On Thursday November 16th, Agent Eric Fagen, a task force officer in the FBI’s Philadelphia field office, visited my parents’ house to question my mother about me. Upon being told about the encounter by my mother, I contacted the activist lawyer who is representing me pro bono. Because it was after business hours, she resolved to contact the agent the next day which she did on the morning of the 17th. My lawyer has yet to hear back from this agent. She says that it is not uncommon, once the FBI finds out that a person they’re interested in questioning has a lawyer, for them to back off.
The Fifth Amendment right against compelled self-incrimination provides strong protections for anyone who may be questioned by law enforcement in connection with a criminal investigation. Federal agents often attempt to make direct contact with individuals who may be willing to speak to them without the advice or presence of counsel. This tactic is intended to take advantage of the ignorance, isolation, and intimidation that an FBI visit necessarily evokes to get people to forgo their legally protected rights in a moment of panic. For this reason, people whom agents know to be represented by counsel are far less attractive targets for questioning.
As I frequently say, there is no law; there is only enforcement. Irrespective of one’s rights on paper, agents of the state seek to use any means at their disposal – however legally dubious – to fatten the purse of the state and the corrections corporations it subcontracts through fines, fees, and prison labor. This is the necessary consequence of capitalism. The state apparatus must ultimately be maintained by the same incentive structure upon which all other economic phenomena rest – the acquisitive drive for profits above all other values.
I have no knowledge of, nor have I been charged with, any federal crime. I will not cooperate with any law enforcement investigation as is my legally protected right. I especially will not cooperate with any FBI investigation as their protocol requires that the only official record of any interrogation is the agent’s handwritten notes which are notoriously inaccurate. For more information on why you shouldn’t talk to the FBI, please view this instructional video.