Bellingham WA: Democratic Party Organizer /Anarchist Eco-radical Lesbian Arrested Placing Bomb On Railroad Tracks
Woman charged over attempted TERRORIST ATTACK on railroad facility in Washington state was a Democratic Party organizer – reports
US Attorney Brian Moran announced the charges, saying that the 23-year-old Reiche and Samantha Frances Brooks, 27, were arrested on Saturday night after they allegedly placed a "shunt" on BNSF railroad tracks in Bellingham, Washington. A shunt is comprised of wire and magnets stretched between the tracks to disrupt the low-level electrical current and can be used to derail a train, cause train cars to decouple, or stop safety gates from coming down at railroad crossings, Moran said.
An anarchist group called It's Going Down claimed responsibility for the railway attacks on its website, saying it was being done to "fight against colonial invasion" of Wet'suwet'en Indian lands in British Columbia. Bellingham is located about 17 miles south of the Canadian border.
Reiche's LinkedIn profile, which has apparently been deleted, reportedly indicated that she had worked as deputy field organizer for Washington State Democrats. She's currently a mentor for Wild Whatcom, which takes children on nature outings.
BNSF police observed Reiche and Brooks kneeling on railroad tracks on Saturday night, according to Moran's statement. Whatcom County Sheriff's Department deputies confronted the two women at the scene and found a shunt on the tracks near the location where they had been spotted by surveillance cameras.
The two suspects were caught by a Whatcom County deputy. Reiche was carrying a bag that contained gloves, supplies and tools needed to make the wired devices. The insulated copper wire Reiche was carrying was similar to what was used in 41 other attacks on the railway this year, including an incident on Oct. 11 where a train carrying combustible material was decoupled from the engine after riding over a shunt.
Reiche was parked nearby at the time of the duo’s arrest and their vehicle has a sticker on the back with the text “INDIGENOUS LAND” over a map of the entire United States.
Reiche and Brooks tried to flee on foot but stopped when a deputy ordered them to halt. Deputies said they had a paper bag containing wire and a drill with a brush head. The wire was similar to the material used in previous shunting incidents. When confronted, Reiche allegedly told deputies that she and Brooks were walking along the tracks to look for her keys. They had no flashlight or other device to help see in the dark.
Reiche told deputies that she had left her phone in her car and pointed out her vehicle parked nearby, according to court documents in the case. The car had a sticker on the back with the words "indigenous land" over a map of the US.
If convicted, Reiche and Brooks could be sentenced to up to 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. "These crimes endanger our community," Moran said.
The affidavit names extreme Antifa website It’s Going Down for claiming responsibility for railway attacks in the Pacific Northwest earlier this year. The site said in a post that the direct actions were done to “fight against colonial invasion” in relation to the building of the Coastal GasLink Pipeline project in British Columbia, Canada. It called for others to carry out more attacks.
Reiche and Brooks have mostly scrubbed their online presence but some remaining clues give insight into who Reiche is.
Reiche, who identifies as “non-binary” and uses “they/them” pronouns, was the deputy field organizer for Washington State Democrats, according to their now-deleted LinkedIn profile. (The official Democrat organization has been reached for comment.)
Additionally, Reiche is a radical queer and environmental activist who co-founded the Bellingham Lesbian Collective. They are a co-host on “The L World” lesbian-themed podcast.
Reiche and Brooks made their first court appearance on Monday and have been released on pre-trial. Their next court date is scheduled for Dec. 14. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
.......................
A shunt consists of a wire and magnet that are extended between two tracks. This disrupts that helps in indicating that the train is situated on the tracks. The criminal complaint stated that an investigation into the placement of shunts on the BNSF tracks since 19 January 2020 was being conducted by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. Shunts were found placed on 10 occasions in areas that could disrupt the crossing guards where the tracks intersect streets. Therefore, vehicles could have been in danger of being run over by an oncoming train had they try to cross the tracks.
Multiple shunts were found placed on the night of 11 October 2020 in three different locations across Whatcom and Skagit Counties. Due to one of the devices, the automatic breaking system of a train that was carrying combustible and hazardous materials was triggered. The sudden breaking led to the uncoupling of a section of the train from the engine. Such an instant decoupling can cause the derailment of a train.
Following the discovery of the first shunt in January, a claim of responsibility was made on an anarchist website. However, the perpetrators were about to run out of luck soon. On the night of 28 November 2020, two people were spotted kneeling on the tracks by a crossing in Bellingham by BNSF Police in video surveillance. Deputies from the Whatcom County Sheriff's office arrived at the scene and detain the two persons for trespassing.
On the area of the tracks that was seen in the surveillance footage, a shut was found. Brooks and Reiche were found in possession of a paper bag that contained rubber gloves, wire, and a drill with a brush head. The wire recovered was found to be similar to the ones used in other shunting attempts.
"Since January there have been 41 incidents of shunts placed on the BNSF tracks in Whatcom and Skagit counties—causing crossing guards to malfunction, interfering with automatic breaking systems, and, in one case, causing the near-derailment of tanks of hazardous chemicals," said US Attorney Moran, in a statement.
Comments
Post a Comment