Big Brother is watching (artist Steve Kurtz)

[UpInArms]

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/Stories/0,1413,101~6267~2224900,00.html

It's not surprising that six of the nine people subpoenaed before a Buffalo grand jury hearing bioterrorism charges against radical artist Steve Kurtz invoked their Fifth Amendment rights and refused to testify. Federal officials' decision to press ahead with the case, despite the apparent lack of evidence that Mr. Kurtz intended to harm museum visitors with his art, betrays a political motivation that would make any reasonable person worry that anything they said might be held against them. An indictment would be surprising, a conviction even more so, but the empty gallery at Mass MoCA speaks volumes about the true purpose of this prosecution. Government doesn't need indictments or convictions to block free speech or intimidate those who challenge it.

...exceedingly short newsblurb...

so I thought I'd throw in some background:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/visualart/178466_fbiart18.asp

FBI inquiry left Henry Art Gallery curator uneasy

Nothing in her experience as associate curator at the University of Washington's Henry Art Gallery prepared Robin Held for her interview with the FBI.

Two agents came to the University of Washington recently to ask Held about artist Steve Kurtz, the subject of a grand jury investigation into bioterrorism in Buffalo, N.Y. Although well-known in performance art circles for the rigor of his thinking and his interest in the politics of genetic manipulations, Kurtz needed the FBI to make him a star.

His case has shocked artists and art professionals around the world and rallied many to his side, including Seattle artists, who are planning a benefit.

Kurtz, 46, isn't talking, on advice from his lawyer. He and his group, Critical Art Ensemble, were included in Held's exhibit titled, "Gene(sis)."

<snip>

Kurtz's troubles began when his wife of 25 years died of a heart attack on May 11. He called paramedics, who were disturbed to see Petri dishes in Kurtz's studio. The idea that his art includes the use of human DNA as well as other biological agents did not reassure them or the police who first responded.

Enter the FBI and the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force. Although neither claims the death of Kurtz's wife had anything to do with material in his studio, the FBI took the artist and associate art professor at the University of Buffalo into custody, seizing his work and initiating a federal grand jury investigation.

...more...

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2004-06-03-bioartist-investigated_x.htm

Anti-terrorism agents investigate New York state artist

BUFFALO — Steve Kurtz's artworks look more like science projects than museum pieces. They offer social commentary along with objects such as corn plants and bacteria-filled petri dishes.

"It's not pictures on the wall," said Adele Henderson, head of the art department at the University at Buffalo, where Kurtz teaches.

And it's certainly not terrorism, the artist's friends say.

Last month, agents from the Joint Terrorism Task Force cordoned off and searched Kurtz's house after police who been called to his home to investigate his wife's death became alarmed when they found biological materials.

Kurtz maintains the material was for his art. But the stuff police found — one of Kurtz's colleagues said it included lab equipment used for DNA extraction and amplification, as well as three types of bacteria — was enough to trigger fears of bioterrorism.

...more...

[katusha]

1. and to think...

the real bio-terroist(anthrax) is still at large, and they are hassling this guy. maybe they should walk before they run i.e. catch the known bio-terrorist before they go off half-cocked on this poor guy.

[2Design]

2. I believe the anthrax came from RW or rethugs......

[teryang]

3. Anthrax mailers still on the loose

FBI claims it doesn't have a clue.

People with foreknowledge of 911 invest in unusual amount of AMR and UA put options at Deustchebank AB.

FBI claims nothing to it.

Sibel Edmonds states her translations of classified documents reveal facts about 911 conspiracy and were obstructed by FBI.

FBI has Ashcroft gag Ms. Edmonds.

FBI learns about specific threats to the WTC from Pakistani ISI agent in money laundering/weapons purchase sting involving convicted Deutschebank AB employee.

FBI does nothing.

FBI headquarters personnel block field investigations of 911 terrorist Moussaui and otherwise "drop the ball."

Pickard gets a bonus.

[struggle4progress]

4. Is the federal attorney insane?

[Madrone]

5. Note to FBI-

If planning a "visit" to my house, please RSVP. I need time to clean out the fridge. It's like one HUGE petri dish.

TIA.

[TexasBushwhacker]

6. More background

This is the first article I saw about this case:

May 25, 2004

FBI ABDUCTS ARTIST, SEIZES ART

Feds Unable to Distinguish Art from Bioterrorism
Grieving Artist Denied Access to Deceased Wife's Body

DEFENSE FUND ESTABLISHED - HELP URGENTLY NEEDED

Steve Kurtz was already suffering from one tragedy when he called 911 early in the morning to tell them his wife had suffered a cardiac arrest and died in her sleep. The police arrived and, cranked up on the rhetoric of the "War on Terror," decided Kurtz's art supplies were actually bioterrorism weapons.

Thus began an Orwellian stream of events in which FBI agents abducted Kurtz without charges, sealed off his entire block, and confiscated his computers, manuscripts, art supplies... and even his wife's body.

Like the case of Brandon Mayfield, the Muslim lawyer from Portland imprisoned for two weeks on the flimsiest of false evidence, Kurtz's case amply demonstrates the dangers posed by the USA PATRIOT Act coupled with government-nurtured terrorism hysteria.

Kurtz's case is ongoing, and, on top of everything else, Kurtz is facing a mountain of legal fees. Donations to his legal defense can be made at http://www.caedefensefund.org/

FEAR RUN AMOK

Steve Kurtz is Associate Professor in the Department of Art at the State University of New York's University at Buffalo, and a member of the internationally-acclaimed Critical Art Ensemble.

Kurtz's wife, Hope Kurtz, died in her sleep of cardiac arrest in the early morning hours of May 11. Police arrived, became suspicious of Kurtz's art supplies and called the FBI.

Within hours, FBI agents had "detained" Kurtz as a suspected bioterrorist and cordoned off the entire block around his house. (Kurtz walked away the next day on the advice of a lawyer, his "detention" having proved to be illegal.) Over the next few days, dozens of agents in hazmat suits, from a number of law enforcement agencies, sifted through Kurtz's work, analyzing it on-site and impounding computers, manuscripts, books, equipment, and even his wife's body for further analysis. Meanwhile, the Buffalo Health Department condemned his house as a health risk.

Kurtz, a member of the Critical Art Ensemble, makes art which addresses the politics of biotechnology. "Free Range Grains," CAE's latest project, included a mobile DNA extraction laboratory for testing food products for possible transgenic contamination. It was this equipment which triggered the Kafkaesque chain of events.

FBI field and laboratory tests have shown that Kurtz's equipment was not used for any illegal purpose. In fact, it is not even possible to use this equipment for the production or weaponization of dangerous germs. Furthermore, any person in the US may legally obtain and possess such equipment.

"Today, there is no legal way to stop huge corporations from putting genetically altered material in our food," said Defense Fund spokeswoman Carla Mendes. "Yet owning the equipment required to test for the presence of 'Frankenfood' will get you accused of 'terrorism.' You can be illegally detained by shadowy government agents, lose access to your home, work, and belongings, and find that your recently deceased spouse's body has been taken away for 'analysis.'"

Though Kurtz has finally been able to return to his home and recover his wife's body, the FBI has still not returned any of his equipment, computers or manuscripts, nor given any indication of when they will. The case remains open.