Oregon Live

Anarchist TV show draws attention of Secret Service

By JASON GEORGE The Associated Press 7/23/01 6:39 PM

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Producers of the anarchist cable television program "Cascadia Alive!" said they planned to meet Monday with Secret Service agents investigating a possible threat to President George W. Bush broadcast on the show.

Because of the investigation, city officials said they may consider withdrawing financial support for the program.

On July 4, "Cascadia Alive!" featured a drawing of the president with a gun pointed to his head and the words "Good Start." The producers then showed clips of the attempted assassination of President Reagan.

A viewer complained to the Secret Service that the segment constituted a threat. On Friday, the Cascadia Media Collective, a group of contributors and producers of the weekly cable show, released a statement saying they had agreed to meet with the Secret Service to discuss the complaint.

The Secret Service in Oregon declined to comment on the case. Secret Service officials in Washington said it takes seriously any threats on the presidency.

"We certainly wouldn't want to inhibit someone's free speech but as the law states, there are certainly some things they cannot say," said Jim Mackin, Secret Service spokesman in Washington, D.C.

In Friday's statement issued by the media collective, producers said "Cascadia Alive! never caused or threatened violence upon the President of the United States and never intended to do so."

The city of Eugene provides up to $7,500 per year for the cable-access program, but at least one city official questioned whether funding should continue.

"There are issues of free speech here, but there is a matter if public dollars going to support this," said Tom Olshanski, city spokesman.

Olshanski said Mayor Jim Torrey would bring up the issue at Monday night's city council meeting. The city attorney was reviewing the tape Monday, he said.

Eugene is considered a center of the West Coast anarchist movement.

"Cascadia Alive!" started in 1998 and is broadcast Wednesday nights, usually live, from a local high school.

Anarchists and other activists produce the 60-minute program with news, roving reports and docu-dramas to criticize globalization and what they perceive as a corporate-dominated culture.

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001