Biography
Sherman Martin Austin, age 18, was the founder and webmaster of the anarchist website raisethefist.com. Pleaded guilty in 2002 to distribution of information about making or using explosives with intent that the information be used in furtherance of a federal crime of violence. Sentenced to 12 months federal prison. Sherman Austin was a musician who ran the RaisetheFist.com anarchist forum. In 2001 an organ transplant awareness organization had their website defaced with militant rhetoric that linked back to RaisetheFist.com which prompted an FBI investigation being opened into the site. In February, 2002, while protesting the World Economic Forum in New York City, Austin was arrested for unlawful assembly and held for 13 days before being charged with violation of 18 U.S.C. 842(p), a United States federal law which makes the distribution of information on explosives unlawful if the information is provided with the knowledge or intent that the information will be used to commit a violent federal crime. The charges stem from a seven section protest guide called the, "Reclaim Guide." that was posted onto RaisetheFist.com and which included a small section on amateur bomb making. The guide was written by a minor and though Austin didn't create or post it he was charged with the offense due to being the webmaster of the site. Facing a 20 year sentence Austin took a plea deal and sentenced to a year in jail.
