-------- Original Message -------- Subject: FC: FBI is investigating an alleged "Black Bloc" threat sent toPolitech Date: Wed, 04 Jul 2001 14:53:55 -0400 From: Declan McCullagh <declan at well.com> Reply-To: declan at well.com To: politech at politechbot.com CC: chuck at tao.ca, aaronl at cato.org
The FBI is investigating an alleged threat against the Cato Institute, the world's leading free-market think tank, sent to Politech.
Chuck0 <chuck at tao.ca> sent a message to Politech that I forwarded -- as part of an ongoing discussion about privacy and globalization -- on Monday: http://www.politechbot.com/p-02214.html
The message said: "Cato's little insult of the black bloc means that we'll be paying Cato HQ a visit this coming September. People who work in glass buildings shouldn't throw the first rhetorical stones."
The Cato Institute was reportedly vandalized in January during the Bush inauguration protests. (http://www.mccullagh.org/theme/2001-bush-inauguration-highlights.html) It is a prominent building with a huge glass atrium at 10th and Mass. Ave. in downtown Washington.
The insult directed at the Black Bloc appeared in an article written by Aaron Lukas, an analyst at the Cato Institute's Center for Trade Policy Studies. It was published in the National Review and I reposted it to Politech with Aaron's permission. Aaron wrote that "vandalism, violence, and harassment are acceptable behavior for the Black Blockheads and Ruckus-Societarians of the world." (http://www.politechbot.com/p-02210.html)
The Black Bloc is difficult to define, but it has been described as a revolutionary anti-capitalist action group, and also as a collective of black-masked anarchists who are the "special forces" of the movement. A Washington, DC "Anarchist Neighborhood" site (http://www.infoshop.org/hood/dc.html) that lists Chuck0 as a contact says World Bank/IMF protests are scheduled for the city in September.
FBI Agent Dave Dawson in the agency's headquarters is investigating Chuck0's message sent to Politech.
Politech is a journalistic enterprise protected by the First Amendment, and I generally treat email sent to me in confidence, as a news organization would treat a confidential source. When someone sends me mail and indicates they would like it redistributed to the list -- typically done by emailing both declan at well.com and the politech at politechbot.com list address, as Chuck0 did -- the relationship is akin to someone writing a letter to the editor of a newspaper and asking that it be published.
While I do not countenance attacks on property, responsible journalists don't like to chat with law enforcement about people who talk to them or send letters to the editor. It makes their readers less likely to trust their independence in the future.
I have not yet spoken with Agent Dawson. If we speak, my response will be:
1. I will not reveal information about Politech subscribers. Politech's privacy policy (http://www.politechbot.com/info/privacy.html) says: "We do not sell or rent information you provide us. We intend to challenge any subpoena or other legal process seeking access to the limited information we do store."
2. I will not reveal any other information I may or may not possess (such as complete headers of email messages or other correspondence that may or may not exist between me and Chuck0 or anyone else on this topic).
3. I will describe in general terms, such as I would at a speaking engagement, in an article or in conversation with a colleague, what Politech is and how long I have been editing it.
-Declan Editor, Politech
This message will be archived at: http://www.politechbot.com/p-02218.html
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