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.