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 ...
Maybe you were right the first time.
I guess that is why the headline calls him an activist and not an Activist.
People who hold public meetings about blowing up dams deserve to be investigated. What a maroon.
Oh, the persecution! How he has suffered!
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?
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?
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.
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
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.
There has been quite a bit of eco terror in the past, and in some locales, dams are a hotbutton issue.
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?
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