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Photos of Berkeley Liberation Radio after FCC raid
Photos of Berkeley Liberation Radio studio after the raid, list of equipment expropriated by FCC.
As one who has participated in Berkeley Liberation Radio, informing on the working class and popular rebellion in Argentina on Slave Revolt, I accompanied Gerald Smith yesterday to the BLR studio to see the damage. I took the following photographs.
We found the warrant hanging from a clip (see photo). The telephone, mixers, CD players, all tapes and the transmitter were missing.
We found the warrant hanging from a clip (see photo). The telephone, mixers, CD players, all tapes and the transmitter were missing.
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Did they use the Patriot Act? Because Berkeley already passed something against that.
Set your gear up in a van and use that to transmit from, you can still produce the material in fixed offices/studios but it'll make it harder for the FCC to harrass you.
Yes, but the studio was in Oakland.
Could you post a link, if one exists, about whatever measure Berkeley passed against the patriot act?
Could you post a link, if one exists, about whatever measure Berkeley passed against the patriot act?
No need to use the Patriot Act. The closing of so-called "pirate radio" stations has been ongoing for the last several years regardless of format -- rock stations, religious programming, militia and "right-wing" broadcasts. Berkeley's number just came up in a long list of crackdowns by the FCC.
But if they did try to use anything in Patriot Act, they need to be called on it.
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil/2002citycouncil/packet/101502/10%2D15.htm
city council pda of Worthington's resolution to oppose the Patriot Act
Contact: Kriss Worthington, Councilmember District 7, 981-7170
Do violations of FCC regs mean they can just make raids without any notification? It makes sense - how else would you get someone - but I don't know what the laws are around that.
Plus, if they can make a raid on even simple FCC violations - say some technical aspect that isn't consistently in compliance - couldn't they raid almost any news source they wanted without notice?
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil/2002citycouncil/packet/101502/10%2D15.htm
city council pda of Worthington's resolution to oppose the Patriot Act
Contact: Kriss Worthington, Councilmember District 7, 981-7170
Do violations of FCC regs mean they can just make raids without any notification? It makes sense - how else would you get someone - but I don't know what the laws are around that.
Plus, if they can make a raid on even simple FCC violations - say some technical aspect that isn't consistently in compliance - couldn't they raid almost any news source they wanted without notice?
The only FCC raids of which I'm aware are those for unlicensed radio stations.
For more information:
http://www.microradio.net
haha... No more crappy Berkeley pirate radio.
104.1 will not be silent long!
The Berkeley City Council has no authority over the FCC, or Congress (i.e. the PATRIOT act). Any city resolutions passed to that effect are purely symbolic, and hold no weight in any court. It's similar to marijuana legalization ordinances.
Councilmember Kriss Worthington said that the council, and the mayor, don't really have power over the police department - the police do not report to the council. They basically might have the power of a 'supercitizen', where due to their special status as council members, police will probably be more likely to do what they say, however, they cannot give orders to officers, and they cannot fire officers who refuse to follow their orders.
This came up when I spoke with Worthington regarding the police very inappropriately conducting a drug raid in the apartment of someone in my building based on the false tips of a man with schizophrenia three doors down who had been observed to harrass the victim for years, yelling at him on the street, making phone calls, and sending letters accusing him of far fetched things like being a child molester, a drug dealer and to be responsible for all the scraps of litter on the sidewalk. The BPD apparently couldn't recognize his mental illness. But Worthington explained that he did not have the power to tell the police to change their behavior or to take sanctions if they didn't listen to him. They sort of run themselves.
This might be more significant if Berkeley Liberation Radio moves back into Berkeley. I don' tknow how things are run in Oakland.
Also, The Berkeley Police Review Commission does not have any real power - it isn't a judicial body. The Review Commission could decide to find against an officer (which they rarely do - if you look at the statistics on their web site, they don't sustain many complaints) but this doesn't mean anything by itself. The Chief could make the decision to totally ignore the finding and not demote or take action against the officer at all. Usually they do though, as far as I am aware. A complainant would have to go to court to actually seek for damages against an office failing to enforce the law correctly, or breaking the law themselves.
This came up when I spoke with Worthington regarding the police very inappropriately conducting a drug raid in the apartment of someone in my building based on the false tips of a man with schizophrenia three doors down who had been observed to harrass the victim for years, yelling at him on the street, making phone calls, and sending letters accusing him of far fetched things like being a child molester, a drug dealer and to be responsible for all the scraps of litter on the sidewalk. The BPD apparently couldn't recognize his mental illness. But Worthington explained that he did not have the power to tell the police to change their behavior or to take sanctions if they didn't listen to him. They sort of run themselves.
This might be more significant if Berkeley Liberation Radio moves back into Berkeley. I don' tknow how things are run in Oakland.
Also, The Berkeley Police Review Commission does not have any real power - it isn't a judicial body. The Review Commission could decide to find against an officer (which they rarely do - if you look at the statistics on their web site, they don't sustain many complaints) but this doesn't mean anything by itself. The Chief could make the decision to totally ignore the finding and not demote or take action against the officer at all. Usually they do though, as far as I am aware. A complainant would have to go to court to actually seek for damages against an office failing to enforce the law correctly, or breaking the law themselves.
I don't think they're purely symbolic. I think if you take something to court that the resolution will have implications, as opposed to working directly with police. If you have other info, please post or post links.
http://www.indybay.org/news/2002/12/1549962_comment.php#1550445
doesnt work. I tried it at UC Berkeley library.
doesnt work. I tried it at UC Berkeley library.
Any chance we can get copies of the 'warrant's' that were posted? It would be helpful in understanding their legal strategy.
For more information:
http://www.kbfr.org
I agree with Monk. The text of the warrant should be posted.
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