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anarchist collective TORTUGA raided by anti-terrorism cops (US, new york)

Discussion in 'Anarchism and radical activism' started by ungovernable, Oct 6, 2009.

  1. ungovernable

    ungovernable Autonome Staff Member Uploader Admin Team Experienced member


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    Aug 21, 2009
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    Canada  Canada
    (en) US, new york statement: anarchist collective TORTUGA raided
    Date Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:53:04 +0200


    When They Kick Out Your Front Door, How You Gonna Come? ---- On October 1st, 2009, at
    6:00am, the Joint Terrorism Task Force (a union of local police departments and the FBI),
    kicked out the front door to our home — an anarchist collective house in Queens, NY,
    affectionately known as Tortuga. The first crashes of the battering ram were quickly
    followed by more upstairs, as the police broke in on 3 sleeping people, destroying bedroom
    doors that were unlocked. ---- Three more people, awoken by the most unpleasant means of
    bounding footsteps, splintering wood, and shouting voices, waited in the basement — their
    turn at drawn guns and blinding lights came quickly. ---- We put our hands out where they
    could see them. They ordered us out of bed. They wouldn’t let us dress, but they did put a
    random assortment of clothes on some people.

    We were handcuffed, and although the upstairs and
    downstairs groups were kept separate initially, we were soon all together,
    sitting in the living room, positioned like dolls on the couches and
    chairs. We were in handcuffs for several hours, and we were helpless as
    our little bird, a Finch we had rescued and were rehabilitating, flew out
    the open door to certain death, after his cage had been battered by the
    cops in their zeal to open the upstairs bedroom doors by force. We shouted
    at them, but they stood there and watched.

    And they stood and watched us for hours and hours and hours. 16 hours to
    be precise, 16 hours of the NYPD and FBI traipsing through our house,
    confiscating our lives in a fishing expedition related to the G20 protests
    of September 24th and 25th. The search warrant, when we were finally
    allowed to read it, mentioned violation of federal rioting laws and was
    vague enough to allow the entire house to be searched. They kept repeating
    that we were not arrested, that we were free to go. But being free meant
    being watched by the FBI, monitored while using the bathroom, not allowed
    to make phone calls for hours or to observe them ransacking our rooms.
    Being free meant they took two of us away on bullshit summonses, and even
    though this was our house, where we lived, if we left, we could not
    re-enter.

    Three of us stayed to the bitter end. Three of us stayed to watch the
    hazmat team come in to investigate a child’s chemistry set, to see them
    search the garage on an additional warrant, to sign vouchers for all the
    things they confiscated as “evidence”—Curious George plush toys, artwork,
    correspondence with political prisoner Daniel McGowan, birth certificates,
    passports, the entire video archive of a local media collective, tax
    records, books, computers, storage devices, cell phones, Buffy the Vampire
    Slayer DVDs, flags, banners, posters, photographs and more than can be
    recounted here.

    The apparent impetus for this raid came over a week ago, when two members
    of our household were arrested, once again at gunpoint, in the suburbs of
    Pittsburgh. They are accused of being devious masterminds, of “directing”
    the rollicking G-20 protests, of using technology such as Twitter to
    “hinder apprehension” of protesters. The two were held on bail, one
    fetching the ridiculous amount of $30,000 cash, and released 36 hours
    later after the bond was posted. As of this moment, no additional charges
    have been levied against the two, nor against any other housemates in the
    aftermath of the raid.

    As anarchists, we are under no illusions about what the State is capable
    of. We are not the first anarchists to have our house raided, and
    unfortunately as long as the State remains, we will not be the last. We
    are, along with other targeted individuals like David Japenga, the outlets
    for the impotent rage the authorities feel when they lose control, as they
    did during the G-20 in Pittsburgh. We, that beautiful we, that include
    Tortuga House and all who find affinity with us, refuse the rigid forms
    the authorities try and cram a world bursting with infinite possibilities
    into — He is not a leader, she did not act alone, they are not being
    directed. Repression is a strategy that the state uses to put us on the
    defensive, to divert our energies from being a proactive force and instead
    deal with the terms it has set. We will not lie and say this has not left
    us reeling, but as time and our dizziness pass, we know that friends
    surround us. Our resolve is strengthened by this solidarity, and we will
    not be deterred by this state aggression.

    We wish to thank all of our friends and comrades who have stood by us in
    these difficult few days. Our lawyer filed an injunction on the raid the
    next morning (October 2nd) that was surprisingly granted- it forbids the
    authorities from fishing through our belongings until we head back to
    court on the 16th. In the weeks and months to come we will do our best to
    share developments as they occur. If you want to keep in touch or find out
    how you can help please email us at: tortugadefense@gmail.com.

    ----

    http://www.a3yo.noblogs.org
    http://www.delicious.com/a3yo
     

  2. disfuck

    disfuck Experienced Member Experienced member Forum Member


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    Sep 11, 2009
     
    fuck, it goes to show that no one is free and that have no sympathy for our kind .
     
  3. tolka

    tolka New Member New Member


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    Jan 29, 2015
     
    It turns out we are creatures made for another world—and made well for it!—who are barely getting by in this one. Changing worlds, we shift from malaise and misery to incredible joy and pleasure: - See more at: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1928#sthash.QunBEfvo.dpuf
     
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