Darren.

5 Comments on “Darren.”

1. Why are you supporting someone who has agreed to cooperate with the government and provide information and eventually testimony against other alleged ELF and ALF saboteurs? According to court transcripts, the U.S. Department of Justice, and various corporate media sources this is true. Is he simply a friend of yours so fuck Daniel McGowan, Jonathan Paul, Nathan Block, Joyanna Zacher, Brianna Waters, Joe Dibee, Rebecca Rubin, Justin Solondz and Josephine Overaker? Those people deserve support not Darren.

   Reply

2. i emailed a much longer response to this to the person who asked the question because i was originally not going to post the comment – but instead i will leave the short answer here (and if anyone wants to see the longer response, please let me know).

   quite simply – i support darren because although our partnership is well over – i love darren, have always loved him, and can’t imagine not loving him.

   Reply

3. And therein is the soul of the revolution. You go, girl.

   Reply

4. i’m interested in seeing your longer response.

   i choose to support darren, myself, for one simple reason: trust. while darren’s plea implies some degree of co-operation, no one (except for the judge, darren’s lawyer and darren himself) knows exactly what that entails. those documents are sealed and not accessible to any of us. it annoys and dissapoints me that there are so many people who are willing to project their suppositions into that void. it’s divisive. it’s petty. it’s counterproductive.

   i trust darren to make the best possible decision not only for himself (although certainly for himself as well.. he’s the one who was facing a lifetime in jail, after all!) but for those around him: his friends, his comrades, this movement, the earth.

   i trust him because this is darren’s *third* time through the wringer we call the ‘justice’ system. did you know that, james? did you know that he did a lenghty stretch in the early 90’s for liberating cats from an experimentation lab? did you know that he fought and won charges stemming from the actions of the mdatf and justice league in the late 90’s? i think before you make such hasty conclusions about darren’s character you should take the time to talk to some of his co-defendants in those charges. i can guarantee they will say darren acted with nothing but courage and conviction.

   do i know why darren chose to plead guilty? no, i don’t. and neither do you, james. but if you think it is out of cowardice or selfishness, you are dead wrong. i know that darren has not made this decision lightly and that he has considered all of the consequences and potential gains of his actions. i trust that he has made the best decision possible.

   now, if you must have a villian, and the daily evils of capitalism and the state aren’t enough for you (and you must have a very great demand for villany if they aren’t), may i suggest you target your bile at the man who made opertion backfire possible, who wore a wire and solicited evidence, who walks free without charges to this day. you know who i mean. and may i also ask you, james, to consider that this individual gets far more support from the police and the government than darren gets from us, and ponder what a sorry reflection that is on this movement.

   r.

   Reply

5. (as requested, here is my longer response)….

   hello james:

   i’m not sure if you are aware, but i’ve got a number of intimate connections to this case and its participants…. darren is an ex and a very close friend, joe d. is an ex-lover and also a good friend, chelsea, rebecca and daniel have all been friends of mine at various points over the years.

   this situation has to greater or lesser degree destroyed all of our lives and caused many of us to question ourselves and our circumstances, our loyalties and our futures. perhaps you know this feeling – perhaps these are also friends of yours. i have no way of knowing that maybe december 7th was also one of the darkest days of your life. if so, i can only sympathize – what has happened here is so fucked up.

   one of the things that has kept me sane since the very first day has been providing darren’s support. i have been really honoured to be asked to stand by a good friend in a time of great need for both of us – and to immerse myself in this case and working with the lawyer has been very important to my political and emotional engagement with these issues.

   my support of darren is not only a political venture, but a deeply emotional one as we spent many years of our lives together and encoutered many intense things during that time (another court case, 24 hour a day surveillance, arrests, police raids etc. etc.) quite simply, i have always loved him and even though our partnership has well ended, i can not imagine ever not loving him.

   to support darren is not to say fuck you to anyone else but to try and salvage what little is left in this wrecked landscape. i understand better than most people what darren has agreed to, and what the consequences of not agreeing would have been – not only the end of his life (for he would have spent the rest of it behind bars), but the end of a part of mine. if we were allowed to tell the whole story right now, these decisions would make a lot more sense to those outside of our chapter, but we are not and so instead we must wait to explain to those who are still listening a year or so down the road.

   one thing that i think will become clear is that there are no heroes in this story, and many people betrayed each other long before the fbi arrests in december. this is something each of the named and accused will have to reconcile in themselves and the community as a whole will come to terms with in time.

   i am not asking you for your understanding or compassion because i’m sure that would be a misplaced request given the way you asked your question of me. but you asked why would i support darren – and i would say, it’s not a simple answer but one that makes sense to me, and to the people who love and know darren as a person, not as a political actor.

   i say, continue supporting those you mentioned in your question to me – be loud about it, be strong in your support – because they need it to face what they are about to whether in court or on the run. there is not one day i don’t wonder where rebecca and joe are and wish i could have them back in my life for just one hour – i hope for them all the support in the world and if you have a way to help them – please do it! or for any of the others who are in this sorry situation.

   cedar

   (although this is a very different response than the one above – i would also echo all of that author’s sentiments as well – thanks you anonymous friend!)

   Reply