Friends of Tortuga

More support from far away!

A pizza party was held as a benefit for Tortuga House all the way in Germany!!!

Thank you to our overseas friends and supporters…

Finally the state of Pennsylvania has decided to unseal the affidavit which lead to the arrests of the “Twitter 2” at the Carefree Inn outside of Pittsburgh, PA on September 24th during protests against the G-20.

The affidavit which is signed on September 24th, 2009, by State Troopers Glenn D. Hopey and Gregg J. Kravitsky (who also signed off on affidavits during the 2000 RNC protests in Philadelphia) has been kept under seal since the arrests meaning that neither our lawyers our us were able to have access to it.

There is not much valuable information that we can obtain from reading this recently released affidavit. It seems that undercover state troopers were in attendance at spokes council meetings in Pittsburgh, and from there they claim to have followed Elliot Madison via car as he left the meeting on the 23rd, following him to the Carefree Inn where his room was raided the next day.

It is humorous to read the pages of imaginative descriptions of anarchist tactics and supposed anarchist activity. The “Anarchist Weapons” (pg. 8-9) that the police claim may be used: “Human body fluids-Including blood, urine, and feces” , “chains wrapped in kerosene soaked rags launched with projectiles”, “Super-Soakers” also filled with urine, and “Rolling Barrels” filled with cement (!)

With that we present you with the affidavit in PDF form. All of the redactions made in black were made by the State of Pennsylvania presumably to hide the identities of state troopers who infiltrated the spokes council meetings, all the redactions in red were made by us to remove home addresses and other personal information of our roommates and their families.

It has been several months since our last communication regarding the “situation” here at Tortuga House, but with nothing more than the seemingly interminable filing of legal motions by our defense to unseal the secret affidavits authorizing the raids in Pittsburgh and New York, counter-motions by prosecutors to keep these affidavits sealed, and judicial providence obviously favoring the side which signs their checks, we may as well be submitting a blank sheet of paper for all the real news we have. With the affidavits in our case remaining sealed—the motives and strategy of the state remain in the realm of speculation and will obviously not do for any public statement. However, a recent court date in Pittsburgh has since brought us several scraps of useful information that we felt it was important to share with others.

On January 15th, a court date/rubber-stamping procedure regarding a request by the state of Pennsylvania to keep the affidavit, which authorized the September 24th raid on a motel just outside of Pittsburgh and the arrest of two of our housemates during the G-20 protests, sealed for yet another 30 days yielded a bit more than the inevitable ruling in favor of the prosecution. The judge in the case, perhaps bored or suffering indigestion from eating a rich lunch, asked the state to explain why this affidavit—in a case where all charges against the accused had been dropped—required the extension of the seal.

Amid the standard spiel of the on-going investigation and grand jury in New York, the prosecution also claimed in oral arguments that this investigation now included Minnesota. In the application to the court, the prosecution wrote: “…certain alleged acts that occurred during the G-20 Summit were not isolated incidents confined to Allegheny County but instead may have been related to more expansive activities that went beyond the Pittsburgh G-20 both in time and in substance.” Also in the application to the court, is the first official mention of informants in the investigation. “The affiants are requesting the original search warrants be sealed for an additional 30 days to protect the informants involved in the investigation as well as an ongoing, more expansive investigation.” Continue reading →

Elliot Madison is change you can believe in, so join the growing number of people voting him “Twitter User of the Year.” It is free and fast and can be done on Twitter, Facebook or on the website: http://mashable.com/owa/votes

By Steven Thrasher

When Jackson Heights resident Elliot Madison learned last week that charges against him had been dropped by the Allegheny County District Attorney in Pennsylvania, he had little reason to celebrate. The 41-year-old Queens social worker was arrested during the G-20 in Pittsburgh, while he was using Twitter to alert other protesters about the movements of police. The formal charges were “hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of instruments of crime.”

Madison, a self-described anarchist, is very open about listening to a public police scanner and then tweeting police locations. (His tweet channel was open and advertised on posters.) On September 24, police stormed the room at the Carefree Inn where he was staying with Michael Wallschlaege shortly after the duo had relayed an order to disperse.

Madison doesn’t deny his involvement, but he says “it wasn’t a crime. It was protected free speech.” He tells the Voice he was merely using new technology to pass on publicly accessible information, describing it as being “the same as if you and I were walking down the street, and I said to you, ‘Hey, the police are on 42nd street, and they’ve said anyone who goes there will be arrested, so don’t go there.'”

Read More

A Benefit in Barcelona for Tortuga and g20 arrestees!

Thank you everyone for your solidarity and support. Although the state charges are dropped we are still facing the uncertainty of federal charges looming over us and we still have no idea when if ever we will have our belongings that were seized by the Feds returned to us. Benefits and informational events are a great way to support those facing repression, thanks to our comrades in Barcelona for holding this event!!!

From Wired:

Federal authorities can resume combing through the notebooks, memory cards and computers of a twittering anarchist being investigated for violating an anti-rioting law, a federal judge in Brooklyn ruled Monday.

U.S. district court judge Dora L. Irizzary found no reason to throw out the government’s search of the home of a 41-year old social worker who used the micro-publishing service Twitter to help anti-globalization protestors at the recent G-20 convention, clearing the way for the feds to look through the evidence they collected. Madison and his attorney sought to have his possessions returned unexamined, on the grounds the search violated his constitutional rights to free speech.
Read the article

In the face of a PR nightmare, Pennsylvania authorities have withdrawn all charges against two members of Tortuga accused of using Twitter to aid protesters at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh.  At a hearing today, instead of oral arguments regarding a defense motion to unseal the secret 18-page affidavit authorizing the arrests of Elliott Madison and Michael Wallschlager at a motel just outside of Pittsburgh, the prosecution immediately moved to withdraw all charges against the two before the defense had a chance to argue its case.  Although clear from the beginning that these charges were absurd based on the State’s very own laws, our housemates were incarcerated for 36 hours, had their van towed and belongings confiscated, and one house member was given $30,000 in straight bail.

The District Attorney and his spokesperson were at pains to explain why the State would drop all charges against these dangerous twitterists and of course, refused to admit that these charges were unconstitutional and a heavy-handed attempt to scare anarchists and others from protesting in ways unsanctioned by the government.  Instead, the prosecution says they decided that pursuing the charges “would be unwise” after consulting other law enforcement agencies and because of other pending investigations. The secret affidavit authorizing the arrests in Pennsylvania is set to become public on Nov. 23^rd. We imagine the Pennsylvania State Police will seek an extension to keep this document sealed—perhaps in order to hide the flimsiness of their secret evidence?  However, no matter the reason, we will fight to unseal this document and we will not let the State hide behind sealed evidence, obscure innuendo, and other traditional tactics used by secret police.

Though it is a victory that all the charges against our two housemates were dropped in Pennsylvania, we cannot forget that there is still a mysterious grand jury and other “ongoing investigations” out there. While we may be free from criminal proceedings now, we are still under the threat of future charges/indictments. What these might be, when they might happen, and what cause the State has is, of course, secret.  Although our only option is to wait and see, we refuse to let them go about their business ruining our lives in peace and quiet and will continue fighting them every step of the way.

For more information and updates, please go to friendsoftortuga.wordpress.com

Come out tomorrow night to this benefit half of whose proceeds will go to help Tortuga House.

Tortuga House is now tweeting!

Get updates on our legal situation, whether or not we were raided on any given day, and how Sahara the Dog is doing!

Go here: http://twitter.com/tortugahouse