Date: Thu Dec 23 11:33:04 1999 From: freematt@coil.com (Matthew Gaylor) Subject: Freematt's Comment On ACLU sues FBI, DoJ over Y2K martial law To: freematt@coil.com (Matthew Gaylor)
[Note from Matthew Gaylor: On occasion I'm in the right place and the right time to ask the right questions. Last year I happened to be in the presence of a high level government bureaucrat, who had no clue of my Internet hobbies and my individual rights fanaticism. Anyway, we got to talking about potential flashpoints that could cause rioting in the US. He made an off hand comment, that the feds have in place a policy to ask major media to suppress news stories that might incite violence. I knew this had to be true as I get reports from all around the globe and I've documented a couple locally that should have been page one news, yet in one case didn't get reported at all. The local case involved a hispanic street gang called "The Latin Kings" who attacked a Columbus, OH Police sub-station, shooting twenty shots from a 9mm weapon at the police cruisers and building. When this first happened, I heard mention of it on the radio the day it happened then nothing. I watched the evening newscasts and heard nothing and I read the next days daily newspaper and found nothing, absolutely no mention of it. One of the small free weekly newspapers (Columbus Alive) carried a story on it and wrote about the event being censored, but hardly a beep out of the mainstream media. The next mention of this event was in the form of a police news release found on the CPD police web site: http://www.police.ci.columbus.oh.us/PressReleases/1998PR/pr11698.html ]
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> Subject: FC: ACLU sues FBI, DoJ over Y2K martial law video
********
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,33225,00.html
Lawsuit Says Feds Went too Far by Jill Priluck
2:00 p.m. 22.Dec.1999 PST NEW YORK -- The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the federal government for allegedly coercing an artist and Web hosting service to censor a fictional depiction of a Y2K military takeover.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in US District Court in New Jersey, accuses the FBI, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and the US Department of Justice of illegally shutting down artist Mike Zieper's video, Military Takeover of New York City, which is about a New Year's Eve military coup in Times Square.
According to the lawsuit, the Feds violated Zieper's right to free speech by pressuring the artist and his Web host, Mark Weiger, to remove the video. ACLU attorney Ann Beeson called it an egregious First Amendment violation.
[...]
> >****MEDIA ADVISORY**** > >ACLU to Sue FBI, Justice Dept. Over Attempt to Suppress "Y2K Military >Takeover"Film > >FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE >Tuesday, December 21, 1999 > >CONTACT: Emily Whitfield, ACLU National (212) 549-2566 or 2666 >Cell phone (917) 686-4542/e-mail: ewhitfield@aclu.org > >NEW YORK--At a 2:00 p.m. news conference in downtown Manhattan tomorrow, the >national and New Jersey offices of the American Civil Liberties Union will >announce the filing of a lawsuit against federal law enforcement officials >who sought to shut down a controversial short film about a secret army plan >to incite a race riot in Times Square on New Year's Eve. > >The fictional 6-minute "Military Takeover" video, created by New Jersey >artist Mike Zieper (ZYE-per) is currently online at >http://crowdedtheater.com/ and will be screened tomorrow at the ACLU news >conference; a limited number of videotapes will be available to reporters. > >In its legal complaint against agents and top officials at the U. S. >Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the ACLU will >charge that Mike Z. and his web host, Mark Wieger (WEE-ger) of Michigan, were >subjected to an unlawful investigation and attempts to censor activities >fully protected by the First Amendment. > >WHO: Video artist "Mike Z.;" Mark Wieger, owner of BECamation website, >ACLU national attorneys Ann Beeson and Chris Hansen and attorneys with the >ACLU of New Jersey. > >WHAT: News conference to announce filing of ACLU lawsuit against attempts >by FBI and Justice Department to suppress artistic expression protected by >the First Amendment > >WHERE:ACLU, 125 Broad Street (between South and Water Streets), 18th floor >Subway lines - 1,9 (South Ferry), 4,5 (Bowling Green) and N,R (Whitehall) > >WHEN: 2:00 p.m. E.D.T. >
POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology To subscribe: send a message to majordomo@vorlon.mit.edu with this text: subscribe politech More information is at http://www.well.com/~declan/politech/
************************************************************************** Subscribe to Freematt's Alerts: Pro-Individual Rights Issues Send a blank message to: freematt@coil.com with the words subscribe FA on the subject line. List is private and moderated (7-30 messages per month) Matthew Gaylor,1933 E. Dublin-Granville Rd.,#176, Columbus, OH 43229 Archived at http://www.egroups.com/list/fa/ **************************************************************************