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activist's Remark Starts FBI Probe
AP via Newsday ^ | August 26, 2006, 2:01 PM EDT | JIM SUHR

Posted on 08/26/2006 12:32:56 PM PDT by james500

ST. LOUIS -- Jim Bensman thought his suggestion during a public hearing was harmless enough: Instead of building a channel so migratory fish could go around a dam on the Mississippi River, just get rid of the dam.

Instead, the environmental activist found himself in hot water, drawing FBI scrutiny to see whether he had any terrorist intentions.

The case "shows just how easy it is to be labeled a suspected terrorist," he says.

(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS:
The FBI really is out of control! Oh wait, I just read the rest of the article. The guy's a loudmouth and the FBI is just doing its job.
1 posted on 08/26/2006 12:32:57 PM PDT by james500
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To: james500
From the article: "the corps' presentation of possible options included a picture of a dam being dynamited"

Maybe you were right the first time.

2 posted on 08/26/2006 12:35:41 PM PDT by BenLurkin ("The entire remedy is with the people." - W. H. Harrison)
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To: james500
Bensman is affiliated with the Sierra Club and the forest-protection group Heartwood, and his environmental activism is well-known around much of the Midwest. He has railed against logging and gone to bat for bats, woodpeckers and, lately, migratory fish in the Mississippi.

I guess that is why the headline calls him an activist and not an Activist.

3 posted on 08/26/2006 12:37:07 PM PDT by operation clinton cleanup (Assistant to the traveling secretary.)
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To: james500

People who hold public meetings about blowing up dams deserve to be investigated. What a maroon.


4 posted on 08/26/2006 12:37:32 PM PDT by ozzymandus
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To: james500
Eco terror is real.


5 posted on 08/26/2006 12:53:35 PM PDT by ElkGroveDan (California bashers will be called out)
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To: BenLurkin
"the corps' presentation of possible options included a picture of a dam being dynamited"

"Maybe you were right the first time."

I was not there but I'll but that in the presentation the Corps explained the negative effects of removing the dam. Those would include a loss of some flood control, and more importantly, would be an increase in distribution cost of goods. A barge can carry as much 500 trucks, so delivery cost will be passed on to consumers. Add to that the cost for repairs to highways caused by increased truck usage.
6 posted on 08/26/2006 1:01:16 PM PDT by MPJackal ("If you are not with us, you are against us.")
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To: MPJackal
Believe me I have no sympathy for the Sierra club wackos.

Nor any sympathy for out of control government
7 posted on 08/26/2006 1:08:30 PM PDT by BenLurkin ("The entire remedy is with the people." - W. H. Harrison)
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To: BenLurkin
In defense of the government on this one, if this guy blew the thing up and people died, and then it became public he made these statements. The public, media, and dems would be screaming for someones head because they did not take him seriously.
8 posted on 08/26/2006 1:20:30 PM PDT by MPJackal ("If you are not with us, you are against us.")
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To: james500
According to the article, the FBI investigation consisted of an agent calling him and asking him if he was a terrorist.

Oh, the persecution! How he has suffered!

9 posted on 08/26/2006 1:55:02 PM PDT by Bubba_Leroy (What did Rather know and when did he know it?)
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To: BenLurkin

I know the difference between a diagram of a possible construction project put out by the Corps and the following:

"...his environmental activism is well-known around much of the Midwest. He has railed against logging and gone to bat for bats, woodpeckers and, lately, migratory fish in the Mississippi." Great, nothing wrong with that so far.

"They all know me, and I'm a thorn in their side," Bensman says of the Corps of Engineers. "I'm one of their biggest critics, and I'm sure I drive a lot of them crazy. But the First Amendment gives me a right to publicly speak out."


Now, knowing that ELF is a terrorist organization, when a newspaper prints this:

"... a local newspaper reported that Bensman "said he would like to see the dam blown up and resents paying taxes to fix dam problems when it is barge companies that profit from the dam.""

the Corps asks FBI to determine if there's a problem with this guy. THE FBI CALLS HIM ON THE PHONE TO ASK HIM IF HE'S A TERRORIST. He says, "NO" and that's going to be the end of the investigation. No Guantanamo, no secret CIA prison.

"Dooley noted that when it comes to determining security threats "there's probably a lower threshold after 9/11." "

"Don't you have something more to worry about?'" Bensman said. "He(FBI) said: 'We have to investigate everything.'"

What did I leave out that leads you to believe that they're not doing their job but are out of control?





10 posted on 08/26/2006 1:58:15 PM PDT by james500
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To: james500

Before you take sides in this matter, think, for a moment, how easy it has become for the government to criminalize just about any ordinary citizen. When I was young, I thought the FBI was tops, the honorable elite of law enforcement. But then there was Ruby Ridge and Waco and the Richard Jewel debacle. Food for thought, no?


11 posted on 08/26/2006 2:38:23 PM PDT by Continental Soldier
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To: james500
He urged that the dam be torn out. He said he never mentioned blowing the dam up, though the corps' presentation of possible options included a picture of a dam being dynamited.

The next day, however, a local newspaper reported that Bensman "said he would like to see the dam blown up and resents paying taxes to fix dam problems when it is barge companies that profit from the dam."

My guess is that he said the dam should be blown up and is now either prevaricating or suffering from self-deception.

12 posted on 08/26/2006 2:46:53 PM PDT by etlib (No creature without tentacles has ever developed true intelligence)
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To: Continental Soldier

what about the group of FBI agents that refused to take part in ruby ridge when the rules of engagement were changed?
Not all of them are bastards and if this guy made a comment about blowing up a dam, he needs more then just a phone call


13 posted on 08/26/2006 3:15:28 PM PDT by Charlespg (Civilization and freedom are only worthy of those who defend or support defending It)
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To: Continental Soldier


Ruby Ridge? You mean where an infant was shot by an FBI sharpshooter? I remember it and watched most of the hearings on C-SPAN. I think that was when Sen Biden was getting his hair plugs installed in his scalp.

I'm sorry you were disillusioned about the FBI but there's just nothing in the article to suggest that they ,paraphrasing, criminalized an ordinary citizen (as opposed to a special citizen?). In fact, he'll likely be able to say that the FBI investigated him and found no cause for alarm!

That I'm defending the FBI out of some childish naivite is just not supported by anything I've said. I'm not defending the FBI, I'm defending the actions of the FBI IN THIS CASE to the limited extent of my knowledge of the facts.



14 posted on 08/26/2006 3:19:03 PM PDT by james500
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To: ElkGroveDan

There has been quite a bit of eco terror in the past, and in some locales, dams are a hotbutton issue.


15 posted on 08/26/2006 3:24:25 PM PDT by Scotsman will be Free
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To: Continental Soldier

The villain here was the vindictive jerks at the Army Corps of Engineers who alerted the FBI as a way to intimidate a guy who had been annoying them for years.

The FBI didn't have a choice. They weren't abusive.

BTW - If they remove a dam, isn't blowing it up the way it's done? How else would you describe it?


16 posted on 08/28/2006 2:46:24 PM PDT by AlexandriaDuke (Conservatives want freedom. Republicans want power.)
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