http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,40102,00.html IRS Raids Cypherpunk's House by Declan McCullagh (declan@wired.com) 2:00 a.m. Nov. 11, 2000 PST WASHINGTON -- When a dozen armed federal agents invaded Jim Bell's home this week, he wasn't exactly surprised. Ever since Bell, a cypherpunk whom the U.S. government has dubbed a techno-terrorist, was released from prison in April, he's predicted another confrontation with the Feds. "They're basically trying to harass me," Bell said in a telephone interview. He has not been arrested or charged with a crime. In 1996, Bell attracted the unwelcome attention of the IRS and the U.S. Secret Service after they learned he was talking up a plan to promote the assassination of miscreant bureaucrats through an unholy mix of encryption, anonymity and digital cash. Bell even gave his scheme a catchy title: "Assassination Politics." Four years, three arrests and one plea-bargain later, Bell was released from the medium-security federal penitentiary in Phoenix, Arizona. Since then, he's been busy trying to prove allegations of illegal surveillance on the part of the Feds, including his charge that they unlawfully bugged his home. For Bell, that meant spending the last six months compiling personal information about IRS and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents, a move that appears to have led to the six-hour search of his home in Vancouver, Washington. Government offices were closed on Friday, and representatives were unavailable for comment. But the agents' search warrant cites "evidence of violations" of a federal law that prohibits intimidation of IRS agents. [...] *********** I've included links to the original documents in this article: http://www.cluebot.com/article.pl?sid=00/11/11/101218&mode=nested Feds Raid Cypherpunk Jim Bell posted by declan on Saturday November 11, @05:58AM from the now-who-saw-this-coming? dept. Crypto-convict Jim Bell, best known for popularizing the idea of offing Feds through anonymity, encryption, and digital cash, was raided this week by the IRS and BATF. He has not been arrested and is irate, vengeful, and computer-less, but otherwise fine. This happened just half a year after he was released from prison. We've placed JPGs online of the search warrant, vehicle search warrant, justification, and list of items taken. Note the justification includes items related to his "Assassination Politics" scheme. We also offer some background and a surprisingly flattering color slide photo I took of Bell. ********* Photo: http://www.mccullagh.org/image/9/jim-bell-3.html