Elliot Madison, 41 from Jackson Heights, Queens was arrested for communicating and assisting protesters during the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, PA. What exactly did he do wrong? Tweets and text messages have long been in the use to coordinate people and gatherings, as well as release information to people all over the world. This was the case in Tehran this past year and the attacks in Mumbai in November 2008. Twitter’s relevance and importance to today’s culture has been debated. Some treat it as a fade while others view it as a powerful communication tool that is changing the way people receive information and news. It can act as an aggregator based on how many people you follow. It can acts as a publicity tool for personal endeavors. It can be a cathartic tool, etc. Whatever it is, the information sent out should not be used to make arrests like in this case with Mr. Madison.
According to the New York Time (where I found this article), Mr. Madison was arrested in Pittsburgh on Sept. 24. He was charged with “hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of instruments of crime.” His instruments of crime include computers with Internet access and police scanners. It was reported that he was logged onto Twitter reporting police activity. He was released shortly after being arrested, but that wasn’t the end of it. Police obtained a warrant and searched his house, finding computers, phones, address books, black masks and a picture of Lenin! (eek, Communists!!!) Madison was working with the Tin Can Communication Collective.
What he and others were doing was perfectly legal. Using free communication tools to organize and help others. We need to prevent arrests like this in the future. It’s ridiculous that it has gotten this far. We live in Democracy with inalienable rights. Encroachment in ways such as this is not American. What happened at the G20 is an example of the advancements in protesting. They can’t think that protesters will choose to deliberately not evolve and use the technologies that are available. The article can be found here.
(Picture from Farm3 on Flickr)
