Anti Federalist
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Three being charged with "terrorism" of the nine arrested in raid.
Valuable lesson learned.
If you are at meeting or gathering or political function and somebody you don't know starts making remarks about how "we ought to blow up such and such" or "we ought to shoot so and so" or "I can get the stuff you need"; leave, right away and say nothing. 100 to 1 that person is fed, cop or informant. Notify others that you can trust in the group.
Barring any legal miracles, these three kids are fucking toast now.
3 in Chicago Face Terrorism Charges Tied to NATO Protests
By IDALMY CARRERA and JOSHUA BRUSTEIN
Published: May 19, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/us/3-in-chicago-face-terrorism-charges-tied-to-nato-protests.html
CHICAGO — Three men arrested in Chicago on Wednesday night were planning to attack the campaign headquarters of President Obama, the house of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, police stations and financial institutions in downtown Chicago, prosecutors said on Saturday.
The men, who were in Chicago to take part in protests related to the NATO summit meeting taking place here on Sunday and Monday, were charged with criminal acts relating to terrorism, conspiracy to commit terrorism, and possession of explosives.
“The individuals we charged are not peaceful protesters, they are domestic terrorists,” said the state’s attorney, Anita Alvarez. “The charges we bring today are not indicative of a protest movement that has been targeted.”
Lawyers for the defendants described the case as entrapment, saying that a man and a woman who were either informants or undercover law enforcement officials had come up with the plans and provided the materials for explosives. These two people were the only ones who committed any illegal activity, said Michael Deutsch, a lawyer with the National Lawyers Guild.
“From what we’ve learned, we believe it is a setup — entrapment to the highest degree — and it is sensationalism by the police and the state to discredit the protesters who have come here to nonviolently protest,” Mr. Deutsch said.
Bond for the three men — Jared Chase, 27, of New Hampshire; Brent Betterly, 24, of Massachusetts; and Brian Jacob Church, 22, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — was set at $1.5 million each. On Wednesday, police officers and F.B.I. agents raided an apartment in Bridgeport, a neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, after obtaining a no-knock search warrant, according to prosecutors. The six other people who were arrested have been released.
Prosecutors said the three defendants had already assembled four Molotov cocktails from empty beer bottles, with cut bandannas as timing devices. The Molotov cocktails were to be used in attacks against police stations, including Police Headquarters, which would divert attention from other attacks around the city, they said.
Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, declined to comment and referred questions to the Chicago Police Department.
The defendants also had plans for a pipe bomb at the time of their arrests, prosecutors said. Throwing stars, swords, brass knuckles, a hunting bow, a shield with protruding nails, gas masks, an assault rifle and a map with details of escape routes from the city were also said to have been found in the apartment. They also had plans to to buy several other assault rifles, prosecutors said.
“The city doesn’t know what it is in for, and after NATO the city will never be the same,” a prosecutor quoted Mr. Church as saying.
The police department said Saturday that there is no imminent threat to the city. Prosecutors described the defendants as self-identifying anarchists, a depiction their lawyers disputed.
According to a statement from the National Lawyers Guild, police officers broke down the doors of the apartment with their weapons drawn, and did not have a search warrant or consent.
The three men were also involved in a confrontation with police officers last week. In an edited video of the encounter, which one of the defendants posted to YouTube before Wednesday’s raid, the police appear to threaten violence against demonstrators.
Chicago has been bracing for a weekend of political protest, which started on Friday when several thousand demonstrators filled a downtown plaza. A far larger “anti-NATO” march is expected on Sunday, and violent images from earlier global gatherings, like a World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle in 1999, have left some in Chicago on edge — businesses closed, windows boarded and the Loop oddly quiet.
Even as prosecutors announced the charges, hundreds of protesters gathered in Mr. Emanuel’s North Side neighborhood for a demonstration against a plan to close half of the city’s mental health clinics.
Police officers, some wearing riot helmets, lined the mayor’s yard Saturday morning in anticipation of the march past his house.
Valuable lesson learned.
If you are at meeting or gathering or political function and somebody you don't know starts making remarks about how "we ought to blow up such and such" or "we ought to shoot so and so" or "I can get the stuff you need"; leave, right away and say nothing. 100 to 1 that person is fed, cop or informant. Notify others that you can trust in the group.
Barring any legal miracles, these three kids are fucking toast now.
3 in Chicago Face Terrorism Charges Tied to NATO Protests
By IDALMY CARRERA and JOSHUA BRUSTEIN
Published: May 19, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/us/3-in-chicago-face-terrorism-charges-tied-to-nato-protests.html
CHICAGO — Three men arrested in Chicago on Wednesday night were planning to attack the campaign headquarters of President Obama, the house of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, police stations and financial institutions in downtown Chicago, prosecutors said on Saturday.
The men, who were in Chicago to take part in protests related to the NATO summit meeting taking place here on Sunday and Monday, were charged with criminal acts relating to terrorism, conspiracy to commit terrorism, and possession of explosives.
“The individuals we charged are not peaceful protesters, they are domestic terrorists,” said the state’s attorney, Anita Alvarez. “The charges we bring today are not indicative of a protest movement that has been targeted.”
Lawyers for the defendants described the case as entrapment, saying that a man and a woman who were either informants or undercover law enforcement officials had come up with the plans and provided the materials for explosives. These two people were the only ones who committed any illegal activity, said Michael Deutsch, a lawyer with the National Lawyers Guild.
“From what we’ve learned, we believe it is a setup — entrapment to the highest degree — and it is sensationalism by the police and the state to discredit the protesters who have come here to nonviolently protest,” Mr. Deutsch said.
Bond for the three men — Jared Chase, 27, of New Hampshire; Brent Betterly, 24, of Massachusetts; and Brian Jacob Church, 22, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — was set at $1.5 million each. On Wednesday, police officers and F.B.I. agents raided an apartment in Bridgeport, a neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, after obtaining a no-knock search warrant, according to prosecutors. The six other people who were arrested have been released.
Prosecutors said the three defendants had already assembled four Molotov cocktails from empty beer bottles, with cut bandannas as timing devices. The Molotov cocktails were to be used in attacks against police stations, including Police Headquarters, which would divert attention from other attacks around the city, they said.
Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, declined to comment and referred questions to the Chicago Police Department.
The defendants also had plans for a pipe bomb at the time of their arrests, prosecutors said. Throwing stars, swords, brass knuckles, a hunting bow, a shield with protruding nails, gas masks, an assault rifle and a map with details of escape routes from the city were also said to have been found in the apartment. They also had plans to to buy several other assault rifles, prosecutors said.
“The city doesn’t know what it is in for, and after NATO the city will never be the same,” a prosecutor quoted Mr. Church as saying.
The police department said Saturday that there is no imminent threat to the city. Prosecutors described the defendants as self-identifying anarchists, a depiction their lawyers disputed.
According to a statement from the National Lawyers Guild, police officers broke down the doors of the apartment with their weapons drawn, and did not have a search warrant or consent.
The three men were also involved in a confrontation with police officers last week. In an edited video of the encounter, which one of the defendants posted to YouTube before Wednesday’s raid, the police appear to threaten violence against demonstrators.
Chicago has been bracing for a weekend of political protest, which started on Friday when several thousand demonstrators filled a downtown plaza. A far larger “anti-NATO” march is expected on Sunday, and violent images from earlier global gatherings, like a World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle in 1999, have left some in Chicago on edge — businesses closed, windows boarded and the Loop oddly quiet.
Even as prosecutors announced the charges, hundreds of protesters gathered in Mr. Emanuel’s North Side neighborhood for a demonstration against a plan to close half of the city’s mental health clinics.
Police officers, some wearing riot helmets, lined the mayor’s yard Saturday morning in anticipation of the march past his house.
