Thu, 27 May 2004 03:17:22 GMT
RTMark reports false arrest of artist by FBI who mistakes art for bioterrorism.
RTMarkÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ DEFENSEÊ FUND ESTABLISHED – HELP URGENTLY NEEDED
Steve Kurtz was already suffering from one tragedy when he called 911 early in the morning to tell them his wife had suffered a cardiac arrest and died in her sleep.Ê The police arrived and, cranked up on the rhetoric of the “War on Terror,” decided Kurtz's art supplies were actually bioterrorism weapons.
Thus began an Orwellian stream of events in which FBI agents abducted Kurtz without charges, sealed off his entire block, and confiscated his computers, manuscripts, art supplies… and even his wife's body.
Like the case of Brandon Mayfield, the Muslim lawyer from Portland imprisoned for two weeks on the flimsiest of false evidence, Kurtz's case amply demonstrates the dangers posed by the USA PATRIOT Act coupled with government-nurtured terrorism hysteria.
Kurtz's case is ongoing, and, on top of everything else, Kurtz is facing a mountain of legal fees. Donations to his legal defense can be made at http://www.rtmark.com/CAEdefense/
It reminds me a bit of when the Secret Service came after etoy.
RTMark is nortorious for social hacking, but this story appears to have at least two supporting news stories.
WKBW Local News – Local Investigation Into Ub Artist Continues
WKBW Local News – Bio Hazard Or Art?
The weird thing is that these news articles are archived on RTMark's site and I can't seem to find them on the WKBW site. Having said that, a search on Google News shows an article about this, but it has “expired” and can't be accessed.
IF this is true, it's another example of patriotic stupidity, but it's often the role of artists to help us understand this stupidity.
Anyone else heard about this? Lately I'm becoming more wary of single source news stories. 
Any help in veting this story before I get really excited would be greatly appreciated.
via Scott
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this could be false, but if it isn't it is just wrong and our government shouldn't be doing things like this.
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