Inside the Belly of the Beltway Beast

I promised myself I would write this for a while now. Dissatisfied with the pace of change and lack of cohesion and supportive community within the peace and justice movement, I decided to return to my own life and focus on building my career and having a good life with my partner. I knew I would be taking a long break from activism and organizing before I even went to jail (Dec. 18-21), but my time in there simply confirmed this in my own mind. I realized that leaving this "movement" was the right thing, but at the same time I was annoyed that people I cared for were sacrificing a great deal more than 98% of the rest of the peace and justice movement, and were getting precious little support. I wanted to make a point about this. This fact exposes a major injustice. I also was not getting hardly any support for my own ordeal. Furthermore, a few I had considered good friends had already turned against me. They were angry that I would challenge them, and be so completely honest...

A week ago, I was spending my third and last night in DC Jail. A loud, violent and cruel place. A place populated by young black men, as a white inmate I was an extreme minority. And as a gay white man of somewhat slight build, I elected to get the protective custody order from Judge Lynn Liebovitz upon my sentencing. My sentencing, in retrospect was not that severe, and this is because my pre-sentencing officer had recommended probation and I admitted that my days of being arrested for expressing my moral and ethical beliefs (which put me in complete opposition to the U.S. Government’s foreign policy) were over. Perhaps someday, when I am retired and close to my friend Eve Tetaz’s age I may resume nonviolent civil resistance against the moral bankruptcy and downright evil policies of the U.S. Empire, but for now I choose a different life for my lifetime partner and myself. Many of you have expressed an interest in discussing my experiences further, and I am open to accepting questions...

Hello blog-readers! I have not written here for a while. These are tough economic times, and Matthew and are trying to cope with them on a very personal level. I continue to job search for something full-time with a decent salary, but I am glad to have returned to CCHS for now. My own circumstances and feelings about the state of things in our country has lead me to decide to basically quit being an activist-organizer (for free) within the peace and justice movement. Those who continue to carry a lionshare of the load for this movement have my respect. I do not regret any of my actions for peace and justice, but I realize now is the time to start a new chapter in my life. Here is my sentencing statement in the Kerry case involving Ellen, Eve and myself: Good morning Judge Liebowitz. On May 21st, Eve Tetaz, Ellen Barfield, Steve Mihalis and I spoke during a senate foreign relations committee hearing. We provided public testimony. Public witness. Nothing more. Nothing less. We believe it...

Anti-war protestors prosecuted by government Contact: Ellen Barfield, 410-243-5876; Pete Perry, 202-631-0974 October 11, 2009 WASHINGTON – Three nonviolent anti-war activists go on trial Tuesday, October 13 for an action in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on May 21 of this year. Ellen Barfield of Baltimore, Eve Tetaz of Washington, DC, and Pete Perry of Fairfax, Virginia will argue their case before a jury of their peers. The three are charged with Disruption of Congress. The trial will be presided over by Judge Lynn Leibovitz in courtroom 310 of the H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse. “We were expressing our dissent to the costly and tragic war in Afghanistan,” Perry said. “This is a war based on revenge that has now clearly lost the support of a majority of Americans.” Barfield is a military veteran, Tetaz is a retired DC public schoolteacher, and Perry was instrumental in organizing last week's protest against the Afghanistan War in Washington.

New Documents Reveal Md. Program's Reach By Lisa Rein and Josh White Washington Post Staff Writers Sunday, January 4, 2009; A01 The Maryland State Police surveillance of advocacy groups was far more extensive than previously acknowledged, with records showing that troopers monitored -- and labeled as terrorists -- activists devoted to such wide-ranging causes as promoting human rights and establishing bike lanes. Intelligence officers created a voluminous file on Norfolk-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, calling the group a "security threat" because of concerns that members would disrupt the circus. Angry consumers fighting a 72 percent electricity rate increase in 2006 were targeted. The DC Anti-War Network, which opposes the Iraq war, was designated a white supremacist group, without explanation. One of the possible "crimes" in the file police opened on Amnesty International, a world-renowned human rights group: "civil rights." Accor...

The Maryland State Police spied on me, and placed me in a database. Despite being fully committed to nonviolence, I was categorized as a terrorist. This has been a pretty hot item with the press in Maryland. Apparently my Work with DAWN (DC Anti-War Network) and the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance attracted their attention. Below is one of the latest stories. Funny thing, I received a copy of my file and they didn't even have a physical description of me. Also, no photo, and about 80% of it was redacted. So I will most likely be part of the ACLU lawsuit against MSP. Senators press for spying answers Annapolis By LIAM FARRELL, Staff Writer U.S. Sens. Benjamin L. Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski are pressing federal agencies for answers on whether they have any knowledge or information about the Maryland State Police's spying on anti-death penalty, anti-war, and environmental activists. Mr. Cardin and Ms. Mikulski, both Maryland Democrats, were joined by Democratic U.S....

As appeared in Metro Weekly... Stirred to Action Viciousness of recent anti-gay attacks spurs community reaction by Will O'Bryan Published on September 18, 2008 Perhaps a picture is worth a thousand words. When it comes to motivating a community, a picture -- far more than flow charts of crime statistics or bullet points in a report -- may actually be invaluable. Add to that picture a compelling online essay, and you have the start of a community movement. With a number of publicized attacks against local gay people in recent months, from Nathaniel Salerno's attack on a Metro train in December to Michael Roike and Chris Burrell being beaten to the ground near the 14th and P Streets NW intersection in August, the viciousness Todd Metrokin suffered in Adams Morgan in July -- written about on The New Gay blog by his friend Chris Farris in late August -- may have been a tipping point. ''There are the anecdotal stories you hear from your friends,'' says Pete Perry, a...

Upon completing the course Information and Libraries in Society, I believe I have a richer understanding and appreciation for the information professional’s role within American society. In an increasingly interconnected world where rapid access to information is more easily attainable than at any other point in human history, the need to organize such an enormous amount of data is critically important. Civilizations will continue to need those trained in organizing data and helping researchers obtain information through the most effective means. This class helped me realize that in addition to learning about metadata tags and the finer points of Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs), and which references are the best when studying a great author or learning more about a particular nation, that it is important that an information professional understand his or her role within modern society. The librarian, or information professional, of today will need to be competent in the services ...