The Sentencing of David Mckay: Towards a More Empowering Militancy

On May 22nd, 2009, David Guy McKay was brought before Judge Michael J.
Davis and given 48 months behind bars -- double the sentence given to
Bradley Neal Crowder a week ago. Davis ruled that McKay had obstructed
justice and had not fully accepted responsibility for his actions.

During his sentencing, the judge pondered how this person, whose family
testified as being a good-natured and ambitious young man, could have come
to the Republican National Convention with a group of anarchists and
planned to firebomb a police checkpoint. The exact words uttered by Judge
Davis were, “Who is this anarchist?”



Now it’s time for us to critically examine that same question. Who is this
anarchist? What passions allowed him to meet Brandon Darby’s militant
challenges with action? And how will we respond to the 48 month sentence
handed down to him today? For the past 8 months we’ve been shouting at the
media and federal judiciary in hopes that McKay’s trial would produce an
entrapment acquittal, and after he plead guilty we still hoped for a light
sentence. However, he’s in custody now, facing 4 years in prison and
having admitted guilt on all the charges. Let’s start to take his actions, all of
our actions, more seriously, and let’s stop playing the game of being
victims.

It seems fairly clear that David McKay and Brad Crowder’s choice of
actions were influenced by the government’s informants, as was the
situation in the case of Matt DePalma. We all agree that this has been and
will continue to be a government tactic to land convictions when they need
them, but we shouldn’t discount the autonomy of the individuals caught in
this twisted puppet show. In the videos shown at trial depicting McKay in
the streets on September 1st, even the judge could tell that the rage
exhibited ran far deeper than any informant could fabricate and cull in 6
months. Judge Davis thought McKay looked like a very angry man, and
commented that he could see from the footage that McKay wasn't caught up
in a mere drunken frat riot, but was clearly “doing anarchy against the
system.”

As we look back on these tragic cases, we have to remember that Brandon
Darby wasn't the person to invent discontent, or political engagement, and
he most definitely did not invent the molotov cocktail. Although it is
unfortunate how misguided militancy and poor security culture can result
in long jail times for young activists, we should not deny the fact that
McKay was angry about something tangible. It's that idea that
differentiates 4 years in prison from academic probation due to a frat
riot.

Another important lesson we can take from these events is how we define
militancy in our communities, and what context we can provide for
explosive passions like McKay's. Obviously, as long as people are
permitted to posture about the guns they carried, or celebrated for their
stories of clandestine action, the Darbys in our world will always get
what they want. But militancy doesn't have to fit the athletic/competitive
parameters we generally use to describe it, which isn't to say that we
shouldn't also work on creating contexts in which to act more safely
outside the legal boundaries. Even if our acts won't warrant years in
prison we should not allow them to fall within liberal boundaries that
don't challenge our creativity.

(This is a repost..)