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Allentown Marshals Sound Off About Jim Babb and I

June 4, 2012 — 11 Comments
Henry Trevino

From left to right, Trevino, 2 unidentified men and Claire Burns. Click for high-res version. Photo by Jim Babb.

As I was preparing for my trip to Gigante last month, I found a mysterious audio file on my voice recorder.

I couldn’t figure out where it was from. Then I recognized the voice of Enrique “Henry” Trevino, the US marshal who arrested me and twice swore out false affidavits against me just a little over two years ago. The audio is from the day after they arrested me, May 12, 2010. It was recorded by the marshals themselves.

The Backstory

For readers unfamiliar with the story, here it is in a nutshell. Julian Heicklen, bad-ass senior pamphleteer, Jim Babb, a superstar spokesman for liberty, and myself were visiting federal courthouses in the Philadelphia area in April and May 2010. Julian does this all over the country. Jim joined Julian in handing out fully informed jury (FIJA) pamphlets while I recorded what happened. I was threatened once, attacked another time and simply questioned a third time (see videos at end of article). We were promoting a good cause while exercising our rights as allegedly guaranteed under the first amendment to the constitution. My videos were watched tens of thousands of times and consistently upvoted on Reddit.

Until we arrived in Allentown on May 11, that was. Overly aggressive marshals harassed us. One grabbed my camera. I held on to the camera tightly. More piled on me. I was charged with felony assault, caged for 2 days, endured 6 weeks of house arrest and had my license to carry a firearm revoked before accepting a plea deal for what amounted in the end to a $500 parking-ticket-level violation. Meanwhile there was a most welcome outpouring of solidarity from Reddit and the liberty community.

The marshals deleted video and audio of their attack from three separate devices of mine. But I recovered enough to show that they were the ones who attacked me. And I got their own security camera footage.

Did I Make them “Look Like Douches”?

So how did I get this audio file? Trevino himself gave it to me on September 1, 2010, along with my video cameras and firearms, all of which had been seized by the marshals during their criminal proceedings against me. It also appears that Trevino is responsible for turning on the voice recorder.

But I have the audio file and after examination, it has several interesting comments from Trevino, another marshal who attacked me, Chris Headabig (Probably spelled wrong. He might also be, or have been, a state cop), supervisory marshal Bryant Semenza (who forced me to give up the camera by kneeing me in the mouth) and unidentified others. The highlights include:

From left to right, Julian Heicklen, Burns and Headabig. Click for high-res version. Photo by Jim Babb.

  • Trevino says he does “not have a good feeling” about arresting me.
  • Headabig may have felt that my videos made the marshals “look like douches.”
  • Semenza might imply that our filming outside the courthouse was a breach of security.
  • Semenza wishes I had been carrying a firearm when they arrested me.
  • Semenza says that Julian “got locked up in New York … for [sic] same thing.”
  • Headabig says that Jim Babb “is the one I wanted the most.” He jokes about tasing Jim for so long that he has to change the batteries in the taser.

Transcript

Here’s a partial transcript of the file, with just the interesting parts noted and audio outtakes for your listening convenience.

00:07

Headabig: Semenza’s out of line.

Did you … the emails last night?

I sent one back. I said, yeah them flicks showed up 10 minutes late and he kept asking him is it safe while he tased him in the teeth.

00:27

Trevino: I called him last night. I said, Bryant [Semenza] I do not have a good feeling about this.

Headabig: What, you don’t have a good feeling about the .. the arrest?

Trevino: Yeah

Headabig. Ah. Ah, it’s fine.

Trevino: These guys the ones you worry about because they’re the ones .. the fucking … tie up … (unintelligible)

06:53

Semenza: I can see these guys coming here and starting some shit.

07:28

Semenza: Something about a photo of Trevino (perhaps the one above) and death threats (see analysis below for possible context).

08:28

Headabig: I don’t know, it kinda makes us look like douches though.

With Semenza he might be comparing my filming in front of the Allentown federal courthouse with the military camp scene in Sacha Baron Cohen’s Bruno.

Semenza might be implying that our filming outside the courthouse was a breach of security.

Semenza: Hey, listen, alls I know is you assaulted that poor … (unintelligible)

Trevino seems to mock Semenza.

12:06

Unknown: I’m here because you can’t handle it. I’ll take care of this. I’ll get into a true fight and show you how to beat somebody up. Not make Claire [Burns?] fight your battles.

18:20

Trevino?: (whispering) … He has to be fully processed …

(I refused to answer all the questions the Allentown marshals asked me.)

23:21

Headabig: (joking) Like, get him, get him. He’s got a gun.

Semenza?: You know what, too bad that fucking asshole didn’t have a gun on him yesterday.

Unknown: You know what, can’t you go for his gun permit if he’s being charged with a felony.

Semenza?: If he’s convicted. Yes. He loses it. [They got it revoked anyway, and after they dropped the felony charge.]

Semenza?: And you know, Ricky and I were talking here. We’re NRA members. This is the type of guy that gives the NRA a bad name.

Unknown: Oh yeah.

Trevino?: What’s this thing about the other guy being on probation?

Semenza?: The old guy is on pre-trial release. $50,000.

Trevino?: What’s the old guy? The 90-year old guy? [Julian]

Semenza?: Yes.

Trevino?: Really?

Semenza?: Yeah, he got locked up in New York … for same thing.

Unknown: How about that other guy? That jerk, the other guy with the wavy hair? [Jim]

Unknown: He’s the wild one with the white shirt.

Headabig: (simultaneously) He’s the one I wanted the most.

Unknown: Did he have a record or something?

Semenza?: I don’t know. I’m going to try and run him today.

Headabig: He’s gonna get a record. Most times consecutively tased.

Headabig: We’ll be changing batteries.

Semenza?: I like the email. After Henry arrested him, 10 minutes later flick shows up …

Headabig: … starts tasing him in the teeth, asking him is it safe.

Trevino: I thought he was gonna praise his own email.

25:25

Headabig: Something about saving Semenza from pummeling protestors.

Analysis

  • Semenza apparently says that Julian was “locked up” in New York for the same thing as he and his team of marshals caged me for in Allentown. Trevino signed his name to two affidavits in which he swore it was true that I had struck Burns. I find it hard to believe that Trevino’s supervisor, who was present at the attack, didn’t participate in their framing of me. I am unable to find any evidence that Julian was ever accused of assaulting a US marshal (or anyone for that matter). Does Semenza know that the assault charges are fake? Do I have his admission on tape? You decide.
  • It’s encouraging that at least one of the marshals seemed to regret their attack on me, for whatever reason.
  • I hope that no one made death threats against Trevino, or any of the marshals. I condemn threats, which are just another form of violence. I abhor it and denounce it. In fact, if it happened, it probably harmed me. Given the militia association described below, I can contextualize the Philadelphia marshals’ ridiculous claims that I was “the next Timothy McVeigh.”

    I was mentioned in the May 21, 2010 edition [PDF] of the Pennsylvania state homeland security intelligence bulletins (which were released shortly after my case wrapped up). Here is an excerpt:

    Anti-authoritarian and self-declared libertarian activist George Donnelly was arrested by US marshals in Pennsylvania on 12 May 2010, leading to several calls to action on his behalf among American Resistance Movement (ARM) members (although it is far from clear that ARM and Donnelly are “on the same page”, in a practical sense).

    Donnelly was arrested (or “attacked” and “mugged and kidnapped” in ARM communications) by federal officers outside the Allentown federal courthouse. According to libertarian activists, he was filming “Fully Informed Jury Association” activists as they handed out pamphlets to jurors entering the courthouse, as well as recording the behavior of the law enforcement agents on the scene. After his arrest, Donnelly was held in a Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia. By the next day, he was released under some restrictions.

    Photographs of the US agents involved in the arrest have been shared on militia and libertarian forums. In one communication, a Donnelly supporter said: “All readers in the Philadelphia area are encouraged to ostracize these criminals.”

    This was the first time I had heard of ARM.

  • I’m chuckling if Semenza thinks we were going to “start some shit.” Seriously? A senior citizen and two overweight 40-something dads? Really?
  • If Headabig thinks my videos make him and his fellow marshals “look like douches”, well that’s out of my hands. The marshals and security guards took care of that themselves.
  • It’s also curious how Semenza and the other marshals apparently go on about my filming being a security breach. Why? Because the prosecutor, Seth Weber, and the judge, Henry Perkin, harped on this claim ad nauseum in court. At my final appearance, one of them went on and on about 9/11 and the other about Oklahoma City to show just how important federal building security is. Setting aside the obvious hyperbole, how did they know which one was going to talk about which terrorist attack? Was there communication or collusion among Trevino, Weber and Perkin?
  • In the exchange at 12:06 is Trevino talking to the unidentified court security officer who is on film as having initiated the marshal attack on me? Or is it Semenza talking to Trevino?
  • Semenza comes off as a cowboy in his comments. Headabig comes off as out of his league. His boasts about violence are excessive. When Semenza says he wishes I had been armed, I think he might have actually shot and killed me. When Headabig jokes about tasing Jim, it’s incredibly sick and depraved but I’m not so sure he would do it. I think he’s just trying to prove that he’s as tough as the other marshals.
  • Trevino doesn’t sound very enthusiastic about taking the lead on my arrest and prosecution. Did he regret his actions?
  • Can marshals legally run criminal background checks on anyone they like, even people who aren’t under arrest or suspected of committing a crime? That seems like an abuse of power.
  • Semenza used to work at the federal building in New York where Julian has pamphleted and been arrested countless times. He was in charge of security for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing trial, which took place there. Semenza likely has a direct line to some of the same people who have so repeatedly and harshly harassed Julian in Manhattan. I’ve long suspected that there was communication (and possibly a conspiracy to frame one or more of us) between the Philadelphia marshals from our April 8 outreach and these guys in Allentown. (Many of the marshals you see in the April 8 video took a great interest in my Philadelphia court appearance May 12.) This information adds a new dimension to my suspicion.

Why I am Releasing This

My reasons for releasing this are very simple.

  • I have a responsibility to the hundreds of people who supported me morally, financially and by protesting to share all information collected so that this can serve as a learning experience for the liberty community.
  • As an independent journalist, this is quite a story for my little blog.
  • Bryant Semenza might be admitting in the recording that I was charged with something I didn’t do. This is of great personal interest to me for obvious reasons.
  • I am not doing this to be vindictive or to hurt the marshals. I don’t hate them or wish anything bad for them. You shouldn’t either. I am obviously outraged by what they did to me. But I want them to thrive as much as I want that for myself. With their criminal actions, they are first and foremost hurting themselves. I’d like to see them stop, for their own good. (If you threaten, commit or even think about using violence against the marshals over this, you are hurting me first. Don’t do it.)

The Audio

The original audio file is more than two hours long. This is a 25-minute clip (all consecutive) of the most interesting part. Download the file directly to your computer or listen below.

How US Marshals Framed a Peaceful Photographer

This is a 15-minute video summary of the whole Allentown incident that I released September 22, 2010. It does not include security camera footage or this recently discovered audio.

Article: How US Marshals Framed a Peaceful Photographer

Security Camera Video

This is a narrated compilation of the security camera footage, which hasn’t been published here before. The quality is unbearable. This is after they made me wait weeks while they sent it somewhere for processing. Unusable security cameras seem like more of a security risk than an out-of-shape 40-something with a cheap camera. (Originals: camera 1, camera 6.)

Previous Videos of Jim and Julian Distributing Pamphlets

Article: Despite Threats, Activists Inform Jurors

Article: Jury Rights Advocates Hand Out 250 Pamphlets, Stand Up to Violent Federal Security Guards

Article: Trenton Marshals Interrogate Jury Rights Advocates; Hundreds of Pamphlets Distributed

What do You Think?

Please share your comments below. If you listen to the audio and come up with confirmations, corrections or alternate theories, I’d especially enjoy hearing what you have to say.

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Rich Paul is a well-known marijuana activist and solid guy in New Hampshire.

The FBI Wants to Infiltrate the Free State Project

June 1, 2012 — 8 Comments

An FBI agent with the New Hampshire Joint Terrorism Task Force is recruiting activists to inform on Free State Project members. That’s what activist Pete Eyre says in the above video, released by Cop Block yesterday.

Keene police brought marijuana activist Rich Paul to an interrogation room yesterday where FBI agent Phil Christiana asked him to wear a wire back to the Keene Activity Center (KAC), according to Eyre. There he would tell a story about an arrest that didn’t happen. Christiana reportedly wanted to know how the individuals at the KAC would react to the story.

The KAC is a meeting place used by liberty activists in Keene.

Rich Paul is a well-known marijuana activist in New Hampshire.

Earlier this year, former police officer Bradley Jardis, who resigned because he was unwilling to arrest medical marijuana users, reports also being contacted by Christiana.

In 2011, Christiana reportedly visited the home of Keene-area activist Kurt Hoffman where Christiana’s vehicle side-swiped a videographer.

In 2005, New Hampshire journalist Dave Ridley reported being invited to lunch by Christiana. Ridley described him as “creepy.”

Paul, Hoffman and Ridley are Free State Project (FSP) members and/or movers. Jardis is a resident of New Hampshire who has participated in activism projects organized by FSP members.

According to an article by Ademo Freeman published on the Cop Block website yesterday, the FBI may also be sending new people into the mix.

Top this off with a few sketchy visits from new movers, who I now believe to be FBI agents or informants, and it’s almost comical – if not so scary – how pathetic the FBI’s attempts are at infiltrating the Keene Activity Center (KAC). One guy, ‘Michael’, came to the KAC for a visit (which is typical of new movers) and after a long conversation – where I asked him directly if he was an agent of the state (he said he was not) – it was decided that “Michael’s” views are not acceptable to those who frequent the KAC and he was asked to leave. He has never attempted a return but it should be noted that this man may still be trying to infiltrate liberty groups. #

According to a file found via a Google search, Christiana, as of May 16, 2012, is with the FBI’s New Hampshire Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Reactions

the government wants to take down free keene …and slap some trumped up phoney crap charges on people.. #

It sounds like the FBI may be trying to set y’all up for some sort of entrapment scheme that they’re known for. Apparently this one goon thinks you guys are extra stooopid. :P #

Pete: So stopping internal / home grown terrorists isn’t important? Lot’s of internal plots have been stopped. Maybe there isn’t any “plotting” at the “KAC”. But look at some of the rhetoric you and some of your friends use. Look at the calls for violence on this site alone … there can be consequences for exercising that freedom. Sometimes….people pay attention. To you it may be innocent free speach….to others it can be cause for alarm. And that’s OK. #

Every single “home grown” terrorist crew and/or plot for the last 10 years has been either FBI planned, sponsored, or supplied. Every single one. If you want to do away with home grown terrorism, disband the FBI. #

A billboard saying “Phil Christiana, you and your fellow FBI thugs are not welcome around here” would be pretty amusing. #

Violence is the State’s M.O. not ours. #

One word of warning. I would NOT call Christiana (or any other cop), and definitely not without a recording device. Just having a conversation will give him an opportunity to lie about what you said. Review those “Flex your rights” videos if you doubt me. Being innocent is no guarantee of safety. #

Crazy!!! Keep an eye out for anyone who advocates violence…that’s how they frame innocent people. #

My Thoughts

Ademo Freeman, Pete Eyre and certainly many others I’m not aware of have done a great job rapidly bringing this situation to light. Rich Paul deserves at least as many kudos as this young lady got anti-kudos.

As Pete mentions in the above video, there is an urgent need for security culture. But I think there is an even greater need for transparency, honor and character. Paul, Jardis, Hoffman and Ridley let us know about their contact with Christiana because they are individuals of character who understand the importance of honor and the need to be transparent; i.e., the importance of releasing information to the public. Who has been asked to inform but hasn’t been transparent about it?

The fact is that the state is very powerful. The FBI has many resources at its disposal, including the newspapers and TV shows that shape jurors’ worldviews. If they want to bring liberty activists up on fake charges, they can do it. That’s a cakewalk for them. They did it me. (I actually have newly discovered audio in which the arresting marshal implies that he knows I was innocent of the assault he claims I committed. I’ll be releasing this soon.)

Violence is what the FBI is looking for. We have to give them nonviolence (satyagraha). This is not just the smartest and most effective strategy, but it’s also the safest. Articles such as “When you Should Shoot a Cop” by Larken Rose and published by Cop Block are inflammatory and wrong-headed. Talk of violence is pointless and only comes off as the idle boasting of the weakest. We are stronger than them. We don’t need to use violence.

Our task is to study the long history of nonviolent action and live peace in our words and our deeds. Only then can we have some chance at deflecting the inevitable state crackdown on our nascent liberty community.

Sources

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Valley

My Visit with the Campesino Resistance to El Quimbo in Colombia

May 31, 2012 — 9 Comments

A river runs through it. This is a tiny part of the fertile Colombian valley that a Spanish multinational wants to flood. Click for larger version.

Earlier this month, I caught an overnight bus from my home in Medellín, Colombia to a small town called Gigante in southern Colombia. I was cold and scared. I was heading to a place I’d never been before to meet people I’d never met before.

About 20 minutes from the town by taxi, the Spanish-Italian multinational corporation Emgesa, in collaboration with the Colombian national government, is building a dam. This is the usual dirty political deal. Emgesa has its profits guaranteed by law, the electricity is to be sold abroad, screw the environment and 1500 poor campesino families are expected to give up their lives’ work for pennies on the dollar.

This is the tragedy. They are planning to flood 8,500 hectares (21,000 acres) of incredibly fertile land on which these families have made their living and fed untold thousands in the region. Also within the flood area are riparian and other forests. This is the Amazon region. The lung of the world. A center of great biodiversity.

This is not an isolated atrocity. The Colombian government is considering another 32 dams, many of them on the same Magdalena river, many of them by the same multinational. The magnitude of the ecological crisis this presents, the enormity of the human cost imposed by the richest on the poorest and the blatant corruption at work here … please do not let it go unanswered.

And so, in the outskirts of Gigante, a small band of farmers is nonviolently resisting both the Spanish-Italian multinational Emgesa and the Colombian government. They’ve organized with the help of a college professor from the nearby city of Neiva. Despite government cutoff of bank financing and business licenses, they continue to work the land. Despite Emgesa’s purchases of the largest land holdings, they have prevented the removal of workers who depend on their jobs and have no safety net.

I wanted to meet and interview these people. They are heroes. Their resistance is particularly inspiring because they aren’t especially well-educated and they have a deep respect for the earth. (They don’t know who Gandhi or Martin Luther King are!) These are simple people with backbones of titanium. Thanks to the below video, I found out about them.

On my first trip I only managed to see a small part of the valley. It is gorgeous. And peaceful. The air is pure. Insect life is abundant. It’s so green there that, despite being at a lower elevation than the town, it is cooler than the town. The farmers mostly grow cacao. I felt really good there.

I interviewed several of the farmers. They are holding up admirably under difficult conditions. Many people have already moved on. Out of desperation, some have accepted small sums of money for their homes and lands. Many have reportedly already run through those funds. People do not have enough to eat.

I’m working on editing the first few hours of video now. I hope you will join me in supporting these good people. Their fight in defense of our Earth’s lung is our fight, too. No matter your opinion on global warming, we need to support the Amazon’s inhabitants against privileged first-world corporations. It’s not a level playing field unless we give them all our support.

Gigante, Colombia

This is a good fight. These are committed people. They have a good cause and they are fighting it the right way. I’m all in.

The resistance is celebrating the Festival of the Sun (Inti Raymi in Quechua) June 19-26th. A large delegation of indigenous people are joining the farmers. The resistance invites people to accompany them in this celebration, no matter where you are from. They have already had accompaniment from Germany, Italy and Spain. They are of the opinion that the presence of people from first-world countries protects them. So please visit if you can. I am available to assist you.

In July they’re planning to (again) shut down work on the dam by blocking the road to the construction site. The presence of people with cameras rolling will be especially critical for this event. I hope to attend.

On the last day of my trip, I was filming an interview near the construction site in which a farmer alleges that Emgesa damaged a critical bridge resulting in extreme hardship for the community. We were detained by someone claiming to be a Colombian army captain. I was compelled to delete the video. Here is a video I recorded shortly after the incident. I was unable to recover the deleted video but will film it again on my next trip.

My first trip cost me $250 USD. Almost all of this went towards transportation (buses, colectivos, moto-taxis, etc.) I stayed in a cheap hotel but next time I should be able to keep costs down by staying with the farmers in their homes (they’ve invited me and prefer this option). If you support my work and would like someone from the United States who has studied and practiced Gandhian nonviolence to accompany the farmers, please send me some funds. Here are some good reasons to financially support this work:



Chipin for a videographer and protective accompanier (me).

  1. I am your eyes on the ground. You can experience the situation visually with my videos, photos and stories. If nothing else, you can live vicariously through my lenses. And so can millions of others who care about the global poor, the environment, the Amazon and justice.
  2. As an obvious gringo (tall, white, blue eyes and brown hair), I’m an effective witness and perhaps even shield for the farmers against corporate and government violence. (This is what they have told me.) The Colombian government, army and police know that they owe much of their continued power on US government aid and training. I am a US citizen. The farmers told me they especially need foreign accompaniment for the July paro (work shutdown).
  3. I speak Spanish fluently. I first visited Colombia 18 years ago and have lived here (with a 16-month break) for more than 11 years now. I can understand different regional accents. I’m very familiar with the culture, customs, food, etc.
  4. I can serve as guide and translator for others (English speakers) who wish to accompany the farmers.
  5. I’ll credit you at the end of all of my videos about this situation.
  6. I am a student of satyagraha (Gandhian nonviolence) and practice it both in my daily life and in activism situations. I am opposed to globalization, colonialism and capitalism. The farmers can benefit from my experience and studies. (I want to learn from them, too. They’re going to teach me how to work the Earth and I’ll share with them my knowledge of English and satyagraha.)
  7. This is an incredibly cheap and direct way to fund effective resistance to globalization and 21st century colonialism.
  8. I live an overnight bus ride away from Gigante. I can catch a bus to Neiva, a colectivo to Gigante and a moto-taxi to anywhere in the valley in 15 hours or less at a cost of $90.000 COP ($49 USD). That’s cheap.
  9. I’m not asking to be paid, only to have my expenses covered: transportation, lodging (should be covered by campesinos invitations), food, water (I should compensate the campesinos for any food and water they share with me) and electricity to charge computer, camera and phone batteries. I’m a frugal vegetarian with a primitivist streak, so I’m easy to please.

I can also receive Bitcoin, though it’s not easy for me to spend on these trips. Checks are impractical. Shoot me an email with any questions: [email protected].

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Why I Got Discouraged and Why I’m Back

May 30, 2012 — 25 Comments
Discouraged Cat

Yep, that's about how I felt.

I got discouraged with the whole liberty community thing last fall. So I took an 8-month break. You probably didn’t notice and don’t care. That’s quite alright!

Why did I get discouraged?

  • Sometimes I feel like I’m doing my thing all by myself over here. It gets lonely and frustrating.
  • I was being ridiculed by fellow libertarians for trying on new ideas that threaten libertarian orthodoxy. I consider this anti-intellectual behavior and incredibly disappointing.
  • When a certain person decided to launch baseless, repeated and nasty public attacks on my character, some people that I respected quite a lot chose to defend him. Some criticized me for pointing out the elephant in the room and a few even praised him! This sucked.
  • I was still recovering from the Allentown US Marshal attack.
  • We Won’t Fly left me feeling burned out and unable to top myself.
  • An important project fell through when a fellow libertarian I value failed to deliver something I paid for.
  • I felt like crap at PorcFest 2011 (which I spent a lot of money to attend) because (1) a certain craven person got another very nasty person to insult me publicly from the registration table and (2) when I called them on it, I got the thousand-yard stare from an open-carrying Free State Project insider (I was open carrying, too). I got the sense that he was thinking of drawing on me.

What did I do over my “bummer” break?

  • I lost 40 pounds.
  • I experimented with a vegan diet and loved it. I consider myself a vegetarian now.
  • I spent a lot of time with my son.
  • I took up Aikido. It rocks.
  • I took up Zen meditation. It is incredibly powerful.
  • I studied leadership.
  • I overcame a lot of fears.
  • I took up hiking. I can’t get enough of it.
  • I read a ton of books.
  • I started a business.

And I realized that I am a leader. I don’t care if you disagree. Oh, and I have a special vocation to bring liberty and goodwill to the world. Go ahead and laugh. It’s corny but it’s true. I’m also 41 years old. I don’t have time to screw around. It’s time for me to get as serious as possible without unduly risking another Allentown.

So that’s why I’m getting back to work on libertarian stuff. It’s my mission. And there are many more people in the liberty community that I really like than those who disappoint me. You guys are really cool!

What did I learn?

  • I have to be blind, deaf and dumb to the negative.
  • I’m on a mission. This is between me and the universe. It’s not about anyone else. I’m taking this to the wall whether I have someone next to me or not. Think Julian Heicklen.
  • A relentless focus on the voluntaryist imperative of self-improvement is the best policy. I’ve got to live it.
  • Be ready to die at any time. Expect it. Look forward to the opportunity for a great death. This doesn’t mean I want to die. It just means I have to constantly put myself into challenging situations in order to continue growing and avoid rotting. Otherwise I’ll never be up to the challenge of taking a run at my mission.

What now? Here’s what I’m working on:

  • A way overdue pamphlet about the courts and jury nullification. (Sorry Nate!)
  • Blogging useful stuff daily here. What should I write about?
  • I’m bringing Agora I/O back. The next conference is September 21-23 this year.
  • I’m bringing Shield Mutual (mutual aid project) back but with a different twist.
  • I’m working on an idea called the Peace League. The League is a group of people, highly trained in satyagraha (Gandhian nonviolence), who freely associate and form groups to go into places of conflict and nonviolently assist the combatants in reaching a sustainable resolution. It would take inspiration from Buddha, Jesus, St Francis of Assisi, Tolstoy, Gandhi, MLK, Rusesabagina and so many others. When people call for the US army to handle a humanitarian disaster or to intervene (think Kony 2012 or Darfur), we go instead. It’s like the opposite of an army.
  • I’m working on an environmental and human rights activism project here in Colombia that involves a Spanish-Italian multinational and a small band of campesinos. I’ve got hours of video that I will edit and publish soon. I was even already detained! (See tomorrow’s post for the video and story.)

For my three faithful readers, thanks so much for bearing with me during the break. I promise great things to come!

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2648902362_9e8c313ae1_b

Libertarianism is NOT “Every Man for Himself”

May 28, 2012 — 14 Comments

Are libertarians greedy? Do we not care about our fellow human beings? Do we have a zero-sum mentality; i.e., do we think somebody has to lose in order for someone to win? What’s your experience?

The other day (actually, it was almost four years ago – this has been in my drafts folder a long time) I happened upon a critique of libertarianism that is all too common – and all too wrong:

I could support Libertarians except for one viewpoint that nearly all of you seem to share which is, by my belief system, fundamentally flawed — and it’s a belief that is central to Libertarianism itself.

It is summed up as “people always should do what’s good for them” and is used to justify the free-est of free markets.

A good analogy is that, if I were to just do what is good for me, I might walk in to a store with a gun and a sledge hammer, shoot the clerk in the head, smash the cash register and take all the money.

Then, I would run.

That, in a nutshell, is the over-arching “principle” of Libertarianism: every man/woman for themself [sic].

We are currently seeing in the economy the results of greed run wild with nearly no regulation of financial markets.

I know you won’t like this posting, so it is likely you’ll just vote it down. It’s easier than considering that the proper role of government includes at least some regulation and some fostering of good will toward our fellow citizens. #

1. People should do what’s good for them.

I say it like this: “People should do whatever they think is best for them, as long as they don’t hurt other people.” And is this really controversial? I don’t think so. The controversial part comes in when people get confused about what is good for them.

2. This is used to justify free markets.

I suspect what he means is fascist markets; i.e., that way of doing business where governments charter corporations and collude with them to create and sustain a privileged class that plays a zero-sum game. But libertarianism is against government collusion with business.

3. It’s good for you to steal from and hurt others.

Let’s set aside the risk of being hurt, captured or killed while committing these crimes. Forget about the possibility of being imprisoned for many years. Disregard the non-aggression principle that prohibits such actions and which is central to libertarianism.

Consider for a moment the kind of violence you have to do to yourself before you can even hurt another person. Do your own thought experiment. Which of your own dearly-held principles and emotional obstacles would you have to overcome before you could actually hurt another person? How does the idea make you feel? The idea of hurting others makes me feel terrible, even if done by accident. Could this possibly be good for you?!

I encourage you to watch the 78-minute documentary The Ground Truth: The Human Cost of War where you’ll see firsthand just what impact committing violence has on returning US soldiers. The most surprising part for me is that they were less harmed by the violence done to them and more by the violence they themselves committed.

4. Government should regulate and foster good will among citizens.

Libertarianism doesn’t necessarily dispute this claim. At the very least, however, many schools of thought propose only voluntary government (an admittedly generous expansion of the definition of ‘government’). This can take the form of community boards, homeowners’ associations, non-profit organizations, chambers of commerce and mutual aid societies.

Contradict the Stereotype

How can we definitively dispel this notion of libertarians being greedy, self-serving and lacking in empathy? I have a few suggestions.

  • Stop focusing on economics.
    Mises, Hayek, Hazlitt and Rothbard are a few of the most revered libertarian thinkers. They’re all economists. Are there any widely respected libertarian writers who aren’t economists or don’t primarily focus on wealth production?
  • Detach from the conservatives.
    The libertarian identity has become intertwined with conservatives. Conservative politicians are often found talking the libertarian talk. When they get into office though, they don’t walk the walk. The conservatives, who do indeed cut a more social-Darwinian figure, are giving us a bad name. We need to actively distinguish ourselves from them.
  • Disown the Randian glorification of the business executive.
    There is a Randian current that flows through libertarian thought. Produce wealth. Glory to the most productive individuals! (There goes economics again.) But big business is using government to maintain their privilege and quash competition – a distinctly anti-libertarian practice. Forget about Rand.
  • Create liberty activism projects to help other people.

    Some examples that come to mind include: the Free Keene community kitchen food drives and volunteering, Food not Bombs, the Basket Brigade, mutual aid for fellow activists and the general public, independent projects to help folks in the third world (I’m working on one right now), especially those under threat from first-world multi-national corporations.

Photo credit: Marcin Wichary. Photo license.

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was an American individualist anarchist, political philosopher, Deist, abolitionist, supporter of the labor movement, legal theorist, and entrepreneur of the nineteenth century

What Memorial Day Should be for Libertarians

May 27, 2012 — 2 Comments

Ask any “regular” joe United-Statesian and he’ll tell you that Memorial Day (Monday, May 28, 2012) is a holiday. He likes to relax, have a barbeque and perhaps spend time with family. Once in awhile, one will remember that, according to Wikipedia, it is “a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.”

Lysander Spooner should be remembered by libertarians on memorial day

Lysander Spooner (d. 1887) was an American individualist anarchist, political philosopher, abolitionist and entrepreneur of the nineteenth century. He's also a libertarian hero.

In our current role of dissidents, we libertarians are usually stuck in the criticism rut. The pro-slavery forces are so strong that we have to focus on the anti- position instead of putting forth a pro-. So our most common reaction to Memorial Day is to criticize war. We rip the phenomenon to shreds logically, point by point. We offer up military dissidents for admiration instead of military loyalists. Bradley Manning, Adam Kokesh and Matthis Chiroux come to mind. This is smart and admirable but I propose going a step beyond our usual anti- antics and into the pro- category.

But, first, let’s take a quick look at the history behind Memorial Day.

The modern Memorial Day got its start after the Civil War, according to historian David W. Blight, who writes:

This was the first Memorial Day. African Americans invented Memorial Day in Charleston, South Carolina. What you have there is black Americans recently freed from slavery announcing to the world with their flowers, their feet, and their songs what the War had been about. What they basically were creating was the Independence Day of a Second American Revolution.

And according to the Memorial Day Origin website,

Memorial days did not start in Petersburg, Virginia; Waterloo, New York; or any other city in the United States. Memorial days upon which the graves of the communities’ heroes were decorated with flowers and garlands are ancient customs originating in Greece 2,500 years ago.

I propose that on Memorial Day we libertarians remember our fallen libertarian heroes. Let’s proclaim to the world that we are free and safe and we don’t need wars to keep us that way. But let us not fall into the Great Man Trap. That is, let us not think that our fallen heroes are infallible prophets of the universe who pass the liberty gospel down from on high. Let’s remember that we all have a piece of the truth in us. We all have the spark of greatness. We each have something to add. So let’s also honor the greatness and heroism within ourselves that can only fully come out when liberty and peace reign.

Who are your fallen libertarian heroes? Which one makes you feel freest? These ones come to mind for me. What about you?

Please share your fallen libertarian heroes, why you memorialize them and any ideas you have on how we can expand our Memorial Day celebration.

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How a Libertarian became a Pennsylvania State Police Informant

May 8, 2012 — 62 Comments

How could a libertarian anarchist become a police informant, you ask? It’s quite simple really. According to the grapevine, a bright college-age libertarian lady studying in Philadelphia stands accused by Pennsylvania state police of selling drugs they don’t like to an undercover cop on seven occasions. She’s looking at seven [reportedly now thirteen (13)] felonies.

Faced with a disaster of these proportions, the young lady reportedly accepted an opportunity to expedite her release from jail (and possibly reduce her sentence) by going to work as an informant. Three people have been arrested as a result of her collaboration, I am told.

If you’d like to support these victims of her informant work and survivors of the war on (some) drugs, please donate whatever you can here. Every little bit helps.

Libertarians and anarchists around the country are denouncing her, as I’m sure you can imagine. Cups of righteous indignation from uninvolved third parties are running over right and left. “Just let her know that she failed as an anarchist,” opined one comfortable Facebook commenter. “God damned whore-swine. No empathy possesing [sic] Nazi monster,” roared another one. Luckily he was unhurt by the weight of his own irony.

Yet another anarchist went so far as to speak for the entire community saying, “Yeah we don’t fuck around when one of our own turns traitor.”

As sad as this situation is, it’s also rife with learning opportunities. Here are my takeaways: (1) This could happen to any of us; (2) Illegal activities and public activism are not compatible; and (3) The evolution will not happen like Atlas Shrugged or Alongside Night.

“I’m Shocked!”

Prison is a different world – cold, concrete and alien. Your every move is watched and limited. You have no control over the air you breathe, the water you drink, the clothes you wear or the food you eat. It is literally unreal. And until you are in there, you can’t imagine what it is like or what you will do to recover your illusion of being in control of your own life.

The criticisms of the young lady amount to so much Casablanca-style “I’m shocked!”s. Here’s why:

  • Our most prominent and admired leaders encourage us on a regular basis to engage in agorism (unsanctioned or illegal commerce) as a part of our activism.
  • Some of us, including impressionable young people, actually follow their suggestion!
  • When you engage in illegal activities, you become vulnerable to police oppression and manipulation (because they can hang prison time over your head).
  • The police are an aggressive bunch and as such have ways to coerce you into doing what they want – kind of like when someone has a gun to your head.

Simply shocking that these circumstances would lead to a libertarian turning informant, right? Who could have imagined an agorist being targeted by the cops and pressured to do their bidding!?

The simple fact is that any one of us can be turned at any time by any sufficiently aggressive entity. We all have just one shot at life. None of us wants to rot (or worse) in prison. Many of us have families that depend on our continued economic and sentimental activities. We, more than the rest of the population, hold dear our day-to-day freedom. Pending court dates, felony charges, house arrest, lawyers and tracking bracelets wear harder on our psyches. This young lady got caught, but you could be next.

A Public Agorist is an Oxymoron

You can’t be a prominent and public anarchist activist and engage in illegal activities on a sustained and significant basis at the same time. The two roles just aren’t compatible in today’s political climate. As activists, we arouse resentment and a desire to hurt us. As agorists, we make ourselves vulnerable to being hurt under color of law. Choose one role or the other, but never both.

Your Life is Really Happening

We can’t expect to engage in risky behavior like drug dealing without having to suffer the state’s punishment sooner or later. This is not a philosophical novel. There is little glory in prison and you won’t be able to skip over the boring parts.

I find myself (and others) frequently living in the fantasy world of ideology. X should exist today so I’m going to live as if it already does. We should live our philosophies now – fully and completely. But we must also temper our idealism with real-world practicality. You can have a bigger impact on the outside than you can in prison.

Can She be Trusted?

One topic that’s being hotly debated is whether the young lady can ever be trusted again. This is not a yes/no question. It’s a sliding scale. And the answer may change over time. Given enough pressure, even the most militant of us can cave under state pressure. For example, if I had to choose between my son being in the hands of social workers or snitching on a friend, I can assure you that I would seriously consider snitching on you! So I’m not writing off the young lady. Nor am I looking to conduct any business with her either!

None of Our Lives Will Ever be the Same

“This isn’t a game,” lectured yet another critic of the young lady. “She got people who trusted her in deep, deep trouble. Their lives may very well never be the same again. That is NOT acceptable. That is despicable.”

None of our lives are the same. None of us are what we should or could be. And the reason is the cooperation and sanction we give to aggression (including the governments of the world). While we worry about possible prison time for a few, the planet is burning due to oppression and injustice. Our struggle is so much bigger than this – and none of us have clean hands.

Playing the blame game is what slaves do. To argue amongst ourselves whether it is the gunmaker’s fault or the soldier who pulled the trigger’s or the general who gave the order or the victim who failed to resist “enough” is a pointless circle jerk.

The government can and does make all kinds of people commit all kinds of self-destructive actions every single day. Who is to say you won’t fall victim too? Are you really qualified to throw the first stone?

If you want to live in a world where young libertarians don’t inform on their friends, set aside your judgment – and your illusions. Live liberty, and it’s counterpart, love. You can’t have one without the other. And you can’t love and judge at the same time. The power of aggression is limitless as long as we remain fearful little mice, scuttering in the shadows and covetous of the creature comforts we’ve managed to carve out for ourselves.

Other Blog Reactions

Tom Knapp: When the Comrade Beside You Falls …

David Zemens: It’s all fun and games until you’re faced with the difficult proposition of martyring yourself for a cause

Deanna Aeanad: In Response to “Everything” (or What Really Happened and Why I Have Made the Choices That I Have) (Facebook)

James Tuttle: C4SS and Stacy Litz

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The Forgotten Power of Leadership

December 26, 2011 — Leave a comment

I‘m always surprised when people don’t grok the concept of leadership. I don’t know why but I seem to regularly “get it” on an instinctual basis. So it’s like having a sixth sense. It baffles me when others don’t share that sense experience with me.

What do I mean by leadership? Leadership is not about electing or appointing people to give orders that others are obligated to follow. Leadership is about stepping forward when everyone else wants to step back. It’s about putting your neck out there with an idea and a plan of action. It’s about following through on that plan – with action! It’s about showing others how their impossible dreams actually are possible, and now. Leadership is entirely voluntary and mutual. You can have as many leaders as you want and only pay as much attention to each as you desire. You can be a leader to as many people as you can honestly manage to satisfy.

Leadership is a service and it is provided in a marketplace. Leadership is essential to our quest for freedom and justice. Without it, we are simply a slew of individuals in the same physical, mental or spiritual space. With it, we can be an organized mastermind (see Napolean Hill) working wonders beyond the mere sum of our individual parts.

To the rugged atomizer individualists who say, “Poppycock!” to any talk of people working together mutually with other individuals towards a common goal, I offer this quote as my final thought on the relationship between the individual and the group:

“We can­not live only for our­selves. A thou­sand fibers con­nect us with our fel­low men.” -Her­man Melville

This one is also relevant:

“It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.” – Napolean Hill

How to Develop Leadership?

But if you don’t feel like a leader, how do you develop the leadership sense? Find something you really care about. An issue, a person, a country, a world. Research the issue. Make sure you care about it a lot. How much? So much so that you can’t imagine not neutralizing the threat. Start writing about it. You will find other, like-minded individuals. Now talk to them about what can be done. Collect ideas. Keep searching for your own inspiration. Take a shower, go for a run or do whatever else gets your creative brain into gear.

Now do something. Start small. Build up. Take risks. But make sure you know your risk profile. Don’t go overboard early on in a search for internet fame. This is a long term struggle. It’s a game of chess. Take it slowly and think (a lot) before acting.

But, whatever you do, don’t fall into the trap of thinking individual action alone is enough. It simply is not. Don’t kid yourself. Did Gandhi make the British Empire step back on all his lonesome? No. He put his leadership out there and worked with millions of people. Did Martin Luther King or Malcolm X or Rosa Parks achieve their victories all on their own? Absolutely not! It took many many people working together in concerted action with a leadership marketplace.

Sure, it takes an individual spark or sparks to start a fire. Such as what Rosa Parks did. Such as what Julian Heicklen does. And that is leadership! But it’s not enough. Where would Rosa Parks be without the many who joined her? Where would Julian Heicklen be without the videographers, the call flooders and the journalists?

So when I post something like this to my Facebook profile:

If someone hasn’t already organized an effort to boycott movie theaters (over SOPA) then one of my anarchist comrades should do it.

And get responses like these:

George, to boycott them assumes we are currently going to see movie now! lol It’s been well over a year since I’ve been to a theater as too much of what’s make just plain sucks.

I’ve been boycotting theaters for years. I haven’t supported the industry in years.

[And I see this attitude over and over again when working with We Won't Flyers.]

It’s a little frustrating. I didn’t ask you to be a follower of a boycott or to pound your chest about your years-long boycott. I asked you to ORGANIZE a boycott. I invited you to be a leader. I invited you to build power. Power is what wins political battles. For those of us not in the 1%, that means leadership. It means organizing. It means a lot of smart, but also hard, work. Power will not flow your way until you are willing to earn it. And without power, you can forget about moving your issue forward or protecting a person, a country or a world.

Am I being unreasonable? Am I asking too much? Are some of us born leaders, born persuaders and the rest of us doomed to a secondary status by birth, unable to step forward, unable to muster courage, take risks and persuade others? NO! This is an excuse. Recognize it as such and TRY. Try to be a leader. Keep trying, don’t give up and you will meet with success. If you give up, then I will know that you don’t really care all that much about your issue, your people, your country or your world. Is that what you want others to think of you?

No man is an island. And why would anyone want to be? If you are reading this article, you want a better world. You want more freedom and more justice. Leverage the network effect. Become a leader. Make something happen. Don’t rest on your imaginary laurels. Step up. If you don’t know how – and have a burning desire to be a leader – contact me and I will mentor you.

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My Beef with Capitalism, in a Nutshell

November 30, 2011 — 10 Comments

‘Capitalism’ is a funny word. It means so many different things to so many different people, that it’s become entirely useless as a basis for any kind of rational or constructive communication. For some, it is a vessel to romanticize and to pour all their dreams into. For others, it is a trashcan they fill with their complaints and most cynical expectations for the future. But what is capitalism, at its root?

Some will mention wage labor, others exploitation and yet others will talk of free trade. But I think the defining feature is the ability to accumulate lots and lots and lots of stuff (capital). And then, most importantly, to have a third party protect your ability to control that stuff even when you’re not using it. That third party, of course, is the state (the government).

(Does it have to be a state? No. But I don’t think a non-aggressive organization will go to the same lengths as the state to protect property.)

Without this ability to accumulate and have your title to said stuff protected at little to no cost to yourself, things like wage labor, exploitation and managed trade could not happen. These all depend on the power imbalances that stem from the state protecting capitalists’ control of their property.

I don’t think capitalism would survive without the state. In a stateless society, people would be freer to rise up against people who attempt to control more property than they actually use. Acting in concert, great numbers of people could, in the worst case, purchase arms, form a defense force and fight capitalists on a more level playing field. Squatters, worker-owned cooperatives and similar direct actors would take control of more of the capitalists’ property. In the process, their power would be eaten away.

To those who say that capitalism is free trade, nothing more and nothing less, that is not its defining characteristic. Free trade can happen under many different ideological systems. Free trade is blooming right now in China in the midst of an ostensibly socialist system. Free trade can happen in an anarchist society. I don’t doubt that free trade even happened in the Soviet Union, where some may have bartered vodka for bread (or the opposite), for example.

Neither is exploitation a defining characteristic of capitalism, since it can happen anywhere there is an imbalance of power, including under socialist, communist, democratic or plain old totalitarian regimes. In other words, exploitation is not unique to capitalism.

So that’s my problem with capitalism: that some privileged people get to accumulate tons of stuff at other’s expense by using the government to shield them from market action. By market action, I mean homesteading of property the capitalists aren’t themselves using.

So, I’m not high on capitalism (anymore). What am I into? I like the idea that people’s possessions should be respected. These are the things an individual uses on a regular basis to live his life. I would include all the tools and toys a person uses in their home and business, including a reasonable amount of land to live on, to use for recreation and producing food; and everything that goes with their business.

If a person prospers legitimately, I have no basis to challenge any accumulation of wealth. But I take issue with absentee control of things, especially natural resources. There is an argument that the earth is the common heritage of all people. I find this convincing. So for one person to deny others the reasonable use of this common heritage is not legitimate.

For example, if someone fences off 1,000 acres of land but consistently uses only 2, I don’t consider that legitimate. Simply being first to fence is not a solid foundation for denying this common heritage to others. If someone needed land and had a solid intention to use it to sustain his life, I would support that person in any attempt to homestead a reasonable parcel out of the 1,000 acres.

A capitalist might argue that the the first-fencer mixed his labor with the land or registered title and so it was now “a part of him” (which sounds a little too mystical for my tastes). But the first-fencer only mixed his labor with the 2 acres he is using and the thin strip of land the fence is on. What about the other ~998 acres? He hasn’t done anything there. So I don’t even think the homesteading principle supports the first-fencer’s actions.

But you can’t live life without property, say the capitalists. Yes, you can. You can live life with possessions, the things you control and use. You absolutely can live life without those things that you don’t use but control (property). If you don’t use them, that right there shows that you do not need them in order to live.

I invite reasoned criticism of my comments here. Anything else I do not tolerate.

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Property Issues not Clear-Cut in Occupy Wall Street Zuccotti Park Eviction

November 15, 2011 — 9 Comments

In the latest attack by governments on free people, Michael Bloomberg of New York City has ordered his police to evict Occupy Wall Streeters from Zucotti Park. If this wasn’t bad enough, I noticed a libertarian friend post this today:

My thoughts regarding the clearing out Zucotti Park: Good! Zucotti Park is privately owned, therefore, no one has the right to engage in activities its owner deems unsuitable. The property owners were trespassed upon and the protesters initiated force against the property owners. Therefore, the property owners have every right to retaliatory self-defense.

This, sadly, is glib, reactionary and characteristic of the worst kind of right-libertarian thinking. Do any clear-thinking Ayn-Randians recognize the context-dropping that is evident in the above paragraph? Let’s take a closer look.

1. How did they come by it?

First, how did the current owner (Brookfield Office Properties Inc.) become owners of record for it? Did they use state privilege to get it? To earn the money they used to buy it? Or was it some kind of gift from the state?

According to Wikipedia, Zucotti park was created when US Steel wanted to build a building in New York City a little higher than what government officials would allow. In return for government permission, US Steel created the park.

So far I have been unable to find when or how the current owner acquired the park.

US Steel and Brookfield Office Properties Inc. are large corporations. They have benefited from, at the very least, government-granted limited liability protection. This enables them to escape complete accountability for their actions.

Brookfield Office Properties Inc. is a real estate company. It is likely that it benefited from the recent government-created real estate bubble. It may also benefit from various government incentives routinely granted at the local level for construction of arenas, large buildings, etc. Finally, real estate often requires large bank loans. Banks are chartered by the state. They use a state-controlled and -manipulated currency. And banks have the exclusive privilege of using fractional reserve banking to issue more loans than they likely could in a freed market. Finally, the government, through the Federal Reserve, keeps interest rates low. This makes it cheaper for those who borrow, such as real estate companies, and less rewarding for those who save, such as individual workers.

It’s been some time since I have studied the history of US Steel but it wouldn’t surprise me to find that it had benefited from tariffs on imported steel and other bailouts, price controls and/or war contracts.

In conclusion, the park has its origins in state privilege and state control. State power, as readers of this blog will know, is used by some to disadvantage others. It is unfair and illegitimate. Thus you can hardly claim that the current owners have a solid claim to control the park.

2. Do the owners of record use the property?

Second, do the owners of record use the property? When was the last time? Who is actually using the property?

There is an idea called usufruct. Among other meanings, this is the concept that those who use an item of property are the rightful owners, or at least their right to use it should be respected. And this makes sense to me. Any owner of record who doesn’t use their property is a specie of absentee landlord. Why should someone who never uses something have control over it and the people who do actually use it? This makes no sense to me.

Historically, absentee landlordism is a known evil. We can talk about the Irish example, the indigo farmers in India that Gandhi helped or sharecropping in the Southern US after the civil war. But none of them are pretty. Absentee landlordism is a way for some people to control others’ use of natural resources – the earth that is our common human heritage.

3. Did the occupiers agree to abide by the owner of record’s rules?

Third, are there signs posted to the effect that the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) people are not wanted? Were they told they weren’t wanted there? Did the OWS people voluntarily agree to any certain conditions regarding their use of the space?

I haven’t been to Zucotti park, so I don’t know what signs are posted. But I have read that it is exempt from the city government’s nightly curfew. I don’t know if the occupiers were warned about the pending eviction. But I highly doubt that any occupier freely signed a legitimate contract that set any terms for their use of the space.

When we have a space that is not being used by its owner of record but is being used by the public, isn’t it a de facto commons? I think so. Even under current US law (in some areas at least), if one abandons a property and others take up its use, under certain conditions the new users can become the owners of record. If it is a commons, or is de facto owned by the public, whatever Brookfield Office Properties Inc. has to say is null and void. The current users get to make the rules.

If everyday patrons of the park are being denied their normal ability to enjoy the space by the occupiers, then that would be a legitimate cause for action – by a legitimate arbitrator or defense force.

4. Did the owners of record ask the cops to clear it?

Fourth, did the owners of record ask the cops to clear it?

One month ago, they did just that. But they withdrew that request the next day.

According to Michael Bloomberg, mayor of the New York City government, it was his decision alone to evict the occupiers this morning.

5. Are the cops a legitimate defense force for the owners of Zucotti Park?

Fifth, are the cops a legitimate force to be used for defense against trespassers on “private” land?

No, they are not. Those who are current on Occupy Wall Street news know that the cops are agents of aggression, not defense. They have been caught pepper-spraying and otherwise initiating attacks against occupiers since practically the beginning of this occupation. An aggression force is the opposite of a defense force. An aggression force can not be taken seriously when it claims it is being used in defense. That is more akin to propaganda.

Conclusion

The occupiers and the general public who patronize Zucotti Park are the legitimate owners of the park, no matter what the local government or corporations say. The police have no legitimate authority to evict the occupiers from the park. Not even the owner of record is on record as having a pending request for any eviction.

This eviction is simple another attack by government on free people perpetrated by an aggressive police force with notorious aggressors in its ranks. There is nothing legitimate, admirable or righteous about the actions of the local government in this matter.

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