"The Importance of Relationships" by Brandon Darby

[MinM]

‏@brandondarby: Be ugly all you want, but Barrett Brown is going to prison. That isn't my fault, it's his own. @CassandraRules

@CassandraRules: I'm just curious as to how it feels to suck at journalism, I mean, your rat career is over. What will you do? @brandondarby

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[Twyla LaSarc]

I'd say too, that the insurrectionist was very focused on "relationship building," but not with people his age, or allies or leaders. He was organizing relentlessly with the youngest, least experienced kids. And that the community organizers were very unfocused on this. Instead of being out with clip boards collecting petitions and email addys for further communication, they took a wait-and-see approach -- likely b/c they didn't want to bring troublemakers into their universe.

Willow and I saw something like this at one of the first marches of the local occupy - a pied piper-like older guy leading around a bunch of anarchist kids in a calculatingly heedless manner - I'm pretty sure he personally would not have been held to blame if cars had not stopped for his young proteges he was leading into traffic, no doubt the onus would fall on occupy. I wonder what else he got up to that fall.

[elfismiles]

Just found out about this event happening TONIGHT!

Former Political Prisoner David McKay will Confront FBI Informant Brandon Darby at Lincoln Center Documentary Premiere
Sep 11, ’13 9:00 AM
Categories: activism, events
Tags: austin, brandon darby, david mckay, documentary, entrapment, FBI, informant, lincoln center, texas

[NEW YORK, NY] Journalists and activists are invited to a free special advance screening of and discussion of INFORMANT, the documentary portrait of of Brandon Darby, former radical activist turned FBI informant tonight, Wednesday, September 11, 7:30pm, at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, Amphitheater, 144 W. 65th St., in NYC. This is the first time that Darby (in person) and David McKay (via Skype), will discuss the complete story of Brandon’s role as an FBI informant and the series of events that led to McKay’s imprisonment. The discussion will be moderated by NPR contributor Michael May.

In 2005, Darby became an overnight hero when he traveled to Katrina-devastated New Orleans and braved toxic floodwaters to rescue a stranded friend. Soon after, he co-founded Common Ground, a successful grassroots relief organization. But over the next few years, he began hiding a shocking secret. After two young protestors, David McKay and Bradley Crowder, were arrested at the 2008 Republican National Convention, Darby revealed he had been instrumental in their indictment as an FBI informant. Today, having renounced his radical past, he is a tea-party darling who writes regularly for the right-leaning website Breitbart.com.

The only film with access to Darby since his public confession, INFORMANT meticulously constructs a picture of his life – before and after the many death threats he has received – through interviews and tense reenactments starring Darby himself. Darby’s version of events is accompanied – and often contradicted – by evidence from acquaintances and expert commentators, posing complicated questions about trust and the nature of reality. As David Hanners of St. Paul Pioneer Press suggests, “When you interview people about Brandon Darby, you realize that everyone has a different idea of who he is.”

In addition to trying to unlock the mystery of Brandon Darby, INFORMANT offers a powerful insider look at the hidden use of informants in contemporary America – an especially timely issue in light of the recent leaks about government surveillance.
WHERE: Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, Amphitheater, 144 W. 65th St., New York
WHEN: Wednesday, September 11, 7:30pm
RSVP REQUIRED: email informantscreening@gmail.com
First come, First served, Admission not guaranteed*

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/48666799[/vimeo]
http://vimeo.com/48666799