Subj:    [Iowa-wk] FYI
Date:   02-12-08 21:36:09 EST
From:   [log in to unmask] (Mike Miller)
Sender: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask] (IAGPWRKLST)

More to come no doubt :<(  Mike Miller

From 2600.com via Truthout.org

Thursday, 6 December, 2002 06:03:48 UTC

An amateur photographer named Mike Maginnis was arrested on Tuesday in his
home city of Denver - for simply taking pictures of buildings in an area
where Vice President Cheney was residing. Maginnis told his story on
Wednesday's edition of Off The Hook.

snip

After being brought to the District 1 police station on Decatur Street,
Maginnis was made to wait alone in an interrogation room. Two hours later, a
Secret Service agent arrived, who identified himself as Special Agent
"Willse."

The agent told Maginnis that his "suspicious activities" made him a threat to
national security, and that he would be charged as a terrorist under the
USA-PATRIOT act. The Secret Service agent tried to make Maginnis admit that
he was taking the photographs to analyze weaknesses in the Vice President's
security entourage and "cause terror and mayhem."

When Maginnis refused to admit to being any sort of terrorist, the Secret
Service agent called him a "raghead collaborator" and a "dirty pinko faggot."

snip

Three hours later, Maginnis was finally released, but with no explanation. He
received no copy of an arrest report, and no receipt for his confiscated
possessions. He was told that he would probably not get his camera back, as
it was being held as evidence.

Maginnis's lawyer contacted the Denver Police Department for an explanation
of the day's events, but the police denied ever having Maginnis - or anyone
matching his description - in custody. At press time, the Denver PD's Press
Information Office did not return telephone messages left by 2600.

The new police powers introduced by the USA-PATRIOT act, in the name of
fighting terrorism, have been frightening in their apparent potential for
abuse. Mike Maginnis's experience on Tuesday is a poignant example of how
this abuse is beginning to occur. It suggests that a wide range of activities
which might be considered "suspicious" could be suddenly labeled a prelude to
terrorism, and be grounds for arrest.
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