In the November 14, 2005 edition of Newsweek, Michael Isikoff wrote
about the case of Food Not Bombs volunteer Josh Connole, "a
27-year-old ex-commune member who had been arrested - and later released
- on suspicions he was one of the eco-terrorists who had fire bombed SUV
dealerships in the summer of 2003." Mr. Isikoff reported, "The
FBI collected detailed data on political activities and Web postings of
suspected members of a tiny environmentalist commune in southern
California two years ago as part of a high-profile counter terrorism
probe, bureau records show."
The article states "Agents placed the commune under surveillance and
developed a political profile of the residents, discovering the owner of
the house and his father 'have posted statements on web sites
opposing the use of fossil fuels,"9 one doc reads. Another says the
owner had ties to a local chapter of Food Not Bombs, an
'anarcho-vegan food distribution group.'"
Shortly after Michael Isikoff's article, there were numerous other
media reports about domestic surveillance on people who volunteered with
Food Not Bombs.
Karen Abbott of the Rocky Mountain News reported on December 8, 2005
that "The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado said it will
release documents today that show FBI agents improperly spied on
peaceful protesters in Colorado Springs in the name of combating
terrorism." In the article, Mark Silverstein, ACLU legal director in
Colorado stated, 'These documents are further confirmation of our
contention that the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force is wasting
resources and threatening First Amendment rights by equating non-violent
protest with what it calls domestic terrorism'.
Ten days later on December 18, 2005 two former Food Not Bombs volunteers
were arrested in Arizona. Sarah Harvey was captured in Flagstaff, and
Catalyst Bookstore co-founder Bill Rodgers was arrested in Prescott,
Arizona on terrorism charges. A week later Rodgers was found dead in a
Coconino County jail cell. They were arrested after being named by paid
informants.
The Seattle Times reported on about Sarah's arrest on December 19,
2005,
"An informant may also have led to the arrest in Arizona of Sarah
Harvey, also known as Kendall Tankersley, who is accused of
participating in a 1998 fire at U.S. Forest Industries in Medford,
Oregon. The daughter of two attorneys, Harvey was homeless for a period
in Eugene, and between 1997 and 1999 worked at Food Not Bombs, an agency
that distributes food to the homeless, said Patricia Siering, a
professor at Humboldt State University in California who met her years
later."
Also all three California offices of the ACLU announced on December 21,
2005 that they had filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request
from the California Anti-Terrorism Information Center on behalf of a
number of non-violent community groups - including Food Not Bombs.
On Tuesday, May 2. 2006 Food Not Bombs activists Laurie Churchill
and Keith McHenry were taken off American Airlines flight 47 from
Heathrow, England to Chicago-O "Hare. Two Homeland Security personel
meet them at the gate, took them to a back area of the airport and
surched their belonings and questioned both of them for an hour. They
asked questions about their involvment with what they called " the violent group Food Not
Bombs"
In the spring of 2007 the New York chapter of the
ACLU was given a number of files about the New York City Police
Departments efforst to spy on people who might be attending protests at
the Republican National Convention. Richmond, Virginia Food Not Bombs
announced their interest in organizing an International Food Not Bombs
gathering in New York during the convention. The New York chapter was
excited to host the event. Documents published in the New York Times
on May 17, 2007 indicate one reason the Food Not Bombs movement had
problems pulling off the event. The text of an August 25, 2004 New York
City Police Department memo indicates that the FBI infiltrated the
Richmond, Virginia and New York chapters of Food Not Bombs.
It bacame clear in 2008 that a woman Anna or Sarah who had been
disruptive was working for the FBI. A news report in Elle Magazine
showed she was paid $65,000 to join Food Not Bombs and worked to frame
two of our volunteers. She played a role in the failure of the New York
Food Not Bombs Gathering and at the Philidelphia Gathering she disrupted
our final planning meeting which melted down when she complained that
older white men should not be allowed to speak because older white men
have always had too much power and that the women attending the
gathering still needed to deal with the issue they had with their
fathers. Eric McDavid was framed and is in prison for a crime that the
FBI and Anna had planned. While Anna is not the only one paid by the FBI
to disrupt our work and her story is well documented in Elle. I had a
very bad feeling about Anna when I first met her. Now I know why. (The
only thing is the article fails to note is that the group Anna was
disrupting was Food Not Bombs.) The article is linked here. The Believers Elle Magazine
These
are the informants we know of at this time. 1. Andrew Clark Darst, 2.
Marilyn Hedstrom, pseudonym Norma Jean Johnson 3. Rachel Nieting,
pseudonyms Amanda Clara and Amanda Amey, 4. Chris Dugger, 5. Andrew
Darst (real name, aka Andy/Panda/Pandy, online names Warchyld,
Killswitch), 6. Jacob Ferguson, 7. Brandon Darby, 8. Stanislas Jack
Meyerhoff, 9.Anna Davies or Anna Davidson, also known as Grai Damiani or
Sarah 10. Manolo Siez.
The Denver Post and Minneapolis Star Tribune
both reported that local police in Denver and Minneapolis held press
confrences nearly eight months before the national conventions claiming
Food Not Bombs had organized protests against the 2004 conventions and
where planning to collect feces before the 2008 conventions to use
against the police and delegates. A number of agencies including the
FBI and Homeland Security raided our office in Berkeley, Calaifornia in
Ausust 2008 taking 13 computers. In Denver, Colorado a group of very
buff undercover police officers dressed in black with black head scarfs
pushed to the front of a march at the Democratic National Convention and
provoked the police into using pepper spray and other chemicals against
the protesters. One of the twelve plainclothes officers had a small
back pack of stones and threw several rocks at windows on the downtown
mall. Riot
police arrested nearly 100 protesters after the officer threw the
rocks. I watched the twelve plain clothes offcers get into three white
vans parked with other police cars at Civic Center Park. The vans were
driven by Denver Police officers. The one major arrest at the
convention in Denver was Pioneer Valley Food Not Bombs volunteer Zachary
Patrick Grey who was charged with serious crimes including the planned
use of human feces against the police. Things became more difficult in
Minnesota with the preemptive FBI raids of three Food Not Bombs cook
houses. Eight people were arrested and charged with "Conspiracy to
Riot in Furtherance of Terrorism." According several news reports
including "Anarchist" looked
like someonet's mom in Minnesota authorities told reporters that
U.S. intelligence units had infiltrated the RNC Welcoming Committee and
Food Not Bombs for almost a year "to see how they (the protesters)
think." Police infiltrators have failed in their attempts to
encourage violence by protesters at the either the Democratic or
Republican National Conventions. The F.B.I. have been agressive in
trying to frame activists using illegal and unethical acts as
infiltration. Infiltrators have become roommates and invested a great
deal of time participating with community. Mean while it is possible
that the F.B.I. could make better use of its time investigating people
that might really be terrorists. The articles about Marilyn Hedstrom
aka Norma Jean infiltrating Food Not Bombs.
"The
sheriff's investigation cost about $300,000, Fletcher said. He's
asking the city of St. Paul to reimburse his office from $50 million in
federal funds for convention security.
Hedstrom, a narcotics
officer, was partnered with Rachel Nieting, a guard in the county jail.
Nieting, in her 20s, posed as Amanda, Hedstrom's niece. A third
operative, Chris Dugger, was a confidential paid informant who has since
become a jail guard and has taken tests to become a deputy.
Agent
was like a mom "
The report Cops Infiltrate GOP Convention Protest
Group - Then Bust Them for Conspiracy Austin, Texas activist Brandon
Darby claims he transmited and recorded conversation for the F.B.I. in
Austin and Minnisota. Brandon Darby,
the "Unnamed" Informant/ Provocateur in the "Texas 2".
The New York Times also reported on Darby in Activist
Unmasks Himself as Federal Informant in G.O.P. Convention Case.
In the past five years nearly 15 Food Not Bombs volunteers have been
sentenced to long prison terms as a result of the FBI campaign to
disrupt our movement. To undermine the governments efforts to breed fear
and mistrust there is a renewed interest in affinity groups that make
decisions using processes like consenus. Activists are also organizing
nonviolence trainings before actions and studing past nonviolent
campaigns.
PAGE 7
