Stumbled across this: http://independentsupporterscouncil.com/acb-sanctions/ Casbah / Faultline signed onto an Independent Supporters Council (ISC) open letter to Don Garber decrying a travel ban for all members of L.A.'s Angel City Brigade: "we . . . strongly reject the punishment of the whole for the actions of the few." (Emphasis added). It's about time. Two years ago, when innocent individual members of the 1906 Ultras (including me) were subjected to the same form of collective punishment, ISC and its members were shamefully silent. The open letter signifies one of two things: either ISC has belatedly discovered a precept of which it was previously willfully ignorant, or its lofty principles are subject to a double-standard.
Back in August 2013, I asked the Faultline for an expression of solidarity with innocent Ultras, the same sort of solidarity the Faultline recently gave to Galaxy supporters. I received the following craven email: "While we appreciate your concern for the members of your group, at this time, we, as a Faultline community, feel that this situation concerns the Ultras and the Front Office and it will be ubiquitous [sic] for us to involve ourselves. Right now we are directing all our energies towards supporting the players and the team as we make our playoff push. Let’s hope for three points on Sunday. "Best, "The Faultline" Mind you, the email was from a former member of the Ultras who had been in Portland for the game in April 2013. He knew firsthand I was not in Portland and was innocent of any wrongdoing. He resigned from the Ultras and helped form Faultline and therefore went unpunished by the league or the Quakes. But despite knowing I and other Ultras were entirely innocent, neither he nor anyone else associated with the Faultline (also former Ultras) would offer words to the effect, "we . . . strongly reject the punishment of the whole for the actions of the few." As it happened, I did not need the solidarity of Faultline, or ISC. We were able to get MLS to stand down without their help. But by not taking a stand on principle when given the opportunity, Faultline showed its true colors.