chuck bettis (trance and the arcade) sent this letter
out to friends... i'm sure some people on this list
know chuck so i post it here. it is said that
electronic artist I-Sound was also arrested.
//
Subject: Yes, i was arrested and in jail....for
working at Kim's
Dear Loving Friends,
On June 8, 2005, i along w/ 4 other Kim's employees
were arrested during a raid on Kim's. The RIAA hired
some pigs to come and bust the store, the arrest was
totatlly arbitary. They were supoosed to be busting
down on bootlegs, thanks to the media exposure on Star
Wars bootlegs (it happened to be a live 50 cent
concert, so if he was involved in any way FUCK 50
Cent!). They took me since i am the manager on the 2nd
floor. Mr. Kim was no where to be found.
The store was shut down, employees lined up, a few of
us got cuffed w/out being told we are being arrested
and with out utilzing our miranda rights. We were
taken to the holding cell, where we waited approx 5
hrs before they fingerprinted us and put us into a
chain gang to take us downtown (despite them telling
us they were going to give us desk passes so we would
not have to spend the night in jail...FUCK THE
POLICE!!!).
So we went downtown, beforehand they confiscated our
cell phones and thanks to technology, was not able to
memorize anyone's phone numbers. The pigs still have
my cell phone & ipod. So we got put into a pen w/ a
bunch of other dudes. The cells were packed
constantly, filled w/ 30 or so people at a time,
having 10 bull pens down there, body heat made things
harder in the dank cells. Hours later i was separted
from the rest of my co-workers and put into a
different cell, separated from the one guy whom had
the name & number to the Kim's lawyer. Those who don't
know, i have a hard time w/ authority. i spent 30+ hrs
in jail for working at Kim's. All the other employees
were released from there cells before me, i had a
panic attack that was prompted by all this stress, not
eating (jail is not really vegan friendly) nor
sleeping the entire time i was in. i got really
claustrophobic, thought everyone was stealing my air
(for those who live in NY, the jail cell was 10x
hotter then the 2nd ave. F stop) my heartrate doubled,
i couldn't breathe and i started to
crack. i started to waddle back and forth like orphans
do from not being mothered long enough or at all.
My man Jerry Lim, whom is the only numbered i
remembered, for we call each other every day. He
worked his ass off to help me out, big ups for Lim,
when you see him, hug him and buy him a drink. Calling
mutual friends whom have lawyers and money to help
bail me out. The Correction Officers were very
reluctant to help him help me out in any way.
When i bummed a quarter off a fellow inmate, i was at
the point of cracking, mumbling w/ the entire cell
yelling and overall carrying on like it was a party
for them. Some also had arbitrary arrests, like
walking through the park at night or some for more
"serious" crimes like selling weed. i would like to
take this moment to give Guiliani & Bloomberg a big
fuck you! i can honestly say i hate these men.
Hours later, at a point i was almost convinced i was
going to spend 72 hrs or more in jail (they can
legally hold you for 72 hrs, but if it falls on the
weekend, you stay over the weekend regardless), i got
called, went to my arrainment and senteced to one day
of community service.
i was arrested apparently for making and distributing
bootleg material (a felony offense aka your going to
Rykers), which is not true, obviously. Charges were
lowered to a misdeamor and i was sentenced to a day of
community service. That was a relief in a sense. You
can only imagine how intensely pissed i am at Mr. Kim
at this moment and was ready to quit when i go out.
Below is a clipping from NY Times, which article
helped speed up our arrainment (so i hear). Mr. Kim is
supposedly turning himself in on monday, i have no
idea was it going out (that is how it was the entire
time i was locked up, the pigs like to keep you in the
dark).
So, i am sorry i can't call everyone right now, but i
thought this may be best way for mass communication.
Needless to say i hate cops even more now and have
even
less faith in the united states legal system.
Thanks for all your support. Hope to see you all soon.
luv,
chu
///
from nytimes.com
Police Raid Video Store in East Village in Piracy Case
By THOMAS J. LUECK
Published: June 10, 2005
A longtime fixture in the East Village, Mondo Kim's, a
mecca for independent music and video at 6 St. Marks
Place, was raided and closed for five hours on
Wednesday by police officers who left with boxes
filled with CD's, DVD's and computer equipment. Five
store employees were charged with trademark
counterfeiting.
According to several employees of the store, known
widely for the its independent labels, and sometimes
ornery staff, the police arrived about 1 p.m. on
Wednesday, and ordered all customers to leave.
Then, all of the 20 or so clerks, managers and other
employees who were working in the three-floor store,
which sells DVD's, CD's, books and production
equipment, were told to line up on the ground floor.
The police quickly identified four men and one woman
and led them away in handcuffs. They ordered everyone
else to leave and searched the store until about 6
p.m., when officers filed out carrying boxes.
The police said yesterday that investigators had
carried out a search warrant for counterfeit
trademarked goods and that the material seized
included nine computer towers, a CD burner, a laptop
computer, 471 compact disks and 53 videos.
The employees charged with counterfeiting were
identified as Theo Frimpong, 39, of the Bronx; Diana
Kinscherf, 19, of Queens; Donald Stahl, 26, and
Charles Bettis, 29, both of Brooklyn; and Craig
Willingham, 32, of Manhattan.
Mondo Kim's is on a block of St. Marks Place, between
Second and Third Avenues, that has long been a
crossroads of bohemian culture. It and three other
Manhattan stores known as Kim's Video and Music are
widely known among the cognoscenti of new,
experimental and esoteric music and film.
Many customers seek out the four Kim's outlets for
recordings they are unable to find in even the largest
music stores, and they often say they patronize the
St.
Marks Place store despite the attitude of its staff,
which is not always welcoming.
"It was a rite of passage to go in there, rent a movie
and get snobbed on by some disdainful clerk," said
Mike
Doughty, the former singer of the band Soul Coughing.
Veterans of the East Village arts scene said the store
had a devoted clientele.
"They fill a niche," said Mike Stuto, an owner of Hi
Fi, a bar on Avenue A. "It's the difference between a
corner bodega and a special newsstand that carries
every publication you can imagine, but may not have
Time magazine."
Colin Moynihan contributed reporting for this article.
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