NATO:
Journos Held at Gunpoint for Live Feed
Journalists
in Chicago are having a tough time doing their jobs, and some
apparently are being targeted by Chicago police. Five journalists who
were covering the NATO protest were ordered out of their car by gun
point. Two of these journalists Tim Pool and Luke Rudkowksi join the
show.
Did
Chicago police mastermind alleged NATO terror plots?
After
a weekend of violent altercations in Chicago, Illinois between police
officers and demonstrators protesting the NATO Summit, many questions
remain unanswered over a string of alleged terrorist plots foiled by
law enforcement.
21
May, 2012
At
least 11 men were arrested in three separate incidents in the days
before this weekend’s conference of world leaders in the Windy
City. As events wind down on Monday, however, half of those
originally detained have been released with no charges pressed and
little explanation from investigators. Of those that remain behind
bars, all have been linked to two alleged police informants, “Mo”
and “Gloves,” that are believed to have worked undercover with
law enforcement to infiltrate the Chicago activism community.
The
attorney representing three men arrested on terrorist-related charges
on Wednesday says that the alleged crimes in question were
perpetrated by Chicago police officers and reeks of entrapment. Those
close to individuals apprehended this week on separate but similar
charges also say that the alleged crimes in those cases are full of
holes and seem equally suspicious.
Three
of the men arrested Wednesday night remain in custody on Monday for
allegedly conspiring to commit terrorism, providing material support
for terrorism and possessing of an explosive incendiary device. The
trio was swept up in a raid in the Chicago neighborhood of Bridgeport
at around 11:30 that evening that ended with nine suspects behind
bars. After two days of unanswered questions, however, six of the men
were quietly released without charges.
One
of those men, who gave his name to the Chicago Tribune as Robert
Lamorte, says he had only been in town for an hour when he was
arrested by a swarm of police clad in riot gear with weapons drawn.
"I'm
leaving here first chance I get," Lamorte
tells the paper. "I
don't want to deal with any more problems."
Lamorte
adds that he was never told what crimes he was accused of committing
before he was released without any charges. Others on the scene tell
reporters that they were called “commies” and anti-gay slurs by
the arresting officers.
Also
arrested during Wednesday’s raid were a 66-year-old grandfather and
a mid-30s male who tells the Tribune he was handcuffed and shackled
for 18 hours, refused access to a bathroom and never read his
constitutional rights.
Aside
from an alleged “conspiracy” charge, that man — 36-year-old
Darrin Annussek — tells the Tribune, "None
of us were told why this was happening.”
The
three men still in custody over the alleged crime — Brian Church
(22), Jared Chase (27) and Brent Betterly (24) — are being
represented by an attorney who claims his clients were the victims of
entrapment.
“This
is a way to stir up prejudice against a people who are exercising
their First Amendment rights," lawyer
Michael Deutsch said at a Saturday hearing for the men. "There
were undercover police officers that ingratiated themselves with
people who come from out of town."
According
to law enforcement, the three men were planning to use homemade
Molotov cocktail explosives to target locales that included the
Chicago campaign headquarters of US President Barack Obama and the
home of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
“The
men had been making Molotov cocktails out of empty beer bottles
filled with gasoline and fitted with cut bandanas for fuses,” Cook
county state attorney Anita Alvarez told a news conference after the
bond hearing.
“It
is pretty clear from the evidence they were making the bombs,”
Alvarez said. “There
was a lot of discussion about making these Molotov cocktails and what
they were going to do with them.”
Immediately
after the arrests, a spokesperson for the National Lawyers Guild told
reporters that the house that was raided contained supplies for
home-brewing beer; not explosives.
"The
charges are utterly ridiculous. CPD [Chicago police department]
doesn't know the difference between home beer-making supplies and
Molotov cocktails,” Occupy
Chicago member Natalie Wahlberg — who was not arrested — tells
the Tribune.
Of
the nine arrested on Wednesday, Church, Chase and Betterly remain
behind bars and are being held on $1.5 million bond.
In
two separate incidents tied to the NATO protests, 28-year-old Mark
Neiween and Sebastian Senakiewicz, 24, were both arrested on
Thursday.
According
to investigators, Neiween allegedly met with sources to discuss
acquiring parts for a bomb; prosecutors say Senakiewicz claimed that
he could blow up a train overpass with a vehicle full of weapons,
reports the Chicago Sun-Times. The paper adds that Senakiewicz
volunteered to officers that he had no explosives and authorities
were unable to find any at his residence.
Officials
could not find any explosives tied to Neiween, either.
"He
is being targeted because of his beliefs," Senakiewicz’s
attorney, Molly Armour, tells the Associated Press of her
client. "These
charges are extremely sensational."
Sarah
Gelsomino, another defense attorney, adds to the AP that
representatives for Neiweem “have
seen zero evidence” from
prosecutors.
Both
Gelsomino and attorney Steven Saltzman, representing Mr. Neiweem,
tell Bloomberg news that they believe the “Mo” and “Gloves”
characters were working as police informants for the Chicago PD.
Gelsomino adds to the AP that other activists in the area have met
“Mo” and “Gloves” at rallies and gatherings in recent weeks
and now fear that they are being targeted as well.
"Even
if charges are dropped or reduced later, they will have succeeded in
spreading fear and intimidation," Kris
Hermes, an aide with the National Lawyers Guild, tells the AP.
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