Chicago police accused of planting evidence in ‘Molotov cocktail’ plot

[kpete]

Source: Raw Story

Police say men planned to target Barack Obama’s election headquarters but lawyers claim evidence was planted.

Lawyers for three protesters arrested on terrorist-related charges ahead of the NATO summit have accused police of entrapping them and encouraging an alleged bomb-making effort.

The three were arrested on Wednesday night when members of the Chicago police department battered their way into an apartment in the Bridgeport area of the city.


According to court documents released on Saturday, the three men considered targeting Barack Obama’s re-election headquarters and the home of Chicago nayor Rahm Emanuel.

The Chicago police department said the men, described as self-proclaimed anarchists and members of the “Black Bloc” movement that has disrupted international gatherings in the past, were arrested on Wednesday and charged on Friday with conspiracy to commit terrorism, providing material support for terrorism and possession of an explosive incendiary device.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/20/chicago-police-accused-of-planting-evidence-in-molotov-cocktail-plot/

---

MORE:
Dan, one of the activists, described a horrifying experience where he had been held for a “number of hours” but did not know how long exactly because the police did not ever give the activists the time. They were not charged at any point during their detention, but Dan says he was threatened with felony conspiracy charges.
The police held them as long as they did so they could get them to falsely confess or snitch on someone in the movement, Dan adds.

Officers were rude. They would not provide the activists information on why they were being held in custody. They would not make a differentiation as to whether they were being detained in custody or whether they were under arrest and charged with something. The limbo was held over the activists’ head to terrify them and make them say something the police could use against activists here to protest NATO.
http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2012/05/19/nato-3-came-to-chicago-to-commit-terrorist-acts-of-violence-cpd-fbi-secret-service-claim/
http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2012/05/19/three-activists-arrested-in-night-raid-still-in-jail-ahead-of-nato-summit/
..........................


The men's attorneys released photos of the home brew beer making equipment which the CPD contends was used to make Molotov cocktails. The Chicago Tribune reports that the National Lawyers Guild, "scoffed at accusations of bomb making and insisted the NATO protesters simply possessed beer-making equipment." A Molotov cocktail is a crude bomb made of gasoline in a bottle with a wick.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/20/1093156/-3-NATO-Activists-Charged-with-Terror-Plot-After-Posting-Video-of-Police-Harassment-

The attorneys also released a photo of the apartment after it had been overturned by police after an unwarranted search, below:

In the video which has gone viral on Youtube one officer can be heard in the video saying, “We’ll come look for you, each and every one of you.” The police can also be heard saying:

CPD Officer 1: “You like that, he knows these guys know, ’68. You guys know all about ’68. What did they say back in ’68?”
CPD Officer 2: “Billy club to the fucking skull.”

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/20/1093156/-3-NATO-Activists-Charged-with-Terror-Plot-After-Posting-Video-of-Police-Harassment-

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

1. accused of planting evidence... surprised? NOT

[cstanleytech]

60. No, not surprised though it will be interesting to see what if any evidence they have

that can prove it was planted and if it was planted can you say "lawsuit"?

[zeemike]

2. Yep that is beer making equipment alright.

Can't imagine how you would use it to make Molotov cocktails.
all you need is a funnel to do that...poor some gas in a bottle and stuff a rag in it...
But that is how evidence is manufactured.

[Taverner]

9. I'm sure the cops knew what it was. I am also sure they figured most americans wouldn't.

The piggies thought they had a slam-dunk case.

[randome]

3. Read the court documents. There is more to it than that.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/05/chicago_nato_bomb_plot_obama_headquarters_mayor_emanuel.php?ref=fpa

I swear, what has happened to people's critical thinking skills? A defense attorney presents a picture of some beer-making equipment and we are to assume that this is what the cops planted on the suspects?

Give me a break.

[randome]

7. Either way, it's not a good idea to assume anything at this point.

After all, a judge agreed with the initial charges.

Of course he/she could be part of a wide-ranging conspiracy, too!

[msanthrope]

20. "Shields, assault vests, and gas masks."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-terror-suspects-broward-20120519,0,3954190.story?page=2

I'm guessing those were what they planned on using, since the throwing stars might not have been too effective....

[msanthrope]

17. The idiots at firedoglake are still falling for the easily disprovable 'beer equipment' story.

Here, they post three pictures of the apartment after the raid...

http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2012/05/18/cpd-chief-wont-talk-about-night-raid-that-resulted-in-disappearing-of-activists/


They show a picture of the 'beer making equipment' and claim that this is what the cops mistook for Molotov making equipment.

But, anybody FDL poster a working braincell would realize that if the cops thought the beer making equipment was evidence of a criminal act, then they would have CONFISCATED it. It wouldn't have still been in the apartment, post-raid.

Critical thinking skills indeed.....the court documents posted online show that these assholes are in deep shit.

Edited to add--apparently, they were under survelliance, and were observed making the gasoline buy, and made the cocktails. Dumbasses.

[skepticscott]

29. Exactly

There were also public statements by the prosecutors concerning the presence of recordings of the defendants discussing their plans in detail. Not likely they would lie about that to the judge in a bail hearing if they aren't going to be able to produce and authenticate them later. An accusation by a defense attorney that evidence was planted is just standard boilerplate when his clients are caught red-handed, and in any case, if the cops WERE going to plant evidence, they'd plant something that was actually incriminating, don't you think? And then take it WITH them!

[mysuzuki2]

4. Yes, I have beer making equipment just like that.

I also have several cases of smaller, more practical sized bottles for bomb making, some rags and gas cans. Yet I have no intention of making molotov cocktails. The cops better come up with better evidence than that.

[PavePusher]

24. According to the BATFE, if you have all the components....

(i.e. bottles, rags and gasoline), you have "constructive possesion" and are guilty. No tag-backs allowed.

At least, that's how the gun laws work.

Utter fucktardery all around.

[Overseas]

5. K&R. Needs to be considered.

[IamK]

8. chicago is a corrupt as it gets... n/t

[coalition_unwilling]

13. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel is a 1%er's 1%er - n/t

[Taverner]

10. Chicago Cops are Corrupt. They get a hard on when they think of 68.

They can't wait to break some skulls, kill some protestors and make merry.

CPD = gangsters with badges.

[Wellstone ruled]

11. Rahmn,you just don't get it.People have had enough of you fear crap,leave the stage.

And take your DLC buds with you. What a corrupt bunch of shysters.

[Odin2005]

12. I said this was a conspiracy in the other thread.

[PatrynXX]

14. yeah but

if they are self proclaimed anarchists I have no wish to defend them. too right wing for me...

[marble falls]

15. Ale's well that ends well. Why do I want a beer after looking at the 'bomb'??? ...

Were they brewing gasoline????

[Trillo]

16. That looks like a nice Krausen on the left, the smaller, several gal bottle

It also appears to be a dark beer being brewed. Hard to say how long until it's ready, but the Krausen happens within a few hours to a day after pitching the yeast. It only goes for a day or two, then the "blow off" settles down, and fermentation continues but at a somewhat slower pace.

You'll note the tubes coming out of the top go into a plastic container sandwiched between the two fermentation bottles. That container is filled with water, and the hose ends are submerged. That is the airlock, any blowoff from the Krausen ends up in that water. With a vigorous fermentation and lots of blowoff, that water will become slightly colored with minor amounts of yeast and wort. The airlock prevents oxygen from getting in the headspace of the bottle, so once fermentation begins and CO2 is being produced, the CO2 displaces any air in the bottle, protecting the wort from oxidation. Oxidized beer tastes like a beer left in an open cup for a day.


This is as good an example as any of the dangers of not teaching kids in school how beer is typically brewed. Yah, I know nobody wants kids brewing their own beer, but kids turned adults may believe beer is only made in huge corporate factories by some mysterious, probably patented process, and shipped to the local merchant. Who the heck else would ever know how to brew beer. Corporate Beer is the only way to get beer!

[msanthrope]

19. One would think that the cops would have confiscated said equipment, had they thought it was

evidence of anything other than a love of the homebrew....

You'll note that this picture was taken in the apartment, post-raid.

What would evidence of Molotov-cocktail making still be doing in that apartment???

Maybe the story from FDL is just effective defense bullshit?

[msanthrope]

18. Your OP contains a major contradiction. Would you consider editing it to reflect such?

You see, kpete, you are posting a pictures of the apartment post-raid.

Why would 'evidence' still be in the apartment, post-raid?

If the cops were considering the beer-making equipment shown in the first picture (and linked to) to be part of the Molotov cocktail operation, wouldn't they have CONFISCATED it as evidence????

What would evidence of the Molotov cocktail operation still be doing in said apartment, post-raid?

So it looks like the cops LEFT the beer-making equipment.

Which contradicts the claim that the cops 'planted' or otherwise 'mistook' the beer-making equipment for the Molotov cocktail operation......

[Robb]

22. I predict crickets.

[msanthrope]

23. I'm just wondering how this evidence managed to bi-locate...

How can it be in the apartment, post-raid, and in an evidence locker, being used against these poor, hapless fellows????

I suspect that the 4 filled Molotov's, gas masks, assault vests, and shields that were taken from the apartment, pursuant to a no-knock warrant obtained after one of the defendants bought gas in a container from the nearby BP are the evidence that cops will use to prosecute....

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-terror-suspects-broward-20120519,0,3954190.story?page=2

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/natosummit/chi-nato-arrests-proffer-20120519-pdf,0,852022.htmlpage

Black Bloc got caught. Black Bloc, apparently, was infiltrated and surveilled.

Don't fuck with Rahm Emmanuel.

[randome]

25. Face it. You aren't going to get anyone to address this.

You're asking a question that requires objective thinking. It's more comfortable to imagine that people in positions of power are ALWAYS trying to fuck us over.

It justifies the powerlessness some feel.

[msanthrope]

27. Explaining bi-location is difficult, I will grant you, but I was hoping someone else had watched

'Primer' and could explain to me how this evidentiary milestone had been accomplished.

Personally, I think some read stories like this and use it justify their own inaction....lest they be persecuted, they stay home.

[randome]

28. I saw that movie just 2 months ago!

It was great! A time travel story that never used the words 'time travel'. At least I don't think they did, did they?

For some reason, I happened to watch 3 movies that started with the letter 'P'.

Primer
Possible Worlds
Pi

I had seen Pi when it first came out but this was a much-needed second viewing.

[msanthrope]

34. There are times I am convinced that Max Cohen is here, posting

blissfully in a fact-free post-drill state.

Possible Worlds, eh? I'll check out Netflix.

[randome]

35. All three were great movies.

[wingzeroday]

50. Pi

Gave me a headache.

[randome]

53. Yeah, I can understand that, too!

Um, you didn't try to drill a hole in your head like Max did, did you? If so, that might be the cause of your headache!

[zeemike]

30. And Black Bloc may also have been created by the same ones that arrested them.

And it would not be the first time that has happened.
Just look to history...every movement in our history has had the agent provocateurs used against it to justify destroying the movement...and that goes way back to the labor movement in this country.
It works because they have the resources and the media to do it and a willing police force that has been trained to lie and manipulate people.
And the evidence can easily be manufactured or planted...and that has also been used many times before...and the ones that plant it are the ones that testify that they just found it....and that is what the judge hears...that is all the judge hears.

I don;t know if they were planing something or not...but we can never know the truth as long as we have a system that lies to us and manipulates us...and they clearly do.

[msanthrope]

33. Your CT is very interesting. Perhaps you could point to specific facts in this case that support

said conclusion?

[zeemike]

36. I don't know the facts in this case and neither do you.

Or anyone here
The only ones that know are the ones involved and the police.
And the police are trained to lie and manipulate...and that is not a theory it is a fact.
And it is also a fact that the police have done this before....many times in the past.
And we know that because way back in the 60s there was a semi free press that told us....course things have changed now...there is no independent and free press and they will print what they are told is the truth and never look for themselves...unless they want to join the unemployed ranks....and any evidence on cell phones and on you tube will be blown off...because they are not legitimate.

[randome]

37. Then there is the judge who set the bail.

The system does have checks and balances. Admittedly they don't always work but most of the time they do.

[zeemike]

44. The judge knows only what he is told

Same as the press....and the same with us.
And everything hinges on the truthfulness of the police...if they lie about something the only one that will know is the victim.

[randome]

45. Confiscated equipment? Surveillance videos?

Arrestees not giving off a good vibe? All of this may have played into the bail decision.

[zeemike]

47. I wonder what kind of vibes you would give off

If chained to a bench for hours at a time and relentlessly questions and head games played with you?
The judge was told these were terrorist...he had no reason to question the evidence.

[msanthrope]

38. Your CT would now have to include the prosecutor, who swore a statement, and the judge, who

issued the no-knock.

Your CT would also have to include the judge who handled the arraignment/bond hearing.

Basically, everything in this sworn statement, including the apparent recordings*** of the defendants, would have to be a lie.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/natosummit/chi-nato-arrests-proffer-20120519-pdf,0,852022.htmlpage


***It seems, from the specificity of the proffer, that recordings and other surveillance was used.

[zeemike]

40. With that criteria all conspiracies are impossible.

Never once recognizing that all participants do not have to be in on it...You don't have to be a genius to figure out how to manipulate situations...that comes naturally to all sociopaths...
Chief of police wants to bust em.....sends out one of his undercover unit who has been doing things like this for years...He knows how to meld with a group....joins them and manipulates them and encourages them to do things....sets it all up...and pulls the trigger....cops make a raid....the evidence is already in the van....they search the place and then take the evidence back downtown...got em and who would believe a conspiracy theory anyway...

Only a handful need to know...Because to set one up where everyone knows is impossible and would never get off the ground...most people are just playing their part in the game and if they do realize it was a game it will be to late because game over..

[randome]

41. You can't 'encourage' someone to make bomb-making materials.

Unless that person is so easily manipulated, he/she should never do anything more complicated than try to tie their shoelaces.

[zeemike]

48. No you can't

But you can sheep dip them...and that is the usual way of manipulation...and believe me even the smartest people can be done that way....


Ring ring....hello?
Hey Joe my car is out of gas...when you come home today can you pick me up a gas can at the store so I can walk down to the gas station for gas?
Sure Mike....be there in a while...

Evidence.....Joe bought a gas can at the store...

[Peace Patriot]

56. Judi Bari's kids won $4.4 million from Oakland police/FBI for their actions re the 1990 pipe bombing

of Bari's car. SOMEBODY planted that bomb in Bari's car. It was provably NOT Judi. But, hey, what did the Oakland police and the FBI care about that? They immediately accused Judi of bombing her own car (carrying a pipe bomb under her seat to a political meeting) and failed to investigate anybody else or follow the evidence.

Why would they and the FBI wish to bomb Judi Bari and crucify a gravely injured Judi for bombing herself? Because Judi Bari was an awesome organizer and was working on bringing the labor and environmental movements together on the decimation of the redwood forest by rapacious timber companies.

1990!

Cointelpro did not end in the 1960s.

Important read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judi_Bari

-------------------------

The following wiki article includes the claim that the FBI discontinued its Cointelpro operations in the early 1970s--operations that included the assassination of Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton by the Chicago police--but it also includes the claims of those who know better--that Cointelpro continues to this day--and a U.S. Inspector General report on FBI surveillance/disruption activities in the 2001 to 2006 period.

I think we can be quite certain that, with the onset of the Bush Junta and its vicious assault on citizen rights and the rule of law in the U.S., the FBI and the entire "Homeland Security" industry feels free to do whatever it damn pleases to destroy leftist and anti-war protests and movements. This out-of-control, U.S. taxpayer funded police state industry serves transglobal corporate interests, not us. And I think we need to acknowledge, as well, that our Democratic Party leaders are, at the least, collusive with it. (The Seattle '99 police riot against ten thousand peaceful protestors included agents provocateur who broke windows and set buses on fire for the Corporate Media cameras. Democratic president. Democratic mayor.)

-----------------------------

Another important read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO

COINTELPRO (an acronym for Counter Intelligence Program) was a series of covert, and often illegal,[2] projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations.

The FBI has used covert operations against domestic political groups since its inception; however, covert operations under the official COINTELPRO label took place between 1956 and 1971.[3] COINTELPRO tactics included discrediting targets through psychological warfare; smearing individuals and groups using forged documents and by planting false reports in the media; harassment; wrongful imprisonment; and illegal violence, including assassination.[4][5][6] The FBI's stated motivation was "protecting national security, preventing violence, and maintaining the existing social and political order."[7]

FBI records show that 85% of COINTELPRO resources targeted groups and individuals that the FBI deemed "subversive,"[8] including communist and socialist organizations; organizations and individuals associated with the civil rights movement, including Martin Luther King, Jr. and others associated with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Congress of Racial Equality and other civil rights organizations; black nationalist groups; the American Indian Movement; a broad range of organizations labeled "New Left", including Students for a Democratic Society and the Weathermen; almost all groups protesting the Vietnam War, as well as individual student demonstrators with no group affiliation; the National Lawyers Guild; organizations and individuals associated with the women's rights movement; nationalist groups such as those seeking independence for Puerto Rico, United Ireland, and Cuban exile movements including Orlando Bosch's Cuban Power and the Cuban Nationalist Movement; and additional notable Americans—even Albert Einstein, who was a member of several civil rights groups, came under FBI surveillance during the years just prior to COINTELPRO's official inauguration.[9] The remaining 15% of COINTELPRO resources were expended to marginalize and subvert "white hate groups," including the Ku Klux Klan and the National States' Rights Party.[10]

FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover issued directives governing COINTELPRO, ordering FBI agents to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize" the activities of these movements and their leaders.[11][12]

(MORE)

The intended effect of the FBI's COINTELPRO was to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, or otherwise neutralize" groups that the FBI believed were "subversive"[18] by instructing FBI field operatives to[19]:
create a negative public image for target groups (e.g. by surveiling activists, and then releasing negative personal information to the public)

--break down internal organization (e.g. by having agents exacerbate racial tensions, or send anonymous letters to try to create conflicts)
--create dissension between groups (e.g. by spreading rumors that other groups were stealing money)
--restrict access to public resources (e.g. by pressuring non-profit organizations to cut off funding or material support)
--restrict the ability to organize protests (e.g. agents sending letters promoting violence against police at protests)
--restrict the ability of individuals to participate in group activities (e.g. by character assassinations, false arrests, surveillance)

------------------------------

I don't know--and none of us can know, at this point--what was going on with this particular incident at the NATO protests in Chicago, but it is more than reasonable--it is the obligation of intelligent, well-informed people--to regard police statements and Corporate media reports on this matter with great suspicion.

[zeemike]

59. Yep...if you blindly accept the official report as fact you can be fooled.

As you have so well pointed out they have been doing this for a long time...and they have no limits as to what they can and will do.
that is most certainly not what our justice system was meant to do...and in fact it was set up to prevent this kind of abuse...but they quickly co oped that.

[Enrique]

51. where does it say the equipment is in the apartment?

presumably that photo is from the evidence locker, as you say.

I don't see any contradiction in this article, nor anything ridiculous about it as you seem to. It is from the defense, so naturally it is from that point of view. I don't see any reason to mock posting this side of the story.

[msanthrope]

52. The photo is of the apartment, post raid, released by the

defense atorneys. Thus, these are items the police did not take.

In links I provided in this thread, it seems that the police confiscated vests, shields, and gas masks along with 4 filled molotovs. My suggestion is that you read the court proffer with the details.

[Enrique]

54. no, you are wrong

"The attorneys ALSO released a photo of the apartment"

Get it? ALSO. Meaning, the first photo, with the equipment, was not from the apartment. Your jokes about bilocation are cute, but you are the one who is wrong.

I haven't read all the details yet, but when I do I'm going to take it seriously because it is serious.

[randome]

55. It doesn't look like an evidence locker to me.

Not with sash cords hanging down. Of course I could be wrong.

[Son of Gob]

58. No you're right

The National Lawyers Guild released this photograph after the raid in Bridgeport on Wednesday night. The group said this is home-brewing equipment that was left behind by police.

http://www.suntimes.com/photos/galleries/index.html?story=12635179

If you visit the link, click to the right 6 times you'll find the picture with the blurb.

[msanthrope]

57. You are claiming that picture is from the cops?

You think that's a picture of a police evidence locker?

I think you misunderstand the criminal discovery process.

I think you have misapplied an article of speech.

I think you would benefit from reading the court proffer.

[Rain Mcloud]

21. I predict

a rise in Home Brewed Beer after this.
Man,I could use a glass right now!
MMMMMM!

[DeSwiss]

26. I present to you, Exhibit A:

Judge - ''Man Too Smart To Be a Cop''.

- I rest my case.........

K&R

[midnight]

31. Is it true that the bail was set for these young people at 1.5 million?

[randome]

32. Read the court documents.

1.5 million seems reasonable regarding the evidence that a judge agreed with.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/05/chicago_nato_bomb_plot_obama_headquarters_mayor_emanuel.php?ref=fpa

[zeemike]

42. How can a judge agree with evidence?

That would suggest something the exact opposite of a judge.
The judge accepted the evidence because the cops told him they found it and where...and he has no reason to not believe the cops does he?
And if the judge ever expressed any doubt about the truthfulness of the cops his ass would be out in a heartbeat...and all parties know that.

[randome]

43. I assume he/she considered what was confiscated, maybe the surveillance videos...

...etc.

And a bail judge can certainly set bail as he/she sees fit. In this case, it sounds like there was enough evidence to keep these three guys in custody.

Now it remains to be seen whether the evidence holds. That's how the system works.

A lot of the time, I would imagine it all depends on gut instinct. If these 3 guys acted evasive and dishonest, then the judge would likely side with the police version of events.

[zeemike]

46. And everything hinges on the truthfulness of the police

If they lie that lie can get any outcome they want....and that is how the system works.
And make no mistake...there are plenty of us humans that love that power and love using it.

[rayofreason]

39. Beer....is there anything it can't do? n/t

[lunasun]

49. Ah, beer. The cause of and the solution to all of life's problems. -H. Simpson