Yakima Valley Peace Advocates Network

In 1814, the British marched on Washington and burned down the White House. In World War II, the United States fought a virulent fascism that took tens of millions of lives. During the cold war, we faced down tens of thousands of nuclear-tipped missiles pointed directly at our cities. These conflicts struck at the very heart of our survival as a nation.

Although there have always been men who call for dictatorial powers in times of crisis, our Bill of Rights survived these threats intact because our leaders knew that these freedoms are the foundation of our strength as a nation and must be protected.

Today we hear from the Bush administration that freedom must be traded for security -- that unless we cede our rights as citizens to the proper authorities, we will never be safe. Showing no historical perspective, callow pundits claim that the threats we face today are overwhelming compared to anything in the past.

Luckily, Americans are made of sterner stuff. We'll continue to protect freedom, and it will make us strong.

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YOUR RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES: USE THEM OR LOSE THEM
Rachel Neumann, AlterNet
The administration's attack on civil liberties is so overblown as to seem surreal. And if that weren't enough, currently proposed legislation would increase the PATRIOT Act's powers. Our right to think and speak for ourselves, without fear of spying neighbors, surveillance cameras or retaliation, is gravely threatened and only our collective and coordinated resistance will stop that threat.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16014

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GET READY FOR PATRIOT II
Matt Welch, AlterNet
The first USA PATRIOT Act was written, passed and signed into law within seven weeks of 9/11. As a result, the government gained new power to wiretap phones, confiscate property of suspected terrorists, spy on its own citizens without judicial review, conduct secret searches and snoop on the reading habits of library users. Now Attorney General John Ashcroft wants to finish the job.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15541

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IMMIGRANT FAMILIES CONDEMN RACIAL TARGETING
Tram Nguyen, ColorLines RaceWire
A series of "Public Truth" forums planned around the country highlight the impact of the war on terrorism and national security on the lives of immigrants, refugees and communities of color. Despite widespread fear in their communities, participants are outspoken in condemning the policies and practices that have unjustly targeted them.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15943

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PATRIOT RAID
Jason Halperin, AlterNet
Loaded guns pointed in faces, people made to crawl on their hands and knees, police officers kicking in doors, keeping their fingers on the trigger even after the situation was under control. All a mistake. And, according to the ACLU a perfectly legal one, thanks to the PATRIOT Act. People who thought these laws would never affect them, who thought that the PATRIOT Act only applied to the guilty, should heed this story as a wake-up call.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15770

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GETTING ASHCROFTED
Farai Chideya, AlterNet
Everybody wants to cash in on the marketability of biometrics, the technology of identifying people based on biological traits. Biometrics extends far beyond electronic fingerprinting to retinal scans and, perhaps most controversial, face recognition from video surveillance. Let's face it: the biometrics industry is fast becoming Big Brother, Inc.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15781

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SELLING CIVIL LIBERTIES
Kari Lydersen, AlterNet
Americans are used to being bombarded with ads for everything from shampoo and SUVs to dating services and weight loss regimens. But now they are also seeing paid ads selling them on an issue that many previously either took for granted or didn't think about much at all: the importance of our civil liberties. The campaign represents the first time in its 80-year history that the ACLU has run paid TV ads.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15757

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ENVIRONMENTALISTS = TERRORISTS
Karen Charman, TomPaine.com
If legislation crafted by the ultra-conservative American Legislative Exchange Council becomes law, some fundamental rights of American citizenship -- like signing a Sierra Club petition or publicly protesting for animal rights -- could become illegal.
http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/7748

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LIBERTY VANISHES WHILE THE PRESS SLEEPS
Nat Hentoff, Village Voice
The media, with few exceptions, are failing to report consistently and in depth precisely how Bush and Ashcroft are undermining our fundamental individual liberties. For instance, how many Americans know that if PATRIOT II is passed (and Bush certainly won't veto it), they can be stripped of their citizenship if charged with giving "material support" to a group designated by the government as "terrorist"?
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15630

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SURVEILLANCE 101
Annalee Newitz, AlterNet
Is New York City a laboratory for a "future surveillance state"? U.S. privacy laws allow public surveillance because, their proponents say, you have no reasonable expectation of privacy on the street. But some activists think New York's mechanical eyes violate human dignity, converting our anonymous public lives into somebody's private video collection.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15587

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SHREDDING ASHCROFT
Jim Hightower, AlterNet
One of the most inspiring -- and unexpected -- sources of resistance to Ashcroft's wild schemes are America's librarians. These gutsy defenders of liberty are distributing information and joining public discussion groups to tell us about the freedom-busting legislation that Ashcroft cynically titled the "USA PATRIOT Act."
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15843

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Patriot Raid

Your tax dollars at work: The Patriot Act in New York City

By Jason Halperin April 29, 2003

Two weeks ago I experienced a very small taste of what hundreds of South Asian immigrants and U. S. citizens of South Asian descent have gone through since

9/11, and what thousands of others have come to fear. I was held, against my will and without warrant or cause, under the USA PATRIOT Act. While I understand the need for some measure of security and precaution in times such as these, the manner in which this detention and interrogation took place raises serious questions about police tactics and the safeguarding of civil liberties in times of war.

That night, March 20th, my roommate Asher and I were on our way to see the Broadway show "Rent." We had an hour to spare before curtain time so we stopped into an Indian restaurant just off of Times Square in the heart of midtown. I have omitted the name of the restaurant so as not to subject the owners to any further harassment or humiliation.

We helped ourselves to the buffet and then sat down to begin eating our dinner. I was just about to tell Asher how I'd eaten there before and how delicious the vegetable curry was, but I never got a chance. All of a sudden, there was a terrible commotion and five NYPD in bulletproof vests stormed down the stairs. They had their guns drawn and were pointing them indiscriminately at the restaurant staff and at us.

"Go to the back, go to the back of the restaurant," they yelled.

I hesitated, lost in my own panic.

"Did yo u not hear me, go to the back and sit down," they demanded.

I complied and looked around at the other patrons. There were eight men including the waiter, all of South Asian descent and ranging in age from late-teens to senior citizen. One of the policemen pointed his gun point-blank in the face of the waiter and shouted: "Is there anyone else in the restaurant?" The waiter, terrified, gestured to the kitchen.

The police placed their fingers on the triggers of their guns and kicked open the kitchen doors. Shouts emanated from the kitchen and a few seconds later five Hispanic men were made to crawl out on their hands and knees, guns pointed at them.

After patting us all down, the five officers seated us at two tables. As they continued to kick open doors to closets and bathrooms with their fingers glued to their triggers, no less than ten officers in suits emerged from the stairwell. Most of them sat in the back of the restaurant typing on their laptop computers. Two of them walked over to our table and identified themselves as officers of the INS and Homeland Security Department.

I explained that we were just eating dinner and asked why we were being held. We were told by the INS agent that we would be released once they had confirmation that we had no outstanding warrants and our immigration status was OK'd.

In pre-9/11 America, the legality of this would have been questionable. After all, the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution states: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violat ed; and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized."

"You have no right to hold us," Asher insisted.

"Yes, we have every right," responded one of the agents. "You are being held under the Patriot Act following suspicion under an internal Homeland Security investigation."

The USA PATRIOT Act was passed into law on October 26, 2001 in order to facilitate the post 9/11 crackdown on terrorism (the name is actually an acronym: "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act"). Like most Americans, I did not recognize the extent to which this bill foregoes our civil liberties.

Among the unprecedented rights it grants to the federal government are the right to wiretap without warrant, and the right to detain without warrant. As I quickly discovered, the right to an attorney has been seemingly fudged as well.

When I asked to speak to a lawyer, the INS official informed me that I do have the right to a lawyer but I would have to be brought down to the station and await security clearance before being granted one. When I asked how long that would take, he replied with a coy smile: "Maybe a day, maybe a week, maybe a month."

We insisted that we had every right to leave and were going to do so. One of the policemen walked over with his hand on his gun and taunted: "Go ahead and leave, just go ahead."

We remained seated. Our IDs were taken, and brought to the officers with laptops. I was questioned over the fact that my license was out of state, and asked if I had "something to hide." The police continued to hassle the kitchen workers, demanding licenses and dates of birth. One of the kitchen workers was shaking hysterically and kept providing the day's date--March 20, 2003, over and over.

As I continued to press for legal counsel, a female officer who had been busy typing on her laptop in the front of the restaurant, walked over and put her finger in my face. "We are at war, we are at war and this is for your safety," she exclaimed. As she walked away from the table, she continued to repeat it to herself, "We are at war, we are at war. How can they not understand this?"

I most certainly understand that we are at war. I also understand that the freedoms afforded to all of us in the Constitution were meant specifically for times like these. Our freedoms were carved out during times of strife by people who were facing brutal injustices, and were intended specifically so that this nation would behave differently in such times. If our freedoms crumble exactly when they are needed most, then they were really never freedoms at all.

After an hour and a half the INS agent walked back over and handed Asher and me our licenses. A policeman took us by the arm and escorted us out of the building. Before stepping out to the street, the INS agent apologized. He explained, in a low voice, that they did not think the two of us were in the restaurant. Several of the other patrons, though of South Asian descent, were in fact U. S. citizens. There were four taxi drivers, two students, one newspaper salesman-- unwitting customers, just like Asher and me. I doubt, though, they received any apologies from the INS or the Department of Homeland Security.

Nor have the over 600 people of South Asian descent currently being held without charge by the Federal government. Apparently, this type of treatment is acceptable. One of the taxi drivers, a U. S. citizen, spoke to me during the interrogation. "Please stop talking to them," he urged. "I have been through this before. Please do whatever they say. Please for our sake."

Three days later I phoned the restaurant to discover what happened. The owner was nervous and embarrassed and obviously did not want to talk about it. But I managed to ascertain that the whole thing had been one giant mistake. A mistake. Loaded guns pointed in faces, people made to crawl on their hands and knees, police officers clearly exacerbating a tense situation by kicking in doors, taunting, keeping their fingers on the trigger even after the situation was under control. A mistake. And, according to the ACLU a perfectly legal one, thanks to the Patriot Act.

The Patriot Act is just the first phase of the erosion of the Fourth Amendment. From the Justice Department has emerged a draft of the Domestic Securities Enhancement Act, also known as Patriot II. Among other things, this act would allow the Justice Department to detain anyone, anytime, secretly and indefinitely. It would also make it a crime to reveal the identity or even existence of such a detainee.

Every American citizen, whether they support the current war or not, should be alarmed by the speed and facility with which these changes to our fundamental rights are taking place. And all of those who thought that these laws would never affect them, who thought that the Patriot Act only applied to the guilty, should heed this story as a wake-up call. Please learn from my experience. We are all vulnerable so speak out and organize, our Fourth Amendment rights depend upon it.

Jason Halperin lives in New York City and works at Doctors Without Borders/Medicins San Frontieres.

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