Who is Paul Fetch? (hint: not just the guy who allegedly ripped off #OccupyBoston for thousands)

There's not yet been enough time to process everything that happened at last night's Occupy Boston General Assembly. At least not in a journalistically responsible way. So for now, until the callbacks come in and I look into this further, I'll just report my own observations from the ground. In the least I might be able to clarify some rumors that are popping up online and outside of camp.

Soon into the Tuesday GA the Finance Accountability Working Group (FAWG) – I think 14 in all – got up to announce that they'd voted unanimously to remove two members, Paul Carnes and Sidney Sherrel, “due to their lack of accountability, transparency, and not providing information to both the FAWG and general assembly." Carnes was then given a chance to defend himself, which he did by claiming that the camp had been infilitrated by spies who were trying to control everybody's mind.

Other revelations regarding Carnes (Sherrel seems to be bearing some of the burden, but Carnes is the main alleged crook here) that were announced include his using more than $500 in donations to buy Army fatigues for unspecified purposes, as well as TracFones that some say never made it to camp, and several small food buys in the area around Dewey Square. As a result, the group took 15 minutes to air things out, at the end of which Carnes retreated to the other end of camp, where he hid out in the information tent.

And I'm not finished. Carnes, who also goes by the alias Paul Fetch, turns out to be quite an interesting character. His Twitter bio says he's the “Leader of anonymous,” though he also has a history of warring with the headless Web activist group. He also claims he went to Harvard Business School, which I wouldn't doubt considering his alleged crimes, but which also appears to be untrue. What I do know for sure is that he's claiming his innocence, and as of last night refuses to sign documents that would relinquish his control of a specific Occupy Boston bank account (not the main donation fund). 

Below is an abridged Storify round-up of the breaking news section of last night's GA. This story is unfolding by the minute, so stay tuned for updates. In the meantime, Occupy Boston claims that they've turned a dark corner, and as of today will be using funds they've raised to buy food and clothes so that occupiers can get something other than peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to eat.

ALSO WORTH CHECKING: OFFICIAL OCCUPY BOSTON PRESS RELEASE RE: PAUL CARNES (A/K/A PAUL FETCH)