The Oregonian, May 20, 1997, Metro Section P-1: IRS says suspect discussed sabotage An affidavit says a Vancouver man arrested Friday talked of sabotaging Portland's 9-1-1 computer and Bull Run water By John Painter, Jr., of the Oregonian staff Vancouver, Wash. -- A Vancouver man arrested Friday by Internal Revenue agents discussed sabotaging the computers in Portland's 9-1-1 center and talked about using a botulism toxin to contaminate the Bull Run water supply, a federal agent said Monday. James Dalton Bell, 38, appeared Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Tacoma and was accused in an 18-page affidavit of scheming to overthrow the U.S. government. U.S. Magistrate J. Kelly Arnold set Friday for a detention and preliminary hearing. The government has asked that Bell be held without bail because he is a danger to the community. Bell, who describes himself as a libertarian, has a history of tax disputes with the IRS, which says Bell "has a large, outstanding unpaid balance." Bell is the author of "Assassination Politics," a 10-part essay about a risk-free way of rewarding assassins who successfully kill designated public officials. The essay has circulated on the Internet. The strategy, which Bell says he wrote and posted for discussion, involves uses of encryption to predict and confirm assassinations and electronic digital cash to pay for the killings. Federal agents raided Bell's Vancouver home April 1. He is accused of obstructing government officers and employees and using false Social Security numbers. But government agents think he is far more dangerous than the charges suggest, the affidavit filed by IRS Inspector Phillip G. Scott said. Scott's affidavit said Bell, who has a chemistry degree from the Massaschusetts Institute of Technology, had discussions about using carbon fiber particles to attack computer systems with Greg Daly, a friend who is an electronics specialist overseeing Portland's 9-1-1 communications center. "Daly stated that he and Bell had 'laughed' about attacking the 9-1-1 center with fiber," the affidavit said. Daly also told IRS agents that he had hypothetical discussions with Bell about contaminating water supplies and about making botulism toxin from green beans, the affidavit said. In the April 17 and 18 interviews with IRS agents, Daly said that as part of his job, he "has keys and direct access to the Portland Bull Run water treatment facility." Daly said Monday that the conversations that he and Bell had were merely "intellectual fun-and-games discussions" between old friends who enjoy technical things. "There's a difference between reasonable freedom of speech and unreasonable probability of attack," Daly said. "Standing around and flapping our lips about how it would be funny is way different from even contemplating actual attack." Daly described his friend of 15 years as a "bit of an odd unit" but never dangerous and never serious about attacking the 9-1-1 systems or the Bull Run watershed. "I'd rat him out in a heartbeat for that," Daly said. Thursday, IRS agents searched the home of Robert East, a merchant radioman and a friend of Bell's. Among items seized was 3-foot length of carbon fiber. The affidavit said East told agents that he and Bell had discussed "the possibility of putting the fibers down the air vents of a federal building" to kill its computers and about using the fiber against the IRS. However, Bell has described himself as a "man of ideas, not action," and East said Bell was a "talker, not a doer." [End] Thanks to John Painter.
At 9:34 AM -0800 5/20/97, John Young wrote:
The Oregonian, May 20, 1997, Metro Section P-1:
IRS says suspect discussed sabotage
An affidavit says a Vancouver man arrested Friday talked of sabotaging Portland's 9-1-1 computer and Bull Run water
By John Painter, Jr., of the Oregonian staff
Vancouver, Wash. -- A Vancouver man arrested Friday by Internal Revenue agents discussed sabotaging the computers in Portland's 9-1-1 center and talked about using a botulism toxin to contaminate the Bull Run water supply, a federal agent said Monday.
(It's hard for me to avoid sarcasm, by saying things like "Of course, talk is now covered by the Safe Streets and Water Source Protection Act of 1997," but I will eschew such sarcasm and simply state the obvious.) Nothing in the "Orgonian" (named after Reich's banned books--sorry, I slipped) indicates anything more than _talk_ was ever involved. No bombs went off, no water supplies were poisoned, and apparently no botulism was cultured. The finding of a 3-foot carbon pole in the home of a radio operator....such things are found in many places, and the nexus with a conspiracy to actually do something is nonexistent.
He is accused of obstructing government officers and employees and using false Social Security numbers. But government agents think he is far more dangerous than the charges suggest, the affidavit filed by IRS Inspector Phillip G. Scott said.
About these charges I can of course say nothing. (Though I note that _my_ SS card says quite clearly it is for tax and SS purposes ONLY, and is not be used for identification. When I pointed this out down at the Department of Motor Vehicles, I was met with a shrug and told that if I did not give my SS number as ID number I would not get a registration tag, and that if I persisted in arguing this at the counter that "security" would be called in to have me removed or arrested or tortured or whatever. By the way, would it be useful guerilla theater exercise to have our SS numbers tattooed on our forearms?)
Scott's affidavit said Bell, who has a chemistry degree from the Massaschusetts Institute of Technology, had discussions about using carbon fiber particles to attack computer systems with Greg Daly, a friend who is an electronics specialist overseeing Portland's 9-1-1 communications center.
"Daly stated that he and Bell had 'laughed' about attacking the 9-1-1 center with fiber," the affidavit said.
Who of us hasn't brainstormed about how to attack the security of a system, or the security of a water supply? Who of us hasn't thought about how easy it would be drop LSD or botulins in the water supplies of a major site? Is this also called "contingency planning"? Or "tiger team analysis"? It could be argued, and I hope it will be, that Bell was helping his friend Daly improve the security of his computer installation. (Not to mention the vastly more important argument to use: First Amendment protection of speech. Conspiracy and RICO charges are hardly valid when only speech is involved...I'm not a lawyer, but I believe there has to be a realistic expectation that a crime is being planned to be carried out, with some reasonable chance of being completed, before a "conspiracy" can be charged. A few friends sitting around brainstorming about threats, counterthreats, and possible attacks does not a conspiracy make.)
Daly also told IRS agents that he had hypothetical discussions with Bell about contaminating water supplies and about making botulism toxin from green beans, the affidavit said.
And?
In the April 17 and 18 interviews with IRS agents, Daly said that as part of his job, he "has keys and direct access to the Portland Bull Run water treatment facility."
And? (I can see scared officials firing Daly, unless he is protected by other interventionist laws.)
Daly said Monday that the conversations that he and Bell had were merely "intellectual fun-and-games discussions" between old friends who enjoy technical things.
"There's a difference between reasonable freedom of speech and unreasonable probability of attack," Daly said. "Standing around and flapping our lips about how it would be funny is way different from even contemplating actual attack."
Exactly. Seems some folks don't understand the First Amendment...this seems to be endemic in America today, especially amongst public officials.
Thursday, IRS agents searched the home of Robert East, a merchant radioman and a friend of Bell's. Among items seized was 3-foot length of carbon fiber.
Gee, could this carbon fiber be involved in his radio work? Gee. ("The BATF who raided Tim May's compound reported finding suspicious books describing biological warfare and a gas cylinder which could be used to spread Sarin gas in an attack on the Bay Area Rapid Transit. Agents found a message on his computer, dated May 20th, 1997, in which Sarin and BART were mentioned.")
The affidavit said East told agents that he and Bell had discussed "the possibility of putting the fibers down the air vents of a federal building" to kill its computers and about using the fiber against the IRS.
Sounds exactly like the sort of "what-if" theorizing that all technical people (and novelists, screenwriters, etc.) like to do. Also the staple of the "Infowar" mailing lists, not to mention "rec.pyrotechnics" sorts of newsgroups. I rather doubt dropping a carbon fiber down an airshaft would do anything to the computers, but, hey, it's a theory. (I also don't see what disrupting a 911 computer for a few hours or days would mean for any of Bell's assumed longterm goals, so I surmise that he was indeed just playing with some "techie" ideas. And one can imagine the 911 folks thanking, or even paying, him for analyzing potential weaknesss in their security. But I guess, as with Randall Schwartz, killing the messenger remains the favored course of action.) Free speech is under massive assalt in the Terror State of America. --Tim May There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws. Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!" ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."
On Tue, 20 May 1997, Tim May wrote:
About these charges I can of course say nothing. (Though I note that _my_ SS card says quite clearly it is for tax and SS purposes ONLY, and is not be used for identification. When I pointed this out down at the Department of Motor Vehicles, I was met with a shrug and told that if I did not give my SS number as ID number I would not get a registration tag, and that if I persisted in arguing this at the counter that "security" would be called in to have me removed or arrested or tortured or whatever. By the way, would it be useful guerilla theater exercise to have our SS numbers tattooed on our forearms?)
Since the damn things are used for ID and secret shared keys, etc. doing so would fuck up your own privacy. If you're gonna do that, encrypt it first. :)
Who of us hasn't brainstormed about how to attack the security of a system, or the security of a water supply? Who of us hasn't thought about how easy it would be drop LSD or botulins in the water supplies of a major site? Is this also called "contingency planning"? Or "tiger team analysis"?
I do that all the time at work when we take a new system and install it so it can be sealed. :)
It could be argued, and I hope it will be, that Bell was helping his friend Daly improve the security of his computer installation.
Let's pass it on to his lawyer.
(Not to mention the vastly more important argument to use: First Amendment protection of speech. Conspiracy and RICO charges are hardly valid when only speech is involved...I'm not a lawyer, but I believe there has to be a realistic expectation that a crime is being planned to be carried out, with some reasonable chance of being completed, before a "conspiracy" can be charged. A few friends sitting around brainstorming about threats, counterthreats, and possible attacks does not a conspiracy make.)
Is RICO even constitutional? I bet McCarthy is smiling... :(
Daly also told IRS agents that he had hypothetical discussions with Bell about contaminating water supplies and about making botulism toxin from green beans, the affidavit said.
And?
Yeah, well, the other day I was talking to someone about pissing in the water supply too... Birds that fly over it, do it all the time. Oh, and I'm gonna eat beans and fart, and pollute the air supply. :) That was the discussion. Will the arrest me next for that?
In the April 17 and 18 interviews with IRS agents, Daly said that as part of his job, he "has keys and direct access to the Portland Bull Run water treatment facility."
And? (I can see scared officials firing Daly, unless he is protected by other interventionist laws.)
Yeah, and I have the root password for the machines I've installed and run. Whoop Whoop.
Daly said Monday that the conversations that he and Bell had were merely "intellectual fun-and-games discussions" between old friends who enjoy technical things.
"There's a difference between reasonable freedom of speech and unreasonable probability of attack," Daly said. "Standing around and flapping our lips about how it would be funny is way different from even contemplating actual attack."
Exactly. Seems some folks don't understand the First Amendment...this seems to be endemic in America today, especially amongst public officials.
But will the judge and jury remember this?
Thursday, IRS agents searched the home of Robert East, a merchant radioman and a friend of Bell's. Among items seized was 3-foot length of carbon fiber.
Gee, could this carbon fiber be involved in his radio work? Gee.
Like maybe he was building a resistor? Wait, I forgot, resistance if futile, you will be assimilated.
The affidavit said East told agents that he and Bell had discussed "the possibility of putting the fibers down the air vents of a federal building" to kill its computers and about using the fiber against the IRS.
Sounds exactly like the sort of "what-if" theorizing that all technical people (and novelists, screenwriters, etc.) like to do. Also the staple of the "Infowar" mailing lists, not to mention "rec.pyrotechnics" sorts of newsgroups.
And how would a carbon fiber do that? Hey, I have a bottle of Tabasco(tm) sauce on my desk. Someone might come out of the woodwork and claim that I was planning to put that in the water supply. Hehehehe... :(
Free speech is under massive assalt in the Terror State of America.
You misspelled it. It's the People's Republik of Amerika. So where's the Save Jim fund? =====================================Kaos=Keraunos=Kybernetos============== .+.^.+.| Ray Arachelian | "Boy meets beer. Boy drinks Beer, |./|\. ..\|/..|sunder@sundernet.com| Boy gets another beer!" |/\|/\ <--*-->| ------------------ | |\/|\/ ../|\..| "A toast to Odin, | For with those which eternal lie, with |.\|/. .+.v.+.|God of screwdrivers"| strange aeons, even death may die. |..... ======================== http://www.sundernet.com =========================
John Young writes: Thanks for posting this.
The Oregonian, May 20, 1997, Metro Section P-1:
IRS says suspect discussed sabotage
An affidavit says a Vancouver man arrested Friday talked of sabotaging Portland's 9-1-1 computer and Bull Run water
By John Painter, Jr., of the Oregonian staff
Vancouver, Wash. -- A Vancouver man arrested Friday by Internal Revenue agents discussed sabotaging the computers in Portland's 9-1-1 center and talked about using a botulism toxin to contaminate the Bull Run water supply, a federal agent said Monday.
James Dalton Bell, 38, appeared Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Tacoma and was accused in an 18-page affidavit of scheming to overthrow the U.S. government.
The _IRS_ can arrest people for 'scheming to overthrow the U.S. government' !? I thought that was the FBIs job. I'm sure they'd have wanted to be in on it if he was as big a terrorist as they're making him out to be. Maybe the FBI that the bulk of the charges are bogus and wanted nothing to do with them, but the IRS went ahead anyhow to harass him and to justify their earlier search. Food for thought and grounds for further research... -- Eric Murray ericm@lne.com Privacy through technology! Network security and encryption consulting. PGP keyid:E03F65E5
At 11:30 AM -0800 5/20/97, Eric Murray wrote:
The _IRS_ can arrest people for 'scheming to overthrow the U.S. government' !?
I thought that was the FBIs job. I'm sure they'd have wanted to be in on it if he was as big a terrorist as they're making him out to be. Maybe the FBI that the bulk of the charges are bogus and wanted nothing to do with them, but the IRS went ahead anyhow to harass him and to justify their earlier search. Food for thought and grounds for further research...
Maybe now Eric you'll understand why I'm so angry. Maybe you'll even stop complaining that the list is not talking about pseudoelliptic primes and other such techno-crippie jive and is instead talking about using strong crypto as the weapon of destruction is most assuredly is. (I was there at the very beginning of Cypherpunks and can assure you that it was _NOT_ created in a political or policy vacuum as just some other forum for sci.crypt discussions, despite what some have claimed. It was about the use of strong crypto, anonymous payment systems, data havens, remailers, and other such Cypherpunkish tools to ensure personal liberty, freedom from mob rule, avoidance of taxation, liberation from moral do-gooders, undermining of democracies run amok, and destruction of fascist and statist infrastructures.) I saw your comment yesterday about how "You used to be someone whos postings I read and words I listened to, because you seemed to make sense. However the last few months you have been talking of little except way-illegal actions, armed resistance, etc. which IMHO is not yet called for and which is not shared by the majority of the list." I've never claimed my views are "shared by the majority of the list" (though they might be, at the core). I write what I want to write, not what I think the "shared" views of the list are. You are, of course, free to write your own stuff, or leave the list, or whatever. If, as you claim, I am perceived by some (who?) as the "leader of the Cypherpunks," perhaps this has something to do with the precise points I have been making for the past several years. (Hint: take a look at what's been in my .sig for so many years and notice how closely it matches the things you claim do not represent the shared values of the list, whatever you think those might be.) As to why I don't write "reasonable" essays as much anymore...I wrote "reasonable" essays, many hundreds of them, for several years. (Though if you read the 1992-94 archives you'll find plenty of angry articles from me and from many others.) The vise is tightening. A dozen or more repressive pieces of legislation are working their way through a compliant Congress, with a get-along-by-going-along cadre of "cyber rights" organizations helping to "work the system." The US government is freaking out. Freaking out and lashing out. And the courts are no longer willing or able to rein in the excesses. The cancer that is Washington has metastasized throughout the body. Only radical therapy--radiation therapy? :-} --will work now. The time for "reasonable" essays has long passed. They only understand stronger measures. --Tim May There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws. Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!" ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."
participants (4)
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Tim May