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I was one of the activists who had their computers seized. I told the police to kiss my ass and they gave up trying to get my password. Though I guess a 6 mont
by noel99 5y ago
I was one of the activists who had their computers seized. I told the police to kiss my ass and they gave up trying to get my password. Though I guess a 6 month concurrent sentence when you’ve already got 4 years isn’t worth the paperwork. Prison was butlins btw. I highly recommend it. Plenty of time to read books
- meetups323 5y agoWhat does animal rights activism to the point of that level of government interest look like? Linked article didn't go into any details on the matter at hand.
- noel99 5y ago“Urban terrorism” according to the incredibly foolish judge. Considering no one ever had a finger laid on them he would have a shock if he ever found out about the IRA
- bmsleight_ 5y agoNot sure I feel comfortable with celebrating breaking the law. No one laid a finger - ok no physical violence. However some off the tactics used against people involved in activities you disagree with were not pleasant. I not sure I agree with the narrative that it is a victimless crime. On the other hand prison works rehabilitated in to society.
- noel99 5y agoPrison doesn’t work. At all. My views are more radical than ever. The lesson to learn is; never try to effect serious social change via peaceful means, go directly to illegal means, bypassing legal protest will mean the police won’t know who they are looking for. I can’t say I lose a seconds sleep over the “victims”, they are weak minded crybabies
- missedthecue 5y agoWhat do you think could the prison system have done differently to make your views less radical and extreme?
- noel99 5y agoNothing, prison is a warehouse. Remember though all that occurred was property damaged and a level of intimidation that would make a person of sturdy character laugh, on the spectrum of political action it really was not that extreme
- causality0 5y agoI don't think getting fake bombs in the mail would make anybody laugh regardless of their character.
- sweetbitter 5y agoOnly more fragile types (people who care about and/or actually believe in mortality) wouldn't, I wager.
- bmsleight_ 5y ago> level of intimidation that would make a person of sturdy character laugh The intent was for the intimidation to work, so regardless of how sturdy the character. Its hardly a victimless crime. Marching and demonstrating maybe not as effective, but I find it hard to celebrating trying to harm another person, regardless of how ineffective. Non-violence is a good way to change unjust laws, intimidation is not just.
- kspacewalk2 5y agoThis question somewhat trivializes the "radicals" and their "extreme" views and denies them agency. What would it take for you to change your strongly held views, "extreme" or otherwise? Who the fuck knows, right? But probably nothing formulaic and generalizable. So it is with others.
- primax 5y agoThe law is not perfect, and often protects the wrong people doing the wrong thing. Peaceful protest is one of the things that allows average people to put pressure on the legislative and judicial system to change.
- eyelidlessness 5y agoDisclaimer: I’m not an animal rights activist. I have some overlapping politics and some disagreements. My intent isn’t to defend any particular action by GP, but to object to this more generally. > Not sure I feel comfortable with celebrating breaking the law. I don’t know where you live, forgive me if this comes off condescending. In the US, celebrating activism with illegal techniques is part of the fabric of our culture, institutional and even foundational. Approximately everyone is taught about: - the Boston Tea Party, and the Revolutionary War which that and similar actions ultimately precipitated - the Underground Railroad and other actions to smuggle slaves to their (relative) freedom - various illegal actions in the Civil Rights movement, from sit ins at segregated businesses to Rosa Parks’ refusal to sit in the back of the bus to Freedom Riders crossing all sorts of state/county lines to help ensure others’ access to polls There are of course other illegal actions which are less taught/known but nevertheless shaped our society in ways few could disagree with. We have strikers and work saboteurs to thank for the 5-day/40-hour work week. We have the Black Panthers to thank for breakfast and child care programs in schools, as well as the proliferation of community health clinics. Some of these were not non-violent actions, some of the actions taken in these contexts and others which moved us as a society forward were morally complicated. But at least from my historical perspective, I cannot justify deference to the law as a moral imperative. Sometimes, often even, it’s the law which is morally unacceptable. And the moral imperative is to go beyond it.
- Galanwe 5y agoThere's a difference between celebrating illegal activism after the fact, once the activists won, and celebrating ongoing activism.
- eyelidlessness 5y agoYeah there is a difference. But it’s a difference of courage, not one I’d be proud of. Edit: I don’t want to trivialize that courage either. Challenging power can be an incredible risk. Most people under most circumstances will choose to limit their risk no matter what the moral question. I’m honest enough to say, even though I’m not proud to, I haven’t taken all of the risks I wish I had.
- mLuby 5y agoSorry that happened. Your password wasn't actually "kissmyass" was it?
- noel99 5y agoIt’s chill, I redid my maths my maths A-level and got an A, I basically had a one on one maths tutor for a year in the prison learning complex, came in very useful now I am a software engineer. The ironic thing is that the police waited about 2 years after they seized the laptop to ask me for the pass phrase. I’m not sure I even actually remembered it as it was so long. PGP Whole Disk Encryption ftw. At the time WDE wasn’t available on the mac and the police got loads of data from my pals text editor temporary files. No one got anything from mine hahaha
- hwers 5y agoDid you have any trouble getting a job with the sentence on your resume? Just curious
- noel99 5y agoI do not have a criminal record. The wonderful conservative/liberal coalition updated the rehabilitation of offenders act 1974 so my conviction became spent. That said I currently work for a 1000 employee plus employer and they never did a criminal record check but others have.
- kingcharles 5y agoYeah, I've never known any tech job actually do a background check in the UK. It'd have to be something very specific. Even when I worked for a financial company.
- willis936 5y agoI think this is a better story than most one gets asked about a 5 year gap.
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- kingcharles 5y agoI read over 800 books in jail. I kept asserting my rights until the cops threatened my wife, then I told them they could write down whatever they wanted and I would sign it. Took 7 years of being in jail before that piece of paper got in front of a judge and he threw it out, though.
- axiosgunnar 5y agoWhat is your story?
- cf141q5325 5y agoWhat was your setup and when did it happen? True/Veracrypt or LUKS?
- jahnu 5y agoI'm glad your experience wasn't too bad but it isn't always so. The Austrian state practically terrorised some activists here for years destroying their lives and almost completely got away with it until German reporters wrote about it and helped shine a light on the abuses of power. These activists didn't even do anything illegal they just annoyed some powerful and connected individuals. Sorry this is only in German but maybe you can find English sources about it https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiener_Neust%C3%A4dter_Tiersch%C3%BCtzerprozess https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiener_Neust%C3%A4dter_Tiers...