Twin Cities Indymedia | Movement Media for Minneapolis-St. Paul

Thursday morning, Minneapolis grand jury resister Scott DeMuth was charged with conspiracy to commit animal enterprise terrorism in Davenport, Iowa federal court.  He is currently being held in the disciplinary block at the Muscatine County Jail after he was found to be in civil contempt of court for refusing to cooperate with the grand jury that convened in Davenport on Tuesday.  Because the civil contempt charge was later dropped, on Friday he attended a hearing to decide on his possible release on unsecured bond; a final decision has not yet been made by the court.  

10am Friday: DeMuth contempt charge was dropped, and he has a bail hearing on the AETA charge at noon today.  Also: Listen to EWOK! members on KFAI 90.3fm at 11am or online at KFAI.org.

5pm: Indictment PDF here (1 page); Read more about the AETA here.

BREAKING 11:00am Thursday: Quad City Times reports DeMuth has been charged with conspiracy under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA).

According to the Times, DeMuth made his initial appearance on the charge this morning.  The Times article quotes the indictment, which it says did not specify the 2004 ALF action at the University of Iowa, although the time frame and county location match:

“Scott Ryan DeMuth did knowingly and intentionally conspire with persons unknown to the grand jury to commit animal enterprise terrorism and cause economic damage to the animal enterprise in an amount exceeding $10,000."

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The federal government's Green Scare campaign took another depressing turn Tuesday morning as a federal district judge in Iowa ordered the detainment of Twin Cities activists Scott DeMuth and Carrie Feldman at a contempt hearing. As previously reported, DeMuth and Feldman were subpoenaed to a grand jury in Davenport, Iowa, compelling them to testify regarding a animal rights-related vandalism incident at the University of Iowa.

Feldman and Scott spoke to the local press and 30 to 40 supporters at a rally beforehand in Davenport, then refused to testify. At the contempt hearing, the judge offered both immunity, but they still refused to talk, and were taken away. The judge believes they will remain in jail until they comply or the jury ends (likely in 11 months). 

Related: Feldman Interviewed by Peter Young | New Support Info | Press Release from EWOK!, Statements from Carrie and Scott |  Video of Davenport Support Rally | TCDP: Minnesota EWOKs Jailed in Iowa (Photo credit) | Dallas, TX: Grand jury resistance action Previous Coverage: Second subpoena issued | Subpoena PDF |  Video: Feldman on Grand Juries & Luce Guillen-Givens on the Green Scare | Local Activist Subpoenaed to Grand Jury in Iowa Also: Bogus Subpoena Against US Indymedia | Feds' Search of G20 Twittering Anarchist Upheld

In this new TC Indymedia video, we give a new look (in HD!) at the now-infamous Robert Erickson Tea Party punk with added footage of crowd reactions and interactions with counter-protesters.  Erickson's speech exposed the hypocrisy of the white supremacist, racist and xenophobic rhetoric of right-wing extremists, who use dangerous imagery to frame the immigration debate.  It also drew attention to the plight of the Dakota people, who currently control .006% of their original land base, which was stolen via fraudulent treaties, genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Video and editing by Twin Cities IMC with additional footage from Bluestem Prairie and I Don't Hate America. (6:06)

Article: Anti-Racists Steal the Show at White Supremacist "Tea Party Against Amnesty" | Robert Erickson Fans on Facebook & Twitter | Youtube | Blip.TV | Related Event: An Evening of Reparations Dec. 6

Forty-five anti-immigration activists held a small rally outside the state capitol on Saturday. Counter-protest from members of Anti-Racist Action, Bash Back, the Minnesota Immigrants' Rights Action Coalition and others was frequent, vigorous and hilarious.  ("America is not for Russians!  America is not for Germans!  Europeans go home!")  Update: New TC Indymedia video "The Full Story" at YouTube / Blip.TV / Quicktime

The cheerful crowd of immigrants' rights activists held a banner reading "Stop the raids and deportations".  In conversation with members of Minnesotans Seeking Immigration Reform, the activists repeatedly pointed out that all non-native people in Minnesota are illegal immigrants--Minnesota was taken by force by whites from the native people who lived here for centuries before white arrival.  One activist, under the name "Robert Erickson," managed to get on the list of speakers and riled the crowd into a frenzy about the theft, murder and disease inflicted by illegal immigrants... from Europe, upon indigenous populations.  In a "Yes Men" moment, the anti-immigrant crowd sat in silence, trying to figure out what just happened. (transcript below) *NEW* TCIMC Video | Video from Bluestem Prairie & I Don't Hate America (1, 2) | Fight Back News: Anti-Immigrant "Tea Party" Confronted | Robert Erickson on Facebook & Twitter