Activists car impounded. Donations needed!

If they were detained/arrested, the police already know about them and are probably sharing the info with the feds. In other words, it's probably perfectly fine to publicize their names, no? (the only other problem would be if they didn't want their parents/landlords/employers to find out, but let's face it, the cops' "blotter" gets into the Daily Planet and other papers, so their names are going to get out anyhow)

Ah, "security" culture...

no one was arrested. why do you want their names before sending a donation to a legal fund?

Um, because anyone can just make up a story and an email address/paypal account. But did it really happen? Indymedia is first a news site and second a community site. In other words, I would think that people who read this website expect to find out the who, what, where, when, why, and how before considering how to act. But maybe some people will float you hundreds of dollars based on a hint of a political issue.

do you want the names and badge numbers of all of the officers?
would that quiet your insinuations?
would you like pictures of the plainclothes fed who was on site?
too bad that there are no pictures, as no one one in the car had a camera. and it wouldn't have mattered anyway as the car was rummaged through and then impounded by 5 Berkeley PD officers and one El Cerrito officer. These people were doing nothing more than riding around in a car, yet Officer O'Donnell of BPD flat out called them terrorists and took pictures of them "to be sent to the FBI."

It's too late, but the license plate thing is a great way for anyone with access to the DMV listings to gain names based on minor suspicion. Police regularly run plates and even have automated ways of scanning them to detect stolen cars. Bikes would be the way to go in Berkeley. If you google Denver 'Spy Files', this is a place where some activists managed to get the Denver police's vast paperwork of spying on activists over a few decades. They had officers attending meetings of various pacifist or ethnic groups, and they were doing things like carelessly taking down the plates and owner names of a dozen cars parked most closely to the building, even if they had nothing to do with the meeting. It's sort of creepy. I don't know if the Berkeley PD have time to do that, as they barely check speeders and double parkers. The federal police who the newspaper announced they sent into Santa Cruz at least, or the UCPD, probably don't have much else to do though.

It's probably a SCAM! Why would anyone donate to an anonymous paypal account. JUST DON'T DO IT.

The cop's badge numbers:

Officer O'Donnell Berkeley PD #23 pulled the car over and told the driver the probable cause is that he "knows the driver is associated with the animal rights movement." Soon after, Berkeley PD officer Ledoux #137, BPD officer Martinez #457, BPD Officer V.P. Martinez #100, BPD Officer Nonoguchi #10, and El Cerrito Officer Wahrlich #70 arrived. There was also a man in plain clothes who stayed the entire time who was not identified. He was standing in a circle with the cops and watching over everything. When queried, the police officers claimed "he's not with us." and "he's not affiliated, he's a civilian" which is likely a lie.

Please donate to these folks, even if it's only a dollar. The people claiming "scam" are either trolls (indybay has many, sadly) or working for the cops.

It seems to me that at Indybay.org a troll is "anyone who disagrees with the original poster". Is that right? Its a term that gets tossed around a lot, in situations where "idiot" would be used other places.

Thanks for the update on the situation -- we saw 5 BPD cars and one from El Cerrito on MLK Way near Rose Street and never saw any information in the paper. Sounds like the same incident.

Please, explain to me why somebody who expresses skepticism here is automatically labeled a "troll"...or must be working for the police? I honestly don't understand, and want to.

It seems pretty clear that people might have an emotional tug to donate to a cause like the one presented, and that someone might point out how easy it is to be defrauded on PayPal, and that an anonymous request regarding an event that was not publicized in the media might be suspect.

For those of you who know the people involved, the request is above reproach -- but since it was made to a large group of strangers, it seems like supplying enough information to place the event would be both polite and efficacious.

Just for the record, there are plenty of legit animal rights prison support websites that could also use your help if in doubt about the veracity of the above author's claims. Since imc is a free and open posting site, anyone from cops to feds to scam artists to genuine honest activists can post articles and you'll never know who they are unless there's some additional link to a website and the site has the support of the activist community..

There are always new causes to support as new people always get arrested by the police during these times of 'green scare' and maybe the article's authors have just begun a new campaign, thus lacking the needed credentials..

..or the authors really could be scam artists taking advantage of indybay free posting anonimity. You be the judge, take risks with new causes as you see fit..

As a resident indybay troll i'm also left the the dark about this new campaign as much as anyone, though i'ld rather send money to legit causes like the SHAC group or Eric McDavid or someone that i've heard of. If the authors are legit, we'll no doubt hear more about this in the days to come. In the meantime my measly money order to support indybay will have to do, as i'm just a troll anyways..

If you think they're lying, and the above search and seizure did not happen, despite having a witness account posted here, as well as intimate details of the search (officers badge numbers, time and place, the bullshit "probable cause" cited by an officer, etc.) then don't donate.

I don't know how you expect to "find more info." There was no media on hand. The only people who drove by and gawked were rich North Berkeley residents who didn't seem to give a fuck. The individuals in the car started chanting "ILLEGAL SEARCH" and the neighbor across the street was laughing and said "Cool."

We've provided all of the information we are comfortable with. Most of the individuals in the car were not even activists. The complaint from the cops was that that they were driving around on a weekend and the driver was a "known animal rights activist who has participated in demonstrations in Berkeley." THAT WAS IT!

And the only media who have covered the Berkeley campaign at all have been bullshit mainstream scare articles. Just do a google search for Berkeley animal rights and you will find dozens of these articles. This campaign exists, even if you're too delusional and paranoid to acknowledge that new activists get inspired and start new campaigns. UC Berkeley spokesman Robert Sanders has compared the activists to Al-Qaeda in recent articles. The university is SEEKING RESTRAINING ORDERS. Not everyone you "don't know" is a fed. We're sorry that they don't want to be even more public than the cops have forced them to be - they just don't see the benefits of posting their names on a public website (even if the cops already have it.)

I don't know why you're "left in the dark" about the campaign. We don't blame you, but I guess you haven't been reading the paper over the past few months - San Jose Mercury News, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Daily Cal, East Bay Daily News, Oakland Tribune, East Bay Express, etc. have all had smear pieces about the campaign.
We honestly don't know what "activist community" you speak of - as we've run into a brick wall of gossip, paranoia, and disinterest - so we are going it alone so to speak. We've done outreach for the campaign at many events in the Bay Area and it's mostly fallen on deaf ears. Sorry if we don't wait for approval from this "community" before participating in much-needed and completely legal activism. But I guess if you don't know someone, you can't offer support to them when their house/car gets raided and lies are written about them in the press.

The website for the campaign is http://www.freewebs.com/stopucberkeleyvivisection

And yes, other individuals cases are MUCH WORSE. That's as plain as day, and they deserve MUCH MORE support than us, as we've experienced only minor repression in comparison (car searched and seized, misdemeanor charges going to court later this month.) We've sort of refrained from actively seeking donations and legal support because other animal/eco cases have much more dire consequences for the individuals involved.

I saw this posted on another site
Wednesday, April 02 2008 @ 06:19 PM PDT
Contributed by: Anonymous
Views: 351
Sunday 3/30, a car was pulled over at MLK and Rose ST. in Berkeley, CA and all of the occupants detained by 5 Berkeley PD officers and 1 El Cerrito Officer. The car was rummaged through and impounded, against the objections of the driver. The car was impounded. Police gave the reason of "No licensed driver" despite it being parked legally and the car belonging to a friend of the driver.

There was also a plain-clothed man present the entire time who was not identified. When queried, the police claimed he was a civilian and that "he's not affiliated with us." The man was likely a fed.

The probable cause for the stop? The driver was a "known animal rights activist who has been seen at demonstrations" according to Berkeley PD officer O'Donnell.

A legal fund has been set up. The folks are all poor activists, so anything helps for impound fees and any other costs which may arise from this situation.

Please consider donating, even if it's only a buck or two. Paypal to berkeleylegalfund [at] yahoo.com

Site http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20080402181922590

So these are my concerns.
It mentions the car being pulled over, but then the author complains that it was legally parked. So which was it? Can't pull over a parked car.
The car may be owned by the drivers friend, but the friend was obviously stupid for letting an unlicensed friend drive it. I don't see why indy members should donate because you screwed up by not having a licensed driver drive the car. You did a mistake own up to it.

I could see donating to an activist(s) should they be arrested for thier cause. Not for someone who doesn't have common sense and have a driver with a valid license drive a car.