IP: FBI raids Seattle journalist collective, delivers gag order] (fwd)

[Dave Farber <dave@farber.net>]

>Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 15:12:07 -0500
>:To: politech@politechbot.com
>:From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
>
>:
>:This was reportedly posted on then removed from vermont.indymedia.org:
>:>"There is a report of FBI Officers currently located within the Seattle
>:>IMC demanding the location of the person who's name is the registered name
>:>of indymedia.org. Apparently, they have an arrest warrant for Jonathan Jay
>:>because of a supposed threat against President Bush on the Montreal IMC
>:>site. They are making threats that the IMC is not supposed to send out
>:>*any* emails regarding this issue, according to the warrant. However,
>:>this, according to the IMC lawyer, is Prior Restraint, which is
>:>unconstitutional. The closest story mentioning Bush on the Montreal site
>:>is the following: story mentioning bush Please look to
>:>seattle.indymedia.org as well as other sites for updates on this situation."
>:
>:The name "Jonathan Jay" does indeed appear in the "whois" database:
>:http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois?STRING=indymedia.org
>:
>:But each Independent Media Center is a collective that includes hundreds of
>:loosely-affiliated journalists and activists. Holding the whois registrant
>:responsible for what appears on the site -- if that is what happened --
>:makes little sense. He may have simply donated the domain name years ago,
>:or may be no longer involved in the publication of the site.
>:
>:Also, the gag order -- the sketchy little we know of it -- seems remarkably
>:broad. Why shouldn't a news organization be able to report on a raid of its
>:office?
>:
>:Background:
>:http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,38286,00.html
>:http://www.cluebot.com/article.pl?sid=01/04/24/1857245
>:
>:-Declan
>:
>:*********
>:
>:Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 12:07:54 -0700
>:From: Warren Cowley <wdcowley@earthlink.net>
>:To: declan@well.com
>:Subject: Indymedia raided by the FBI and gag order placed on discussion of
>:the issue
>:
>:Declan,
>:Please sound the alarm. The FBI has chosen another target. They raided the
>:Indymedia center on sat  04/21/01.
>:In the process they have placed a gag order on indymedia.
>:the story is here :
>:http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0424-04.htm
>:and
>:here:
>:http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=36185&group=webcast
>:
>:Thanks
>:A very concerned citizen
>:
>:*********
>:
>:http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/local/19980_security24.shtml
>:
>:    FBI raids media center
>:    Stolen security plan for Quebec meeting was put on Internet here
>:
>:    Tuesday, April 24, 2001
>:
>:    By PAUL SHUKOVSKY
>:    SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
>:
>:    Security plans intended to protect Western leaders attending a trade
>:    summit in Quebec City were stolen from a car there over the weekend
>:    and posted, hours later, on a Seattle-based Web site, authorities said
>:    yesterday.
>:
>:    On Saturday night, FBI agents raided the offices of the Independent
>:    Media Center in downtown Seattle, seizing computer-log records,
>:    according to federal sources.
>:
>:    No arrests have been made.
>:
>:    Center spokeswoman Sherry Herndon said she and other staff have been
>:    told "not to talk about" the incident under threat of being held in
>:    contempt of court.
>:
>:    She referred inquiries to attorney Bob Goodman of the Center for
>:    Constitutional Rights in New York City, who also declined comment.
>:
>:    He said the court order that was served on the IMC "contains a fairly
>:    broad gag order; therefore, we cannot talk."
>:
>:    ...
>:
>:    No mention of the FBI raid could be found yesterday on the IMC Web
>:    site. But the organization's home page carried a boldface note
>:    stating, "Everything is fine at the Seattle IMC. We will keep you
>:    posted on any further developments."
>:
>:    ...
>:
>:*********
>:
>:



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