The media has been nearly silent for 7 days since a prominent LA-based activist website was shutdown by the Los Angeles Anti-Terrorism Task Force. On the afternoon of Jan. 24, 20 well-armed agents of the FBI, Secret Service, and LAPD served a 25-page search warrant on the San Fernando Valley residence of 18-year-old activist/programmer Sherman. By the end of the evening, federal agents had driven off with the entire home computer network that hosted RaiseTheFist.com and LAAnarchists.org - including 8 computers and even the DSL modem.
Sherman, who prefers to use only his surname, 'had bomb-making information on his website, which under the terms of the Patriot Act is illegal,' FBI Spokesman Matthew McLaughlin told the LA Weekly, which published a news report on Jan. 31. Sherman, however, was not arrested, and is now working on restoring his websites from an old backup while he awaits further legal developments.
The RTF raid was first reported late Jan. 24 on Indymedia, the network of open-publishing news sites. It was confirmed the next day by Indymedia volunteers in San Francisco, who spoke with Cheryl Mimura from the Los Angeles FBI Field Office. Mimura described an ongoing investigation into 'computer fraud and abuse' as well as 'distribution of information related to explosives, destructive devices, and/or weapons of mass destruction,' and confirmed that the site had been 'shutdown' -- but declined to provide Sherman's full name or any other information, since no arrests had been made.
Over the weekend an interview with Sherman (and me) appeared on Kuro5hin, in which he denied that anything illegal was hosted on his servers, describing himself as a victim of an FBI attempt 'to silence' his increasingly popular, allbeit politically-'radical' websites. Sherman's take on the episode rings true in light of comments by FBI agents that it was the particularly 'militant,' anarchic content he hosted that precipitated the investigation and raid.
Within days over a dozen reports were circulating on various e-mail lists and websites. Mysteriously, however, no mainstream media had picked up the story... Was this course of events perhaps all according to plan? Given the absence of the usual FBI press conference or press release after a successful anti-terrorism operation, and possible first ammendment implications of the case, it does appear that the FBI is hoping to keep a lid on the story.
Needless to say, all manner of treasonous banter, bomb recipes, and worse are available on various newsgroup archives, as well as current listserv and discussion sites... One wonders which website(s) the FBI will target next.
The Los Angeles Anti-Terrorism Task Force was christened shortly after the events of Sep. 11, and includes remnants of the Joint Terrorism Task Force cobbled together to oversee security for the 1984 Olympics. The now nationwide Anti-Terrorism Task Forces enjoy greatly enhanced power and prestige since the Patriot Act was signed into law on Oct. 26, 2001. This 'homeland security' measure not only expanded police powers of surveillance and 'secret searches,' but also redefined a variety of low-level computer crimes as 21st-century 'terrorism.'
Indymedia coverage includes these tidbits:
> What's your mom think of all this?
She came home about an hour after the raid started. (it lasted from 4pm to about 10:30pm) She was pretty startled to see all of the fbi and all in front, and inside the house.
Ever wondered what it would be like if the FBI stole your computer network?
They loaded everything into a big white truck and said I probibly wont be seeing it for along time. I don't expect to ever see it again. When they came in, they brought in all this portable equipment, and they took each computer out of my room one by one, and downloaded everything off the hard drives. Then put everything into boxes and loaded it into a big white truck.