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Molotov Cocktail Suspect Nabbed (sfgate story)
A San Francisco State student who faces a maximum of 10 years in prison on federal charges of possessing a Molotov cocktail was arrested after police recognized him as a protester they had booked just minutes after the device was planted.
Jacob Lehman, 25, of San Francisco appeared in federal court Wednesday on charges of possessing an explosive device -- a Molotov cocktail -- found March 21 on Market Street between Third and Fourth streets, a day after 1,400 protesters were arrested.
Lehman denies the charges and was released on $200,000 bond.
"When everything comes out, it will show he has been falsely charged," said his attorney, Geoffrey Rotwein. "He's a very nice person, he's very intelligent, I just think these are false charges."
Last week, police realized that Lehman had been arrested four minutes after a surveillance tape from a business showed someone placing a device on Market Street that consisted of a wick and gasoline in a glass bottle.
Officer Robert Maddox saw Lehman on the tape, which was distributed to the media, and remembered having to chase down Lehman. Lehman repeatedly sat in front of traffic on Market Street and was arrested after he fled from Maddox and hid behind a homeless man, said San Francisco Police arson investigator Jeffrey Levin.
Maddox saw the tape and contacted investigators to tell them that the suspect he had arrested, who had refused to give his name, appeared to be the same person.
A fingerprint from the device matched a print taken when Lehman was cited as a John Doe.
San Francisco police and federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms searched the Arcata (Humboldt County) home of Lehman's parents on March 28 and an address on 10th Avenue in San Francisco the following day. They found evidence at his parents' home suggesting the making of incendiary devices.
Authorities are still searching for Lehman's alleged accomplice, a woman who accompanied him when a package containing the device was delivered. She is described as slender, white, 5 feet 8, with brown, shoulder-length hair.
Lehman denies the charges and was released on $200,000 bond.
"When everything comes out, it will show he has been falsely charged," said his attorney, Geoffrey Rotwein. "He's a very nice person, he's very intelligent, I just think these are false charges."
Last week, police realized that Lehman had been arrested four minutes after a surveillance tape from a business showed someone placing a device on Market Street that consisted of a wick and gasoline in a glass bottle.
Officer Robert Maddox saw Lehman on the tape, which was distributed to the media, and remembered having to chase down Lehman. Lehman repeatedly sat in front of traffic on Market Street and was arrested after he fled from Maddox and hid behind a homeless man, said San Francisco Police arson investigator Jeffrey Levin.
Maddox saw the tape and contacted investigators to tell them that the suspect he had arrested, who had refused to give his name, appeared to be the same person.
A fingerprint from the device matched a print taken when Lehman was cited as a John Doe.
San Francisco police and federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms searched the Arcata (Humboldt County) home of Lehman's parents on March 28 and an address on 10th Avenue in San Francisco the following day. They found evidence at his parents' home suggesting the making of incendiary devices.
Authorities are still searching for Lehman's alleged accomplice, a woman who accompanied him when a package containing the device was delivered. She is described as slender, white, 5 feet 8, with brown, shoulder-length hair.
For more information:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...
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hey, I heard anecdotal evidence that people who were arrested in big sweeps a week ago have been pulled aside for intensive searches when flying. But most arrestees probably haven't attempted to fly, and the airlines occasionally search lots of people, and it's hard to understand why they would take some people into a separate room in some cases. Has anyone had this experience?
People were arrested and falsely charged with similar stuff at a KPFA protest a couple years back. They were jugglers who performed with flaming batons and other props, and used small amounts of kerosene or lamp oil.
Of course, the piggies will trump up any charge they can to smear the peace movement. And if they can't find one, they'll plant one: remember Judi Bari!
Of course, the piggies will trump up any charge they can to smear the peace movement. And if they can't find one, they'll plant one: remember Judi Bari!
Even if he did have an MC, which I doubt, how is that an explosive device?
MCs dont explode. They crash, they splatter, they burn.. but they don't explode. They just burn. A large wad of newspaper and a match would do the same thing, it just has poor aerodynamics for throwing.
Not only do the cops file phony charges, they can't even get their stories straight. The correct (phony) charge should be "conspiracy to commit arson" - a charge with no doubt far less of a potential sentence, and less PR shock value for the papers.
-Van
MCs dont explode. They crash, they splatter, they burn.. but they don't explode. They just burn. A large wad of newspaper and a match would do the same thing, it just has poor aerodynamics for throwing.
Not only do the cops file phony charges, they can't even get their stories straight. The correct (phony) charge should be "conspiracy to commit arson" - a charge with no doubt far less of a potential sentence, and less PR shock value for the papers.
-Van
Van, you have obviously never seen a molotov cocktail in use... they sure as heck do explode. When flame hits a good quantity of contained flammable liquid, there is indeed an explosion.
Hey Van,
I guess you would not consider naplam to be an explosive device either(not to mention a wmd). Grow up. These promoters of violence do nothing for the peace movement. Let them burn themselves.
I guess you would not consider naplam to be an explosive device either(not to mention a wmd). Grow up. These promoters of violence do nothing for the peace movement. Let them burn themselves.
We are supposed to believe that a 25-year-old student went to a demonstration -- where there were sure to be lots of cops -- carrying a molotov cocktail, took it out of whatever it was in, "planted it" (whatever that means, since it couldn't do anything without being lit), and, instead of leaving the area, proceeded to get himself arrested by sitting down in the street! He was also supposedly foolish enough to leave a thumb-print on it!
Sounds like a frame-up, and one deliberately designed to get into federal court so that Hallinan couldn't drop it.
Incidentally, by what justification is "possessing an explosive device" a federal offense? Was he going to toss it across state lines? Also, shouldn't "possessing an explosive device" be protected by the Second Amendment just as posssession of a firearm is protected? The Second Amendment speaks of "the right to bear arms", not "the right to bear firearms".
P.S. Why does it matter how many of the protesters live in SF? Do the vermin dropping bombs on our sisters and brothers in Iraq live in Bagdad or Basra?
Sounds like a frame-up, and one deliberately designed to get into federal court so that Hallinan couldn't drop it.
Incidentally, by what justification is "possessing an explosive device" a federal offense? Was he going to toss it across state lines? Also, shouldn't "possessing an explosive device" be protected by the Second Amendment just as posssession of a firearm is protected? The Second Amendment speaks of "the right to bear arms", not "the right to bear firearms".
P.S. Why does it matter how many of the protesters live in SF? Do the vermin dropping bombs on our sisters and brothers in Iraq live in Bagdad or Basra?
First of all, he planted it for later use. Second, he probably did not plan on getting arrested. Third, you defintely did not go to any of the protest, if you did, you would have seen that a majorty of the protesters where not rocket scientists and were indeed that stupid. Trust me, most criminals aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.
As far as the Laws, why don't you read them before you assume they are incorrect.
Lastly, This DA would not prosecute because he has no clue what to do in a trial (that is if he is sober enough).
Again you will probably never see this post because this site censors the truth.
As far as the Laws, why don't you read them before you assume they are incorrect.
Lastly, This DA would not prosecute because he has no clue what to do in a trial (that is if he is sober enough).
Again you will probably never see this post because this site censors the truth.
People being victimized by the vile US government like this guy need UNCONDITIONAL support! Debating the effectiveness of this or that tactic is another matter altogether.
Its a measure of the politically primitive character of the so-called "movement" in this shit society that various pedants and savants can't distinguish between unconditional support for this accused guy and the more academic issue of the validity or effectiveness of this or that tactic.
Its a measure of the politically primitive character of the so-called "movement" in this shit society that various pedants and savants can't distinguish between unconditional support for this accused guy and the more academic issue of the validity or effectiveness of this or that tactic.
That's what you say. More likely, the cops planted it.
> Van, you have obviously never seen a molotov
> cocktail in use... they sure as heck do explode. When
> flame hits a good quantity of contained flammable
> liquid, there is indeed an explosion.
In fact, I've made a few as a kid and tested them against large rocks out in the countryside (near a creek, with adequate water to then extinguish them. no wildfires resulted.).
It is an incidendiary device - not an explosive device. The fuel does not ignite until released from the container, thus no pressure can build up - thus it is not an explosion.
"Possession of an explosive device" remains a bullshit charge. "Possession of an incendiary device" would be the correct, and lesser, charge.
But cops and district attorneys these days aren't concerned with the law, much less with right and wrong. They're as dishonest as the criminals they've supposed to be chasing.
They'd charge you with terrorism just for jaywalking, if they don't like you for personal reasons and think they can get away with it.
-Van
> cocktail in use... they sure as heck do explode. When
> flame hits a good quantity of contained flammable
> liquid, there is indeed an explosion.
In fact, I've made a few as a kid and tested them against large rocks out in the countryside (near a creek, with adequate water to then extinguish them. no wildfires resulted.).
It is an incidendiary device - not an explosive device. The fuel does not ignite until released from the container, thus no pressure can build up - thus it is not an explosion.
"Possession of an explosive device" remains a bullshit charge. "Possession of an incendiary device" would be the correct, and lesser, charge.
But cops and district attorneys these days aren't concerned with the law, much less with right and wrong. They're as dishonest as the criminals they've supposed to be chasing.
They'd charge you with terrorism just for jaywalking, if they don't like you for personal reasons and think they can get away with it.
-Van
So it is physically impossible for the liquid inside to ignite and explode before the bottle breaks? Making one MC does not make you an expert.
> So it is physically impossible for the liquid inside to
> ignite and explode before the bottle breaks? Making
> one MC does not make you an expert.
I never said it was physically impossible - just like it's not physically impossible for a car's gas tank to explode, but that doesn't justify charging people with "possession of an explosive device" just for owning a car.
You're nitpicking now.
Nor does this require any kind of "expertise" beyond basic high school chemistry. (That's what you get for apparently settling for a mere passing grade.)
> ignite and explode before the bottle breaks? Making
> one MC does not make you an expert.
I never said it was physically impossible - just like it's not physically impossible for a car's gas tank to explode, but that doesn't justify charging people with "possession of an explosive device" just for owning a car.
You're nitpicking now.
Nor does this require any kind of "expertise" beyond basic high school chemistry. (That's what you get for apparently settling for a mere passing grade.)
There is a good chance it may "Explode." I rest my case.
There are plenty of stories out there pinning protestors to acts such as these. And it's cases like these will eventually help lawmakers with their guilt when they pass bills marking protestors as terrorists. The definition of a terrorist is: "one wo uses violence, or threats of violence, as a means of achieving a political goal". So, is a protestor protesting a war or a jailing who throws a bottle at a police officer, a terrorist just as sure as Osama bin Laden is? My opinion is that these laws being propsed is another way to keep a fake peace, when our leaders go off to conquer. The American government loves a "bloodless war".
like the cops?
The Gun lobby put us on the edge of the cliff and you decided to jump off the edge - down the slipery slide to hell.
If these explosive/incediary devices are ok then where shall we stop?
the right to bear atomic bombs?
the right to place bullets where-ever we want.. for example inside peoples heads?
If these explosive/incediary devices are ok then where shall we stop?
the right to bear atomic bombs?
the right to place bullets where-ever we want.. for example inside peoples heads?
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