Are you an Anarchist? Forget about political freedom…

Apparently, the Freedom of Information Act only applies to those who agree with the margins of political discourse, not to Anarchists. As we already know, this is also true with the freedom of assembly. How far are we from new anti-sedition laws?

Karn (a member of Richmond Copwatch) and others filed under the Freedom of Information Act to learn police procedures during protests, so that they could better plan and coordinate their efforts in direct action. According to Karn’s blog (she is a member of the anarchist collective The Wingnut), the group “wanted to get copies of the police protocols so we could know when the police are breaking their own rules.”
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But why was Karn served with the court order? According to the court documents, ”Defendant Mo Karn is a known and admitted anarchist.”

Here is also a recent example of freedom of assembly denied to Anarchists.

Back to the events outside the Anarchist convention. When the two police officers tried to enter the Steelworker Hall — one of them holding a shotgun — the video show they said it was to investigate an alleged gun call at the convention, and that they needed to search the premises and those present for the weapon. When the second officer with the shotgun approaches the front door, the anarchists blocked the door, exclaiming that the mysterious gun had been found — lo and behold! — it was in the hands of the police all long.

The videographer, Will Dean, said in an interview it was like the “police were still living in G-20 land where they think they can do anything they want under the Public Works Act.”