Bitchin

HOME INVASION BY AUTOMATIC WEAPON TOTING THUGS AWAKENS QUIET TEMPLE TERRACE NEIGHBORHOOD

"At 6:30 a.m., Nov. 19th, I heard a nasty pounding at the door. I went to the door to find machine guns at the front window. Then the door came loose, and fell down." Agents then stormed into the house, entering without showing a warrant, pinning his girlfriend to the wall with fully automatic weapons to her head. They then proceeded to handcuff Doug Brewer face down on the floor for nearly two hours, leaving his wrists swollen and bruised, as they began to loot his suburban Temple Terrace home. Never once was he read his rights. "They even pointed full auto weapons with laser sights at the pet cats, screaming at them not to move or they'll shoot."

Fully armed, jack-booted thugs from the U.S. MARSHALS, U.S. CUSTOMS, FLORIDA DEPT. OF LAW ENFORCEMENT, STATE POLICE DEPT., PAROLE AND PROBATION SERVICES, a clearly unhappy to be there TEMPLE TERRACE POLICE DEPT., a man that would only identify himself as CIA, and of course FCC agents from all over the U.S. took part in the early dawn raid.

"They're above the law and can do anything they like"

"It was like something out of Communist Russia" one neighbor said "I can't believe that this could happen here in the United States". With fire power usually reserved for Saddam Hussan the street was sealed and neighbors where not allowed to leave their homes to go work or children allowed to go to school until about 9:30 a.m. Agents even falsely arrested an innocent bystander that was not even on the property. Handcuffing him and taking him into the scene of the raid, where, had there been anything dangerous going on, his life would have been needlessly endangered. One concerned individual that called the state police to try to do something was told on the phone that "they're above the law and can do anything they like"

What was it that was done to necessitate such drastic actions? A drug bust? Another unabomber? A child rapist or murderer? No, none of these. What Doug Brewer did was run his own low power "micro-broadcasting" radio station on a frequency that was open to being licensed. And although he had applied numerous times to the FCC, he was not part of the "good ol' boy network" that pays bribes to FCC officials insuring they are the only ones to receive a license these days. Micro-broadcasters contend that licenses are only granted in exchange for large bribes, much in the same way that trade between China and the White House is conducted. Just last week Federal Judge Claudia Wilken refused to grant the FCC a permanent injunction to shut down Free Radio Berkeley and ordered the FCC to explain why they thought they weren't violating the U.S. Constitution. The response came not in the form of a legal brief as requested by the judge but in the form of a heavy handed terrorist raid. This would appear to show that this agency, like others has no regard for the law or anything. For more information on micro broadcasting see these links.

"Are these the type of people we're supposed to have our children look up to and respect?"

Initially the station had been run for years. Broadcasting such things as Christmas music to accompany his annual light displays where he would decorate his 150 foot HAM and commercial radio tower as a giant Christmas tree. Mr. Brewer has a wall full of numerous letters from Temple Terrace Mayor Bob Wooder and others commending him on a job well done regarding the station and his Christmas light display. A small child was heard asking her mother how Santa was going to find their house this year. Neighbors said that a collection is going to be taken to put the station back on the air.

What brought the FCC down on Mr. Brewer was Drew Rashbaum, vice president and general manager of five radio stations, including WHPT, 102.5 FM, The Point. They became upset when The Party Pirate showed up on the local Arbitron Ratings and some would say that they have acted behind the scenes with the FCC to prevent Mr. Brewer from getting a station license. Others say that it goes back to a personal dispute between Ralph Barlow of the local FCC office and Mr. Brewer. And still others say that Mr. Barlow is just jealous of Mr. Brewer having a bigger, ah, stick then him and getting all the girls. The final straw seems to have been a Wall Street Journal article last month featuring Mr. Brewer on the front page. Whatever the case, Mr. Barlow certainly did his best to put Mr. Brewers stick in the dirt as the whole tower was stolen right off of his roof.

Although agents only had warrants to take transmitting equipment for the frequencies between 87.9 and 107.9 FM, Mr. Brewer said "they took everything, even Christmas presents" and "ransacked the whole house, it'll be days trying to access the damage." This is in clear violation of the Fourth Amendment, U.S. Constitution that reads "describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

Items seized that where not on the warrant include Mr. Brewers commercial radio services that he is fully licensed for including but not limited to: The Yellow Cab Cab-u-lance repeater. A non-emergency transport service providing transportation to the poor and elderly in the county. The Temple Terrace Crime Watch repeater. A highly successful joint community service venture between Mr. Brewer and the Temple Terrace Police Dept. to curb crime in the area. The Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club. The Hillsborough County Emergency Management Radio Service. This is the local HAM radio service that Mr. Brewer, an avid HAM radio operator, has provided for years free of charge to the community. It would provide crucial communications to the whole county in the event of an emergency or natural disaster.

Action Links

If you would like to help out Doug Brewer and The Party Pirate, 102.1 FM, you can contact the station at:
813-988-0855
POB 16456
Tampa, FL, 33687
or visit the website at
http://www.ldbrewer.com

A spokesperson at Senator Bob Graham's office said they have received numerous calls about the abusive federal power and are looking into it. Help spur this along by contacting the Senator by phone at,
813-228-2476 or via E-mail at:
bob_graham@graham.senate.gov

You can call Ralph Barlow at the FCC to share your thoughts on the matter at:
813-348-1595. Try to be nice to his secretary, she's in tears over it all, says she's terribly sorry about it but she is just doing what she's forced to do. She may however know something about the bigger stick issue.

And of course you can call the initiator of the FCC action, Drew Rashbaum at 102.5 and let him know that there will be no mistake when your radio dial no longer stops there. He can be reached at:
813-577-7131, Office
579-1025, Request line
or call him up at home at:
4216 Water Oaks Ln,
Tampa,FL 33624-4634
813-963-2124
Or even better yet call up their new owners, Clear Channel Communications. Ask for David Manning at:
813-287-1047 and let him know how much you think they should keep Drew Rashbaum.
Or cantact their corporate offices at:
Clear Channel Communications, Inc.
P.O. Box 659512
San Antonio, TX, 78265-9512
210-822-2828
Mark P. Mays, President
Randall T. Mays Vice President

Background material on the legal case and micropower broadcasting is available on the following WEB sites:
www.368hayes.com
www.freeradio.org
Free Radio Network
www.radio4all.org

We're not sure who summed it up best, a local program director that said, "If they don't like what we play they can go buy some god dam CD's." Or a local DJ who said that "He wasn't allowed to have any thoughts or opinions of his own"

Share your thoughts

Readers E-mail

Please answer me this question.
How can the government come into your home, in the wee hors of the morning, and steal your music at gunpoint and get away with it? Up until 6:30 A.M. on November 19th, I thought we lived in the greatest country in the world.
From what I can tell, running a Community Radio Station must be the ultimate crime. There were more police here than at O.J. Simpson's house on the day of his arrest. How did we become such criminals?
How safe do you feel in your home today? When will they come knocking at your door? I, for one, know the community can sleep better tonight knowing those dangerous CD players and record albums are out of the hands of Pirate Radio Activists. I'm also sure our taxpaying citizens at large are delighted their money went to such a worthy cause on Wednesday.
To the FCC, the Federal Marshals, the FDLE, the Customs agents, the Parole & Probation people, and even our own locale Police, I say thank you for opening my eyes to what a great country we live in. I'm eternally grateful that you only destroyed our home and did not shoot us in the midst of your early morning raid. We were able to walk away, although our world is a lot quieter now that you have stolen our music.

Karen Walsh-Brewer
AKA "Fear"
Program director for
102.1 FM, The Party Pirate

(The following was sent to Mr. Brewer by his former high school shop teacher by snail mail.
He thought he would share it with us. We've seen the original he has on file, it's for real.)
Dear L.D.,
I told you 26 years ago,
DON'T MESS WITH THE FCC.
I guess you didn't listen to me.
Good Luck
Mr.Snave