Feds, cops in vendetta against subversive webmaster

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On the day Austin began his prison sentence, Senator Dianne Feinstein, who helped push through the federal statute to which Austin ultimately pleaded guilty, issued a Sept. 3, 2003 press release lamenting that Austin's conviction is only the first under the law, which has been on the books for a few years. The press release excerpted a letter Sen. Feinstein sent to Attorney General John Ashcroft hoping for more.

Sherman Austin is looking forward to a year in federal prison with the kind of equanimity that most people reserve for a trip to the doctor's office.

The 20-year-old anarchist was charged with distributing information about Molotov cocktails and "Drano bombs" on his Web site, Raisethefist.com. Under a 1997 federal law championed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., it is illegal to publish such instructions with the intent that readers commit "a federal crime of violence."

During the floor debate over the legislation, which the Senate approved unanimously, Feinstein said children "are getting instructions for making these explosives from the Internet... In February, in upstate New York, three 13-year-old boys were charged with plotting to set off a homemade bomb in their junior high school, using bomb-making plans which they had gotten off of the Internet... My amendment gives law enforcement another tool in the war against terrorism, to combat the flow of information that is used to teach terrorists and other criminals how to build bombs."

Austin appears to be the first person so far convicted under the controversial law, which some First Amendment scholars say may violate the right to freedom of expression. Earlier this year, Austin pleaded guilty, and last week a federal judge in Los Angeles sentenced him to one year in prison.

CNET News.com interviewed Austin by telephone from a guest house where he is staying in Long Beach, Calif. ...

Since we are living in an uncommon era of political repression, and the scaling back of our rights and civil liberties, it may be best to conclude with recommendations and lessons that Austin has learned and experienced from the injustices that he has endured:

If the authorities really want to harass or jail you, they will find common objects or minor offenses and turn them into major crimes. Furthermore, some are not above inventing evidence outright to make their case. Therefore, "...don't let it get to a point where it gets you paranoid and gets you in a state of fear. Because that's what they want..."

On the other hand, don't fall into their hands by giving them the ammunition they're looking for either, "...Anything you do online is never 100% secure. You can never assume you are anonymous online." Austin explained that there are even ways to monitor a computer that isn't connected to the net.

It's not illegal to post or publish bomb making information; it's illegal to do so with the INTENT to further an act of violence, which is difficult to prove in most cases.

Learn from Austin's tragic example that a 'binding' agreement from a prosecutor can be thrown out by the judge and a one month sentence today can turn into a year and more come sentencing time if you plead out.

These terrifying proceedings would weigh heavily on anybody as they must on Austin. Yet he remained outwardly calm during sentencing and in the course of this interview by preparing his mind to expect the harshness of the sentencing and jail time.

If you are a committed activist, in these times, it's a wise policy to squirrel away whatever you can into a defense fund: "It's just obvious that if you don't have a lot of money, you can't buy your way out of things. People are convicted and they cop pleas because they feel like they can't fight the system."

The terms of Sherman's probation are rather upsetting, if correctly reported on the web site, "... that (1) he cannot possess or access a computer of any kind without prior approval of his probation officer, (2) if his probation officer gives permission, the equipment is subject to monitoring and is subject to search and seizure at any time, without notice, (3) he cannot alter any of the software or hardware on any computer he uses, (4) he must surrender his phone, DSL, electric, and satellite bills, (5) he cannot associate with any person or group that seeks to change the government in any way (be that environmental, social justice, political, economic, etc.)..."

A computer is to a webmaster as a newspaper is to a publisher, or as a book is to an author. Clearly, the powers-that-be want to prevent Mr. Austin from expressing himself publicly after he is released from federal confinement. Combined with the prohibition of free association, in the absence of proven criminal activity, these conditions make the terms of Mr. Austin's probation a mockery of the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution. Among the concerns addressed by Mr. Austin's web site are U.S. foreign policy, the government's position on Cannabis and the development of biodiesel fuel.

A federal judge sentenced a 20-year-old man on Monday to a year in prison for creating an anarchist Web site with links to sites on how to build bombs.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson sentenced Sherman Martin Austin, of Los Angeles, to more than the prosecutor recommended under a plea bargain, indicating he believed the deal was too lenient.

In February, Austin pleaded guilty to distributing information related to explosives. In exchange, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rod Castro-Silva recommended he serve four months in prison and four months of community detention.

During his sentencing, Austin told the judge, he "wasn't really thinking" when he created the site.

"Now I'm more focused on just getting on with my life," he said. "I'd be devastated if someone used this information to harm others."

Under the agreement, Austin admitted to posting on his Web site links about bombs to enable people to build and use them during demonstrations against interstate and foreign trade.

According to the transcript of a January 2002 interview with FBI agents, Austin said he wanted his Web site to teach people about police brutality.

Austin must also pay a $2,000 fine and will be prohibited from using a computer without probation approval for three years. He also will be barred from associating with anyone from a group that "espouses physical force as a means of change," Wilson said.

Austin had previously been arrested with other protesters at the World Economic Forum in New York in February 2002 on charges of disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman denied Austin bail then, ordering him to be escorted back to Los Angeles because statements on his Web site indicated he was not likely to return home on his own.

Well, the First and Second Amendments don't mean shit I guess. One year in prison for LINKS? Can't associate with groups who hold certain beliefs AFTER getting out of prison? Can't use a computer for 3 years AFTER prison? I don't think this guy had very good legal representation either.

=The Gentle Anarchist=

In earlier coverage there was at least the coordinated pretense that Sherman had himself written or published bomb-making instructions, not merely linked to some loony site (not that writing or publishing such material justifies prison, of course).

=H&HH=

I'm honestly shocked he only got one year in jail.

=Phillip S.=

Free speech: oxymoron.

=X-Pensive Winos=

Maybe soon it'll be jail for having links that criticize the US government.

=Marshall=

Much of the Internet is a cricket chorus of disaffected voices, and Raise the Fist, which Austin still operates, is no different from any other of the woollier one-man sites on the left and right. Perhaps, in another time, the feds would have merely regarded Sherman Austin as a minor irritant, marginally worth watching. But then 9/11 hit, and the rest, as they say, is hysteria. The feds have also used petty crimes as excuses to apprehend Austin and intensify their case against him. "On or about June 24," the FBI affidavit notes with deadpan seriousness,

"... Austin was cited by San Diego Police Department (SDPD) for a traffic violation, California Vehicle Codes Section 21456(8), 'pedestrian crossing against a don't walk or wait sign' ..." It would appear that it's not the PATRIOT Act so much as the DMV book that's been thrown at Austin: A driving-without-a-license citation was used to bump up his sentencing schedule in the same way the possession of a handgun might be used to raise the severity of a robbery charge.

Although the American Civil Liberties Union is not involved in Austin's case (it does not assist defendants in criminal proceedings), his plight seems to be one of those small stories told in quiet courtrooms that define the liberties we can or cannot take for granted during times of national emergency — or, at least, the government's self-declared emergencies.

"Fear of serious injury cannot alone justify suppression of free speech and assembly," Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote more than 75 years ago in a case involving what were then called Reds. "Men feared witches and burnt women ... To justify suppression of free speech there must be reasonable ground to believe that serious evil will result if free speech is practiced."

How much of a threat RTF has posed is a point that's becoming moot. Sooner or later, Sherman Austin is going to jail, having agreed to plead guilty rather than risk a much longer sentence that could be put into place through "terrorist enhancements" provided by the PATRIOT Act. Except for the "RTF Legal Defense Fund" advertised on his own Web site, there are no "Save Sherman" committees and no petition drives.

Raisethefist.com, Sherman Austin went to court on Monday, Sept 30th to plead guilty to felony: 18 U.S.C. 842 (p)(2)(A): distribution of information relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction with the intent that such information be used in furtherance of a federal crime of violence. The plea bargain was to give Austin a felony conviction with 1 month in jail, 5 months in a half-way home and 3 years supervised release.

As the prosecutor read the factual basis of the plea agreement in court, Judge Wilson immediately turned defiant, saying 1 month in jail was not acceptable. He expressed that posting such information regardless of any intent should be illegal, (this of course completely disregarding the 1st amendment and the thousands of NON-ANARCHIST web sites which distribute bomb making instructions), stating that the offense is too serious for Austin to serve only 1 month in jail. Judge Wilson argued that Austin should serve more than 12 months, even though the sentencing is between 6-12 months for Austin's criminal history category under violation 18 U.S.C. 842.

The judge also attempted to make Austin out as a terrorist, saying he didn't care how old he was, that his political philosophy behind his reasons of posting the information made it a very serious federal offense, with the intent that the information be used for malicious destruction at international events of foreign commerce.

Austin's attorney argued that the intent of posting the information was not that it be used for offensive purposes, but that it would be used in a self-defense manner only if police were to violently attack demonstrators, putting them in danger and disallowing them to exercise their freedom of speech.

If going to trial, Austin faces 3-4 years in prison if convicted of both felony charges: 18 U.S.C. 842 (p)(2)(A): Distribution of information relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction with the intent that such information be used in furtherance of a federal crime of violence; 26 U.S.C. 5861(D): Possession of a firearm which is not registered to him in the national firearms registration and transfer record.

Once indicted, a plea would offer Austin 6+ months in jail.

According to Austin, all of the site's files, which were dedicated to "the anti-corporate globalization movement," were lost as a result of the raid. The site had received approximately 700 unique visitors each day, he said.

"I think they are a bunch of cheap shots, surrounding and raiding my house with machine guns, shotguns, bullet-proof vests. They had more artillery than they use with wanted gang felons or raids on drug operations," said Austin.

Matthew McLaughlin, a representative of the FBI's Los Angeles field office, confirmed that agents who conducted the search were heavily armed. "This is Los Angeles after all. We always go in to protect ourselves. We don't go in with slingshots," said McLaughlin.

A message at the Raisethefist.com site today described the raid and said the incident was proof that "anyone actively disagreeing with policies of the U.S is now automatically rendered a 'terrorist' in the eyes of national security." Following the Sept.11 attacks on America, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act, which expand the ability of law enforcement to hunt for terrorists.

"People can rant and rave on the Internet all they want, but when they cross the line of calling people to action to violently overthrow the Constitution of the United States, they have a problem," said McLaughlin.

The home of Raise the Fist, a prominent LA-based news and organizing website, was raided by heavily-armed agents of the Los Angeles Joint Terrorism Task Forice — FBI, Secret Service and LAPD — serving a search warrant this afternoon. The Feds confiscated computers, software, and political literature, and shutdown the web site.

Los Angeles FBI spokesperson Cheryl Mimura confirmed the raid, saying the web site is under investigation for "computer fraud and abuse" as well as "distribution of information related to explosives, destructive devices, and/or weapons of mass destruction." Because no one was arrested, Mimura declined to release the name the individual(s) under investigation.

From Sherman's website, Raise the fist:
"On Jan 24, 2002, my home was surrounded and raided by approximately 25 heavily armed FBI and Secret Service agents in one of the governments first attempts to exercise the new US Patriot Act. I was interrogated for several hours while they ransacked my room and they seized a network of computers which I used to run my web site raisethefist.com. They also seized protest signs, and political literature.

Their excuse was a protest guide (which I didn't author) that was posted to my site which a small portion contained information on explosives. The FBI had been monitoring the site long before this was ever posted, and long before Sept 11. The "explosives information" on my site (again which I didn't author) doesn't compare to what you can find on any other web sites such as howthingswork.com, Loompanics.com, Bombshock.com, Totse.com, Amazon.com, or the many neo nazi web sites which cover everything from assassinations, explosives, fraud and firearms. It's obvious a web surfer interested in making a bomb or taking part in other extra-illegal activities would not have to rely on Raisethefist.com. So how could the "bomb making information" on raisethefist.com be a concern to authorities? ..."

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