"Resist State Repression In Buffalo" @ 1st Amendment Club (Buffalo, NY) (2013-04-10)
Channel: Anzevuil
Date: 2013-04-12

Description from Facebook Event Page ( https://www.facebook.com/events/176780482474822/ ):

"Our dear friends, steadfast local activists, and our progressive community are under attack! It has come to light that Leslie James Pickering ( http://www.lesliejamespickering.com/ ) and his family are being investigated by the FBI, US Postal Service, Homeland Security, and a federal Grand Jury, as direct result of their political beliefs and activism. We must not sit idly by as the FED's trample on the Constitutional Rights of our friends and local activists.

"Come out and show your solidarity and support for Leslie, his family, and Burning Books ( http://www.burningbooksbuffalo.com/ ). Working collectively we CAN and WILL fight back against state repression...

"...For those outside of Buffalo (or otherwise unable to attend):

"You can best help by spreading the word far and wide. Then, if you're able, you could send donations made out to 'Michael Kuzma, Attorney Escrow Account,' 1893 Clinton Street, Buffalo, NY 14206 and put 'Resist State Repression in BFLO' in the subject line. All funds raised will be used for court filing fees and related litigation costs..."

Excerpts from ARTVOICE article on the issue and event, written by AV's editor-in-chief, Geoff Kelly (2013-04-04) ( http://artvoice.com/issues/v12n14/week_in_review/usa_vs_pickering/ ):

'...What Pickering is up to today is not a mystery. Currently, Pickering is co-owner of Burning Books, a shop on Connecticut Street in Buffalo, where the shelves are filled with histories of radical movements in the US and elsewhere, and stocked with periodicals tracking ongoing human and animal rights campaigns. The store has become a popular stop for activists and authors on lecture tours of the country, and frequently hosts screenings of social justice documentaries and workshops for aspiring activists. (Upcoming events, for example, include a talk by Scott Crow, a founder of the Common Ground Collective, which provided relief to victims of Hurrican Katrina, and himself the target of a decade-long federal investigation, as well as a talk by Rachel Wolkenstein, attorney for Mumia Abu Jamal.) Pickering also writes books: He wrote a biography of Vietnam-era revolutionary Sam Melville, who died in the 1971 Attica uprising, as well as a history of ELF's activities in the Pacific Northwest; he is the editor of an account of the RNC 8, activists charged as terrorists for planning to protest the 2008 Republican National Convention. He gives talks about his books and about his experience as a press liaison for ELF. He is rasing a family on Buffalo's West Side.

'When Pickering learned of the FBI's phone call to his old friend, he contacted Artvoice and asked what we thought he should do. We, in turn, called the FBI's Buffalo field office to ascertain if the men were indeed FBI agents. None of the four messages we left were returned. This seemed unusual to me: In my experience with the field offices in Buffalo and Pittsburgh, FBI press officers have been quick and even cheerful about returning my calls, perhaps because the FBI's policy is not to comment on much of anything: They will not comment on ongoing investigations, and will not acknowledge whether an investigation even exists. What harm in fielding questions if the response is almost always "no comment"?

'So, in collaboration with Pickering and his attorney, Michael Kuzma, we prepared to file a request under Freedom of Information Act for all materials the US Department of Justice had related to Leslie James Pickering, to see if some current investigation was underway....Pickering is accustomed to paying a price for his association with radical activities, particularly his affiliation with ELF, several members of which eventually went to jail. (Pickering was interviewed for the 2011 Oscar-nominated film about ELF, If a Tree Falls, which describes the rise and dissolution of the group.) He and his family cannot cross the border to Canada, for example, because his name is on a federal watch list.

'The call to his former acquaintance and the mail cover seemed different—a renewed and heightened interest in his current activities that borders on harassment. Last month, Pickering took his family to California for vacation. On the flights there and back, he was taken aside by airport security for additional questioning and inspection.

'But wait, there's more.

'Kuzma, who is preparing to file a lawsuit to compel the DOJ and the USPS to respond to the FOIA requests, recently learned the the Western District office of the US Attorney, based in Buffalo, has issued at least one subpoena for records related to Pickering....'