PATRIOT Act Unleashed on Biotech Activists

Authorities are pursuing a Kafkaesque “terrorism” case against Steven Kurtz - an art professor promoting public education on the biotechnology industry. The evidence: a mobile kit for detecting GMOs in food, and three cultures of harmless bacteria.

In the early morning hours of May 11th, Steven Kurtz, a professor of art at the university of Buffalo, awoke to find his wife, Hope, had suffered a cardiac arrest and died in her sleep. Kurtz called the emergency services. The police arrived, but after stumbling across some test tubes and petri dishes in the house, they called in the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Soon agents from the Task Force and FBI detained the shocked professor, cordoning off the entire block (Kurtz walked away the next day on the advice of a lawyer, his “detention” having proved to be illegal). The Buffalo Health Department condemned the house as a health risk and, over the next few days, dozens of agents in protective suits, from a number of law enforcement agencies, sifted through Kurtz's work, analyzing it on-site and impounding computers, manuscripts, books, equipment, and even his wife's body for further analysis. Only after the Commissioner of Public Health for New York State had tested samples from the house and announced there was no public safety threat was Kurtz able to return home and recover his wife's body. However, the FBI has still not returned any of his equipment, computers or manuscripts, nor given any indication of when they will.

Kurtz is a member of the internationally-acclaimed Critical Art Ensemble (CAE), an artists' collective that produces artwork to educate the public about the politics of biotechnology. The equipment seized by the FBI, and which triggered the Kafkaesque chain of events, consisted mainly of CAE's most recent project, “Free Range Grains”. This is a mobile DNA extraction laboratory to test store-bought food for possible contamination by genetically modified grains and organisms. Such equipment can be found in any university's basic biology lab and even in many high schools.

Kurtz was also in the midst of researching the issue of biological warfare and bioterrorism, to assess the actual danger these weapons pose and to bring U.S. policy on such threats into public dialogue. To do this research, he had many books on the subject and had legally acquired three harmless types of bacteria commonly used as educational tools in schools and biology departments: bacillus globigii, serratia marcenscens and a benign strain of e.coli. Harmless to humans, bacillus globigii is extremely common and found easily in samplings of wind-borne dust. A household bleach-and-water solution easily kills it. Serratia marcescens is another harmless, common microbe which lives in soil, water, on plants, and in animals. It is distinguished by bright red color and may grow on bread and other edibles stored in a damp place. Because this microbe is so common, because of its bright hue and because it used to be considered benign, scientists and teachers frequently used it in experiments to track microbes and to demonstrate the importance of hand washing. E. coli, a well-known intestinal flora, is one of the most widely used bacteria in biological laboratories. There are many different strains; some that receive periodic attention in the media are responsible for food-borne illnesses. This is very distant from the particular strain found in Kurtz’s possession. What he had is a variation of the benign form found in our stomachs, which had been even further disarmed by laboratories.

While most observers assumed the Task Force would realize that its initial investigation was a terrible mistake, a further suprise came last week when eight of Kurtz's colleagues were subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury that is now considering bioterrorism charges against him. Two of them– Beatriz da Costa and Steve Barnes, who are also members of CAE – were served the subpoenas by federal agents who tailed them to an art show at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. According to the subpoenas, the FBI is seeking charges under Section 175 of the US Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, which has been expanded by the USA PATRIOT Act. As expanded, this law prohibits the possession of “any biological agent, toxin, or delivery system” without the justification of “prophylactic, protective, bona fide research, or other peaceful purpose”.

The Art and Science of...
But even under the expanded powers of the USA PATRIOT Act, it is difficult to understand how anyone could view CAE's art as anything other than a “peaceful purpose”. In a time when there is no public authority willing to protect and inform citizens against the interests of corporations (in the case, the GM food industry) and when millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars are being rerouted toward a militarization of public health research, art has become a place where issues can be brought into public light, understood and discussed. Many artists and activists are currently training themselves in science and technological methods in order to better inform audiences of the processes affecting their health, their choices and their lives. While not pretending to be scientists, they are performing precisely the kind of “prophylactic, protective bona fide research” which make it legal and permissible for a U.S. citizen to possess biological agents.
According to the CAE, “the majority of the population does not realize they are part of an immense unregulated experiment. All foods containing corn, soy or canola are genetically modified, unless they are labeled organic. When the industry states that there are no studies on these products indicating harm to human health, what they are saying is that there are no studies. The one bona fide independent study conducted did suggest damage to the intestines and other organs of rats”. This study basically ended the 36 year career of Dr. Arpad Pusztai at the Rowett Research Institute in Scotland. Days after he spoke publicly of his findings in August 1998, Dr. Pusztai was removed from service, his research papers were seized, and his data confiscated; and he was prohibited from talking to anyone about his research work. The GM corn, soy, canola, and cotton were engineered to resist herbicides sold by the same companies selling these seeds, and/or contain a bacteria toxic to pests that feed on the crop. These traits were marketed to produce higher profits for the companies that control them as intellectual property; they were not about nutrition or flavor or even increased crop yield. Claims that the GM products would reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides in the field (and incidental claims that they would produce higher yields) have proven to be false.

The artists involved are at a loss to explain the increasingly bizarre case. "I have no idea why they're continuing (to investigate)," said Beatriz da Costa, an art professor at the University of California at Irvine and one of those subpoenaed. "It was shocking that this investigation was ever launched. That it is continuing is positively frightening, and shows how vulnerable the PATRIOT Act has made freedom of speech in this country."

The grand jury first convened on June 15th. All of the CAE members and people who worked directly with it took advantage of their 5th amendment right to refuse to testify. Outside the courthouse in downtown Buffalo, about 200 people participated in a demonstration. Protest representatives came from places as varied as Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York City, including university professors, students, artists, and concerned citizens. The FBI is continuing to subpoena witnesses for further grand jury hearings continuing at least until June 29th. The case continues this week, and activists point out that even if no indictment transpire, the case will cripple the CAE due to the enormous legal fees that they need to spend in their defense.

Support Steven Kurtz
The Critical Art Ensemble's defense fund is calling for donations, legal support, letter writing campaigns and any other help they can get. For details see http://www.caedefensefund.org/
Also check out the CAE website for an overview of their many projects and campaign materials available for downloading: http://www.critical-art.net/