Related Stories
Arrest Puts Focus on Protesters Texting
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of New York Times
Posted: October 29th, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/nyregion/05txt.html
As demonstrations have evolved with the help of text messages and online social networks, so too has the response of law enforcement. On Thursday, F.B.I. agents descended on a house in Jackson Heights, Queens [NY], and spent 16 hours searching it. The most likely reason for the raid: a man who lived there had helped coordinate communications among protesters at the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh. The man, Elliot Madison, 41, a social worker who has described himself as an anarchist, had been arrested in Pittsburgh on Sept. 24 and charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of instruments of crime. The Pennsylvania State Police said he was found in a hotel room with computers and police scanners while using the social-networking site Twitter to spread information about police movements. He has denied wrongdoing. American protesters first made widespread use of mass text messages in New York, during the 2004 Republican National Convention. Messages, sent as events unfolded, allowed demonstrators and others to react quickly to word of arrests, police mobilizations and roving rallies. Mass texting has since become a valued tool among protesters, particularly at large-scale demonstrations. Mr. Madison [may be] the first to be charged criminally while sending information electronically to protesters about the police. He and a friend were part of a communications network among people protesting the G-20, Mr. Madisons lawyer, Martin Stolar, said on Saturday. Theres absolutely nothing that hes done that should subject him to any criminal liability.
Note: For many reports from reliable sources on increasing government erosion of civil liberties, click here.
Related Stories
Latest News
Key News Articles from Years Past
