" The picture they have of me is a 
bit older when I had short hair. They were acting as if I was trying to 
"hide my appearance" from them. They then sat me down, started asking me 
questions, etc. All this while the FBI was in my house with guns drawn, 
and seizing all computer equipment.

The FBI, Secret Service, LAPD and LASD (Sheriffs Dept.) participated in 
the raid. The Secret Service person kept asking me if I'd like to see Bush 
killed. They were asking me a lot of loaded questions.

> What exactly did the agents take? How many computers and how much was it 
> all worth? What were some titles of the books, literature, and other 
> items they confiscated?

I have about 12 computers. About 8 of them were running on the network. 
They took all of the computers in my house which had a hard drive in them.
  Which was basically all of them, except for the few broken ones which I 
was working on fixing. So yeah, they basically took everything. They 
ransacked my entire room. I don't have any more computers. They took all 
the hubs, DSL modem, etc., etc. I had thousands of dollars worth of 
equipment which was seized until further notice. They told me I probably 
won't be getting it back for a while (I doubt I ever will be) because they 
have to go through all of the files on all of the hard drives, which is a 
lot of data.

They also confiscated all of my political literature. Everything from 
independent political newspapers to protest flyers, etc., etc.

> Why do you think the FBI raided RaiseTheFist.com? Do you think they were 
> out to shutdown something unique to your site, such as the photos of 
> undercover cops?

They raided it simply because it was effective. It had a lot of potential,
  and was really moving, not just as a web site, but essentially as an 
anarchist/activist collective - kids were starting to set up clubs in 
their schools called "Raisethefist" - we were also beginning to put 
together an anarchist collective for Los Angeles, amongst other things. I 
believe one of the main things that got them scared about the site, is 
that we called for an actual change. Raisethefist was a bit more radical 
than other web sites, and seeing how it was getting so popular, they 
wanted to shut it down.

> Based on what the agents told you, and your suspicions, do you have any 
> idea if other participants or contributors to the website, or other 
> websites, are also under investigation?

Yes. Those whose web sites I was hosting on the server will most likely be 
under investigation. How soon, or how much, I don't know. It could be 
going on right now. But i can't confirm. As far as I know, they are pretty 
overwhelmed with all the paperwork and other stuff they have to do with me,
  so who knows. I just advise those to be careful. Nothing illegal was 
being done, but the FBI likes to interpret things with a lot of prejudice 
against anarchists/activists, especially now after 9-11.

> Did RaiseTheFist.com have any external backup? Do you expect to get your 
> computers back any time soon? Do you have any plans to resume web 
> operations?

I had the site backed up on a CD-ROM, which they took. Right now, we're 
just trying to find bits and pieces of the site in people's cache so we 
can get it back up as soon as possible. There are people working on 
getting the site back up on another host. Getting the site back up is the 
first step, then trying to resume with it is the second step. It's going 
to take some time to get everything back together. I put alot of time into 
programming all of the things into the site. I don't think I'm going to 
get my computer equipment back. If I do, it won't be for a long time. They 
already told me that I probably won't be seeing any of it any time soon. 
They also told me that i was in some "serious trouble," etc., etc.

> A webposting states that you are "a kid" who lives with his parents. Any 
> comment as to whether you are under or over 18, and who you live with?

I'm 18 years old, almost 19. I currently live with my mom. The computers 
were also used for my job. I've been supporting myself through them doing 
independent programming. So not only is Raisethefist.com gone, but I'm out 
of a job for the time being.

By the way, there are a lot of stupid-ass rumors going on out there. I 
think I heard one about someone saying I was making "weapons of mass 
destruction" or something. Just shows the ignorance amongst a lot of 
people out there.

> Do you think the Bush Administration is just trying to see what it can 
> get away with? What would you predict will be the outcome of this episode?

They're going to try and get away with anything, and everything.

> What does the future hold?

Nothing but a barcode.

> What can we do to protect ourselves?

This was one of the main concerns Raisethefist.com addressed. My best 
advice is to not give in to their fear-tactics. Keep fighting, and fight 
hard. Don't stop.

> With a newly-empowered FBI, is the web perhaps too open a medium for 
> revolutionary expression? Are there alternatives whether through new 
> technology or the lack thereof?

There is less security on the internet, as there really has never been any.
But I'd suggest not to be discouraged by it. Keep utilizing the internet 
as an information resource.

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