November 11, 2009
Local accounts indicate that the federal grand jury out of Davenport, Iowa targeting local Minneapolis activist Carrie Feldman has widened its scope and subpoened another member of the local community. I’ll report more, maybe comment on more, when I know more.
In the mean time (and always): Fuck grand juries. Every time. Every question.
Resist. Resist. Resist.
Update: The indymedia story is here.
October 25, 2009
So I was briefly in court the other day. I am not going to comment much on the reason for my presence, though you can get an idea here.
What an amazing thing it is to be in court, though. The system stands naked before you and gets all awkward about the shit.
The last time I was in court, a few months ago, we (me and my co-defendants) were preceded by three different cases. One was a public urination offense and the other two were trespassing charges lodged against rather sad-looking dudes who had apparently slept in an abandoned house and a trainyard, respectively.
This time, since we had acquired counsel, we weren’t really even on the agenda. We mostly hung out in the hall, reading the formal complaints we’d demanded a month ago and received directly prior to the hearing. The state offered us the same basic offer we got last time, which we refused. One of us got our charges dismissed for some reason. Hell yeah for that.
Anyways, sitting in the courtroom, here are the two other charges I heard against others on Friday:
Public indecency: A woman was arrested passed out in the passenger seat of a car with no pants on. The representative of the state asked her very serious questions about this. She was compelled to answer very seriously. The prosecutor was a young white woman and the defendant was an African-American woman in her mid-30s, I’d guess. Everyone found it awkward and distasteful and stupid. Still, that’s how the system rolls.
Trespassing: An old man — grizzled, looking pretty beat-up but mostly from the travails of street-life, I’d guess — stood in shackles in that little booth Hennepin County mandates for inmates. Turns out, he slept in a bus stop enclosure and got picked up. It was readily apparent that he probably had nowhere else to go. Still, here he was, jumpsuited, shackled, looking like someone who’d hurt someone. Fuck if I know if he ever had. He mostly looked dejected and sad. He answered questions like, “Did you know, on the evening of October xx, that it was illegal to seek shelter in a bus-stop?” And he was like, “Yes, m’aam.” And looked down.
We, me and my co-defendants, are charged with allegedly impeding — in various ways — the eviction of a 25-year resident from her house. Later, it seems, they will arrest those who sleep in the house they just emptied. Later still, they will arrest those who “seek shelter in bus-stops.”
This is madness.
October 22, 2009
It’s here.
October 22, 2009
I’ve heard a ton about the anthology put out by INCITE (Women of Color Against Violence), but I haven’t gotten around to actually reading it. This sucks, and is something I plan to rectify.
However, the notes and background on their Web site are worth reading in and of themselves. Here’s a particularly relevant bit to those who toil, have toiled, or might consider toiling in the galleys of professional world-changers:
WHAT IS THE “NON-PROFIT INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX?”
The non-profit industrial complex (or the NPIC) is a system of relationships between:
- the State (or local and federal governments)
- the owning classes
- foundations
- and non-profit/NGO social service & social justice organizations
that results in the surveillance, control, derailment, and everyday management of political movements. The state uses non-profits to:
- Monitor and control social justice movements;
- Divert public monies into private hands through foundations;
- Manage and control dissent in order to make the world safe for capitalism;
- Redirect activist energies into career-based modes of organizing instead of mass-based organizing capable of actually transforming society;
- Allow corporations to mask their exploitative and colonial work practices through “philanthropic” work;
- Encourage social movements to model themselves after capitalist structures rather than to challenge them
This is consistent with my experience. I wonder what others think.
October 20, 2009
As you can see in Feldman’s grand jury subpoena, the government provides few details about what is actually being investigated. That’s no accident: grand juries, by design, are secretive and conducted outside of public scrutiny in a legal void where basic Fifth and First Amendment rights do not apply. [Here is a handy booklet on grand juries with much more information.] If activists refuse to participate in the political witch-hunt, they can face serious jail time. Jordan Halliday has done exactly that with a Utah Grand Jury, and he is facing federal criminal contempt charges.
This is an Orwellian, Kafka-esque, insert-relevant-paranoid-literary-figure-here arrangement that needs to be done away with in its entirety. Cheers to Carrie and all others who resist.
October 17, 2009
An interesting take on the work of economist Elinor Ostrum, recent winner of the Nobel Peace Prize:
What none of these libertarians realizes is that she is not proposing a different interpretation of the tragedy of the commons, or a different solution to the tragedy of the commons. What Ostrom has worked to demonstrate is that, in many situations, there is no such thing as the tragedy of the commons. People can, over time, develop mechanisms for successfully managing common property. There is no need for private property enforced by a state.
You know what Ostrom’s work is really an argument for?
Anarchy.
I had a similar thought when I first read descriptions of her work in the press. Seems worth checking out in more detail.
October 17, 2009
She also released a statement, post-Davenport:
October 15th, 2009
Today I had my first appearance before the federal grand jury in Davenport, Iowa. I was represented by a federal public defender (although he could not be present in the grand jury with me). After reading a brief statement expressing that I would not testify, I was released with a subpoena to reappear before the grand jury again on the 17th of November at 9:00 A.M. It is likely that at this time I will be held in contempt of court for continuing to remain silent, and could face jail time up to the length of the grand jury (it convenes for 12 months total, which leaves 11 remaining after my November appearance). We are still looking into legal questions regarding how long they could hold me.
Although the prosecutor has still not been forthcoming as to what the are investigating me for, I now feel confident in assuming that they are looking into an ALF action that occurred at the University of Iowa in 2004. Many different signs, including a question from one of the jurors, have indicated this.
Some info about federal grand juries in Iowa:
The federal grand jury in Iowa has sessions for two days at a time, once a month. They are convened for 12 months at a time. There is always a grand jury going on and they hear a variety of cases–they are not convened for any specific thing. They are secret, and even the public defenders working on those cases are kept very much in the dark. The current grand jury convened on October 14th.
Here’s the statement I read to the grand jury:
“First of all, I would like to state, unequivocally and most certainly for the record, that I have no intention of testifying before this grand jury. Based on information from the prosecutor indicating that I may be a target of this investigation, I am invoking my Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. But beyond that, I am refusing to cooperate based on a sincere belief that to do so would run counter to my deeply held convictions and values.
Grand juries were originally created to prevent arbitrary indictments, but are now used as a tool of the prosecution to gather information. Grand juries undercut basic rights supposedly granted in the Constitution by denying access to counsel and coercing testimony. They are now, and have been for some time, used to investigate and intimidate those who would express dissent.
This is only effective when we are complicit, when we are frightened, when we are divided. Today my voice may waver, as I stand alone in this room. But I know I speak with the voice of every one of my friends, loved ones, and comrades when I say this: We will not be intimidated. We will not cooperate. I have nothing more to say to you.
Thanks to everyone for how much support I’ve gotten already. It means so much to me to know you have my back.
If you want to stay updated on my case, visit supportcarrie.wordpress.com
And remember–stay safe, stay strong, and fuck grand juries!”
Carrie is a friend and colleague of mine. I have no compunction whatsoever in saying she has nothing to do with this investigation. Yet, as we know or are beginning to realize, guilt has little to do with grand jury investigations. They should be resisted in their entirety.
Carrie is doing this. Please support her.
October 16, 2009
I just got back from scenic Davenport, IA, having traveled with friends to support a member of our community targeted by a grand jury. (Fun fact: The feds at the courthouse rooted suspiciously through my granola and, at one point, held up a bag and asked, “Raisins?” I actually responded, “Yes, officer. Those are raisins.”)
Anyways, our friend’s initial statement on the issue is below, and background on the travesty that is the grand jury can be found here.
Expect updates.
October 13, 2009
Minneapolis, MNShortly after leaving my house today at 5:00, I was pulled over by an unmarked black SUV, and approached by two FBI agents from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They served me a subpoena to appear before a federal grand jury in Davenport, Iowa on Thursday, October 15th. They identified themselves as Tom Reinwart and Melissa Henderson, and gave the Cedar Rapids, Iowa FBI office as their contact information (Phone number 319-366-2461). I was also notified recently that a federal agent had contacted my high school with a subpoena for my attendance records from 2004, presumably in relation to the same event. While it is still unclear what the grand jury is investigating, our basic internet research has found that there were some acts of animal rights vandalism in Iowa during the time period in
question.A scan of the subpoena is attached here.
We have no information yet of other activists being subpoenaed. If you have any information about this grand jury or have been subpoenaed as well, please contact Earth Warriors are OK! at 612-29-EWOKS (612-293-9657) or e-mail ewok@riseup.net.
Stay safe, stay strong, and fuck grand juries!
Yours,
Carrie Feldman
Coldsnap Legal Collective
EWOK!
October 11, 2009
As a compendium of viewpoints and observations post-RNC, this documentary is pretty hard to beat. Individuals raise questions that need addressing in virtually every interview. Please watch it.
October 1, 2009
I won’t comment right now on some of the assumptions about G20 organizing in this article, some of which I understand have been addressed by the author in a response to comments on Infoshop (and which I can’t get to load right now), but there’s a lot of food for thought here.
I plan to write a response, largely in agreement with the broadstrokes. We’ll see if that ever happens.
