Bryan
Free Radio Austin Shut Down Prior to Fortune 500 Forum
Fri Dec 13 05:24:08 2002
208.152.73.166

Free Radio Austin Shut Down Prior to Fortune 500 Forum
the slave 4:17pm Wed Oct 11 '00
address: Ask the FCC; they have it. phone: (512) 476-3446 keith_v article#5485

Free Radio Ausin and Radio One, both microbroadcasters, have been shutdown only days before the upcoming Fortune 500 protests.

For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, October 10, 2000

Contact: Reckless or Chance at (512) 476-3446

Free Radio Austin 97.1FM Shutdown in FCC Raid
Austin Activists and Community Leaders Link Shutdown to Fortune 500 Protests

For the second time in less than a week, a microbroadcasting station in Austin, TX was shutdown by the FCC and law enforcement from various agencies.

At around 10:30AM this morning Free Radio Austin, broadcasting at 97.1 FM, was raided by a multi-jurisdictional task force of FCC, Federal Marshals, Austin Police Department, and suspected FBI agents. Lloyd Perry, an agent from the FCC regional office in Houston, personally led the raid and removed the transmitter and other equipment, including 2 CD players, 2 turntables and portable radios. Unlike other such raids in the past, the FCC encountered immediate resistance from community activists. Free Radio Austin had buried it�s transmitter several feet underground giving local community and media enough time to make it to the station to cover the event. Several cameras from traditional and independent media were busy recording Mr. Perry as he dug the transmitter from layers of thick clay and mud.

Meanwhile, programmers and community began to chant slogans such as "Congress shall make no law to abridge the freedom of press." Unlike raids that have happened with other microbroadcasting stations such in California, Florida, or even when local Radio One was shutdown, FCC agents were not able to quickly seize the equipment. The entire procedure took more than an hour. FCC agents were clearly not in a good mood as a crowd of some 50 or more community gathered around them.

Lloyd Perry declined to give comment either to members of Free Radio Austin or to the media. Only last week, Mr. Perry had defiantly posed, cutting a wire on the tower of Radio One, for local media. But he was clearly not laughing or joking with media today.
Papers delivered to Free Radio Austin 97.1 indicate that the warrant for seizure of equipment were signed by a federal judge on the same day as those for Radio One. However, members of Free Radio Austin claim they were in dialogue with the FCC and had never ignored or not responded to any correspondence from the FCC. In fact, several programmers claimed that they wanted to pursue microbroadcasting issues in legal proceedings as other stations around the nation have been doing in a burgeoning movement of grassroots radio.

Local community activists in Austin cite that both Radio One and Free Radio Austin were shutdown only days before upcoming protests against the Fortune 500 Forum, an annual gathering of CEOs from some of the largest corporations in the world. They believe that these same CEOs, business leaders, and local Austin Mayor Kirk Watson were pressuring for the shutdown of independent media outlets that had planned to cover the protests.

Organizers also cite ongoing political pressure from City Hall and the Austin Downtown Business Alliance to deny marchers a permit for an Oct. 13th rally. Police claimed that a permit could not be issued because of traffic issues, but organizers counter that their freedom of speech issues outweigh these concerns. They also point out that other events such as concerts and University of Texas football games often cause traffic problems, but no one is trying to stop those events.

The station was in the backyard of a programmer who prefers to simply go by the name Reckless. "They destroyed our equipment. Necessity knows no laws. We will not be silenced. We are ALL speechless today," she said, adding emphasis that free speech itself was the target of the FCC raid. She was adamant that she was not "in charge" of the station. The station was run by a collective of community programmers who each had an equal say in how the station was run. Programmers at Free Radio Austin also pointed out that their battle for freedom of speech issues would not stop. They vowed to educate and assist others in the community on how to setup their own microbroadcasting stations. In the words of one programmer, "Everytime they tear down one station, five more pop up and replace it."

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Related info: Fortune 500 Protest Media Contacts: Bryan at bcouser@ccsi.com  / 512.929.8441.

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