We are organizing an L.A. demonstration to protest the raiding of Raisethefist.com and we need to know who among you will come. We need you to e-mail us at orangebloc@hotmail.com if you will attend! Anyone with ideas, resources, or contacts, please also e-mail. The address, once again, is ORANGEBLOC@HOTMAIL.COM

Let's do it!

Who is "Orangebloc@hotmail.com"? I ain't sending no emails to some unknown entity. Strikes me that a better way of organizing the demonstration is for some larger group to show unity in the face of government repression by organizing this. So how about it DAN, Green Party, actionla, peace people?

We thought this issue might come up at some point. Orange Bloc is a group that started up in April of 2001, when a group of Orange County students got together and attended the 2001 May Day demonstration in Long Beach. There was a story written about us in OC Weekly, here's the link:

http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/01/39/news-schou2.shtml

Anyway, we recognize that there are more public groups than ourselves, such as DAN or the Green Party, but since we hadn't heard anything from them, we decided that we'd take some goddamn initiative instead of waiting around for someone else to do so.

The lack of initiative is exactly what is stagnating the progressive movement at this point, and it has actually stagnated the progressive movement for decades. Everyone seems to be willing to do stuff, but like sheep, they need to see a time and a place on Indymedia or Protest.net, and then they show up.

What would America be like today if Martin Luther King, Jr. had sat around at his computer, waiting to see if anyone would hold a rally or march that he could go to?

So, if you don't want to e-mail orangebloc@hotmail.com for fear of your safety or anonymity, then do NOT e-mail! We wouldn't if we feared for our safety or anonymity. But, in that case, e-mail DAN or the Green Party and tell them that you want them to hold a demonstration for Raisethefist.com!

Or begin organizing a demonstration on your own. But, don't sit around waiting for someone to present an opportunity to you. Make your own opportunity.

-Orange Bloc

you wrote;
What would America be like today if Martin Luther King, Jr. had sat around at his computer, waiting to see if anyone would hold a rally or march that he could go to?

A better question might be what would america look like today if leaders like MLK and Malcom and Cesar and all of us, would have had computers to organize and make calls to action?

Bob Dylan would have been producing MP3s on the web, civil rights marches would have been video taped and shown on Indymedia. And anarchists would have been shouting that no one needed leadership and then whineing when no one took leadership from them.

Organize!

If people are going to support raisethefist.com, people
need to know more about the group, and more about what
exactly happened. For example:

1. Who is raisethefist.com
2. What kind of organization and how many people involved.
3. Where is it located...where was the raid?
4. DETAILS about what happened. What time of day, What was
taken, What did the police say they were doing there, etc.

People are not going to just show up for some vague demo
without knowing what the hell is going on. Someone needs
to get their shit together who knows what has happend,
talk to a lawyer, perhaps the Electronic Frontier Foundation
if this indeed has something to do with first amendment
issues and the internet. If it is something not related to
first amendment issues, someone still needs to talk to
a lawyer if the person has been arrested.

Thanks.

Do you have any sources or news coverage, I cant find anything that would support that this incident even took place, please let me know...

We need more infromation, especially, what the charges are.

While I am in no way doubting that the motivation behind this raid/arrest was to censor "raisethefirst.com" it is far from certain that the authorities are yet to the point of acting like this without SOME sort of legal "cover".

Please note, SERVERS were involved. The only site hosted by these servers is "raisethefist.com"? We're postive that the LEGAL basis for this "attack" isn't some other site also hosted there? (eg: something that would normally be ignored but serving as a good excuse).

PK,
your comments are useful. I can give you an archived link to raisethefist.com http://web.archive.org/web/20011202223831/http://www.raisethefist.com/
Basically they're anarchist, direct action. IIRC Rob "Ruckus" Middaugh who was one of the Long Beach Mayday arrestees and is now doing 3 years was a close associate. I have seen NO reasons for the FBI to raid this site. The actual seizure and confiscation of equipment is a serious infringement of the right to publish and distribute one's opinion. I have no idea what the charges are and I agree with you that RaiseTheFist should get some legal counsel and then get some information out to us as SOON AS POSSIBLE so that we will know WTF is happening. Otherwise the only information that we have is an indymedia post and the absence of the site. We (the free-swimming fishes are stuck in the net). How do we know it's not a hoax?
If nothing else this shows that activists have got to use decentralized P2P (like Freenet) for sites that they care about.

It's not a hoax. There's another article reporting that SF indymedia confirmed this.

The person involved is someone I think I've met, but don't know. There are others more deeply involved with anarchist direct action who do know him, and have told me that he was one of the May Day arrestees.

Raisethefist.com was an anarchist website that (when I visited it, which was once every couple months or so) was full of people arguing. Many seemed to be young people still in high school. It was like a younger, more pissed off version of the IMC. In fact, over time, it started to resemble the IMC (and in some areas improve on it).

The webmaster is a kid. He lives with his parents.

This is reminding me of the BBS shutdowns of the 80's and 90's. Usually, they were being shut down for having some evidence of crime (usually a file full of numbers), or lacking that, some information on how to commit a crime (which in itself is not illegal). The FBI made "an example" of these sysops, many who were teenagers or young adults, and served them with outrageous fines and jail sentences.

It looks like the repression is starting again. We need to mobilize to stop this, before all the dissident websites are shut down.

Every website harassed or shut down intimidate many other writers from expressing themselves. Freedom of speech is a right that needs to be defended from bullying and intimidation from the state.

The Orange Bloc needs suggestions for demonstration locations, i.e. street corners and/or buildings. Pick your city. Pick your district. Would downtown L.A. be most appropriate? We need participant input! Don't just show up at a demonstration that we plan! Help to plan it!

-Orange Bloc

Time and place are almost everything. The third and crucial component is synchronization. The fascists war machine can always overwhelm you if you act singularly. We at MOuRNING STAR FIGHT CLUB recommend that you time your event with other large events in the United States, and in particular, if possible, large events in Los Angeles.

The next large event in the US is the World Economic Forum Protest in NYC. Jan 31st to February 5th. If you could act then, it would be great. But time has shortened. Find something on the calendar of protest.net or indymedia and coincide your protest with that date.

As far as location in Los Angeles, we recommend protesting outside of the Federal Building in Westwood, near the VA Medical Center. That is the hub of the most hostile fascist activity. It has been the site of protest in the the past and garnered much media attention. There is also a lot of media in the area if you can lure them to view your actions in advance, it would probably help.

The link to protest.net regardidng the event from 1/31-2/5 is at
http://www.protest.net/NYC/calendrome.cgi?span=month&state_values=&list=&month=January&year=2002

If you want to have a few laughs, visit the MSFC Art & Video page. The icon of corporate and government fascism, lies, abuse, and murder--the Little Bush, is dangling from a rope in his panties, and California's ganja guru is giving the Dubya some pug sausage. Best of Luck fellow freedom fighters. We have a member who suffered the wrath of the same fascist crew of government hooligans who attacked the raisethefist.com patriots.

Art and video MSFC link
http://www.angelfire.com/trek/msfcalca/MSFC%20ART.htm

the fed. building is meant to contain demonstrations. don't underestimate what we're up against. there are many better places than that, but more thought needs to be put in. solidarity.

The reason I know that this is true is because there is no sign of it in ANY prominent media outlet. This is exactly how they control the masses. If it never happened no one knows about it... no one cares. fuck that. We MUST protest to show them that WE CARE. Let the sleeping flocks of sheep here our voices! IF WE LET THIS HAPPEN IT WILL NEVER STOP! ........ let me know when to protest and what to bring.

newsbytes
laweekly

and everyones most hated defenders of freespeech (as in beer)

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/01/31/1820238&mode=flat

get something decent organized and people might show up. even if the news laughs at the 10 people that show up, it's still news.

and to all the anarchists, just remember in a world without rules, the strong are allowed to dominate the weak.

Sputnik 1, the first satellite was launched Oct 4, 1957. A tape of it was recorded at Columbia University and broadcast over the school's FM station that evening. The next morning at 9:02 AM two FBI agents came by and stole the tape--after 44+ years it has not been returned, paid for, or replaced. So why shouldn't they walk into someone's home and steal their computers? The FBI is the biggest, wealthiest, and most long standing anti-American conspiracy on the planet. They also may be the second most dangerous.