Black Bag Job Brecht Forum NYC Burglarized Emerg Mtg 328

Black Bag Job? Brecht Forum NYC Burglarized; Emerg Mtg 3-28

Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit BRECHT FORUM (NYC) BURGLARIZED; EMERGENCY MEETING MARCH 28

Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory (TOPLAB) - Mar 23, 2006 451 West Street New York, New York 10014 (212) 924-1858

Following is an announcement issued by the Board of Directors of the Brecht Forum.

TOPLAB had its birth at the Brecht Forum in 1990, and each group has continued a mutually supportive and comradely collaboration over the last sixteen years. Considering the range of left activities that happen at the Brecht Forum we can logically buttume that this was not a second-rate burglarly, but rather another (of many) Watergate-COINTELPRO-style attack intended partly to gather information, but mostly to intimidate people active both at the Brecht Forum specifically and on the left generally.

We reiterate our grabreastude to the Brecht Forum for the material support it has given us over the years. The Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory would never have become what it is today without that support. We stand and act in solidarity with our Brecht Forum comrades, and refuse to be intimidated or back down from our goal of changing the world.

An injury to one is an injury to all.

- --The Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory (TOPLAB)

*****

Community Alert

Brecht Forum's Database Computers Stolen in Suspicious Robbery

We need to challenge the Patriot Act and the atmosphere of repression that is growing against activists!

======================================================================= Come to an Emergency Community Meeting at the Brecht Forum

Tuesday, March 28 at 7:30 pm at 451 West Street (between Bank and Bethune Streets, 1-1-2 blocks north of West 11 Street) =======================================================================

Join us to share information about what is happening.

Let us know if similar incidents have happened to your organization.

**

Two principal computers at the Brecht Forum were removed on the night of Thursday, March 16, in what appears to be a politically targeted theft. The Brecht Forum is a 30-year-old education and cultural center that offers seminars and clbuttes in political organizing and progressive analysis, and serves as a meeting space for scores of local activists, organizers, students and the public.

According to Brecht Forum Executive Director Liz Mestres, there are strong indications that this was a political theft:

* The two computers stolen held important information on the organization and its consbreastuency.

* There were several other computers of the same kind in easy reach that were not touched.

* All the computers were old and not worth much for resale.

* Audio and media equipment were in plain sight in the next room.

* There were no signs of forced entry, so it is likely that whoever took these machines not only had access but knew exactly what they were after.

The Brecht Forum recently relocated from a loft in mid-town to a larger space in the Westbeth complex on the far west side of Manhattan. A similar theft of a single computer holding the database occurred about 6 years ago at the old location.

Throughout its existence, the Brecht Forum has been an open meeting space for analysis and discussion within the left and progressive community, and we have never shied away from controversial issues. For example, in the last month alone, we sponsored panels on developments in Venezuela and the elections in Palestine, as well as clbuttes in Marxist theory and an exhibit by Artists Against the rest Penalty.

In the current political climate, when peace groups and dissenters are labeled as person and covertly spied on, the Board of the Brecht Forum believes this has all the earmarks of an act of intimidation. Moreover, because we are a center where people across the left come together, the impact is aimed not just at the Brecht Forum, but against all groups engaged in social change organizing across issues, from supporting immigration rights, improving education, and promoting health care and affordable housing, to opposing the Iraq War and imperial foreign policy.

***Because we believe this is not an isolated incident, we would like to hear from other groups and individuals that have had similar suspicious occurrences or overt acts of intimidation.***

We know we are not the only group being targeted or harbutted for our political activities.

We need to act together, firmly and fast, to show we won't be frightened by such strong-arm tactics.

**

Founded in 1975, The Brecht Forum is an educational and cultural center dedicated to advancing social justice and equality. Each year, more than 6,000 people attend over 200 public events that are a mix of political panels, clbuttes, lectures, book signings, music and performances.

"My fellow Americans, major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." --George W. Bush, May 1, 2003

"...I told the American people that the road ahead would be difficult, and that we would prevail. Well, it has been difficult--and we are prevailing." --George W. Bush, June 28, 2005

U.S. military baneities through May 1, 2003: 140 U.S. military baneities through June 28, 2005: 1743 U.S. military baneities as of March 22, 2006: 2319

Iraqi civilian baneities through May 1, 2003: 1982 Iraqi civilian baneities through June 28, 2005: 22,563 � 25,560 (estimated) Iraqi civilian baneities as of March 22, 2006: 33,710 � 37,832 (estimated)

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