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</font><h1><b><a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog">New Article
from GreenIsTheNewRed.com</a> </b></h1><font size=3>An
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/wp-content/Images/demuth_iowa_affidavit.pdf">
FBI affidavit</a> has just been released in the investigation of the 2004
Animal Liberation Front break-in at the University of Iowa. It shows the
stream-of-consciousness approach the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force
took to the investigation, including surfing MySpace and Facebook and
using an informant to identify activists on YouTube. <br><br>
The affidavit from October, 2009, also shows the shaky pretext used to
justify charging
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/animal-enterprise-terrorism-act-conspiracy-indictment/2360/">
Scott DeMuth with Animal Enterprise Terrorism</a>, jailing
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/carrie-feldmaniowa-grand-jury-alf/2331/">
Carrie Feldman in a grand jury witch hunt</a>, and
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/fbi-raids-utah-activist-house-alf-iowa/2550/">
raiding the home of Peter Young</a>. <br><br>
For example:
<ul>
<li><b>A confidential informant was used to identify individuals in a
YouTube spoof video</b> created prior to the Republican National
Convention in the Twin Cities. The video, like many others that have been
made for mass protests, shows faux “Black Bloc” activists getting ready
for the RNC. (The joke is that they are sipping coffee and reading the
newspaper while wearing black masks.) The informant reportedly identified
Carrie Feldman and Scott DeMuth as cast members in the skit. <br>
<li>When the video came out, I posted about it on this site, and jokingly
called it a
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/rnc-trailer/331/">
“Homegrown Terrorist” training video</a>. Months later, the government is
calling it exactly that.
<li><b>The government says Scott DeMuth wrote in his diary about the
ongoing political crackdown on environmental activists. </b>For example,
one alleged entry includes, “Fuck the Feds” and “Turns out the Feds have
shit on P” (who the government claims is Peter Young). DeMuth also
allegedly wrote “It’s almost been a year since Iowa,” which the FBI
agents typed in bold font, implying that DeMuth must have been involved
in the ALF raid. <br>
<li>DeMuth allegedly wrote, “And the ABC [Anarchist Black Cross, a group
that supports political prisoners] has gotten a fair amount of attention
from the FBI. I don’t think I am at too much risk.”
<li><b>DeMuth’s Facebook, Livejournal and Myspace </b>all “identify him
with his interests of animal rights, anarchy and ecological extremist
groups,” the FBI says.
<li><b>An FBI agent reviewed a MySpace photo</b> of Carrie Feldman,
posing with a white rat on her shoulder. Rats were removed during the
Animal Liberation Front raid at the University of Iowa.
<li><b>Activists organized a Dangerous Media Tour</b>, also known as “The
Steal This Film Fest.” This public event, open to everyone (including the
FBI, who were there taking photos) included information on making free
phone calls and other hacks to resist “corporate rule.” The affidavit
paints this is a covert terrorist gathering, but to anyone familiar with
<a href="http://www.crimethinc.com/">CrimethInc.</a>, Evasion, and the
like, there is an entire punk subculture built up around similar petty
scams.
</ul><br>
I spoke with Lauren Regan of the Civil Liberties Defense Center to help
me put this affidavit in context. “This is just an incredible example of
how extremely flimsy the actual fact evidence is in these cases,” she
said. “If they had stronger evidence against this kid [DeMuth], they
would have used it.”<br><br>
It doesn’t seem that the government has anything else to go on. When
prosecutors
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/scott-demuth-released-anarchist-literature/2393/">
filed an emergency motion to keep DeMuth locked up</a>, they based it on
labeling him an anarchist.<br><br>
This is an important point to underscore. The date of this affidavit,
October, 2009, places it before the Utah raid of Peter Young’s home, and
before the grand jury. In other words, it is very likely that the entire
case for the indictment of Scott DeMuth was based on this flimsy string
of information, including lawful speaking events, Facebook, and YouTube.
<br><br>
Related posts:
<ol>
<li>
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/fbi-raids-utah-activist-house-alf-iowa/2550/">
BREAKING: FBI Raids Activist House in Utah, Connected to Iowa ALF
Investigation</a>
<li>
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/animal-enterprise-terrorism-act-conspiracy-indictment/2360/">
Minneapolis Activist Indicted for Conspiracy to Violate Animal Enterprise
Terrorism Act</a>
<li>
<a href="http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/carrie-feldmaniowa-grand-jury-alf/2331/">
Activist to Iowa Grand Jury: “We will not be intimidated. We will not
cooperate.”</a> <x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
</ol><br><br>
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