Terrorists Nabbed In Buffalo Ny!

[aarrgghh]

June 2, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Beatriz da Costa
media@caedefensefund.org

ARTISTS SUBPOENAED IN USA PATRIOT ACT CASE
Feds STILL unable to distinguish art from bioterrorism Grand jury to convene June 15

HELP URGENTLY NEEDED - SEE BELOW

Three artists have been served subpoenas to appear before a federal grand jury that will consider bioterrorism charges against a university professor whose art involves the use of simple biology equipment.

The subpoenas are the latest installment in a bizarre investigation in which members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force have mistaken an art project for a biological weapons laboratory (see end for background). While most observers have assumed that the Task Force would realize the absurd error of its initial investigation of Steve Kurtz, the subpoenas indicate that the feds have instead chosen to press their "case" against the baffled professor.

Two of the subpoenaed artists -- Beatriz da Costa and Steve Barnes -- are, like Kurtz, members of the internationally-acclaimed Critical Art Ensemble (CAE), an artists' collective that produces artwork to educate the public about the politics of biotechnology. They were served the subpoenas by federal agents who tailed them to an art show at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. The third artist, Paul Vanouse, is, like Kurtz, an art professor at the University at Buffalo. He has worked with CAE in the past.

The artists involved are at a loss to explain the increasingly bizarre case. "I have no idea why they're continuing (to investigate)," said Beatriz da Costa, one of those subpoenaed. "It was shocking that this investigation was ever launched. That it is continuing is positively frightening, and shows how vulnerable the PATRIOT Act has made freedom of speech in this country." Da Costa is an art professor at the University of California at Irvine.

According to the subpoenas, the FBI is seeking charges under Section 175 of the US Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, which has been expanded by the USA PATRIOT Act. As expanded, this law prohibits the possession of "any biological agent, toxin, or delivery system" without the justification of "prophylactic, protective, bona fide research, or other peaceful purpose."
(See http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/175.html for the 1989 law and
http://www.ehrs.upenn.edu/protocols/patriot/sec817.html for its USA PATRIOT Act expansion.)

Even under the expanded powers of the USA PATRIOT Act, it is difficult to understand how anyone could view CAE's art as anything other than a "peaceful purpose." The equipment seized by the FBI consisted mainly of CAE's most recent project, a mobile DNA extraction laboratory to test store-bought food for possible contamination by genetically modified grains and organisms; such equipment can be found in any university's basic biology lab and even in many high schools (see "Lab Tour" at http://www.critical-art.net/biotech/free/ for more details).

The grand jury in the case is scheduled to convene June 15 in Buffalo, New York. Here, the jury will decide whether or not to indict Steve Kurtz on the charges brought by the FBI. A protest is being planned at 9 a.m. on June 15 outside the courthouse at 138 Delaware Ave. in Buffalo.

HELP NEEDED

Financial donations: The CAE Defense Fund has so far received over 200 donations in amounts ranging from $5 to $400. This is a wonderful outpouring of sympathy, but a drop in the bucket compared to the potential costs of the case. To make a donation, please visit
http://www.caedefensefund.org/

Letters of support: Letters and petitions of support from biologists, artists, and others, especially those in positions of responsibility at prominent institutions or companies, could be very useful. See http://www.caedefensefund.org/ for a sample letter of support.

Legal offers and letters of support: If you are a lawyer, offers of pro bono support or offers to write amicus briefs would be very helpful.

BACKGROUND

Early morning of May 11, Steve Kurtz awoke to find his wife, Hope, dead of a cardiac arrest. Kurtz called 911. The police arrived and, after stumbling across test tubes and petri dishes Kurtz was using in a current artwork, called in the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Soon agents from the Task Force and FBI detained Kurtz, cordoned off the entire block around his house, and later impounded Kurtz's computers, manuscripts, books, equipment, and even his wife's body for further analysis. The Buffalo Health Department condemned the house as a health risk.

Only after the Commissioner of Public Health for New York State had tested samples from the home and announced there was no public safety threat was Kurtz able to return home and recover his wife's body. Yet the FBI would not release the impounded materials, which included artwork for an upcoming exhibition at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.

While most observers assumed the Task Force would realize that its initial investigation of Steve Kurtz was a terrible mistake, the subpoenas indicate that the feds have instead chosen to press their "case" against Kurtz and possibly others.

To donate to the CAE Defense Fund, and for up-to-date information on the case, please visit
http://www.caedefensefund.org/

For more information on the Critical Art Ensemble, please visit
http://www.critical-art.net/

To join a list about the case, please visit
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CAE_Defense

Articles and television stories about the case:
http://www.appliedautonomy.com/cae/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...-2004Jun1.html
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wi...-regional-wire
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial...02/1048042.asp

On advice of counsel, Steve Kurtz is unable to answer questions regarding his case.
Please direct questions or comments to media@caedefensefund.org.

[LittleFish]

I don't believe that this thread is appropriate for an art forum. Anybody who works in a given field knows the limitations of that field. (The vagueness of the article is meant to demonstrate the supposed vagueness of the subpoenas and that the "artists" were "unknowledgable" about why they were subpoenaed. This cannot be the case.) For example, I will not post a thread asking for money if I go out and torch a car in the name of art. There are limitations to every field, things that you cannot do, that you know you cannot do, whether they are worth money to you or no. Good day.

arrgh-- if you still exist, please feel free to become a productive member of Threedy Forums. You may find it give you something useful to do with all your spare time. (What is the "Critical Art Ensemble" 's purpose in existing? Do they make people happy? Do they make people think? Do they help people? Do they entertain people? Art. Art. Art.)