Worrisome

[unixronin]

Capsule summary:  Oklahoma City man gets a police stop and a Secret Service inspection of his home for having an anti-Obama bumper sticker on his car.

The police officers who stopped Oklahoma City motorist Chip Harrison and confiscated a sign from his car told him he has a right to his beliefs, but the Secret Service "could construe this as a threat against President Obama," according to the incident report released this morning.

The sign, which read "Abort Obama Not the Unborn," was returned to Harrison later that day, the report said.

[...]

''When I was on my way there, the Secret Service called me and said they weren't going to ransack my house or anything ... they just wanted to (walk through the house) and make sure I wasn't a part of any hate groups."

[...]

He said they interviewed him for about 30 minutes and then left, not finding any evidence Harrison was a threat to the president.

Without further comment at this time.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/crossfire_/]

Yes, that's a good one to squirrel away for future rants.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

the fbi used to have to, but any reported credible threat has always required that they at least talk to the perp er citizen. not so very new.

what's new is having a bumper sticker trigger this. you can blame the police for this one, and for reporting him. it might be actionable, particularly if he now has a file.

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[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

''Don't Talk to Cops'''
part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8z7NC5sgik
part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08fZQWjDVKE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL_2lT8DojM - read the more info.

and many more videos like this.

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[mrakg.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm a trifle confused: Was it a bumpersticker or a window sign? "Confiscated" and "returned" leads me to doubt that it was a sticker. Signs are more useful, since they can be used at protests, as well as car window shades.

I'm of two minds about this.

First and most importantly, is the right to freedom of speech. Definitely trashed here - no question about that. [I will not blame Obama for that one...he'll probably find out about it from the news or an irate question. I'm not fool enough to think that the POTUS (past, present or future) is going to personal monitor bumperstickers/signs across the country. :) ] Some officers need to be reprimanded, at the minimum.

Second, I will say that the guy's choice of verb and object was incredibly stupid (inserting "'s policies" before "not" would probably have skated by, and not triggered the "threat to the POTUS" reaction). Freedom of speech is an absolute right, but one should be aware of the baggage attached to what one might say -- other people have the absolute freedom to ignore or misconstrue the statement.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the wording of the bumper (or window) sticker wasn't perhaps the wisest it could have been. I've also heard "Abort the Obama administration" suggested in the same context. But at the same time, fer crissakes, it's a [bumper|window] sticker, a statement of political opinion, and even if arguably offensive, it is still protected free speech. If we investigate everyone who criticizes the President, or the government as a whole, to make sure they're not an imminent threat, we'd have to investigate virtually everyone in the United States old enough to form and state an opinion.

[mrakg.livejournal.com]

Oh, I wasn't arguing that point at all (See the first opinion paragraph of my message!) The entire "must investigate any threat to the POTUS" meme has ALWAYS been ripe for abuse -- the correct response would have been:

"Eye-catching political sign?"
"Check."
"Is the bearer of the sign a direct threat?"
"No - he's half a continent away."
"Then move along, and leave the guy alone."

But, I must confess to a nagging suspicion that the gentleman in question may have deliberately chosen to use such an offensive turn of phrase to ensure that he could be a Martyr To The Cause. It happened with people who protested the previous two Administrations (i.e. from [in chronological order] the Right and the Left) so the odds are excellent that the sad trend will continue.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Oh, I wasn't arguing that point at all

I didn't say you were. I was agreeing with you. :)

I like that response though.