Crime
The Green Party gets burglarized
by Ben Geman
Was it theft or was it vandalism?
Earlier this week, computers and cash were stolen from the second-story
downtown Lawrence office that houses the Massachusetts Green Party and
serves as an information clearinghouse for the national Green Party USA.
The break-in, which police say was accomplished by smashing an office window,
was discovered by state Green Party co-chair Jonathan Leavitt on Tuesday
morning and must have occurred after the last Green Party staff member left the
night before, Leavitt says.
Lost in the theft were brand-new computer equipment used by the state party and
an eight-month-old computer system used by GP/USA. Also gone are
safety-deposit-box keys, a portable phone, a cash box containing about $200,
and some checks. The total cost of the break-in, including property damage,
Leavitt says, is roughly $7000 to $10,000. "It was a mess," he says.
"Completely ransacked."
Lawrence Police Department captain Michael Molchan says police will check
secondhand stores for the stolen items. As of Tuesday night, there were no
suspects. Molchan also says police will explore whether there's a connection to
a burglary on the same street on March 5, when a lawyer's office window was
smashed and a fax machine taken.
Leavitt points out that the door leading downstairs from the Green Party
offices to offices of the Lawrence Grassroots Initiative was smashed open and
the Lawrence Grassroots Initiative's office was searched. But nothing was taken
there, though there were computers and cash on hand. This leaves Leavitt
wondering whether the break-in motive was money or hurting the party. He points
out that progressive groups have been targeted in the past by opposition groups
as well as the government.
"It will certainly put our work back by a few weeks, and we will have a lot of
work to do to get up to speed," Leavitt says. The break-in came at a busy time
for the state and national Greens, who are gearing up their presidential
campaign with progressive Ralph Nader as the likely nominee. (The state Greens
hold their nominating convention on March 25 in Cambridge.)
If there is a silver lining, Leavitt says, it's that the Green Party isn't
exactly top-heavy. "[T]he good thing about the Green Party organization is that
so much of it is decentralized that they cannot just take out the Green Party
by taking the computer equipment," he says.