Working on this new server in php7...
imc indymedia

Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

white themeblack themered themetheme help
About Us Contact Us Calendar Publish RSS
Features
• latest news
• best of news
• syndication
• commentary


KILLRADIO

VozMob

ABCF LA

A-Infos Radio

Indymedia On Air

Dope-X-Resistance-LA List

LAAMN List




IMC Network:

Original Cities

www.indymedia.org africa: ambazonia canarias estrecho / madiaq kenya nigeria south africa canada: hamilton london, ontario maritimes montreal ontario ottawa quebec thunder bay vancouver victoria windsor winnipeg east asia: burma jakarta japan korea manila qc europe: abruzzo alacant andorra antwerpen armenia athens austria barcelona belarus belgium belgrade bristol brussels bulgaria calabria croatia cyprus emilia-romagna estrecho / madiaq euskal herria galiza germany grenoble hungary ireland istanbul italy la plana liege liguria lille linksunten lombardia london madrid malta marseille nantes napoli netherlands nice northern england norway oost-vlaanderen paris/ÃŽle-de-france patras piemonte poland portugal roma romania russia saint-petersburg scotland sverige switzerland thessaloniki torun toscana toulouse ukraine united kingdom valencia latin america: argentina bolivia chiapas chile chile sur cmi brasil colombia ecuador mexico peru puerto rico qollasuyu rosario santiago tijuana uruguay valparaiso venezuela venezuela oceania: adelaide aotearoa brisbane burma darwin jakarta manila melbourne perth qc sydney south asia: india mumbai united states: arizona arkansas asheville atlanta austin baltimore big muddy binghamton boston buffalo charlottesville chicago cleveland colorado columbus dc hawaii houston hudson mohawk kansas city la madison maine miami michigan milwaukee minneapolis/st. paul new hampshire new jersey new mexico new orleans north carolina north texas nyc oklahoma philadelphia pittsburgh portland richmond rochester rogue valley saint louis san diego san francisco san francisco bay area santa barbara santa cruz, ca sarasota seattle tampa bay tennessee urbana-champaign vermont western mass worcester west asia: armenia beirut israel palestine process: fbi/legal updates mailing lists process & imc docs tech volunteer projects: print radio satellite tv video regions: oceania united states topics: biotech

Surviving Cities

www.indymedia.org africa: canada: quebec east asia: japan europe: athens barcelona belgium bristol brussels cyprus germany grenoble ireland istanbul lille linksunten nantes netherlands norway portugal united kingdom latin america: argentina cmi brasil rosario oceania: aotearoa united states: austin big muddy binghamton boston chicago columbus la michigan nyc portland rochester saint louis san diego san francisco bay area santa cruz, ca tennessee urbana-champaign worcester west asia: palestine process: fbi/legal updates process & imc docs projects: radio satellite tv
printable version - js reader version - view hidden posts - tags and related articles

POLICE SHUT DOWN IMC SATELLITE DUE TO BOGUS BOMB SCARE

by By Marge Buckley, IMC print Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000 at 12:42 PM

At 4:30 pm yesterday, Monday, LA County police advised the Shadow Convention meeting in Patriotic Hall in Los Angeles that there was a possible bomb in a van in the parking lot. In response, security people notified all personnel to deactivate their cell phones and walkie talkies in case they might activate the suspected bomb.

error

At 4:30 pm yesterday, Monday, LA County police advised the Shadow Convention meeting in Patriotic Hall in Los Angeles that there was a possible bomb in a van in the parking lot. In response, security people notified all personnel to deactivate their cell phones and walkie talkies in case they might activate the suspected bomb.

At 5:00pm three young activists from Santa Cruz, Vince Lombardo, and twin sisters, Rachel and Sarah Cadman, were taking a break from their work as independent media center audio/radio reporters. They were having a sandwich in Rachel¹s old orange van which had been parked in the Patriotic Hall parking lot for three days. Suddenly they were surrounded by 6 officers in tan uniforms, Los Angeles County Police, who told them to put the sandwich down and step back from the car. They were patted down and then taken to the southeast corner of the parking lot. They were told the police had received an intelligence report early that morning and that their vehicle matched the description of a van which was transporting explosives. On being told that if she consented to a search, only a bomb-sniffing dog would be used on her van, Rachel gave her consent to the search if she could watch.

At this time, Los Angeles County Police cordoned off the parking lot, refusing permission to any persons to enter the lot. Free Speech TV was maintaining a truck and generator for the purpose of uplinking television programs by satellite throughout the world. They were producing Democracy Now with Amy Goodman. Monday they were preparing to do the first Independent Media Center newscast of the events of the Democratic National Convention with particular emphasis on the demonstrations by community organizations on important global, national and local issues. But now Free Speech TV was being prevented from going to its truck to broadcast the news.

LAPD officer Grant then searched the vehicle but, strangely, without protective gear or special equipment. He was watched by Rachel Cadman and by an attorney Legal Observer from the Lawyers and Legal Observers Dispatch Center. On finishing, Grant said there was no bomb and that they obviously had the wrong car since Rachel¹s registration matched her California plates. The vehicle the police were looking for supposedly had Oregon or Colorado license plates.

Officer Grant then told the three that they were free to go. However, as they started to leave the lot, they were stopped by LA County Police who said they could not go because the LA police bomb squad was still going to search their van. Then, in the presence of her lawyer, Rachel repeatedly stated that she retracted her permission to search her car. Nevertheless, the young people were detained for a period in excess of 3 hours.

During this time, attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild and The Midnight Special Law Collective attempted to negotiate with the Los Angeles County Police. During these talks, Assistant Chief Ronald Newton stated that he thought there was only a 50-50 chance there was a bomb. He was immediately asked, if that were true, why hadn¹t he ordered an evacuation. The attorneys were unaware at that time that an LAPD officer had already searched and found no bomb.

One of the attorneys then made contact with the Shadow Convention to inquire what their response to the purported bomb threat was. At that point, organizers of the Shadow Convention began to attempt to reach members of the City Council and other political officials.

Shortly thereafter, the Shadow Convention attendees, then in session in the auditorium of Patriotic Hall were told they had to evacuate the building.

The participants left the building and remained out in front of the building for approximately 1/2 hr. Then, about 30 LA County Police in riot gear marched up the staircase followed by Independent Media reporters and videographers They marched directly past the 6th floor which houses the Independent Media center during the Democratic National Convention but without stopping to order an evacuation of that floor.

During their detention, one of the young women, Sara Cadman, attempted to speak with an attorney, but was told by the county police that she was already represented by the attorney present from the Lawyer and Legal Observer team. The police refused to permit her to speak to the Indymedia Attorney who was standing nearby and attempting to negotiate with the police. A large officer continually placed himself between the attorney and Sarah. Sarah did manage to communicate the important information that she heard an officer say that when the satellite link was shut down the problem would evaporate. So, finally, the real reason for the police presence became known!

As a result of this police tactic clearly designed to prevent the uplinking of alternative political coverage of the demonstrations in Los Angeles, the first live broadcast of the Independent Media Center was prevented. However, the show was produced anyway, and tapes were express-mailed to other areas to be uplinked there by Satellite. This probably caused a delay of 2 days.

More importantly, with Amy Goodman and Laura Flanders producing news shows from the Center, the actions of the police took front and center stage for a while. This was the first time that police have succeeded in preventing the publication of news by such obvious tactics. Their targets previously were the protesters and demonstrators, not the alternative journalists present. But later yesterday evening, as reported in other stories in this issue, the Los Angeles Police Department applied all of the techniques they had been monitoring in Seattle, Washington, and Philadelphia, including the use of tear gas, pepper spray, truncheons and rubber bullets.

Report this post as:
Share on: Twitter, Facebook, Google+

add your comments


© 2000-2018 Los Angeles Independent Media Center. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Los Angeles Independent Media Center. Running sf-active v0.9.4 Disclaimer | Privacy