Overreaction and The Continued Erosion of Civil Rights

A young Boston College student decided to protest outside a local military recruitment office. His idea? To dress as that anonymous abu Ghraib prisoner pictured standing on a box in a hooded cape with wires dangling from his fingers and genitals.

Brilliant, no?

Well...

Previtera stood outside the recruitment center for over an hour. And then the police arrived. Within hours he was facing charges more serious than any US soldier is facing for their role in the actual prison abuse in Iraq. Previtera was charged with three crimes: disturbing the peace, possession of a hoax device and making a false bomb threat. If convicted he could face years in prison.

You read that correctly; making a false bomb threat. Despite that one picture beamed around the world a million times and being instantly familiar to everyone, the cops charged him with making a bomb threat.

Michael McCarthy, a spokesman for the Boston Police Department told the Boston Phoenix: "It can be implied, with fingers and wires - especially in a heightened state of alert, as we are. Mr. Previtera should know better. He's a young adult educated at Boston College from a wealthy suburb. I'm sure he knows wires attached to his fingers, running to a milk crate, would arouse suspicion outside a military recruiters' office [when he's] dressed in prisoner's garb. If he has any questions as to why people think he may've had a bomb, then he needs to maybe go back to Boston College to brush up on his public policy. Or at least common sense, but they can't really teach that there."

Seems to me that Mr. McCarthy is the one in need of lessons on "common sense." And this seems to be another case where the rights of a citizen to protest peacfully is being trampled in the name of "security." But security in the defense of democracy is not served by destroying the very democracy being defended.

Via Terrette in the comments at The Yellow Doggerel Democrat.