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Report -- 10 Pensacola Florida BBS systems raided
``` I don't know whether this report is true. I offer it largely as a cultural document. You should certainly watch out for other, more detailed reports.
Phil
Date: Tue, 6 Dec 1994 15:39:41 -0600 (CST)
From: David Smith
Here is an initial report on a massive law enforcement raid of 10 BBS systems in Pensacola, Florida. If this account is accurate and representatives of the raids, then this is pretty awful.
This does not sound like FBI work to me, but rather the work of local law enforcement. George Frena, sysop of the Tech Warehouse and defendent in Playboy Enterprises v. Frena, was busted for obscenity some two or three weeks ago. What part of Florida is he from? Pensacola? Nearby? I'm wondering if there is a connection.
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Forwarded by Tia Darrow (1:128/68) Area : TO/FROM-SYSOP (TO/FROM-SYSOP) From : Steven Stepp, 1:128/1320 (Sunday December 04 1994 13:32) To : Tia Darrow* Subj : Please post and make public aware
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Well, kids... this just in.... you heard it HERE first...
There were 25 BBS systems operating in Pennsacola, FL day before yesterday. Yesterday at approximately 17:00, there were TEN FEWER.
The FBI descended on ten bulletin boards in the Pennsacola area. Using tactics reminiscent of the Nazi's in WWII, they terrorized and vandalized at will.
One sysop, a paraplegic was HELD by two armed thugs by the arms and grilled with questions for 30 minutes while they ransacked his apartment.
AFTER the first thirty minutes, they sat him down in a chair in the middle of his front lawn (NOT his wheelchair) without a jacket or coat. It was 43 degrees in Pennsacola yesterday. And he sat. And sat. And sat. For two hours. In 43 degree weather, winds... and watched as they wheeled his equipment away.
In another case, 30-odd storm troopers descend on a Pennsacola computer store, as the customers scattered. AFTER they had succeeded in ruining the businesses reputation in its entirety, they moved to the Sysops home. Equipped with search warrants, they took his home apart and put it back together, again confiscating equipment... all the way down to the PENCILS on his DESK. And in the process, they found that the man had a bag of marijuana tucked away in a nightstand in his bedroom. Even though the search warrant made NO mention of DRUGS (a search warrant must be specific in nature; anything siezed which is NOT the purpose for the warrant is SUPPOSED to be inadmissible in court). In spite of this, he spent the night in jail.
Another area SysOp in Pennsacola was held, with his wife and two children (age 5 and 7) at GUNPOINT, forced to lie face-down on the floor in the living room, hands behind their heads, while the FBI raid took place. Some of these people are gonna need THERAPY before they can put this ordeal behind them. Can you imagine the effect this had on those KIDS?
One SysOp was held at gunpoint, as the thought police continued their raid, REFUSING to allow him to phone his lawyer.
At issue on Donnie Lee's system were the ALT.BIN files which broadcast in nightly from Planet Connect as a part of the UUCP internet feed. The SAME files the local university there in Pennsacola carries. And... you guessed it - the University was NOT one of the systems busted. Why would the government bust themselves for the SAME "crimes against the state"?
C'MON, guys... these folks aren't common criminals. They're not muggers, rapists, or thieves. They're just SysOps like you and me. SysOps who made the mistake of putting a CD onto their BBS systems, a CD which went against the beliefs of the church and state. A CD which any 12-year-old can buy across the counter at any software store or through mail order.
And suddenly, the world is much smaller. These are NOT just SysOps in some faraway land. Two of them are OUR SysOps. And four more arrests are set to follow today.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation was all over Pennsacola by 8pm. I phoned Steve Graves and he was on his way to Pennsacola this morning, along with a representative from AOP (the Association of Online Professionals). Also called in a favor from a buddy at BoardWatch who once lived here... so the press is descending on Pennsacola today, in SPITE of the media blackout (local tv, radio, and newspapers are banned from reporting any of this until the OTHER four busts are completed TODAY).
So, out of 25 boards, there remain 11, most of them turncoat. And our government no longer serves the people. The people serve IT. Something is terribly terribly WRONG with this picture.
At gunpoint? Abusing a paraplegic? Terrorizing a family? Refusing ones rights to have legal counsel present? For WHAT? THIS isn't murder. It isn't rape. It's not even GANG violence. It's a gross misuse and Abuse of power.
Is THIS the government YOU pledged allegiance to in second grade?
Sigh.
Not me, pal. I'm all in favor of declaring CyberSpace it's own sovereign state, a nation all its own, a nation without physical boundaries. And why not? Isn't that what the Church is? A nation unto itself, immune to the interference of the government? Seems to me that the transfer of ideas and concepts is what the CHURCH stands for, in the most basic of terms. Seems to me that CyberSpace needs to unite and form its OWN government.
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