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FEDS ARREST MAN FOR TWEETING PUBLIC INFORMATION AT PITTSBURGH PROTEST
Jonathan Turley - Elliot Madison, 41, is the subject of an intriguing - and in my view compelling - constitutional fight with both federal and state authorities. A self-described anarchist, Madison was arrested for using Twitter to send messages on the location of police during the G20 protests. Pittsburgh has been accused of excessive measures and this case appears to be one such case.
Madison says that he was arrested because his tweets were assisting people to evade the police. FBI agents executed a search warrant at his home in Queens and seized computers, political writings, anarchist literature, gas masks and a pound of liquid mercury. The mercury could suggest additional charges are to come.
However, arresting someone for communications based on public observations is an abuse of authority and a violation of the Constitution. The scene is uncomfortably reminiscent of the Chinese police seeking people with pictures of publicly viewed abuses, here. Likewise, the Iranian government arrested bloggers viewed as supporting the protests over the presidential election, here.
This case involves a more sophisticated assault on free speech rights: claiming that the tweets assisted criminal conduct. It is a theory that would gut the First Amendment and create a chilling effect on citizen communications. . .
The involvement of the FBI only deepens the concern over the first amendment. Citizens are allowed to share publicly available information, even if it assists people engaged in unlawful protests.
Madison says that he was arrested because his tweets were assisting people to evade the police. FBI agents executed a search warrant at his home in Queens and seized computers, political writings, anarchist literature, gas masks and a pound of liquid mercury. The mercury could suggest additional charges are to come.
However, arresting someone for communications based on public observations is an abuse of authority and a violation of the Constitution. The scene is uncomfortably reminiscent of the Chinese police seeking people with pictures of publicly viewed abuses, here. Likewise, the Iranian government arrested bloggers viewed as supporting the protests over the presidential election, here.
This case involves a more sophisticated assault on free speech rights: claiming that the tweets assisted criminal conduct. It is a theory that would gut the First Amendment and create a chilling effect on citizen communications. . .
The involvement of the FBI only deepens the concern over the first amendment. Citizens are allowed to share publicly available information, even if it assists people engaged in unlawful protests.
4 Comments:
According to the criminals in control of our gov't., there are no lawful protests without squatting asking what color and shitting their prescribed crap. The murdering nazis at the FBI are simply political police now and have been from their unfortunate inception. Virtually everything they have ever done has been illegal and immoral.
Does anyone remember that once upon a time there was a nation of crazy radicals who believed things like this ....
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Of course, those were the same crazy radicals who hated the idea of a federal police force and standing armies. They viewed both as an inherent assault on freedom. They were right.
PS ... this isn't the first case like this.
Every summer, there is an event called the rainbow gathering. Its a bunch of hippies who decide to go into the woods on Independence Day and hold a prayer for peace. Its always held in a remote section of a national forest where people have to hike in.
Except, even out in the middle of nowhere, there are Forest Service law enforcement officers who go there specifically to harass people who want to pray for peace. You see stupid stuff like people being harassed for not having a dog on a leash 50 miles from the nearest town.
The people at the gatherings have a habit of trying to protect themselves from such harassment by shouting 'Six-Up' when these Forest Service cops walk down the trail. The Forest Service cops have in turn started treating this as a criminal offense, and try to arrest anyone who dare to shout "Six-up" in public because they see the public presence of police officers.
This is a new twist on this because it uses twitter. But the police have held this theory that its illegal for citizens to discuss police activities for some time now.
And my writing has led to this thought ....
In a democracy, the sovereign power is supposed to reside with the people. The people ultimately have the power to make the decisions about their society.
Except, this is impossible when the people don't have the information about what is supposedly their government is doing. So, when the police degree that it is illegal for citizens to observe and discuss the activities of the police, what they are really doing is subverting American democracy.
A police state, where the police and government hold the power, and a democracy, where the people have the power, are two different things, obviously. By trying to criminalize any observing of police actions and by criminalizing any discussion of police activities, what they police are trying to do is to make sure that the citizens have no ability to control the police.
All us hippies and protester types are routinely called un-American or anti-American. But, aren't these police actions designed to destroy the very basics of American freedom and democracy the most anti-American actions you can imagine.
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