Before the Outbreak - Part Two | Occupy Hades

On April 10, 2014, a bedbug-infested mattress was on the left side of my apartment as I exited the apartment that first day. I saw other neighbors emerge from their apartments as well. When I got to the first floor, the maintenance man was at the guard station (where the security camera monitors are) with the security guard at the front door. He apologized and told me that a property manager, Behemoth, instructed him to leave the mattress beside my door and to put the insecticide in the hallway.

I don't know the apartment numbers of all the people who lived on the second floor where I lived at the time of the incident, but every tenant on that floor saw the bedbug-infested mattress. It was put against the wall directly beside my door and the pool of insecticide that lay the middle of our hallway. The pool of insecticide stretched from one end of the hallway to the other and was so wide that it was impossible for tenants, or our visitors, to avoid stepping into it.

Though I was disabled at the time of the incident, I was in the process of preparing myself to go back to work in radio broadcasting. I worked as an on-air personality before suffering a stroke in 2000. My goal was to gain employment as either an on-air radio personality or a producer of radio programming. However, the incident had a negative effect on my job search.

After the infestation I was afraid to go job hunting for fear of spreading bedbugs. Because I could not get rid of them, I was terrified of being in the middle of an interview and being humiliated because bedbugs would appear on my person at any time. I shunned public transportation for that same reason; for fear that I would be identified as a carrier of bedbugs.

The only statements about the incident from witnesses, which I have on record, are in an interview I conducted with a fellow tenant which was released via Karmic Radio, on SoundCloud.com. Specifically, the interview is the second part of a three-selection playlist called Occupy Hades. The name of the track is, The Case of the Bed Bug Mattress - PPD Report no. 14-108502.

Mister Al

Karmic Radio · The Faceless MPs - Occupy Hades

Before The Outbreak | Occupy Hades

In 2014 I was embroiled in conflict with property managers (a.k.a. an Agents of Satan) who represented organizations that were in charge of the property where I resided at the time. The drama began in July 2013, when my car was stolen.

The night before I came home early. It was Friday I parked my car in the parking lot of the apartment building where I live. The property had a well-lit parking lot guarded by a security guard. There were lots of surveillance cameras and the car was parked just outside of the front door as it is in this picture. Directly inside the inner door was the security guard's desk.

The night security guard allegedly noticed nothing out of the ordinary. However, when the morning security guard reported for work, my car was already gone. As I headed out that morning I passed by the security desk and said hello to the guard.

He asked me, "what are you doing here?" I thought he was joking. "What do you mean what am I doing here," I said, "I live here." "I didn't think you were home because your car's not outside," said the guard. He was clearly upset. I went out to the parking lot and for that someone had indeed stolen my car.

As I gazed stupidly at the empty parking spot, I felt a previously unknown rage grip my belly. Somebody stole my car out of a well lit parking lot, in spite of the many closed circuit security cameras on the property, and right from under the security guard's nose.

I walked across the street and filed a report with the Providence Police Department (PPD). Not long after the incident, my car was found in the parking lot of a supermarket in Willimantic, CT. It had been stripped of so many parts that it was no longer driveable.

Phoenix Rising

"Here the climax of the darkening is reached. The dark power at first held so high a place that it could wound all who were on the side of good and of the light. But in the end it perishes of it's own darkness, for evil must itself fall at the very moment when it has wholly overcome the good, and thus consumed the energy to which it owed its duration." - The I Ching: Ming I / Darkening of the Light (36).

Photo via Pixabay.com

Here's what's currently on the radar:
The Case of the Bedbug Mattress (PPD No. 14-108502): It took all of 2015 to complete and process four complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice that were filed as the result of an incident that took place on or about October 28, 2014.

The Providence Police Department responded that night, and their timely intervention led to the decision to file complaints against the offenders.  The entire incident is recounted in detail via The Faceless MPs, a radio project that was recorded live in late 2014 for both Karmic Radio at Soundcloud...


...and The Living Mirror at Mixcloud.

All of the four complaints that were filed with the Justice Department were forwarded to the U.S. Department of Housing and Development for further review.  Moreover, while there is a final report due at the completion of the investigation in it's entirety, only one notification has been received from H.U.D.  A total of four complaints were filed with DOJ and forwarded to H.U.D.

The creation and execution of Operation DeathTrap, against the dealership known as CarHop (formerly of Cranston, RI), took place between March and November of 2016.

Photo by Al Wiggins Jr.

At this writing, Operation Death Trap includes one successfully executed complaint of auto sales fraud that was filed through the Rhode Island Department of Motor Vehicles against Car Hop in Cranston, RI.  In addition to getting my money refunded, on November 18, I was notified via unofficial channels that Car Hop closed up shop in Rhode Island.  That news marks the conclusion of Operation Death Trap as it relates to CarHop.com, but there is a strong possibility that their closing is not the end of that disgraceful saga.

On a more positive note, there are a few really good programs for beginning social media, coding and infosec enthusiasts who want to take their curiosity and ingenuity to the next level. The only way to take full advantage of them is to study and practice. Making time for both is at the top of my agenda

Until next time, be good and stay safe.

The Founder