Dave Mahoney Still Has A Posse - Update!

From the CRASS website

Monday morning in Ramsey County District Court, RNC activist Dave Mahoney pled – under pressure and significant duress – to a single count of second degree assault, a felony. Instead of going to trial on the 10 felony counts stemming from a single invented incident, Dave and the office of Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner agreed to a plea bargain. Given the disproportionately ferocious, political prosecution, Dave and his attorney evidently found it in their best interest to agree to a 90-day cap on jail time, reduction of the (single) felony charge to a gross misdemeanor after the sentence is served, and the ability for Dave to return to his native England after the jail term. With credit for good behavior and time served, Dave is looking at 56 days or less in jail, as opposed to the decades possible if he had lost at trial.

Of the dozens of RNC charges heard in open court, authorities have not won a single conviction. The manipulation and reliance on overtly authoritarian pressure evidenced in Dave’s case is indicative of the only tactic the state has left to justify the police brutality and fiscal waste characterizing the RNC and its aftermath. Dave faced two, then six, and ultimately ten charges. First accused of aiding and abetting the drop of a bag of sand in front of a slow-moving delegate bus on a closed highway exit ramp, authorities then levied a count of terroristic threats and assault for each so-called “victim” on the bus who claimed to feel “terrorized.” All together, Dave eventually was looking at decades behind bars and a dramatically tainted jury pool until the prosecution made the sudden plea offer last week. The absurdity of the state’s persecution should be apparent, but so should the impossible position in which Dave was placed. Indeed, what would you do under similar circumstances?

In a letter to his lawyer last December, prosecutor Richard Dusterhoft called his case “by far the most serious RNC case I have” (an assertion we find silly at best). He has referred to Dave as the “poster boy of the RNC” in open court. Similarly, during the presentation of the Heffelfinger-Luger Report in January, Andrew Luger called the alleged bag of sand incident “the most frightening moment of the convention,” apparently overlooking the pre-emptive raids, state-sponsored shutdown of downtown, and hundreds of brutal injuries caused by police.

It is, of course, too much to ask that agents of the state consider such things. The cognitive dissonance could prove fatal, what with so many careers to further, so many dollars to grab, so many atrocities to excuse. If an activist like Dave — whose community believes him, as we do, completely innocent of the anything resembling assault or terror crimes (if in fact there was ever a crime at all) — has to serve months in jail on a politician’s whim, so be it. There are, of course, priorities. That those priorities fail to align with common sense or justice is neither here nor there.

Back in reality, Dave, his comrades, and friends — from England to the Twin Cities and beyond — are not guilty of assaulting delegates. Rather, they and we are launching assaults on the interlocking systems of injustice and oppression which keep all of us in one form of prison or another. Like Dave, we didn’t and don’t commit this assault with bags of dirt or pointed fingers; we attack the system with continuous, relentless organizing in a diversity of forms, seen and unseen. That those who benefit most from temporary power fail to recognize this should surprise no one.

The state-sanctioned kidnappings of our friends by cartoonishly villianous stooges like Bob Fletcher – the very embodiment of corruption and contemptible, scabrous sleaze, as even the mainstream press and the FBI are starting to realize – and the subsequent legitimizing of these crimes by other criminally smarmy agents of the state should not stop anyone. Until borders have been broken and police prevented from terrorizing our communities in the manner they do every day, we will continue to assault any system that withholds our basic needs and denies our wild dreams.

Due to the nature of these battles waged within the confines of the criminal injustice system, there is of course more to be said — but it must wait. If you, too, have dreams of love, rage, and freedom, perhaps you too can say some of it under your breath. More important than what we can or cannot say, however, is what we can do.

The RNC happened in our community, but the interests it served and the repression it entailed are fundamental to the structure of this society … indeed, the world system. Don’t forget. From the RNC 8 to the RNC Others; the Tarnac 9; the AETA 4; and all those past and present – defend ALL targets of state repression.

Dave's trial is canceled

Dave's trial has been canceled more news soon.

Notes of Support for Dave

From a friend in the UK:

Hey all,

I am writing this to remind you that Dave Mahoney's trial starts on June 1st. Some of you know him others don't but I'm sure you all have heard one of us go on about him.

We are holding a demo outside the US Embassy in London, UK on Friday 29th May. If you can make it that's great

But the real reason for this note is to ask you to send letters of love and support to helpdave@mail.com for Dave to read. Even if you don't know him you can say you have heard his story and send your support. If your up for doing this please do so ASAP as I'm sure the next week will be a very busy one for him.

If you are from the US of course court solidarity is needed! So get along to show we we are watching!

Dave is one of the nicest guys I know and we all miss him more than anything. He is a constant source of inspiration for many of us and his strength through this has helped us all remain positive.

A thanks you and info on the RNC

So last night some of us in the UK went to Dartington for a Save Dave Rave. We raised £340 for Dave's legal fees. Thanks to all that attended and to the bands and the sound system. Big love.

Secondly CrimethInc have published an interesting report on the RNC protests which can be read here http://www.crimethinc.com/blog/2009/05/05/2008-dncrnc-mobilizations-full-report/

As we get closer to Dave's trial we would like people to send emails of support to helpdave@mail.com. Dave is one of the most caring people I know and we want everyone to let him know that we are thinking of him.

We Are All Angry!

Dave heard this morning that he will be facing 10 felony charges at trial. 5 counts of second degree assault and 5 counts of terroristic threats. No offers to settle the case have been made.

It seems like any hope of prevailing human decency on behalf of the state has been lost.

Open Letter to Susan Gaertner from Dave's Mum

My name is Susan Mahoney. I am the mother of David Mahoney, who is due to stand trial accused of assault in the second degree and terroristic threats, arising from the Republican National Convention of September 2008.

Since David was arrested on September 4th, I have been finding out as much as I can about the RNC and its aftermath. As well as David’s first-hand account of events, I have watched hours of video footage and read much of the extensive media coverage, as well as numerous websites, blogs and the Heffelfinger Luger report.

The impression I have formed is that the police greatly exaggerated the threat posed by protesters at the RNC. In response, they planned and implemented a massive military-style policing operation, which was both provocative and confrontational.

When the event was all over and the dust had settled, the picture that emerged was of an embarrassing mismatch between police predictions of serious crime and disorder, and the reality. The feared anarchy and chaos amounted to a few broken windows, a couple of slashed tyres and some ineffectual attempts to blockade roads. Rowdy football crowds regularly cause more disruption. Ironically, the police themselves achieved precisely what they claimed to be trying to prevent. It was not ‘anarchists’ but security fencing and thousands of armed riot police that closed down parts of St Paul during the RNC.

My concern is that, in order to justify the hugely expensive and controversial policing operation, my son will be demonised as a violent extremist and singled out for disproportionately harsh punishment.

I would like to set the record straight concerning David’s background and character. He was brought up in a hard-working, law-abiding, tax-paying middle-class family. Although born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he has lived from the age of two in a quiet English village. Never a rebellious or disaffected child, his main interests were sport and the local Scout group, with whom he spent a lot of time hiking, climbing and kayaking.

We were pleased when he went off to university to study geography at 18. As liberal-minded parents, we encouraged him to broaden his mind and think for himself. We got a little more than we bargained for when he returned home with a keen interest in anarchist literature.

After the initial parental dismay, I decided to do more than look up the meaning of ‘anarchist’ in Webster’s dictionary. (By the way, the Oxford English Dictionary makes no mention of violence in its definition of anarchist.) Some further reading was called for, and this is what I found.

Despite their popular image as sinister plotters conspiring to assassinate presidents and archdukes, most anarchists are not violent.

Anarchism has been around since the ancient Greeks. As part of the spectrum of political ideology, it is usually confined to a small minority, but the ideas keep re-emerging in every society across the world, especially in turbulent times.

During the European Reformation in the 17th century, anarchistic religious movements such as the Hussites and the Anabaptists appeared. The Diggers and Levellers set up their rural communes during the English Civil War. Early settlers described indigenous American society, not disapprovingly, as a form of anarchy, without state, laws, prisons or private property.

In the late 18th century, the English writer William Godwin advocated the abolition of government through a gradual process of reform and enlightenment. The French propagandist, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (“Liberty is the mother, not the daughter, of order”) was the first of the radical nonconformists to call himself an anarchist. He was succeeded by the Russian revolutionary thinkers Bakunin and Kropotkin, as well as Christian anarchists like Leo Tolstoy, author of War and Peace.

I’m sure you are aware of the rich tradition of American anarchism, including influential thinkers such as Benjamin Tucker, founder of the journal ‘Liberty,’ and Henry David Thoreau, whose essay on civil disobedience inspired, amongst others, Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

The long list continues throughout the twentieth century, from the feminist Emma Goldman in the 1920s, to the anti-war activist Abbie Hoffman in the 60s, to the immensely influential philosopher Noam Chomsky.

If American society is broad and tolerant enough to accommodate these great radical thinkers, surely it can do the same for their followers? We should not react to alternative views with fear and loathing. As the British civil liberties campaigner Shami Chakrabarti pointed out recently: “Dissent is the lifeblood of democracy and progress.”

Had my son David and his friends been born four decades earlier, they would probably have made the journey to Woodstock rather than calling themselves activists. But 40 years after that festival of love and peace, what legacy have we, the idealistic Woodstock generation, handed down to our children? Global warming, the collapse of a financial system built on greed, mass employment and pointless wars that have ruined the lives of millions.

No wonder they are angry. Who can blame them for wanting to voice that anger at a self-congratulatory gathering of the Republican Party, whose policies are widely held to be responsible for many of these catastrophes? Remember that this was the occasion when Sarah Palin was introduced as a potential president of the United States. Abraham Lincoln himself said that silence is a sin when protest is called for.

As a middle-aged risk-averse parent, I would naturally have preferred my son to confine his political beliefs to campus debates. However David and his contemporaries, like many before them, see ‘direct action’ as a way to make their voices heard. Some of their activities could be dismissed as nuisance behaviour, but history shows that what might seem at the time to be banal property crime can trigger far-reaching changes.

The Boston tea party was a pivotal event in the American colonies’ struggle for independence. Were it to happen today, would the perpetrators be charged with conspiracy to riot, assault in the second degree and criminal damage? In the words of Thomas Jefferson: “Law is often the tyrant’s will.”

On a speaking tour of America 100 years ago, the English suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst said: “The argument of the broken pane of glass is the most valuable in modern politics.” She and her fellow campaigners were famously imprisoned for breaking windows. Their harsh treatment by the authorities merely served to raise their profile and rally public support to their cause. The suffragettes have gone down in history as pioneers of female emancipation, but who now remembers the names of their jailors?

Very early in his career, Winston Churchill presented a budget that attracted the wrath of the establishment, who felt it was too left-wing and detrimental to their vested interests. He retorted: “We are denounced as … Anarchists and Communists and all the rest of the half-understood vocabulary of irritated ignorance.”

I fear that ‘irritated ignorance’ underlies the attitude of the police and prosecution to my son and his friends. The police’s portrayal of them in the local media as violent extremists with filthy habits shows a mixture of incomprehension and personal distaste.

For me, this biased approach has disturbing echoes of the Sacco and Vanzetti case in the 1920s. No doubt you are familiar with the words of the notorious Judge Webster Thayer, who boasted of nailing those “anarchistic bastards,” although the charges faced by the two men had nothing to do with their political beliefs.

Anyone who took the time to speak to David and his friends would find that, far from being “intent on committing … highly dangerous acts of violence,” they are in fact earnest young citizens who are trying in their own way to make the world a better place.

The American libertarian Murray Bookchin describes three versions of the American dream. “One is the John Wayne tradition … of pioneering individualism; another is the immigrant American dream, this being the land of opportunity … But there is a third American dream, which is the oldest of the lot, dating back to Puritan times, which stresses community, decentralisation, self-sufficiency, mutual aid and face-to-face democracy.”

I can’t speak for David and his friends, but this is my understanding of what they are trying to achieve. It is hard to see how that constitutes any kind of threat to society. At worst, they could be derided as ineffectual dreamers, but when the ice caps melt and the oil runs out, who knows, they could have the last laugh.

Obviously it is for the court to decide on the outcome of David’s case. All I ask is that the police and the prosecution treat his alleged offence(s) objectively, undistorted by personal prejudice against his political views and alternative lifestyle. So far as I can see, his actions at the RNC have caused harm to no-one but himself.

Finally, I would like to appeal directly to you, Susan Gaertner. I see from your campaign website that you have three grown-up daughters, and I hope they have never caused you any sleepless nights. Perhaps they never will, but you can’t be sure of that. As one mom to another, I am asking you not to use the state’s sledgehammer to crush the spirit of my idealistic young son.

Support show for Dave

We will be tabling at this show and some of the door money will be going to Dave's support fund.

Defiance, Ohio - http://defianceohio.terrorware.com/
Acoustic punk rock with drums, guitar, bango, and a strong social message

Madeline -
http://www.madelinesongs.com/
Singer song writer with heart

Support from:

Dead City Stereo
http://www.myspace.com/thedeadcitystereo

Some Sort of Threat
http://www.myspace.com/somesortofthreat

@ The Cavern Club, Exeter UK (http://www.cavernclub.co.uk)

Tuesday, May 26th at 8:00pm