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| Jacob Katel |
| Jared Chase (far right, with bandanna) at Occupy Miami's "Fort Peace," February 9, 2012 |
Ten days after the City of Miami evicted the Occupy Miami camp from the Government Center downtown,
reporter Michael Miller and I visited "Fort Peace," the inner city apartment complex opened as a safehouse to the movement by Rodrigo "Señor Paz" Duque.
One of the first photos I shot, of seven Occupiers on a stairwell, included Jared Chase of Keene, New Hampshire -- who's now infamous nationwide as a domestic terror suspect, one of the three Occupiers arrested as part of the so-called "NATO 3." We didn't spend much time with Jared in Overtown, but we did catch him on video for a while. Online, he left a record that paints a clear picture of a troubled, drug-addicted former gang member trying to reinvent himself in Occupy's turbulent Miami movement.
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| Jacob Katel |
| Jared Chase in a stairwell at "Fort Peace" with other Occupy Miamiers |
Chase and two other South Florida Occupiers -- Brian Church and Brent Betterly -- were charged over the weekend with plotting a violent attack on police, banks and Obama's campaign headquarters during this week's NATO summit in Chicago.
All three spent time at Fort Peace, the chaotic, lawless Overtown enclave
we wrote about in depth in March. Fellow Occupiers have reacted with dismay to the arrests -- and the NATO 3's attorneys now
claim they were set up by the feds.
The three suspects haven't spoken since their arrest. But Chase, at least, left a serious digital trail on the web that starts in New Hampshire, winds through Boston, Tampa, and Miami, and includes his musical work as a DJ and producer, battles with crack and meth addiction and life as a gang member in his home state of New Hampshire.
Here is a freeze frame from a video interview we shot at Occupy Miami's Fort Peace (click through for the full video):
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| Jacob Katel |
| Jared Chase at Occupy Miami's "Fort Peace" February 2012 |