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FTW OFFICES BURGLARIZED
All Computers Destroyed
FTW Crippled But Not Dead
by
Michael C. Ruppert
© Copyright 2006, From The Wilderness Publications, www.fromthewilderness.com. All Rights Reserved. This story may NOT be posted on any Internet web site without express written permission. Contact admin@copvcia.com. May be circulated, distributed or transmitted for non-profit purposes only.
July 5th, 2006 4:09pm [PST], ASHLAND – Sometime after 7:30 PM on the evening of Sunday June 25, 2006, an unknown number of suspects entered the FTW offices by means of two passkeys. Once inside, a sledgehammer was used to smash through four solid-core doors secured with deadbolt locks to gain entry to our webmaster’s office, my office, the administrative office and a storage area. All seven FTW computers were ripped or disconnected from peripherals and transported to a central unoccupied area of the building where their covers were unscrewed and removed. After the covers had been removed, all seven computers were smashed with sledgehammers. My monitor was also smashed at my desk. The computers were totally destroyed.
There are suspects and the Ashland, Oregon police department (APD) is conducting an active criminal investigation. For that reason I am not at liberty to either discuss or disclose certain details, especially the extent of damage to hard drives, back up status before the burglary, or whether data from damaged hard drives is, or will ever be, recoverable.
To date I have been impressed by the cooperation and thoroughness shown by APD and I intend to cooperate with them fully and provide whatever assistance I can as their investigation continues. In previous statements I have mentioned a meth ring operating locally and have also stated that I had seen no direct evidence of US government involvement. Those statements are still correct, although I will add that I also have not ruled out US government involvement.
The only way to describe the damage is that it has been utterly devastating from business, emotional and professional perspectives. My residence was vandalized a week before the burglary. As I write this report, a full ten days after the burglary, we are still unable to download orders from the internet, and we are also unable to ship any products. We have a large number of orders out there but unfortunately we cannot get any of that money into our checking account at present.
We are insured and it appears as though most of the losses will be covered. However, there are going to be significant cash outlays required to resume even a semblance of normal operations before insurance reimbursement takes place. This includes expensive data recovery from certain damaged hard drives. For the time being, please send any donations to our mailing address, 655 Washington St., Ashland, OR 97520, Please indicate if you would like your donation returned once we have received reimbursement from our insurance carrier. We do need all the help we can get.
For new subscribers and those concerned about interruption of our services please be advised that, as time permits, we will make arrangements to extend subscriptions to make up for any lost time.
I have no words to describe the viciousness of this attack. No other valuables were taken and none of our other furnishings or equipment was destroyed. It is apparent that destroying data stored in our computers was the primary objective in this crime. Current estimated damages are in excess of $20,000.
Please do not expect us to be able to immediately respond to emails. We are short-staffed and everyone here is doing a great job under the obvious and very unpleasant stress. We have desperate need for a bookkeeper in house to help reconstruct financial records and restore normal cash flow operations. Our problem is finding one willing to work in our environment.
Those of you who have been loyal FTW fans and subscribers know of the many, many challenges we have had to face over the years. I am now 55 years old and have been fighting this fight for a long time. This is a time for a rethinking of all of our priorities. The one question I and the rest of FTW is trying to answer is how can we best serve you without experiencing the same battles again.
As the world around us and within the United States grows darker, I intend to use this time to evaluate where we go from here. The first thing I need to do is to consult closely with our writers and several key advisors and friends. FTW is not dead but I must honestly tell you that we are on life support at the moment.
As we restore our operations, piece by piece, we will resume the publication of new stories. We promise to finish the Pat Tillman series. Other than that, as those of us who have made FTW work arrive at a plan, we will keep you advised.
In the meantime, please let these photographs speak for themselves. Send us whatever help you can, and continue to give us the same loving patience you have always given us as these brutal and difficult challenges have arisen.
These are tough times for everyone.
Michael C. Ruppert
Vandalism of Ruppert home
My monitor smashed at my desk
Store room door smashed with sledge hammer
Damage to Admin office
Sledge hammer damage to my door
All the dead computers
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