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New York, New York - Jeremy Hammond, the Chicago-based Anonymous and LulzSec affiliated hacktivist has accepted a non-cooperating guilty plea agreement for his role in hacking numerous state and private police and security related websites. Jeremy for the first time stated that he was responsible for these acts. He did so with his fist raised in the air before Judge Loretta A. Preska in a lower Manhattan Federal courtroom. He may ultimately be sentenced to as many as 10 years in prison and be ordered to pay more than $2.5 million in fines and restitution for his non-violent crimes. A sentence of that severity is many times more what his co-defendants in U.K. have been sentenced to.
The U.S. State Attorney's Office made a statement on the case in an effort to malign Jeremy as someone simply focused on chaos and to imply that he was motivated by financial gain‽ They even attempt to deny that he was "fighting for an anarchist cause" as if anarchists should reject Jeremy as some sort of 'bad anarchist!'
The information Jeremy and his co-defendants retrieved from these sites was forwarded to Wikileaks, so that it could be released freely to the public. These hacks were not done for personal gain. Jeremy was arrested by FBI agents in early March of 2012 thanks to the aid of fellow hacker turned snitch Hector Xavier Monsegur a.k.a. "Sabu." Monsegur helped execute a computer attack against Strategic Forecasting, Inc. or Stratfor with the support of the FBI who were seemingly more interested in making a big case than protecting the so called victims of this hack.
It is possible that Jeremy could be released after his September 6th sentencing date with time served. It is more likely that this may happen if Jeremy's supporters demand it!
Jeremy Hammond's statement:
Today I pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. This was a very difficult decision. I hope this statement will explain my reasoning. I believe in the power of the truth. In keeping with that, I do not want to hide what I did or to shy away from my actions. This non-cooperating plea agreement frees me to tell the world what I did and why, without exposing any tactics or information to the government and without jeopardizing the lives and well-being of other activists on and offline.
During the past 15 months I have been relatively quiet about the specifics of my case as I worked with my lawyers to review the discovery and figure out the best legal strategy. There were numerous problems with the government’s case, including the credibility of FBI informant Hector Monsegur. However, because prosecutors stacked the charges with inflated damages figures, I was looking at a sentencing guideline range of over 30 years if I lost at trial. I have wonderful lawyers and an amazing community of people on the outside who support me. None of that changes the fact that I was likely to lose at trial. But, even if I was found not guilty at trial, the government claimed that there were eight other outstanding indictments against me from jurisdictions scattered throughout the country. If I had won this trial I would likely have been shipped across the country to face new but similar charges in a different district. The process might have repeated indefinitely. Ultimately I decided that the most practical route was to accept this plea with a maximum of a ten year sentence and immunity from prosecution in every federal court.
Now that I have pleaded guilty it is a relief to be able to say that I did work with Anonymous to hack Stratfor, among other websites. Those others included military and police equipment suppliers, private intelligence and information security firms, and law enforcement agencies. I did this because I believe people have a right to know what governments and corporations are doing behind closed doors. I did what I believe is right.
I have already spent 15 months in prison. For several weeks of that time I have been held in solitary confinement. I have been denied visits and phone calls with my family and friends. This plea agreement spares me, my family, and my community a repeat of this grinding process.
I would like to thank all of my friends and supporters for their amazing and ongoing gestures of solidarity. Today I am glad to shoulder the responsibility for my actions and to move one step closer to daylight.
By Josh Eidelson of The Nation: Walmart employees are on strike in Miami, Massachusetts and the California Bay Area this morning, kicking off what organizers promise will be the first “prolonged strikes” in the retail giant’s history. The union-backed labor group OUR Walmart says that at least a hundred workers have pledged to join the strikes, and […]
By JOHN KNEFEL of Rolling Stone: Jeremy Hammond pleaded guilty today to the infamous Stratfor hack, as well as taking responsibility for eight additional hacks of law enforcement and defense contractor websites in 2011 and 2012. As a condition of the plea, the radical hacker will face a maximum of 10 years in federal prison, and restitution […]
Redacción Un poco tarde, pero mejor que nunca, publicamos la reseña de la Segunda Caminata contra la Homo-Trans Fobia realizada en Caracas el pasado 18 de mayo, al cual asistimos activistas libertarios para expresar nuestra solidaridad en su lucha y distribuir copias del periódico El Libertario. La marcha fue convocada por grupos como Venezuela Diversa, Comunidad Metropolitana de Caracas, que son parte de la Coalición Venezolana de Organizaciones GLBTI. Aunque la asistencia fue escasa comparada con otras convocatorias, como el Dia de Orgullo GLBT, resaltamos el carácter independiente de la actividad lo cual fue para nosotros el saldo más positivo, pues en los últimos años otras marchas, si bien eran mas masivas, tenían una naturaleza menos independiente, llegando a casos en que el Estado había institucionalizado y cooptado la manifestación, por lo cual los anarquistas habíamos dejado de asistir. El hecho que parte de los grupos GLBT vuelvan a retomar la autonomía e independencia de sus actividades, con un discurso que deja en claro sus exigencias frente a cualquier poder, es una dimensión que desde El Libertario resaltaremos, apoyaremos y potenciaremos. La caminata fue protagonizada por un grupo de aproximadamente 200 personas, en donde habían personas de todas las tendencias políticas, pero en donde siempre quedó evidenciado el rechazo a todos los tipos de discriminación. Yonathan Mateus, de Venezuela Diversa, reiteraba por el parlante las diferentes demandas durante todo el recorrido, con un discurso beligerante y basado en la exigencia de derechos. Cuando se transitaba por la Avenida Solano, y al pasar por una iglesia, las consignas pedían a los religiosos dejar de condenar las opciones sexuales de la gente. La multitud continuó hasta Plaza Venezuela, y de allí hasta la Plaza de Bellas Artes, donde había una tarima en donde se leyó un comunicado exigiendo el fin de la homofobia y la transfobia en el país. Movimientos sociales autónomos, contra toda discriminación y desigualdad
No one outside Halifax can have any idea of what I had to face in connection
with the “Vicar’s Rate.” On the death of Archdeacon Musgrave, in
, the Nonconformists, influentially and
numerically strong in Halifax, one of the very strongholds of Nonconformity,
commenced an agitation for the Repeal of the Vicars’ Rate Act of
, so far as the same related to the rate of
a house. They contended that, as the Rate upon houses imposed by the Act of
was in lieu of Easter Dues, and as such
Easter Dues were no longer recoverable by law, such Rate ought to be
abolished. They did not object to the charge upon Land, which was in lieu of
Tithes. Within a very short time a sum of £12,000 was raised to meet any
cases of prosecution for non-payment! On my arrival at Halifax, I saw, posted
and placarded in large letters on hoardings, with deep black-edged paper, the
following pleasant greeting: “Judas Vicar’s Rate, died
, buried in a pauper’s grave, to know no
Resurrection.” The Rate used to be collected like Gas or Water Rates.
Occasionally I found my letter-box stuffed full with them. I received a large
envelope, containing some thirty or forty, with this letter: “Dear Sir, we
found these poor little papers fluttering in the street, having no home, and
send them to you, as you will probably best know what to do with them.”
Dr. Mellor, of Square Chapel,
a tower of strength to the Nonconformists, a man of great gifts and
eloquence, gave notice one Sunday morning to this effect to his great
congregation: “The Vicar’s agent will be calling this week upon me, and I
advise you all to do what I am going to do: button up your pockets.”
The Sunday following he told them that my Agent had called and that he had
refused to pay him. There was no alternative but to distrain for the amount,
some five or six shillings. “‘All right,’ I said, ‘take what you like.’ The
Agent went into my larder and took a ham, which you will be glad to
hear was bad.”
One could only take all this in good humour. The people of Halifax knew
perfectly well that I had not originated the Rate. They knew, also, that I
had no alternative, as matters stood, but to claim, and, if need be, to
enforce payment. It does not do to show the white feather in Yorkshire.
Yorkshiremen fully appreciate sticking up for your rights. It was evident,
however, that to persist in enforcing it would only intensify the bitterness
of animosity, as it did at St.
Michael’s, Coventry. The matter was referred to the Government. They brought
in, after much inquiry and debate, a Bill in
, providing for the extinction of the rate
on houses on payment of the sum of £11,200 to the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners; in other words, they proposed the redemption of the rate at
twenty-three years’ purchase. My faithful friend Mr. Robert Baxter came down
to Halifax, and consulting with local lawyers and men of business,
particularly with Messrs. Emmett and Walker, formulated with great care a
scheme for the redemption, fixed at £11,200. And thus the redemption was
brought about. I was calling on the late Mrs. Prescott, and expressed to her
my fear that I should have to place my resignation in the hands of the Prime
Minister, inasmuch as £1,300 a year was imperilled, and I could not afford to
work the parish on £700 a year, and have, as I felt I must have, six, or at
least five, curates. She said: “But you do not think, do you, that we are
going to let you leave us for the sake of the Vicar’s Rate? I will give you
£500 towards its redemption.” On leaving her, I met Mr. Hill, the well-known
solicitor in Halifax, and told him of this handsome offer. He immediately
went to Pye Nest to inform Sir Henry Edwards of it. Sir Henry called on me
next day and went with me to see Mr. Joshua Appleyard, at Clare Hill, and
this brief conversation took place, to show how quickly things are done in
Yorkshire: “Mr. Appleyard, there is no doubt that the right thing to do is to
redeem the Vicar’s rate. The Vicar has received £500 towards it; what will
you do?” “Whatever you do,” replied Appleyard. “I will give £1,000,” said Sir
Henry. “So will I,” said Appleyard. We started with three subscriptions
amounting to £2,500! The matter was at once taken up. A meeting, at which Sir
Henry presided, was summoned. A committee was formed, everyone engaged in
raising this fund cheerfully and gratuitously worked for it, and in about six
weeks no less a sum was contributed than £12,955 by 360 contributions! Many
Nonconformists, anxious that an end should be put to this internecine strife,
contributed, and through the most generous and hearty help of all
well-wishers to the Church, I was instrumental in bringing it about that the
income of over £2,000 a year is permanently secured to the Vicarage of
Halifax.
In a parliamentary committee was
selected to look into the Vicars’ Rate at Halifax and make recommendations.
You can read their
report at Google Books. It’s typically dry, but I scanned through it for
details about how the resistance to the rates was carried out. Here are some
excerpts:
Upon the death of the late vicar, which occurred on
, the hostility felt by the inhabitants of the Parish of Halifax
to the rate… assumed a very decided character; and meetings were held, and
associations were formed throughout the parish to resist the further payment
of the commutations of “Easter Dues” affected by the Act of
. Vehement articles were published in the
local papers, the public mind was greatly agitated against the rate, and a
fixed determination was expressed by leading men in Halifax to submit to
distraint on their goods rather than continue their payments. Of the depth
and extent of this hostile feeling there can be no sort of doubt…
The committee grilled Edward Crossley, Mayor of Halifax, on
:
When you say that there is a large number of the inhabitants who are
determined not to pay, I presume that they are prepared to submit to
distraint rather than pay?
Exactly.
They are fully aware of their own position if they refuse to pay?
Exactly.
To come to facts: have any meeting been held in Halifax within
upon this subject?
Several; the meeting for the levying of the rate was held this year.
On what day was that held?
It was held a fortnight ago at the parish church, when a large assembly
gathered to object to the rate.
Can you tell us anything which occurred at that meeting; was it a
peaceful meeting or the reverse?
It was not disorderly, but it was a very determined meeting.
Later that day, attorney Robert Baxter testified about the curious law that
enacted the Vicars’ Rate. It’s a little tricky to untangle, but there’s
one peculiarity of the law that the resisters were able to take advantage of.
Apparently, each year under the law the vicar is to convene a meeting of five
churchwardens (or perhaps, five or twenty other Halifax citizens he is
authorized to conscript for the purpose) and say “cough up my Rate.” The
chosen five (or twenty) must then cough it up as asked. They then are to
convene a meeting to decide how to recoup this money from the rest of Halifax.
Resisters took advantage of this by attending this meeting and using
parliamentary procedure to immediatly adjourn it, thus preventing the poor
five-or-twenty from recouping their payments. In Baxter’s opinion, this tactic
doesn’t comply with the law, but it has nonetheless been effective in delaying
payment, as it would be legally cumbersome to compel a meeting to levy the tax
against its will.
A later witness testified that in the district: “In nearly every township a
meeting of inhabitants has been held; and at every one of these meetings the
motion for adjournment has been carried, which means a refusal to lay the
rate.”
One of the churchwardens later gave his point of view on this tactic:
I understood you to say [the rate] was laid before the meeting?
No, I say at the meeting; before the meeting was adjourned.
There was time for five people quietly to lay the rate, I suppose?
The two churchwardens signed the rate, and we are advised that that is
sufficient. We could have had it signed by a dozen inhabitants and
ratepayers, if the rate-book had not been forcibly borne away from the
table and carried away into the churchyard.
Charles Mills, Legal Advisor of the Anti-Vicar’s Rate Association addressed
the committee about the Association’s take on the law, its history, and its
interpretation.
You can tell us something of the feeling of the people of Halifax and the
neighbourhood about this rate?
The feeling is such that whether the Act of Parliament remains or not,
they will not pay it.
I want to know how it is they have come to that conclusion, after having
paid it, as we are told, , in
full?
Because they paid it simply out of respect for the late archdeacon. This
question has not just cropped up now; there was an Association formed
years ago. This undercurrent of feeling has been felt in Halifax for
years past; it only awaited the death of the vicar for it at once to find
expression.
Out of pure respect to Archdeacon Musgrave this rate has been paid to this
time in full?
I do not say that that feeling has been in existence for over 40
years.
I want to know if the Society of Friends paid the rate?
They have been distrained upon.
And it is understood that two or three clergymen have refused to accept
the living on the very ground that this very difficulty would arise?
Yes; it was known the difficulty would arise the moment there was a
vacancy in the living.
Thomas Ormerod, President of the Anti-Vicar’s Rate Union (distinct from the
Association, of a similar name, which was formed later), was questioned next.
How long has that Association been formed?
A few months.
How many months?
It was formed in .
Was that after the death of the late Archdeacon Musgrave?
Afterwards; it might be of service to the Committee if I gave a little
history of how the union has been formed, and the feeling that has
originated it. Although there was very strong feeling existing both in
the borough and in the out-townships for many years previous to the
archdeacon’s death , yet,
excepting in individual cases, no action was openly taken to allow
distraint to ensue on goods for the Vicar’s rate. But when the
archdeacon’s death occurred, although it took place somewhat suddenly,
it did not find us unprepared. The feeling of the people had been evinced
at various meetings that had taken place on different questions in
connection with Nonconformist principles.
Ormerod testified that shortly after Musgrave’s death, “a short and somewhat
pithy memorial was signed and sent up to the Premier” indicating that the
people of the parish intended to work for the repeal of the Act that legalized
the Rate, and meanwhile “that every legal obstacle would be thrown in the way
of the collection of the rate.”
What do you mean by “every legal obstruction”?
We meant to put it plainly, that every inconvenience would be given to the
officials in the collection of the rate, and that distraint would ensue;
that is what was understood.
That means to say that you had determined to violate the Act of
Parliament?
Not to violate it. The Act provides for distraint. We did not intend to
violate the Act; certainly not.
Omerod gave a brief history of the Union he presided over, including this:
The Union was publicly inaugurated in the Mechanics’ Hall in Halifax, at
which two resolutions were passed, the first supporting the formation of the
Union, its object being the total and unconditional repeal of the Act; and
the second resolution being that of a preliminary guarantee fund of not less
than 1,000 l. be formed
to support any poor man who should suffer from the spoiling of his goods
under distraint.
William Brook, a Quaker, testified next.
I am a member of the Society of Friends, and I am in a position to controvert
the statement that the operations of the Act up to a certain time were
generally acceptable. The members of the Society of Friends from the first
declined to be parties to the Act by voluntarily paying the amount demanded
of them. I myself have had a demand repeatedly made upon me, and have never
paid it. I have once been distrained upon, but for a number of years whilst
the amount has been regularly demanded no distraint has been made.
Did you regularly refuse to pay the rate, or was it only on one occasion
you refused, and were distrained upon?
Personally I have refused to pay the rate ever since I was a householder.
The members of the religious society to which I belong, without exception,
from the passing of the Act, have refused to pay the rate, and up to the
period of about 13 years ago they had, from time to time, their goods
seized, in satisfaction of the demands of the churchwardens, for this
rate. At that period, from some representations that were made, I believe
personally, to the vicar, he gave a distinct intimation that the members
of our body should not any longer be distrained upon.
He later added: “there are a number of others who have taken the ground of the
wrongfulness of paying, and have been willing to suffer the consequences, who
also have not been distrained upon.” One of the churchwardens testified later
that he believed it was the practice for other people in the community to come
forward and pay the rates of Friends “to prevent them being summoned.”
Next, William Henry Clay, a Halifax Baptist, spoke:
I think it was in that I was summoned
the first time because I objected to pay this rate. I omitted to pay it
one year, and of course, instead of holding my noise, I told that I had
got off.
Were you distrained upon?
No, I was summoned; I was not as fully aware of the Act as I am now, and
so I tried in the first place to upset the legality of the rate, and had
a barrister from Manchester; of course in that I failed. Being rather
young and timid I paid then. There was a distraint warrant issued, and I
paid that.
What was the amount for which you were summoned?
Two shillings and threepence.
Your objection to the payment, I presume, was a conscientious objection
simply?
Yes, like the rest of my fellow parishioners. I think we have some
grievance to complain that are worthy of the consideration of this
Committee, independent of Halifax [he had said earlier that “I represent
the outlying townships”]. I stood in Erringden on Sunday night, and I was
able to count 16 different places of worship… Fourteen of those are
self-supporting dissenting bodies, and two of the belong to the
State.
To the Church?
Yes; that is one grievance, that we have to support those 14 freely, and
that they go eight miles away to support what we consider the richest
church in the whole parish. We go five miles further up to Garple and
Ridge and those places, outlying districts where the inhabitants are very
poor, and where they have never seen the vicar, and very likely never
wish to do so. I may say that I have gone a great deal about to public
meetings, and so forth, and have got a pretty accurate opinion of the
inhabitants, and they are very bitterly against it.
Is it on the principle that you have just laid down that you object to
pay the rate?
That is the foundation, certainly.
It is not the amount?
No, the amount has nothing to do with it. To show you the feeling that
has grown, I think there is no better proof that the rate used to be
collected for 50 s.
in Heptonstall, and I believe the last time the rate was collected it
cost 20 l.
Are you able to account for the difference between
50 s. and
20 l.?
Yes; it is owing to the opposition. I may say I was summoned, along with
some more in , and I was distrained upon.
The cost of getting my
2 s.
3 d. was
1 l.
13 s.
7 d.
You had to pay that?
Yes, of course; that aroused my indignation greater than before.
You coluntarily incurred that additional expense from conscientious
motives?
Yes; and shall do again if the rate is collected. Of course it put the
churchwardens to very considerable inconvenience, which roused the matter
up, and for the time being it caused a great amount of party feeling.
The plan they adopted last year was this: There is a clause in the Act
that gave them power to appoint whom they liked as collector; so seemingly
they thought I was a suitable person, and they appointed me to collect
the rate.
Did you undertake that duty with much willingness?
Of course I did not regret that they had taken such a step, because I
thought it would be a good thing for our cause. There is another clause
in the Act that notice is to be served within 14 days, so I quietly took
a trip to Ireland and other places till the 14 days expired. Of course
the matter has been very much talked about in the neighbourhood, and we
formed an Anti-Vicar’s Rate Association. I believe I am the president at
the present time, and all the members are pledged that they will not pay
any more.
Then the rate has never yet been collected?
It has been partially. Perhaps they have about a third of it. Everybody
really is standing out.
William Henry Rawson, a magistrate for Halifax county, and a member of the
official church, testified (among other things):
Already a large Anti-Vicar-Rate Association has been formed, numbering, I am
told, nearly 1,000 members. On , in
my magisterial capacity, I issued distress warrants against three individuals,
the least of them owing
8 d. only, but refusing to
listen to advice or reason, and this is the beginning of the end. When the
Nonconformist ministers advocate an open defiance of the law, what else can
be expected from their flocks?
yes, absolutely, eric holder ought to resign. if he does not, i'd think about what recourse there is, up to and including moving toward impeachment of the president. the rosen situation (etc) is really grotesque: grotesquely unconstitutional, grotesquely partisan, grotesquely wrong. and let me say this: if you let the fact that the organization in question is fox affect your opinion on this at all, no one should listen to anything you say ever again, you partisan twit.
In our seventh episode, John and I talk about homeowners associations and the self-ownership principle. John likes the self-ownership principle. George thinks it’s really stupid. Which one do you agree with? If you can avoid getting dizzy, you’ll find this episode intriguing.
Ask us a Question on Air! Call (641) 715-3900 ext. 255888 and leave us a voicemail with your question so we can play it on the air.
About the Podcast
The Art of Liberty is a 30-minute weekly podcast about current events and politics by John Tyner and George Donnelly, two highly opinionated, yet eminently reasonable, libertarian activists from opposite coasts. We record every Monday morning and release a new episode every Tuesday morning.
Having been a regular visitor to Greece for a number of years, what has been inflicted on the people of that country hurts me deeply. It hurts all the more because it wasn't necessary, it was all part of a deliberate policy, all part of the financial Mafia's grand plan to plunder the public purse, and they were fully aware of what the consequences would be for the ordinary people. It is now a country ripe for the corporate world to move in and set up the first of the great European sweatshops. Other European countries are on the same conveyor belt, heading in the same direction. It can only be stopped by the combined action of the people of Europe, only a move to take control of our lives and shape society the way we wish it to be. To wrestle the power from the hands of the corporate greed merchants and their accomplices, the financial Mafia.
This article from Teacher Dude gives some idea of what has happened to the people of Greece.
What Has Been Lost
I have been very quiet recently, at least as far as this blog is concerned. While I still tweet quite a lot about what is happening in Greece, over the last month or so I have lost the desire to go out on the streets and cover what has been happening in the city. Perhaps the fact that the end of the academic year is approaching and everyone is feeling worn out is to blame, or maybe the endless stream of bad news I hear from those around me is getting to me.
More friends are leaving the country to escape the crisis, others are struggling on but the cost is enormous both financially and in terms of dignity. It's hard to be sanguine when so many people you know are fighting to just retain their self respect in the face of grinding poverty which seems to have no end.
On the other hand the international press, or at least The Economist, FT, CNN and even the Guardian have decided that no matter what your eyes tell you every time you go out the worst of the crisis in Greece is over. Business confidence is up, the government's privatisation plan is finally going ahead, and the banking sector is stabilising. All of which is fine as long as your main interests are in finance and not out there in the "Real Economy"with the rest of us schmucks.
Despite the euphoria in the mainstream media the economy is still collapsing,unemployment hasn't stopped rising, let alone dropped, the suicide rate is the highest in 50 years, 200% increase in new AIDS cases reported and just to add yet more joy to everyday life a new drug, Sisa or Shisha is doing a roaring trade in Athens.-------
Anarchoblogs is a collection of blogs from
self-identified anarchists, anarcho-syndicalists, anarcha-feminists,
anarchists without adjectives, libertarian-socialists, autonomists and
other assorted anti-statists.