90 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
90 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
Subject: ****Conflicting Stories in 2600 Raid 11/11/92
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From: newsbytes@clarinet.com
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Date: 11 Nov 92 20:52:29 GMT
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WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 NOV 11 (NB) -- In the on-going
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investigation of possible Secret Service involvement in the Friday,
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November 6th ejection of attendees at a "2600 meeting" from the premises
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of the Pentagon City Mall, opposing statements have come from the
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same source.
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Al Johnson, chief of security for the Pentagon City Mall, told
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Newsbytes on Monday, November 9th: "No one said that we were acting
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on behalf of the Secret Service. We were merely enforcing our
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regulations. While the group was not disruptive, it had pulled
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tables together and was having a meeting in our food court area.
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The food court is for people eating and is not for meetings. We
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therefore asked the people to leave."
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On the same day, Johnson was quoted was quoted in a Communications
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Daily article by Brock Meeks as saying, "As far as I'm concerned,
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we're out of this. The Secret Service, the FBI, they're the ones
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that ramrodded this whole thing."
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Newsbytes contacted Meeks to discuss the discrepancies in the stories and
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was informed that the conversation with Johnson had been taped and was
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available for review. This Newsbytes reporter listened to the tape (and
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reviewed a transcript). On the tape, Johnson was clearly heard to make the
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statement quoted by Meeks.
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He also said, "maybe you ought to call the Secret Service. They're
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handling this whole thing. We, we were just here," and, in response
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to a Meeks question about a Secret Service contact, "Ah.. you know,
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I don't have a contact person. These people were working on their
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own, undercover, we never got any names, but they definitely, we saw
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identification, they were here."
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Newsbytes contacted Johnson again on the morning of Wednesday,
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November 11 and asked him once again whether there was any Secret
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Service involvement in the action. Johnson said: "No, I told you that
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they were not involved." When it was mentioned that there was a
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story in Communications Daily, quoting him to the contrary, Johnson
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said, "I never told Meeks that. There was no Secret Service
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involvement."
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Informed of the possible existence of a tape quoting him to the contrary,
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Johnson said, "Meeks taped me? He can't do that. I'll show him that
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I'm not fooling around. I'll have him arrested."
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Johnson also said, "He asked me if the Secret Service was involved; I just
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told him that, if he thought they were, he should call them and ask them."
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Then Johnson again told Newsbytes that the incident was "just a mall
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problem. There were too many people congregating."
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In a related matter, Marc Rotenberg, director of the Washington office of
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Computer Professionals For Social Responsibility (CPSR), has announced
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that CPSR has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the
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Secret Service asking for information concerning Secret Service
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involvement in the incident.
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Rotenberg told Newsbytes that the Secret Service has 10 days to respond
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to the request. He also said that CPSR "is exploring other legal
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options in this matter."
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The Secret Service, in earlier conversations with Newsbytes, has denied
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that the mall security was working on its behalf.
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In the actual incident, a group attending the informal meeting was
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disbanded and, according to attendees, had property confiscated.
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They also contend that security guards took film from someone
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photographing the confiscation as well as a list that someone was
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making of the guard's names.
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In his November 9th conversation with Newsbytes, Johnson denied that
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security personnel took away any film or lists and further said, "We
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did not confiscate any material. The group refused to own up to
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who owned material on the tables and in the vicinity so we collected
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it as lost material. If it turns out that anything did belong to any
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of those people, they are welcome to come in and, after making proper
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identification, take the material."
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2600 meetings are promoted by "2600 Magazine: The Hacker Quarterly" and
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are held on the evening of the first Friday of each month in public
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places and malls in New York City, Washington, Philadelphia, Cambridge,
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St. Louis, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. They are regularly
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attended by a variety of persons interested in telecommunications and
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so-called "hacker issues."
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(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19921111)
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