Jimdavis
09-15-05, 04:39 AM
From How to disappear in America without a trace (http://www.skeptictank.org/hs/vanish.htm)
Section 10: Special note to Earth Liberation and Animal Liberation groups
You people are faced with extraordinary problems when trying to disappear in America that aren't experienced by the traditional citizen attempting to disappear for more traditional reasons.
Much has been written already about your problems and how to deal with them so this essay doesn't attempt to address them. Additionally I don't presume to claim to know what's best for you and your loose-nit organizations since your efforts are totally outside of my experience even as I share some of your goals. I'm (Fredric Rice speaking here, by the way) a vegetarian and I find the vivisectionists trade and the animal fur trade to be worth destroying totally -- however my venue is to employ completely legal avenues of recource. Still, if I may offer what I feel to be a salient point about the plight of direct-action liberationists: Your mind set.
* You're considered to be domestic terrorists with international ties given the advent of the Internet which allows you to communicate locally and internationally. You doubtlessly don't consider yourself to be terrorists -- domestic or foreign -- however the fact is that law enforcement does consider you as such.
This is an important thing to keep in mind when on the run from the law and working to build for yourself a new identity. You may feel that burning down some barns after liberating a couple of thousand mink prisoners should not be a crime since you're correcting a massive wrong, but your opposition consider you to be economic terrorists predicated upon ideological attributes which place you firmly into a set of profiles law enforcement use as baseline into the psychology of what drives you.
As such, your opposition is motivated to find you. Given the fact that the vivisectionist industry and the animal fur industry financially support political venues, and you're left needing to discard any mindset you may have that your crimes are minimal. You must adopt the mindset of your opposition which considers you -- rightly or wrongly -- to be a considerable threat to people's security.
* Don't claim that what the law enforcement agencies do to you is some how "harassment" or otherwise totally unwarranted. While police brutality against direct-actionists is very real, and while innocent people are questioned or interrogated by the authorities for no apparent reason other than to intimidate you, you need to face some facts of life simply so that if you ever do find yourself on the lam from the law, you'll have internalized where you fit into the "food chain" so-to-speak.
Namely: By associating with animal rights and Earth rights activists, you are aligning yourself to a criminal element and you do know what you're in for when you join protests against the bad guys. That's the way the system works, you accepted that when you joined the resistance, so get comfortable with the consequences. If you don't -- if you persist in lamenting the woes about how unfair it all is that the cops are picking on you -- you're in a mindset that doesn't assist the positive mental state you'll need if you find yourself needing to hide from the law.
My advice is that you get pragmatic and admit to yourself that you're really a criminal if you engage in direct action. Accept the fact that you're committing a wrong even as you're correcting a wrong. Since the law is on the side of the planet killers, vivisectionists, and the animal fur trade, the law doesn't recognize the wrong of these industries so you may feel that you've done nothing wrong. In the eyes of the law, you're in the wrong so be pragmatic about it and believe that you did wrong so that if you have to run, your mind is where it needs to be to survive.
* Acquire the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of lawyers which work with direct-actionists and have that information with you when you go on the lam from the law. Keep it with you while you try to rebuild your new life so that in the event there's a knock on your door (or the fascist pigs kick it in like how it's done in Moscow) <end rant> ) you'll be ready to acquire defense.
* Don't run to fellow activists to seek shelter from the law. While the above-ground activists are routinely monitored by the FBI -- spot checks, usually, irregularly or regularly scheduled depending upon a number of factors -- don't forget that even under-ground activists have probably already been compromised. Assume the worst and stop associating with fellow activists. Never contact a fellow activist unless it's from a pay telephone that you can vacate outside a ten mile radius within a ten minute time frame. That means that if you must contact people for support, it should be from a pay telephone along a freeway or other high-speed avenue.
In summation, I feel that there is a need within the direct-actionist community to get more realistic about who they are and what they're doing; that arson is a crime, that liberating animals is against the law. Not accepting the facts pragmatically, I feel, adversely impacts an activist's chances of avoiding capture.
Section 10: Special note to Earth Liberation and Animal Liberation groups
You people are faced with extraordinary problems when trying to disappear in America that aren't experienced by the traditional citizen attempting to disappear for more traditional reasons.
Much has been written already about your problems and how to deal with them so this essay doesn't attempt to address them. Additionally I don't presume to claim to know what's best for you and your loose-nit organizations since your efforts are totally outside of my experience even as I share some of your goals. I'm (Fredric Rice speaking here, by the way) a vegetarian and I find the vivisectionists trade and the animal fur trade to be worth destroying totally -- however my venue is to employ completely legal avenues of recource. Still, if I may offer what I feel to be a salient point about the plight of direct-action liberationists: Your mind set.
* You're considered to be domestic terrorists with international ties given the advent of the Internet which allows you to communicate locally and internationally. You doubtlessly don't consider yourself to be terrorists -- domestic or foreign -- however the fact is that law enforcement does consider you as such.
This is an important thing to keep in mind when on the run from the law and working to build for yourself a new identity. You may feel that burning down some barns after liberating a couple of thousand mink prisoners should not be a crime since you're correcting a massive wrong, but your opposition consider you to be economic terrorists predicated upon ideological attributes which place you firmly into a set of profiles law enforcement use as baseline into the psychology of what drives you.
As such, your opposition is motivated to find you. Given the fact that the vivisectionist industry and the animal fur industry financially support political venues, and you're left needing to discard any mindset you may have that your crimes are minimal. You must adopt the mindset of your opposition which considers you -- rightly or wrongly -- to be a considerable threat to people's security.
* Don't claim that what the law enforcement agencies do to you is some how "harassment" or otherwise totally unwarranted. While police brutality against direct-actionists is very real, and while innocent people are questioned or interrogated by the authorities for no apparent reason other than to intimidate you, you need to face some facts of life simply so that if you ever do find yourself on the lam from the law, you'll have internalized where you fit into the "food chain" so-to-speak.
Namely: By associating with animal rights and Earth rights activists, you are aligning yourself to a criminal element and you do know what you're in for when you join protests against the bad guys. That's the way the system works, you accepted that when you joined the resistance, so get comfortable with the consequences. If you don't -- if you persist in lamenting the woes about how unfair it all is that the cops are picking on you -- you're in a mindset that doesn't assist the positive mental state you'll need if you find yourself needing to hide from the law.
My advice is that you get pragmatic and admit to yourself that you're really a criminal if you engage in direct action. Accept the fact that you're committing a wrong even as you're correcting a wrong. Since the law is on the side of the planet killers, vivisectionists, and the animal fur trade, the law doesn't recognize the wrong of these industries so you may feel that you've done nothing wrong. In the eyes of the law, you're in the wrong so be pragmatic about it and believe that you did wrong so that if you have to run, your mind is where it needs to be to survive.
* Acquire the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of lawyers which work with direct-actionists and have that information with you when you go on the lam from the law. Keep it with you while you try to rebuild your new life so that in the event there's a knock on your door (or the fascist pigs kick it in like how it's done in Moscow) <end rant> ) you'll be ready to acquire defense.
* Don't run to fellow activists to seek shelter from the law. While the above-ground activists are routinely monitored by the FBI -- spot checks, usually, irregularly or regularly scheduled depending upon a number of factors -- don't forget that even under-ground activists have probably already been compromised. Assume the worst and stop associating with fellow activists. Never contact a fellow activist unless it's from a pay telephone that you can vacate outside a ten mile radius within a ten minute time frame. That means that if you must contact people for support, it should be from a pay telephone along a freeway or other high-speed avenue.
In summation, I feel that there is a need within the direct-actionist community to get more realistic about who they are and what they're doing; that arson is a crime, that liberating animals is against the law. Not accepting the facts pragmatically, I feel, adversely impacts an activist's chances of avoiding capture.