Land of the Free..FBI goes knocking

[edit on 8-16-2004 by Valhall]

The Mafia used to send people around to convince [scare] business owners to pay for 'protection' from incidents that might happen.

The FBI uses intimidation too to convince [scare] people NOT to exercise their civil right to free speech to protect them from legal 'consequences' happening to them.

The FBI is no better than common criminals, in fact they are worse because they are shielded from scrutiny as a part of the US government, which most criminals are not.

edit: [for addtional thought]

In the story the 'court' decides it's ok to intimidate people even if it has a chilling effect:
The opinion said: "Given the limited nature of such public monitoring, any possible 'chilling' effect caused by the bulletins would be quite minimal and substantially outweighed by the public interest in maintaining safety and order during large-scale demonstrations."

BUT HEAVEN FORBID THAT WE GIVE DICK CHENEY A CHILLING EFFECT BY SEEING WHO HE TALKS TO ABOUT THE ENERGY POLICY OF OUR ENTIRE NATION.

Such disproportionate twisted hypocracy.

.

[edit on 16-8-2004 by slank]

so much for the first amendment.....but then most AMERICANS are more than ready to give up thier freedoms for PRECEIVED saftey. did these alledged POSSIBLE protestors actually do anything?? or is there a new division of law enforcement...FBPP..Federal Bureau of Possible Pre-crime. any one of us on ATS could be talked to about some views that could lead to a possible action that may taken to be .......... something that needs to be investigated.
'knock..knock'......

Ok, its really ON now.

Many of us have been attentive to the approach of fascism in the US, and this latest development will not surprise them.
I feel the need to say this is certainly a turning point however, and perhaps one of the last reality checks for those who have not realized what is happening.

America is being destroyed. And it isn't taking any further terrorist attacks. All it is taking is our willingness to let our leadership morph this nation into a police state.

U.

I saw this on the news last night, and I was so sad .

The "kids" they were strong-arming were just young people wanting to have a voice.

I watched a program on Kent State the other night and thought,"Here we go again"

I wonder how many casualties we won't hear about in NY???

Next. he'll decree himself King George !

Yes its sad.

I often find myself wondering how we can let this happen to ourselves, and then I remember that as a nation, we have a record of succumbing to such national hysteria in the past.
How many times will history repeat itself until we learn not to let ourselves be manipulated into such pathological fear?

U.

Originally posted by slank
The Mafia used to send people around to convince [scare] business owners to pay for 'protection' from incidents that might happen.

The FBI uses intimidation too to convince [scare] people NOT to exercise their civil right to free speech to protect them from legal 'consequences' happening to them.
[edit on 16-8-2004 by slank]

Social activists in the states have been warning a sleeping populace about such matters for decades.
This started a long time ago.

For instance, it has been common practice for a long time for courts to indict protesters on bogus charges so as to bog them down in legal defense efforts and so damage their activism.
In some cases, they have been arbitrarily forbidden to travel interstate for periods which coincided with important protests they were scheduled to speak at in other parts of the nation.

Our rights were a veil that is now being pulled away.

U.