Sherman Austin

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Sherman Austin

Born April 10, 1983 (1983-04-10) (age 25)[1]
Los Angeles, California
Known for activism
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Sherman Martin Austin (born April 10, 1983) is an American anarchist and convicted felon. He was the first person to be successfully prosecuted under 18 U.S.C. 842(p), a United States federal law which makes the distribution of information on explosives unlawful if the information is provided with the knowledge or intent that the information will be used to commit a violent federal crime.[2][3]

Austin was convicted under a plea agreement in 2002 and served a one year sentence in Federal prison.[4] Some have questioned whether Austin's trial was fair.

Prior to his arrest and imprisonment, Austin was webmaster of the Internet site RaisetheFist.com (subtitled "National Security is the Threat"), which provides a platform for discussion for anti-police activists, and provides suggestions on how to practice for possible armed combat with police.[5] Following his release from prison, he released a hip-hop CD, Silence is Defeat.[6]

Contents

[edit] Investigation, conviction and imprisonment

[edit] Background

On May 1, 2001, the FBI received information about a possible server intrusion and defacement of the web site of the James Redford Institute for Transplant Awareness. The information contained on that web site's home page had been deleted and replaced with politically militant rhetoric. In addition, the coding for this and a number of other defaced sites contained links to RaisetheFist.com. Sherman Austin's personal online username for a number of IRC clients, including AIM Instant Messenger, was UCAUN.[context needed][7]

[edit] Search and apprehension

On January 24, 2002 the FBI and the Secret Service armed with a search warrant raided Austin's home. Agents seized all of his political literature and computer equipment, including the webservers used to distribute the explosives information.[8] While searching Austin's bedroom, agents discovered two glass bottles containing petroleum products; one of these bottles had a metal screw top with a hole punched in the lid and the other contained a piece of burnt material. Agents also found boxes containing 63 glass bottles, and a remote controlled detonation device fashioned from a toy car.[9] Austin's car contained fertilizer, cans of brake fluid, and two gas canisters.[10]

A week later Austin attended the anti-World Economic Forum protests in New York City where he was arrested by the FBI for “distribution of information relating to explosives, destructive devices and weapons of mass destruction”.[11] When he was arrested, Austin was carrying a black mask, a gas mask, and a lighter; his car contained an empty gas canister, electrical wiring, and duct tape. [12] He asked to be released so he could travel to the trial jurisdiction on his own, but the federal prosecutor argued that Austin's alleged vow to "take violent action to stop the 2002 Olympics" and "burn" the event posed another serious threat. Federal Magistrate Henry Pitman ruled that Austin would remain in custody for the trip back to California. [13]

[edit] Conviction

On August 4, 2003, Sherman Austin was sentenced in U.S. District Court by Judge Stephen V. Wilson to 12 months in a federal jail, a $2000 fine, three years probation, and as well as other restrictions. His time was served in a federal institution in Tucson, Arizona.

Austin has claimed that he never authored the explosives information, although he freely hosted it on his webserver.[8] Austin says he took a plea deal because of the possibility of a 20 year sentence due to a "terrorism enhancement" clause in the USA Patriot Act.[14] He entered a guilty plea to violation of 18 U.S.C. 842(p) which makes it a crime to distribute bomb-making information knowing or intending that the information will be used for a violent crime.[15]

Austin was not indicted for any alleged hacking crimes. However, he has acknowledged defacing the sites, saying it was necessary to get his message out.[16]

[edit] Release

Austin was released one month early in July 2004 with 3 years of probation which prohibits him from having access to a computer or knowingly associating with individuals who "espouse violence for political change".

In February 2006, Austin released a statement on Indymedia containing claims that the National Security Agency had installed illegal wiretaps before and during the investigation against him. He also alleged that the NSA, along with "other higher-ups in the government", arranged three separate attempts to assassinate him, and that he was provided with names and license plate numbers of these would-be government assassins via anonymous tips.[17]

[edit] Criticism of Austin's prosecution

Austin's supporters consider him a political prisoner.[18][19] Since his arrest, Austin has become a cause célèbre on the internet for anarchists, with many sites dedicated to freeing Austin.[20][21] Zack de la Rocha, lead vocalist of the band Rage Against the Machine, came out in support of Austin.[22]

Leslie Kendrick, arguing for the adoption of a standard for determining whether speech is "criminally instructive", has questioned whether Austin's sentence was fair given the available evidence. As he notes, the law protects both (a) speech that is intended to incite a violent crime, but is not actually likely to do so, and (b) speech that is likely to incite a violent crime, but is not actually intended to do so. The Department of Justice prosecutor recommended a sentence of four months in jail and four months in a halfway house, but the judge rejected that plea twice and ordered a 12-month sentence in jail, saying the prosecution was not "taking this case seriously enough". Writing of Austin, Kendrick says, "Too little information is available to make a complete assessment either of Austin's intent or the likely use of his website by others... Judge Wilson's difference of opinion with the Justice Department prosecutor (the very agency that had contributed to the drafting of the Feinstein Amendment) illustrates the degree of subjectivity involved in assessing the danger imposed by the activities of individuals like [him]."[2]

Carnegie Mellon University professor David S. Touretzky posted a mirror of the Reclaim Guide on his web site in reaction to the FBI raid on Austin, in order to prompt public debate. As Touretzky notes on his website, his own distribution of the material does not violate the statute because it is not performed with the intention or knowledge that the information be used to commit any illegal violent acts.[23] Touretzky has distanced himself from Austin's politics, which he characterizes as "mindless", and has dismissed the Reclaim Guide as amateurish. He points out that books like Home Workshop Explosives, which offer more detailed information about making explosives than that linked to by Austin, are sold on the popular website Amazon.com.

Touretzky also points out the frailty of the law in which Austin was convicted. As previously mentioned, he cites the fact that there is more detailed information about explosives on the internet (which can be found on Amazon.com) and at a public library. For this reason, many believe his case raises questions about the constitutionality of the law under which he was convicted, due to the difficulty establishing a standard for proving that the bombmaking instructions were distributed with the intention that they be used in a violent crime.[citation needed]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sherman Austin. Shermanaustinmusic.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
  2. ^ a b Kendrick, Leslie (December 2005). "A Test for Criminally Instructional Speech". Virginia Law Review Vol. 91 (No. 8): 1973-2021. 
  3. ^ The relevant text of the statute reads as follows: "(2) Prohibition.— It shall be unlawful for any person— (A) to teach or demonstrate the making or use of an explosive, a destructive device, or a weapon of mass destruction, or to distribute by any means information pertaining to, in whole or in part, the manufacture or use of an explosive, destructive device, or weapon of mass destruction, with the intent that the teaching, demonstration, or information be used for, or in furtherance of, an activity that constitutes a Federal crime of violence; or (B) to teach or demonstrate to any person the making or use of an explosive, a destructive device, or a weapon of mass destruction, or to distribute to any person, by any means, information pertaining to, in whole or in part, the manufacture or use of an explosive, destructive device, or weapon of mass destruction, knowing that such person intends to use the teaching, demonstration, or information for, or in furtherance of, an activity that constitutes a Federal crime of violence. " US Code: Title 18,842. Unlawful Acts
  4. ^ Newsmaker: A Webmaster's 25th hour
  5. ^ Schanlaub, Russ (December 2005). "Anti-Police Internet Sites". Law and Order. 
  6. ^ Sherman Austin's Music
  7. ^ USA v. Sherman Martin Austin - Search Warrant and Affidavit
  8. ^ a b Counterpunch interview
  9. ^ USA v. Sherman Martin Austin - Affidavit in Support of Complaint and Arrest Warrant
  10. ^ New York Post Online Edition: News
  11. ^ Goodman, Amy. "The U.S. Government Wanted ‘To Make An Example Out of Me’: Young Webmaster Heads to Prison for Political Website", Democracy Now, 2003-09-03. Retrieved on 2007-10-22. 
  12. ^ Detention Hearing Transcript
  13. ^ New York Post Online Edition: News
  14. ^ McCullagh, Declan. "A Webmaster's 25th hour", 2003-08-13. Retrieved on 2007-10-22. 
  15. ^ US CODE: Title 18.844. Penalties
  16. ^ News article archived on Prof. Touretzky's website about Austin's case
  17. ^ "Secret NSA surveillance and the case of Sherman Austin", 2006-02-21. Retrieved on 2007-10-22. 
  18. ^ http://www.fsrn.org/news/20040713_news.html
  19. ^ Human Rights
  20. ^ http://www.infoshop.org/shermanaustin.html
  21. ^ http://www.carlagirl.net/activism/freesherman.html
  22. ^ YouTube - Zack de la Rocha
  23. ^ Prof. Tourtetzky's website

[edit] External links