2600's layout and design artist, ShapeShifter, is scheduled to go on trial in Philadelphia on Tuesday, November 14. He was arrested on August 2nd during the Republican National Convention and held on half a million dollars bail.

ShapeShifter was doing nothing but carrying a cellular phone and walking down a street at the time of his arrest. Yet his involvement in activism (he hosted a panel on the subject at H2K in July) was enough to have him targeted. He was accused of conspiracy and having a criminal tool in the form of the cellular phone.

This was only one of many such cases. While only a handful were held on such preposterously high bail, hundreds of others were taken off the streets in a relentless assault by Philadelphia police. And in a move that surely caught the authorities by surprise, the majority of defendants opted to go to trial instead of paying a small fine. The belief is that taking these cases to the courts will enable the facts to become public - facts surrounding the targeting of certain individuals, the unexplained raid and closure of a puppet warehouse, and the alleged abuses of those who were arrested.

ShapeShifter's trial will start at 12:30 pm on Tuesday, November 14 in Room 806 at the Criminal Justice Center on 13th and Filbert, just north of City Hall in Philadelphia.

More details on other related cases can be found at www.r2kphilly.org.