Sherman Austin facts for kids

Sherman Martin Austin (born April 10, 1983) is an American anarchist and musician. An anarchist is someone who believes that people should be able to organize themselves without a government or strict rules. Sherman Austin became well-known because he was arrested and found guilty for things he shared on his website. He was the first person to be successfully charged under a special United States law (called 18 U.S.C. 842(p)). This law makes it against the rules to share information about explosives if you know or intend for that information to be used to commit a violent crime. Sherman Austin agreed to a deal in 2002 and spent one year in a federal prison. Some people, including the musician Zack de la Rocha from the band Rage Against the Machine, felt that charging him was not fair.

Sherman Austin's Story

His Website and Beliefs

Before he was arrested, Sherman Austin ran a website called RaisetheFist.com. He was the webmaster, which means he was in charge of the website. His site was a place for people who wanted to talk about how to protest against police. It also shared ideas on how to prepare for possible conflicts.

In May 2001, the FBI (a big police agency in the U.S.) found out about his website. They learned that another website had been changed, and its main page was replaced with strong political messages. The code for this changed website, and others like it, had links to Sherman Austin's RaisetheFist.com. A group called "UCAUN" said they were responsible, and "UCAUN" was Sherman Austin's online username.

Why He Was Charged

On August 4, 2003, Sherman Austin agreed to a deal with the lawyers for the government. He was sentenced by a judge to 12 months in a federal jail. He also had to pay a fine of $2000 and was put on probation for three years. Probation means he had to follow certain rules after leaving prison. He served his time in a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona.

Sherman Austin said that he didn't write the information about explosives himself, but he did host it on his website. He explained that he agreed to the deal because he could have faced a much longer sentence, possibly 20 years, due to a special rule related to terrorism.

He was not charged with hacking into other websites. However, he did admit that he changed some websites to help share his message.

Life After Prison

Sherman Austin was released from prison one month early, in July 2004. He was on probation for three years. During this time, he was not allowed to use a computer or spend time with people who supported violence for political reasons.

After he was released, he released a hip-hop music CD called Silence is Defeat.

See also

• Internet censorship in the United States
• Nanny state