Kati Cornell
New York Post
October 3, 2009
FBI anti-terrorism agents raided the Queens home of a self-described anarchist
charged with tweeting protesters with instructions on how to evade police at the
G-20 summit.
A dozen gas masks, liquid mercury, backpacks containing hammers and anarchist
literature were among the dozens of items seized Thursday at the Jackson Heights
home where Elliot Madison, 41, lives with his wife Elena, 39.
Madison is free on bail after Pittsburgh cops arrested him on Sept. 24 and charged
him with hindering prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility and
possessing criminal instruments.
Police tracked Madison and another man to a motel room at the Carefree Inn in
Pittsburgh, where they discovered a makeshift communications center, according to a
criminal complaint.
The two men were seated in front of personal computers and telecommunications
equipment, wearing headphones and microphones and surrounded by maps, contact
numbers and police and EMS scanners.
Cops claim they were using Twitter to direct the movements of protesters and update
them on the location and actions of law enforcement.
The details of Madison’s recent arrest and Thursday’s search emerged yesterday as
defense lawyer Martin Stolar asked a federal judge to stop authorities from
reviewing confidential information contained in his client’s computers.
But Assistant US Attorney Andrew Goldsmith argued that some of the items raised
alarm, including a pound of liquid mercury in the house, alongside “books about
poisons” and a microscope.
The feds also found metal triangles that are used to puncture tires and two boxes of
ammunition. Goldsmith said agents left a collection of machetes, samurai swords and
daggers at the house, because they didn’t fall within the scope of the search
warrants.
Stolar said Madison and his wife have a long history of working for the People’s Law
Collective, a group he described as providing legal representation for protesters.*
In court papers, Stolar argued that the search is illegal and asked Brooklyn federal
Judge Dora Irizarry to order the return of the property.
The judge issued a temporary order of protection stopping the feds from going
through the material.
Neighbors said the house was swarming with agents during the 16-hour search, while
helicopters flew overhead.
*“The New York People’s Law Collective is [was] a collective of activists who are
also, organizers, law students, community and legal workers. We are not lawyers. We
are people with knowledge of the legal system, its value and limits, and how it can
be used for and against us. History and our own experiences demonstrate the need for
legal resources offered from a radical perspective. Used in this way, the law is one
tool among many for our movements.”
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