Federal prosecutors are indicting Sherman Austin, 19 year old founder / webmaster of Raise the Fist (Raise the Fist.com), an anarchist independent media / direct-action network. Sherman is being charged with 2 felony violations for distribution of information involving weapons of mass destruction and alleged possession of weaponry without permits.
Sherman rejected a guilty plea on August 26, 2002 in court, offering him 1 month in jail,
5 months in a half-way house and 3 years supervised release. If found guilty
in trial, Sherman could serve a maximum of 3-4 years in prison.
On January 24th, 2002, Sherman became one of the first victims of the new
USA Patriot Act when 25 heavily armed FBI agents and secret service
surrounded and raided his home in Los Angeles because of his anarchist web
site raise the fist. The entire server was shut down, all
computer equipment along with political literature, even protest signs were
seized and loaded into a big white truck.Sherman was not arrested until a week later when he decided to attend the
World Economic Forum protests in New York. He was arrested by New York
police after being targeted law enforcement officials. After spending nearly
30 hours in jail, Sherman was taken into a back room in hand cuffs and
interrogated by the FBI and Secret Service for several hours. 10 minutes
later he was released from jail with charges dropped.
Within minutes he was re-arrested by 6 FBI agents and placed in maximum
security federal prison. At his bail hearing he was accused of driving 3,000
miles carry out his "plot" of mass destruction against the WEF event, and on
the way back to "blow up" the Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Even though
federal agents searched his car in New York, and found absolutely nothing,
and there was a blatant lack of evidence, he was denied bail and the judge
ordered Sherman be transported to California with a US Marshal escort, as
the judge felt "the Government has also shown by clear and convincing
evidence that there is a very serious risk of danger to the community".
While awaiting finial extradition to California at a "hub" for prisoners in
Oklahoma. Thomas Mrozek, public affairs officer for the U.S. attorney's
office in Los Angeles said, "We have opted not to seek an indictment at this
time. We are continuing to investigate the matter, but as of right now, he's
off the hook."
Six months later, Sherman now faces federal felony charges as he awaits a
grand jury indictment before trial.
