Last month, I reported that Greenpeace’s First Amendment rights are under attack by the Ashcroft Justice Department. As I said then, don’t worry about Greenpeace, worry about the rights of the guy you never heard of.
That guy’s name is Brett Bursey. On October 24, 2002, President Bush made a stop at the airport in Columbia, South Carolina to campaign for Republicans Mark Sanford and Lindsey Graham. At the rally, Mr. Bush said terrorists hate Americans for our freedoms. Mr. Bursey never heard the remark about his freedoms, because by then he had been arrested and taken away. Mr. Bursey’s crime was to stand across the street from where the rally was to be, holding a sign that said, “No War for Oil.” Local police arrested Mr. Bursey and charged him with trespassing. Other people near Mr. Bursey also held signs and were not arrested. Their signs expressed support for the Republican candidates. Police told Mr. Bursey he was arrested because of the content of his sign.
The trespassing charge was dropped, but five months later, the U.S. attorney for South Carolina, Strom Thurmond, Jr., brought a new charge against Mr. Bursey based on an obscure federal law that allows the Secret Service to clear a mile-wide zone around the president. A representative of the Secret Service, Brian Marr, said protesters like Mr. Bursey need to be arrested for their own safety. Mr. Marr said protesters may get so carried away that they might inadvertently step into the path of the president’s motorcade and be run over. Except there was no motorcade that day in South Carolina. The president flew in and flew out. Maybe the Secret Service was worried Mr. Bursey might wander onto the runway.
If Brett Bursey is convicted, he faces a $5,000 fine and six months in jail. As in the case against Greenpeace, the Ashcroft Justice Department is scouring the law library, looking for books to throw at those who would use their First Amendment rights to disagree with the Bush administration and to intimidate those who might be thinking about it.
Like the Roman emperors he apparently envies, George Bush cannot stand to be within a mile of anyone who disagrees with him, even if those people are American citizens, who he is – at least theoretically – serving and even if those citizens have a constitutionally-guaranteed right to disagree, if they so choose.
Mr. Bush says he does not read the newspapers or watch the news. Anyone caught having an opinion in his general vicinity is handcuffed and taken away. One has to wonder what version of reality is getting through to the most powerful man in the world.
To be fair, Brett Bursey may not be the man you never heard of. His case has been reported in news outlets from National Public Radio to the Associated Press to the UK’s Economist magazine, but then the British press has regularly beaten the American press lately. In May of this year, 11 congressmen – 10 Democrats and one Republican – sent a letter to John Ashcroft, urging him to drop the case against Mr. Bursey; Mr. Ashcroft declined to do so.
Similar charges have been brought in Tampa, St. Louis and Pennsylvania. Last week in Miami, police used gas, rubber bullets and armored personnel carriers against citizens protesting a Free Trade Area of the Americas meeting there. In that case, many reporters were “embedded” with the riot cops.
In Washington, DC, an investigation continues into the illegal arrests of over 400 people in September 2002, some of them anti-globalization protesters, some passers-by, none of them guilty of breaking a law.
Brett Bursey is still awaiting trial; his lawyers are trying to get access to police communications to determine how Mr. Bursey and his sign were picked out from all the other signs to be arrested and stripped of his First Amendment rights.
This year, as we give thanks on our national holiday, please remember to give thanks for your right of free speech. You might not have it next year.
The Guy You Never Heard Of
Last month, I reported that Greenpeace’s First Amendment rights are under attack by the Ashcroft Justice Department. As I said then, don’t worry about Greenpeace, worry about the rights of the guy you never heard of.
That guy’s name is Brett Bursey. On October 24, 2002, President Bush made a stop at the airport in Columbia, South Carolina to campaign for Republicans Mark Sanford and Lindsey Graham. At the rally, Mr. Bush said terrorists hate Americans for our freedoms. Mr. Bursey never heard the remark about his freedoms, because by then he had been arrested and taken away. Mr. Bursey’s crime was to stand across the street from where the rally was to be, holding a sign that said, “No War for Oil.” Local police arrested Mr. Bursey and charged him with trespassing. Other people near Mr. Bursey also held signs and were not arrested. Their signs expressed support for the Republican candidates. Police told Mr. Bursey he was arrested because of the content of his sign.
The trespassing charge was dropped, but five months later, the U.S. attorney for South Carolina, Strom Thurmond, Jr., brought a new charge against Mr. Bursey based on an obscure federal law that allows the Secret Service to clear a mile-wide zone around the president. A representative of the Secret Service, Brian Marr, said protesters like Mr. Bursey need to be arrested for their own safety. Mr. Marr said protesters may get so carried away that they might inadvertently step into the path of the president’s motorcade and be run over. Except there was no motorcade that day in South Carolina. The president flew in and flew out. Maybe the Secret Service was worried Mr. Bursey might wander onto the runway.
If Brett Bursey is convicted, he faces a $5,000 fine and six months in jail. As in the case against Greenpeace, the Ashcroft Justice Department is scouring the law library, looking for books to throw at those who would use their First Amendment rights to disagree with the Bush administration and to intimidate those who might be thinking about it.
Like the Roman emperors he apparently envies, George Bush cannot stand to be within a mile of anyone who disagrees with him, even if those people are American citizens, who he is – at least theoretically – serving and even if those citizens have a constitutionally-guaranteed right to disagree, if they so choose.
Mr. Bush says he does not read the newspapers or watch the news. Anyone caught having an opinion in his general vicinity is handcuffed and taken away. One has to wonder what version of reality is getting through to the most powerful man in the world.
To be fair, Brett Bursey may not be the man you never heard of. His case has been reported in news outlets from National Public Radio to the Associated Press to the UK’s Economist magazine, but then the British press has regularly beaten the American press lately. In May of this year, 11 congressmen – 10 Democrats and one Republican – sent a letter to John Ashcroft, urging him to drop the case against Mr. Bursey; Mr. Ashcroft declined to do so.
Similar charges have been brought in Tampa, St. Louis and Pennsylvania. Last week in Miami, police used gas, rubber bullets and armored personnel carriers against citizens protesting a Free Trade Area of the Americas meeting there. In that case, many reporters were “embedded” with the riot cops.
In Washington, DC, an investigation continues into the illegal arrests of over 400 people in September 2002, some of them anti-globalization protesters, some passers-by, none of them guilty of breaking a law.
Brett Bursey is still awaiting trial; his lawyers are trying to get access to police communications to determine how Mr. Bursey and his sign were picked out from all the other signs to be arrested and stripped of his First Amendment rights.
This year, as we give thanks on our national holiday, please remember to give thanks for your right of free speech. You might not have it next year.