Kelly “Kombat” Benjamin, founder of the “original” 87X pirate radio station in Tampa, Florida, is running for a seat on the Tampa City Council. The election is tomorrow.
Benjamin, along with Doug Brewer and Lonnie Kobres, fell victim to the law on November 19, 1997, when agents from the FCC and Federal Marshals executed three coordinated SWAT-style raids on microradio stations in Florida.
The quasi-paramilitary nature of the operation was supposed to strike fear into pirates around the country – a symbol of the FCC’s “seriousness” about cracking down on unlicensed broadcasting. The incident actually only served to fuel the resistance.
Kelly’s experience with microradio has turned out to be an asset in his campaign: during one debate, his opponent (a current Tampa city council member) attempted to paint Benjamin’s “pirate” exploits as some form of criminal behavior. To his credit, Benjamin explained the concept of civil disobedience to the audience, who got the point and cheered him on.
Let us hope that Florida’s general penchant for election incompetence skirts Tampa’s District 2 tomorrow, and that the vote gets out.
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