Domestic Right Wing Terrorists!

[patric]

I love the "maliciously taunting a police animal" charge. That made me laugh since I routinely maliciously taunt my own dogs who routinely ignore me.
The charges that guy received were basically in lieu of "behaving stupidly in public and while police discharged their duties".

More fun:   

MT. CARMEL, Pa. (CBS) – Comments a five-year-old Pennsylvania girl allegedly made while standing in line for her school bus landed the child a lengthy suspension and a "terroristic threat" label, according to an attorney.

The little girl who attends kindergarten in the Mount Carmel Area School District in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, was waiting in line with friends on January 10 when according to her attorney, Robin Ficker, she said something to the effect of "I'm gonna shoot you, you can shoot me and we can all play together."

Those comments, Ficker said, were overheard by an adult prompting a search of the student's backpack – during which they did not find a gun.
"She was referring to a Hello Kitty bubble gun," said Ficker.
Ficker said the next day the child was questioned by school administrators without a parent present and then issued a letter of suspension for, "making a terroristic threat." He said the letter stated the child was not to be readmitted to school without a psych evaluation – which returned with no abnormalities.

"This is not an enemy of the state, she's a harmless 5-year-old girl," said Ficker.
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/01/21/attorney-kindergartner-suspended-for-alleged-threat-involving-bubble-gun/

[Vashta Nerada]

Manufactured Crimes Used to Paint Political Dissidents as Terrorists
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kris-hermes/the-nato-5-terrorism-charges_b_2552554.html

A high-stakes game is being played in the United States today called, "To Catch a Terrorist." The public need not worry, though, as the risks are surprisingly low. In this game, the police claim to prevent nefarious terrorist plots, while in reality they're taking credit for foiling the same victimless crimes they themselves manufacture. This deceitful strategy is used primarily on Muslims and Arab-Americans, but a string of recent cases shows how political dissidents are also being entrapped, both figuratively and literally.

Last year, Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez dusted off a rarely used 11-year-old Illinois State terrorism statute and, with great fanfare, charged several dissidents with crimes of terrorism on the eve of a national political protest. The NATO 5, as they became known, have since garnered widespread support in Chicago, across the country, and around the world.

* * *

In the dark of night with guns drawn, the police used "no-knock" search warrants to break down the doors of an apartment building in the Bridgeport district of Chicago at approximately 11:30 pm. Unbeknownst to the thousands of anti-NATO activists in the city at the time, and members of the local NLG chapter which was providing legal support for the demonstrations, the police arrested nine activists, seizing computers, cell phones, political literature and other personal belongings from the building. Police also searched neighboring apartments and questioned residents, allegedly repeatedly calling one of the tenants a "Commie friendly fellow."

The Chicago Police Department (CPD) refused to acknowledge they had arrested anyone in Bridgeport that night, let alone divulge where they were being held. It wasn't until the following afternoon that NLG attorneys determined nine activists had been taken to the Organized Crime Division of the CPD. Within 72 hours, six of the nine were released without charges.

On Saturday, the first day of the NATO summit, the three remaining activists were brought before Cook County Judge Edward Harmening on charges of possessing an incendiary device, material support for terrorism, and conspiracy to commit terrorism. The prosecutor wasted no time in labeling the defendants as "self-proclaimed anarchists," as if to inherently equate thought crime and political ideology with criminal activity or terrorism, though Assistant State's Attorney Matthew Thrun provided no evidence to substantiate his hyperbole. Thrun accused the three defendants -- Brian Jacob Church, who was 20 at the time, and Jared Chase and Brent Betterly, who were both 24 -- with preparing to commit "terrorist acts of violence and destruction directed against different targets in protest to the NATO summit":

    Specifically, plans were made to destroy police cars and attack four CPD stations with destructive devices, in an effort to undermine the police response to the conspirators' other planned action for the NATO summit. Some of the proposed targets included the Campaign Headquarters of U.S. President Barack Obama, the personal residence of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel (sic), and certain downtown financial institutions.

Although no evidence of the allegations was provided, Assistant State's Attorney Thrun asked the court to impose a bond of $5 million for each defendant. Judge Harmening rejected his request, but was apparently convinced enough by the State's proffer to impose an equally unreasonable amount of $1.5 million bond each. The prosecutor and judge likely reasoned that such a prohibitively high bond would keep the three defendants imprisoned until trial. They were right. Church, Chase, and Betterly have been held in Cook County Jail for more than eight months now, with their trial currently scheduled to begin on September 16, 2013, more than a year after they were arrested.

NLG attorneys representing Senakiewicz and Neiweem argued at their bond hearing that they were denied their Constitutional due process rights by being refused a hearing within 48 hours. Senakiewicz was allegedly held for 68 hours without seeing a judge or being able to access a phone or his attorney, who finally got to visit Senakiewicz only minutes before his bond hearing. Neiweem was allegedly held for 66 hours before getting a hearing, and was denied medical treatment in detention. According to the NLG, on several occasions Neiweem was forced to choose between seeing his attorney and going to the hospital.

But the terrorism-related charges weren't the only threads connecting the NATO 5 cases together. At least two undercover Chicago police officers are also believed to have been integral to each defendant's arrest and prosecution. Shortly after the Bridgeport raid, Occupy Chicago activists began piecing together a CPD spying operation that had lasted for months before the NATO summit. As early as March, two assumed activists who went by the names "Mo" and "Gloves" began working with the Occupy Chicago movement. On April 13th, at least one of them was arrested with a small group of Occupy Chicago activists, who had held a demonstration with STOP (Southside Together Organizing for Power) in order to keep open the Woodlawn Mental Health Clinic, which had been scheduled for closure by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

By the time Church, Chase and Betterly arrived in Chicago around May Day (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TudIyxxAboA), Mo and Gloves had fully ingratiated themselves in the ranks of the Occupy movement and were supposedly involved in helping plan the NATO demonstrations. By contrast, the three activists from Florida were unfamiliar with the political terrain in Chicago and, more than most, were vulnerable to manipulation by two unsuspected undercover cops.

While little is publicly known about the interactions between Church, Chase, and Betterly and the infiltrators, we do know that Mo and Gloves were arrested with the nine activists the night of the Bridgeport raid. For the past six months, defense attorneys have been poring over trillions of bytes of recorded and written information, an overwhelming amount of data that was dumped on them by the prosecution, thereby significantly complicating and hampering the discovery process.

Of course, that's part of the game... hiding the ball in plain sight, especially if the ingredients of entrapment are present. The defense wants to know how instructive Mo and Gloves might have been in getting the three to engage in the alleged criminal behavior. Did the undercover cops or their federal counterparts instigate the idea to use Molotov cocktails? How dependent were the three activists on Mo and Gloves to execute the plan? Answers to these questions would better enable the attorneys for Church, Chase, and Betterly to mount an entrapment defense, but by contrast the lack of answers will make that effort much more difficult.

To successfully assert an entrapment defense, the accused must show by a preponderance of the evidence that they were induced or coerced to commit the crime. By no means is this easy to do in a court of law. In fact, no terrorism charges since 9/11 have been beaten based on an entrapment defense, though there have been numerous cases involving undercover police and paid informants.

Three activists were charged with federal terrorism-related crimes during the 2008 Republican convention protests in St. Paul for possession of unused Molotov cocktails. And, in advance of May Day protests last year, five Occupy Cleveland activists were arrested and charged with attempting to blow up a bridge with fake explosives, supplied by the FBI. In each of these cases, paid FBI informants cultivated relationships with activists in order to carry out plans that would never have been hatched or developed without law enforcement participation.

"The State's Attorney is using sensational terrorism charges to justify the extensive investigation against Occupy Chicago, including months of infiltration as well as this expensive and ongoing prosecution," said Sarah Gelsomino, who is representing Church as an attorney with the People's Law Office. "We intend to show that the State's terrorism statute is bad law that should be stricken."
Prosecutors have been known to overcharge in criminal cases as a means of getting at least some of the charges to stick. It's difficult to deny that such a strategy is being used in this case.

Though their cases and situations are different than the three most seriously charged, Senakiewicz and Neiweem are getting the same level of support from activists in Chicago and elsewhere around the country. Neiweem is a local activist who has been targeted before by police for his lawful political activity. On at least one occasion since his incarceration, Neiweem allegedly has been badly beaten and hospitalized by Cook County Sheriff jail guards, and allegedly has been repeatedly held in isolation. Senakiewicz, an activist and Polish immigrant living in Chicago who was facing up to 15 years in prison, accepted a plea bargain in November, in which he agreed to a single terrorism-related felony, and a 4-year prison sentence. Although the prosecution led Senakiewicz to believe he would only have to serve a 120-day sentence in an out-of-county "boot camp" for non-violent offenders, he was ultimately ineligible for the program and will be forced to serve the entire sentence. Supporters also fear his immediate deportation upon release.

So, why were the NATO 5 arrested in such a spectacular way, just days before a controversial summit in Chicago? And, why are they being used as pawns in a high-stakes game of "To Catch a Terrorist?" Maybe the answers partly lie in the questions.

The motivations are actually just beneath the surface. The State's Attorney's aforementioned need to justify the investigation, infiltration and prosecution of the NATO 5 is likely a primary impulse. The tactic of preemptive police raids, a common trademark of NSSE law enforcement operations used to chill imminent protest activity, cannot be discounted. But, there is also a coordinated effort by local and federal officials to perpetuate a billion-dollar "protection racket," in which law enforcement uses an aggressive counter-terrorism approach to both instill fear in the public and then, after solving the "crime," induce the perception of safety. It's also reasonable to assume that the NATO terrorism cases are an extension of the ongoing efforts to monitor and undermine the Occupy Wall Street movement. Perhaps there are elements of each in the effort to prosecute the NATO 5.

Regardless of the motivations, the NATO 5 case is indicative of a growing trend in law enforcement strategies used during political demonstrations: entrapping dissidents in manufactured terrorism crimes. As Glenn Greenwald recently wrote in the Guardian:

    The most significant civil liberties trend of the last decade, in my view, is the importation of War on Terror tactics onto U.S. soil, applied to U.S. citizens... It should be anything but surprising that the FBI -- drowning in counter-terrorism money, power and other resources -- will apply the term 'terrorism' to any group it dislikes and wants to control and suppress.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Manufactured Crimes Used to Paint Political Dissidents as Terrorists

No big surprise there.  It's Chicago.

[Conan71]

It's Chicago.

Can't say that anymore.  It's racist.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Can't say that anymore.  It's racist.

Naw...it's still 'Daley's Machine'.  The public persona's are puppets no matter what color they are.

[Hoss]

Naw...it's still 'Daley's Machine'.  The public persona's are puppets no matter what color they are.

I've sworn off Chitown ever since they unceremoniously razed Meig's Field.  Daley's dirty work...

[heironymouspasparagus]

I flew over Chicago at night a couple weeks ago, and the city is pretty much a solid grid with the yellow/gold looking street lights.  Covering many square miles.  Haven't been over there in several years and forgot how "orderly" it looks.  And bright!!  They need some help with city lighting if anyone does....

[Teatownclown]

MONDAY, MAR 25, 2013 08:12 AM CDT
Memorial service planned for slain Colo. prisons chief
Tom Clements was killed the evening before his state signed landmark gun regulations into law

http://www.salon.com/2013/03/25/memorial_service_planned_for_slain_colo_prisons_chief/

Officials say Ebel had been a member of the 211s, a white supremacist prison gang in Colorado. El Paso County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Jeff Kramer says investigators are trying to determine whether the 211 gang was involved in the killing.

Amerikan's fear Arabs more than the right wing hate groupies....get ready, again!

[heironymouspasparagus]

MONDAY, MAR 25, 2013 08:12 AM CDT
Memorial service planned for slain Colo. prisons chief
Tom Clements was killed the evening before his state signed landmark gun regulations into law

http://www.salon.com/2013/03/25/memorial_service_planned_for_slain_colo_prisons_chief/

Amerikan's fear Arabs more than the right wing hate groupies....get ready, again!

Which, as with so much of what you say, is irrelevant.  The so-called "landmark" law was all about "assault rifles"...and yet, even though they are trying very hard to not let people know that this was NOT an assault rifle - so they can make irrelevant context references just like you - I did see a reference on one of the so called news reports implying it was a hand gun.

So how does this law help with enforcing any of the thousands of laws that criminals are breaking continuously??  Oh, that's right...not at all.

[Teatownclown]

Which, as with so much of what you say, is irrelevant.  The so-called "landmark" law was all about "assault rifles"...and yet, even though they are trying very hard to not let people know that this was NOT an assault rifle - so they can make irrelevant context references just like you - I did see a reference on one of the so called news reports implying it was a hand gun.

So how does this law help with enforcing any of the thousands of laws that criminals are breaking continuously??  Oh, that's right...not at all.

Boy howdy Heiry. That's an off the wall comment that skips the thread topic and goes straight through to "gun control" which was not the intent of the article nor the posting.

Ok, so what if it's not "landmark." It shows the growing intensity of the hate movement in Amerika. You and Conan can throw your dirt on the SPLC. Fact of the matter remains, these nuts are more dangerous to our society than Arab terrorists. Wait and see.  

[heironymouspasparagus]

Boy howdy Heiry. That's an off the wall comment that skips the thread topic and goes straight through to "gun control" which was not the intent of the article nor the posting.

Ok, so what if it's not "landmark." It shows the growing intensity of the hate movement in Amerika. You and Conan can throw your dirt on the SPLC. Fact of the matter remains, these nuts are more dangerous to our society than Arab terrorists. Wait and see.  

Wait...give it a minute..where did comment related to gun control come from...??  Oh, yeah...that would be YOU!!!  In the post immediately preceding....

But I know you are getting old now and it must be hard to remember what you just wrote... especially when it transcends rational thought!

As for "landmark", well it is another example of exactly how the clowns and idiots pushing the whole concept of a so-called "assault weapon" ban really don't even adhere to their own propaganda.  This appears to be done with a pistol.  But it does show that the real agenda is not JUST about "assault rifles" but at guns in general.  And you are either extremely naive to believe otherwise, or are joining in the lies and distortions being promoted so heavily.  One specific question - are you a liar?   (Or just naive...?)


And talk about going WAY off the reservation - what has SPLC got to do with anything in this post?  Unless you are trying to bridge from the guy being a skinhead to somehow Morris Dees is getting in on this...??  What is your connective point there?  (I happen to be a big fan of SPLC - they have it absolutely right way more than they get it wrong.)

[Teatownclown]

Wait...give it a minute..where did comment related to gun control come from...??  Oh, yeah...that would be YOU!!!  In the post immediately preceding....

But I know you are getting old now and it must be hard to remember what you just wrote... especially when it transcends rational thought!

As for "landmark", well it is another example of exactly how the clowns and idiots pushing the whole concept of a so-called "assault weapon" ban really don't even adhere to their own propaganda.  This appears to be done with a pistol.  But it does show that the real agenda is not JUST about "assault rifles" but at guns in general.  And you are either extremely naive to believe otherwise, or are joining in the lies and distortions being promoted so heavily.  One specific question - are you a liar?   (Or just naive...?)


And talk about going WAY off the reservation - what has SPLC got to do with anything in this post?  Unless you are trying to bridge from the guy being a skinhead to somehow Morris Dees is getting in on this...??  What is your connective point there?  (I happen to be a big fan of SPLC - they have it absolutely right way more than they get it wrong.)

Not off the reservation, a rather strange use of the term.

1) the prison system needs reform... http://denver.cbslocal.com/2013/03/23/gov-hickenlooper-a-friend-of-clements-murder-suspects-father/

2) there is a definite link between those that want to go after their own government if they mandate laws on gun sales: http://www.anotherblogspot.biz/blogs/185/276/southern-poverty-law-center-sl

3) a goal of many...too many: http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2013/03/15/man-with-militia-ties-accused-of-obama-assassination-threat/

instead of attacking TTC, try attacking the concept of extremists and why nobody speaks out other than the SPLC.

[heironymouspasparagus]

instead of attacking TTC, try attacking the concept of extremists and why nobody speaks out other than the SPLC.

You haven't been listening - I have been speaking out about extremists since my first day here.  Both your side's - LWRE - and the other, RWRE....

Like your extremist views about gun control.

[Teatownclown]

The right wing extremists have uncivil leadership...it's a mantra from FOTD : something about how our country's leadership needs to live a decent life by example which serves for a kinder country. That would include civility and quieting down inflammatory talk. No one has surfaced from the far right to tell their minions the GOP will no longer tolerate such prejudices (at least in public ).

There Is Outrage - but Tea Party Hispanics Silent Over Racial Slur
By Jim Avila | ABC OTUS News – 2 hrs 25 mins ago
http://news.yahoo.com/outrage-tea-party-hispanics-silent-over-racial-slur-202607858--abc-news-politics.html

Analysis by Jim Avila, ABC News Senior National Correspondent:
Pressure is intense, the outrage factor high after Rep. Don Young's racial slur overnight on public radio in his home state of Alaska.
Young called migrant workers on his childhood farm "wetbacks" during the interview.
"I used to own - my father had a ranch. We used to hire 50 to 60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes," said Young, 79. "You know, it takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now."
The reaction was so swift and white hot that Young issued two statements in one day. First, in what many felt was far from an apology, he said he meant "no disrespect," never using the words "sorry" or "apology."
Only after a full day of getting beaten up by his own party did the congressman make a mea culpa.
"I apologize for the insensitive term I used during an interview in Ketchikan, Alaska," he said. "There was no malice in my heart or intent to offend; it was a poor choice of words. That word, and the negative attitudes that come with it, should be left in the 20th century, and I'm sorry that this has shifted our focus away from comprehensive immigration reform."
The GOP, criticized during the last election cycle for being slow to react to perceived insults against women, and now trying to rebuild a relationship with Hispanic voters, quickly jumped all over Young before his apology today.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said, "Don Young's comments were offensive and have no place in our party or in our nation's discourse. He should apologize immediately."
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, added, "There is no excuse for ignorance" and said that Young, a congressman of 30 years, should "know terms like 'wetback' have never been acceptable.
"Migrant workers come to America looking for opportunity and a way to provide a better life for their families," Cornyn said in a paper statement. "They do not come to this country to hear ethnic slurs and derogatory language from elected officials. The comments used by Rep. Young do nothing to elevate our party, political discourse or the millions who come here looking for economic opportunity."
Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, harshly criticized Young.
"Congressman Young's remarks were offensive and beneath the dignity of the office he holds," Boehner said. "I don't care why he said it - there's no excuse and it warrants an immediate apology."
GOP strategist Danny Diaz told ABC News Senior Washington Correspondent Jeff Zeleny today that Republicans learned their lesson last year.
"The comment was insulting, and I think people see that and they're rightfully offended by it," Diaz said. "What's happened in the past in our political discourse is Republicans haven't been as quick as they need to be to denounce comments such as these. It's left a really bad impression on people."
But here is what is still missing even now: GOP Hispanic Republican comment, especially from the Tea Party wing of the GOP.
Sen. Marco Rubio's office told ABC News that the Cuban immigrant from Florida, who some see as the Republicans' best hope of repairing Latino disfavor with the party, is observing the Good Friday holiday and will not comment today. The staffer referred ABC News to party leadership statements from Boehner.
But Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Raul Labrador from Idaho did not answer repeated emails or phone calls on the issue.
And as rapidly as things unfold in today's political world, Rep. Young actually issued a full apology before the Tea Party Hispanics had a chance to call for one. Some say that it was smart not to get involved. Others are wondering where their outrage was.
ABC News' Serena Marshall contributed to this report.

But I have been beating that drum for 4 years.

[Teatownclown]

Heiry, how do you stop this?

How A Straw Purchaser Allegedly Enabled The Colorado Prison Chief's Murder
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/03/29/1794321/how-a-straw-purchaser-allegedly-enabled-the-colorado-prison-chiefs-murder/

On Thursday, the Denver Post reported how Evan Ebel, the accused killer of Colorado prisons chief Tom Clements, used a straw purchaser to acquire the 9mm semiautomatic handgun used in the shooting.
Ebel, a white supremacist gang member, was a felon and thereby was barred under federal law from possessing a gun.  Had he tried to go into a gun store a buy a gun, he would have failed the background check.  So instead Ebel used the most common method criminals use to acquire firearms: a straw purchaser.  In this case it is alleged that Stevie Marie Vigil, a 22-year-old woman, went in to High Plains Arms to buy a gun on Ebel's behalf.
The pattern is remarkably similar to the Christmas Eve ambush-murder of two firefighters in Webster, NY.  In that case, a 62-year-old felon named William H. Spengler allegedly relied on a neighbor, Dawn Nguyen, to buy the Bushmaster semiautomatic assault rifle he would use.