Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

The Long Beach Anarchist Community continues to prosper in spite of police repression. Tonight there is a benefit at the Long Beach Infoshop for an Anarchist Anti-war Conference that is scheduled for late October. Back on August 3rd in Long Beach, there was demonstration and march against police repression. Photos from August 3rd: 1, 2, 3, 4.

Since the brutal LBPD riot on May Day 2001, numerous anarchist activists associated with the Long Beach infoshop have been unjustly persecuted by the Southern California Police State Apparatus. Matthew Lamont is still being held in Orange County, where he is facing four felony charges relating to possession of a destructive device. He was merely transporting gasoline in his car. Sarah Roberts has been released from LA County prison. She was arrested on May 1, 2001, and was convicted on May 21, 2002 of unlawful assembly and wearing a mask with the "intent to commit a crime." At Robert's sentencing on May 23rd, she was handed down a six month sentence and a $1,000 fine. Ruckus, also arrested at the 5-01-01 police riot, is still in jail. Ruckus was coerced by the judge to take a three-year plea bargain, lest he face a 17-year sentence. Once he took the plea, he discovered that he could be facing another felony charge and that under California's inhumane three-strikes law he could now serve 20-years-to-life.

The case against Cerritos College Mathematics instructor Hasan Hasan has been thrown out of court. However, Hasan had already been fired from his job and was arrested minutes thereafter without explanation.

Raise the Fist's Sherman Austin is still facing two federal felony violations steeming from the U.S. Secret Service, FBI, LAPD, and County Sheriff's raid on his home on Febuary 24, 2002. Raise the Fist is an open-publishing website (like indymedia), and, yet, one of the charges against him is "DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO EXPLOSIVES..." On August 26th, Austin refused to take a plea bargain offering him one month in jail, 5 months in a halfway house, and 3 years supervised release. However, the Judge then decided to keep the offer on the table, which is where things stand presently.

Read a recent recap of the repression in Long Beach; or, if you prefer, a detailed summary from Long Beach CopWatch, or go to the website Stop Long Beach Repression.