JUNE 15 DEMOS AGAINST GRAND JURY IN CAE "BIOTERROR" CASE

Begin forwarded message:

> From: CAE Legal Defense Fund <[email protected]>
> Date: June 9, 2004 9:35:28 PM EDT
> To: "rachel-rhizome.org" <[email protected]>
> Subject: JUNE 15 DEMOS AGAINST GRAND JURY IN CAE "BIOTERROR" CASE
>
> PROTEST TO DEMAND AN IMMEDIATE END TO THE INVESTIGATION OF STEVE KURTZ
> AND THE CRITICAL ART ENSEMBLE
>
> WHEN: 9 AM, June 15, 2004
>
> WHERE: Niagara Square, Buffalo, New York, near the courthouse (see
> "Driving Directions" below for map)
>
> PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS CALL AS WIDELY AS YOU CAN.
> Check http://caedefensefund.org/demonstration.html for updates.
>
> For background, please visit http://caedefensefund.org/overview.html
> and http://caedefensefund.org/press.html.
> For PDFs of signs that you can print out, please visit
> http://caedefensefund.org/demonstration.html#signs
> For information on June 15 protests in Amsterdam, San Francisco,
> London and Paris, please visit
> http://caedefensefund.org/demonstration.html#world
>
>
> SUPPORT FREE SPEECH AND FREEDOM OF KNOWLEDGE
>
> Critical Art Ensemble (CAE) is a collective of internationally
> recognized artists who work in public, educational, academic and art
> contexts. For the past few years, their principal aim has been to help
> the general public to understand biotechnology. By making scientific
> research accessible to laypeople through participatory performance
> experiences, CAE aims to demystify what is safe and clarify what is
> dangerous about today's biotech industry.
>
> CAE always undertake their work in a safe and considered way. The
> materials they use are strictly non-hazardous, can be legally obtained
> by anyone, and are commonly found in undergraduate-level biology labs.
> For more on CAE's projects and the biological agents and equipment
> they work with, please visit http://www.caedefensefund.org/.
>
> A federal grand jury will convene on June 15 in Buffalo, New York, to
> consider bioterrorism charges brought by the Joint Terrorism Task
> Force against CAE member and University at Buffalo professor Steve
> Kurtz. The grand jury is the latest installment in a bizarre
> investigation in which members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force seem
> to have mistaken CAE's latest art project for a biological weapons
> laboratory.
>
> According to the subpoenas served to at least seven artists, the
> charges fall under Section 175 of the US Biological Weapons
> Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, which has been expanded by the USA PATRIOT
> Act to prohibit the possession of "any biological agent, toxin, or
> delivery system" without the justification of "prophylactic,
> protective, bona fide research, or other peaceful purpose"
> (http://caedefensefund.org/faq.html#law). Those served with subpoenas
> include two founding members of CAE (Steven Barnes, Dorian Burr,
> Beverly Schlee), two artists who have collaborated with CAE (Beatriz
> da Costa, Paul Vanouse), and at least two other artists.
>
> Many worry that the case could set a dangerous precedent by silencing
> a group of artists for work that stimulates vital public discussion.
> Many feel that with this case and others, the government is wildly
> overreaching its mandate to protect the public from terrorism.
>
> "Groups like CAE stimulate the public debate that is necessary to a
> healthy democracy," said Claire Pentecost, an artist who has
> collaborated with CAE in the past. "This isn't a case of one artist
> fighting for the freedom to express him or herself with images or
> speech that some of the public might find offensive. This is a case of
> a group of artists using performance to educate the public on issues
> that affect all of us in our daily lives. The government's actions
> suggest a criminalization of a citizen's right to acquire knowledge by
> completely legal means. This goes to the very heart of democracy."
>
> A number of other recent cases suggest that that the PATRIOT Act and
> other recent "security" measures have made freedom of speech
> increasingly fragile in the U.S. A list of such cases will be
> available shortly at http://www.caedefensefund.org/
>
>
> ABOUT THE DEMONSTRATION: Please bring signs and banners if you can
> (see http://caedefensefund.org/demonstration.html#signs). This is a
> peaceful demonstration. As in all demonstrations, it's best to bring
> personal identification (driver's license, passport, student id, proof
> of address, etc.). Let someone know where you're going to be. Stick
> with a buddy.
>
> DRIVING DIRECTIONS: From Interstate 90 take 33W into downtown all the
> way to the end. It will put you onto Oak St. Continue on Oak for 2
> long blocks to Broadway. Go right on Broadway which runs right into
> Court St. The first square is Lafayette and then comes Niagara Square.
> There are paid parking lots all around this downtown area. Information
> on possible housing will be on the website shortly.
> http://mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?
> address