William was raided for running a Tor exit node. Please help if you can.

Fri Nov 30 22:02:08 UTC 2012

OK, there must be a lot more paranoid people out there than I thought
there were.  I personally don't have a "runaway kit" stashed away.  I
will get right on that. So when that "mouth breather cop" won't believe
you are innocent, your answer is to grab your stuff and go on the lamb
for awhile?  I am sure he will let you out to go to the bank, get your
stuff, and leave town.  I think you have seen way to many movies.

So if the cops show up at his door tomorrow and say "Here's all your
stuff back, there was no evidence of a crime.", you are OK with this
guys keeping the "defense fund"?

Steve

-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Kristolaitis [mailto:alter3d at alter3d.ca] 
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2012 3:53 PM
To: nanog at nanog.org
Subject: Re: William was raided for running a Tor exit node. Please help
if you can.

On 11/30/2012 04:01 PM, Naslund, Steve wrote:
>    I am a little concerned that this guy keeps a safe deposit box with

> a burner phone and cash around.  Is he a CIA agent? :)
Anyone who DOESN'T have such things stashed away somewhere is, IMHO,
incredibly naive and taking on quite a large amount of risk.

The likelihood (and hope) is that you'll never need it.  But on the off
chance that you get f***ed by the legal system because of some power
hungry, mouth-breather cop who can't/won't understand that you've done
nothing wrong -- or worse, that you're easily provably within the law,
but he "believes" that you're not and drags you through the process
anyways -- you'll be very happy that you stashed away that old unlocked
cell phone, old laptop, change of clothes and cash.

I'm a (legal) firearms owner... up here in Canada, where some previous
governments enacted extreme anti-gun legislation, that pretty much means
that if I so much as sneeze in a way that a cop doesn't like, I can have
my life ruined pretty damned fast (not quite, but really close).  I
wouldn't bet against me having an excrement-hitting-the-oscillator stash
like this guy does.  ;)

(Note:  I don't mean to imply that all cops are power hungry 
mouth-breathers intent on destroying the lives of citizens.   Most cops 
are fundamentally good people and do a great job.  But like every other
profession, there ARE bad cops out there, and it's within the realm of
possibility that you'll deal with one of them one day.)

> Why would I donate to his legal defense when he has not been charged 
> yet?  A little premature, no?
>
If you think that legal costs in a criminal case only start when you've 
been formally charged, you're grossly misinformed.   At what point you 
personally decide to donate is one thing, but implying that someone
doesn't need a defense fund prior to charges being laid is a bit naive
about how the process works.

- Pete