[Ppnews] Affidavit in Scott Demuth case shows shaky FBI charges

[Political Prisoner News]

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<http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog>New Article from GreenIsTheNewRed.com

An 
<http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/wp-content/Images/demuth_iowa_affidavit.pdf>FBI 
affidavit 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.

The affidavit from October, 2009, also shows the shaky pretext used 
to justify charging 
<http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/animal-enterprise-terrorism-act-conspiracy-indictment/2360/>Scott 
DeMuth with Animal Enterprise Terrorism, jailing 
<http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/carrie-feldmaniowa-grand-jury-alf/2331/>Carrie 
Feldman in a grand jury witch hunt, and 
<http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/fbi-raids-utah-activist-house-alf-iowa/2550/>raiding 
the home of Peter Young.

For example:
    * A confidential informant was used to identify individuals in a 
YouTube spoof video 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.
    * When the video came out, I posted about it on this site, and 
jokingly called it a 
<http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/rnc-trailer/331/>"Homegrown 
Terrorist" training video. Months later, the government is calling it 
exactly that.
    * The government says Scott DeMuth wrote in his diary about the 
ongoing political crackdown on environmental activists. 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.
    * 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."
    * DeMuth's Facebook, Livejournal and Myspace all "identify him 
with his interests of animal rights, anarchy and ecological extremist 
groups," the FBI says.
    * An FBI agent reviewed a MySpace photo 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.
    * Activists organized a Dangerous Media Tour, 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 <http://www.crimethinc.com/>CrimethInc., Evasion, and 
the like, there is an entire punk subculture built up around similar 
petty scams.

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."

It doesn't seem that the government has anything else to go on. When 
prosecutors 
<http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/scott-demuth-released-anarchist-literature/2393/>filed 
an emergency motion to keep DeMuth locked up, they based it on 
labeling him an anarchist.

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.

Related posts:
    * 
<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
    * 
<http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/animal-enterprise-terrorism-act-conspiracy-indictment/2360/>Minneapolis 
Activist Indicted for Conspiracy to Violate Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act
    * 
<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."



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