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News :: Human Rights : Media |
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NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
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by NYC IndyMedia - Video Collective, John Tarleton |
16 Aug 2004
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A multi-agency task force shut down a NYC Indymedia video team benefit late Saturday night, sparking complaints that the action was politically motivated. "I don't think every single department showing up here was a coincidence," said Brandon Jourdan, a video team organizer. "But maybe it was or maybe it was not. People will have to decide for themselves." || NYC IMC Video Team |
A multi-agency task force shut down a NYC Indymedia video team benefit late Saturday night, sparking complaints that the action was politically motivated. The benefit was held at Volume, a renovated industrial warehouse, at 99. N. 13th St., Williamsburg.
"I don't think every single department showing up here was a coincidence," said Brandon Jourdan, a video team organizer. "But maybe it was or maybe it was not. People will have to decide for themselves."
The raid occurred just before midnight.
Jourdan, who was dressed in black pajamas with a white skeleton running down his torso, said that the first undercover cop showed up at 5 p.m. three hours before the benefit began and that the space was swarming with police as well as members of the Department of Buildings and the Department of Health.
"It was crazy," he said.
"They came in the middle of the party with flashlights and started pointing at holes in the ceiling and a ramp that they said shouldn't be there," said NYC IMC member Ana Nogueira. "...They could have come and inspected this at any time of day. They could've checked it months ago."
Volume's General Manager Jeffrey Tonnensen said the official reason for the shut down was the lack of an emergency lighting system and a gerryrigged stage mounted on cinderblocks. He was also given a summons for not posting a sign warning pregnant women of the dangers posed by consuming alcohol.
Tonnensen said his space has received close scrutiny from police and building inspectors since it opened on Jan. 30 but that this was the first time that the space had been closed in mid-event.
"If we're going to say this was politically motivated, I would say it's more related to New York's massive attempt to regulate nightlife," he added. "If you can't smoke and drink til 4 a.m. and dance as much as you want to in New York, where the hell are you going to do it?"
Sgt. Curry of the NYPD's Legal Bureau said the task force regularly conducts inspections of nightclubs and that the shutting down of the party was not politically motivated.
"You are not being singled out," he said.
Another officer added, "We're just here to enforce the law and uphold the peace... We don't do things for political reasons here in the City of New York. "
Video team member Erin Siegal said weeks of preparation had gone into the party, which featured a screening of "The Miami Model" (an activist documentary about police repression last November at trade talks in Miami) as well as performances by Kakistocracy, Leftover Crack, Blam, Beatbox Entertainment,DJ Dan Deuce. It had been scheduled to run until 4 a.m. with additional performances by DJ Chrome, DJ Pow Pow and DJ Noskilz. Siegal said the video team had netted $700 after expenses when the raid occurred.
"I think this is going to make us more paranoid in the future," she said. "The what-ifs are going to haunt us."
Siegal said that the video team had planned to use proceeds from the benefit to purchase two or three computers with Final Cut Pro 4, which would enable them to edit video footage more rapidly. The collective currently produces a weekly half-hour television show that airs on Manhattan Neighborhood Network, Brooklyn Community Access Television and nationally on Free Speech Television. It is currently working with several local groups to produce a daily hour-long show during the week of the Republican National Convention.
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Comments
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by x
(No verified email address) |
15 Aug 2004
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The more you oppress people, the more they tend to resist.
I lived in L.A. the decade and a half preceding the riots. L.A. was a police state much in the way NYC has become the last few years. If the repression continues, NYC undoubtedly will explode. It will be spontaneous and will be widespread. It won’t be an activist led, planned or inspired but rather an expensive and uncontrollable fury of the common man. It’s an accurate gauge of prevailing sentiment. It doesn‘t have to be this way. NYC, the administration, the police, could loosen their stranglehold on the city, it's citizens and visitors.
In fact, everything NYC does lately is political. They colluded to shut down peaceful dissent on 2/15/03. They inflame and goad protestors into confrontation, most of whom do not take the bait. They are preventing a protest in Central Park, not for safety's sake, but because they wield power arbitrarily. |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by --
(No verified email address) |
15 Aug 2004
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Another officer added, "We're just here to enforce the law and uphold the peace... We don't do things for political reasons here in the City of New York."
That's good to know! |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by Tampa Boy
(No verified email address) |
15 Aug 2004
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Volume's General Manager Jeffrey Tonnensen said "the official reason for the shut down was the lack of an emergency lighting system and a gerryrigged stage mounted on cinderblocks. He was also given a summons for not posting a sign warning pregnant women of the dangers posed by consuming alcohol"
Now I'm confused. Isn't it normally leftists who demand that profiteers assure saftey for their patrons and employees as well as clear warning put on toxic substances?
I'm confused. Isn't it BOTH political parties that give BS reasons from shutting down activist events? |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by @
(No verified email address) |
15 Aug 2004
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Happy to support you in the face of such oppression. Please post details where I can contribute. |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by Querilous
(No verified email address) |
15 Aug 2004
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It's hard to say whether this particular case was politically motivated or not, but we certainely know that this is a tactic used by police to "legally" bully groups that they want to dissuade. I wonder how many other clubs with similar violations were shut down mid-event. I would guess probably very few. We also know that there has been a pattern of bullying by the police and other government officials when it comes to anti-Bush, dissident activites.
If we must already fear bullying by the police, it is just a few short steps to facism. We must be vigilant and active if we are going to turn the tide. |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by shizzle
(No verified email address) |
15 Aug 2004
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Wow.
Anyone who thinks this wasn't politically motivated because the police said is wasn't is probably still looking for Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.
------
Erin Siegal said this would make folks more paranoid in the future: Wrong plan, Erin. Don't let them make us tight. Since the APOC raid earlier in the year it's been clear how the government was going to handle this.
Expect more. And decide not to care, while taking it seriously. The APOC raid was much more violent. There is a range of what they'll drop on people. Leading up to the RNC we can expect the police to try and make themselves the issue in activists lives.
Don't worry about it. One of their main tools is to make us worry about them. Paranoia and suspicion are what they use. From terror threats on TV, to raids at benefits.
Bush is not welcome here and harassing dread video activists is not going to stop the protests. All we have to do is keep working and deal with the fall-out when all is said and done. |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by Luke from DC
(No verified email address) |
15 Aug 2004
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Although white activists don't (yet) get the kind of charges and utter brutality that people of color get(like at APOC), this should be a wakeup call to ALL OF US! After Arab-Americans its other people of color-after them its all people, even whites, that Bu$h considers "enemies of the state"(Bu$h's own words).
This action is a declaration of war on ALL parts of the left by ALL agencies that were there. I suggest that people post sentries inside and bike scouts outside(at least a block away, maybe two plus a roving scout) all of our spaces to warn of raids so that escape or resistance plans can be prepared.
In a real war, such as the one Bu$h started in Iraq, nobody ever has everyone asleep, watching a movie, or anything else at once. For thousands of years, this has been true not only for military units but also cities and villatges under seige or just too close to the front.
Sentrys are on patrol 24-7 in such situations, and people eat,sleep, and evrything else in shifts. For people not to do this on a real battlefield risks never waking up-for us it still would mean risking waking up with a police gun to the head. We should no more leave any of our spaces undefended than the RNC will! |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by Heyman
MassMan (unverified) |
16 Aug 2004
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Bush and his Nazi's are trying to shut everyone up! From Florida Voters to Indymedia's. When will these Nazi's realize that there's more of us, than of them!
I hope you get your computers. Call the ACLU. And be strong. Not scared.
To Luke in D.C.-Doesn't matter what color you are. The MAN will dispose of anyone that is a problem. (JFK, RFK, King and Malcom X.) It's the 21st Century. Drop the color bullshit. |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by bob gorman
bcibob670 (nospam) aol.com (unverified) |
16 Aug 2004
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http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040816075209990007
link to story of FBI investigations into protestors.
bob |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by SOP
(No verified email address) |
16 Aug 2004
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I hope that the showing of "The Miami Model" was complete before the raid occurred. That documentary is likely to answer any doubts about the "innocent/politically-neutral" intentions of the police. Harassment of activist gatherings has been utterly standard (Boston, Miami, Sacramento, Philadelphia, etc.) Utterly standard.
Expect pre-emptive hassling. Just be smart and don't make their job any easier by having anything unfortunate on your person. Also, make sure to learn from every experience.
Peace and resistance! |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by S. Eppler
(No verified email address) |
17 Aug 2004
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Hey Bob, your hyperlink doesn't work. Folks need an AOL account to access the page. Can you copy/paste so's those of us who haven't signed up for AOL can see it?
Thanks! |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by Rosemary
(No verified email address) |
17 Aug 2004
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Now let's all chip in and assure that Indymedia has the funds to purchase those computers!
I'm sending my donation tonight. |
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Way to Go NYPD!!! |
by I Love NY
(No verified email address) |
17 Aug 2004
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Way to go NYPD!!! I think that it's great that all of you self-proclaimed radicals are being watched at every step. The days of Seattle are over! The good citizens of the United States are finally standing up to you trouble makers. Our message is very clear...GO AWAY...GET A JOB...STOP CAUSING TROUBLE. Our other message is that we are watching you. Your groups have been infiltrated. You have no idea if the radical standing next to you is a cop. Your days of free reign are over. |
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How To Donate To NYC-IMC's Coverage of RNC |
by @
(No verified email address) |
17 Aug 2004
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You can donate to support the IMC's coverage of the RNC by visiting:
https://secure.mediajumpstart.net/orgs/nycgrassrootsmedia.org/mediaspace |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by Love Those NY Cops!
(No verified email address) |
17 Aug 2004
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I agree with the post entitled WAY TO GO NYPD. You people all need to get a life and do something constructive with your time. Contribute something constructive to sociey instead of being a drain on society's resources. I hope that the police keep a very close eye on all of you in New York and arrest those of you who are on default warrants. |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by Jack Def
def08881 (nospam) suffolk.edu (unverified) |
19 Aug 2004
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I couldn't help but respond to 'I love NY' and 'Love Those NY Cops.'
Anyone who can read at the High School level knows that the First Amendment specifically protects our right to peaceably assemble and "address grievances" against our government. Seventy years ago the Supreme Court decided, and it has affirmed in the years since, that the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees this right to every American. We cannot honestly call America a democracy if we let this right be taken away. The statement that "we are watching you" is, obviously, closer to a Stalinist slogan than anything resembling democracy. The Bill of Rights was written to limit government authority; now our government claims whatever arbitrary authority it desires, by showing up with a gun.
Presumably the people who wrote these two posts have settled into the shallow belief that 'free speech' means Howard Stern's right to talk dirty on the radio. Please. I will be sending a contribution to IndyMedia and hope you keep up the good work.
As for me, I have a full-time, responsible job and am taking night classes towards a Masters degree. Even so, I've been able to find time to protest Bush's war crimes, and am angry (but surprised) by the police-state tactics being used to suppress dissent this summer. |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by Carl Church
torchstoneservices (nospam) mail2netherlands.com (unverified) |
19 Aug 2004
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ha ha ha you fools will never win Goooo COPS! |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by Bob
(No verified email address) |
20 Aug 2004
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To Jack Def....Just wondering...Did you also protest Bill Clinton's war crimes in Somalia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Iraq, and particularly his illegal non-UN sanctioned war against the people of Kosovo? |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by Jack Def
def08881 (nospam) suffolk.edu (unverified) |
20 Aug 2004
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What I didn't do was intimidate, bully, or advocate police harassment of people who opposed Clinton. |
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Clinton's War Crimes |
by Bob
(No verified email address) |
20 Aug 2004
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So then, Jack...I guess that since you didn't answer in the affirmative, you did not protest Bill Clinton's war crimes. I guess that you're not really opposed to war, but only wars waged by Republican administrations. Let me refresh your memory a bit. Bill Clinton changed a humanitarian mission in Somalia into a search and destroy mission against tribal leader Mohammed Farrah Aidid. In attempting to capture him, Clinton sent in the US Army Rangers. In a failed raid, 19 Americans were killed in one evening and in that same evening over 2000 Somali civilians were killed. Somalia had never attacked the United States. Bill clinton sent jets to bomb Bosnia. Bosnia never attacked the United States. Bill Clinton sent ground troops into Macedonia. Macedonia never attacked the United States. Bill Clinton bombed Iraq for three straight days in Operation Desert Fox. Bill Clinton claimed that Iraq had weapons of Mass Destruction as was evident from their expulsion of UN weapons inspectors. Iraq had not attacked the United States. Clinton bombed Kosovo and Serbia for over 70 days from altitudes of 15,000 feet and higher causing massive civilian casualties and creating a massive refugee crisis. Clinton's action was taken without UN approval. Kosovo never attacked the United States. Clinton launced a cruise missile attack on a pharmaceutical factory in the Sudan killing that factoriy's civilian workers and creating a health care crisis in the Sudan. Clinton claimed that Sudan was making Weapons of Mass Destruction in the factory. This was later disproved. Sudan never attacked the United States. Bill Clinton waged a covert war in Colombia without UN approval. Colombia never attacked the United States. Yet, you chose not to protest any of these illegal activities. Your cover is blown. You are a hypocrite. You protest this war because George W. Bush is president. No other reason. |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by carl church
torchstoneservices (nospam) mail2netherlands.com (unverified) |
20 Aug 2004
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glad to see the cops are on top of these people who advertise their intention of anarchy. fuck anarchy I want to live in a civilized city. |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by a
(No verified email address) |
20 Aug 2004
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carl, how much of anarchy do you actually understand? I'm not an anarchist but the last time I checked everyone is supposed to be treated equally, any idiot can figure that out. Just because anarchy elminates a leader for you to follow like the idiot sheep that you are it doesn't mean that you should rule it out immediately, perhaps if you spawn an original thought you'll understand what I'm talking about.
Secondly, I don't see why the event was shut down but I wouldn't say that it is definetly due to political motivation. The amount of rights that police have without the possession of evidence is what really needs to be fixed. I understand that law and police are necessary in a corrupt society such as this one but trying to stop dissent in the form of protests was supposed to be prevented by our founding documents and principles. |
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Kerry's War Crimes |
by James
(No verified email address) |
20 Aug 2004
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Bob. You forgot one. Clinton invaded Haiti in order to restore to power, the dictator Jean Bertrand Aristide. Aristide was know for necklacing his opponents, a brutal form of murder by which a gasoline soaked tire is placed around the victim's neck and set ablaze. But let's turn to Kerry. Kerry admitted his war crimes in sworn testimony before congress. He admitted to burning villages, killing livestock, and killing people in free fire zones. I hope that Jack will join me in condemning Kerry's crimes and the political party that he represents. Maybe Jack will even call for Kerry to be prosecuted. There is no statute of limitations for war crimes. |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by Pazuzu
(No verified email address) |
24 Aug 2004
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One person put it plain and clear here: organize sentries at the very least. That should keep the pigs, including the provocateur ones writing propaganda above, at arms length for however long is needed to mobilize against their fascist asses. |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by RzG
growingbird (nospam) aol.com (unverified) |
24 Aug 2004
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Just a note to James...he has the story on Haiti mostly wrong. It's much more complicated...and the US was/has playing both sides. In reality, Washington of course hates Aristide: "Aristide--slum priest, grassroots activists, exponent of liberation theology--represents everything that the CIA, DOD and FBI think they have been trying to protect this country against for the past 50 years." Initially of course the CIA was actually backing the 1991 military coup...and the stories of attrocities by Arsitide (reported by mainsteam, corporate sources) are actually mostly disinformation. The notion that the 1994 US miltary action was REALLY about restoring Aristide is incorrect. So, yes Clinton and the US are guilty of very bad dealings but not in the way you suggest...
You can read some good articles about what was really going on at www.counterpunch.org |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by James
(No verified email address) |
07 Sep 2004
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Did Aristide not necklace his opponents? |
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ujfemi |
by ujfemi
john (nospam) boxfrog.com (unverified) |
23 May 2006
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Not much noteworthy happening worth mentioning. I've just been letting everything pass me by these days. Maybe tomorrow. I feel like a bunch of nothing. Not much on my mind these days. I've just been staying at home not getting anything done.
http://breitling-watch.pz-wo.info/breitling-price-watch.html |
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Re: NYC - Police Raid on IndyMedia Fundraising Event |
by fxl1dh5@ebay.com
(No verified email address) |
26 May 2006
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