EXCLUSIVE: Authorities Search and Copy U.S. Journalist’s Notes, Computer and Cameras After Returning

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/15/exclusive_authorities_search_and_copy_us

Independent journalist Brandon Jourdan recently returned from Haiti after being on assignment documenting the rebuilding of schools in the earthquake-devastated country. However, when he returned to the United States, he was immediately detained after deboarding the plane by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. He was questioned about his travels and had all of his documents, computer, phone and camera flashdrives searched and copied. This is the seventh time Jourdan says he has been subjected to lengthy searches in five years, and has been told by officials that he is “on a list.” Jourdan joins us in our studio. Catherine Crump, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, says that Jourdan is not the only one facing such treatment by the Obama administration. Crump says many journalists and lawyers, who often work abroad, have also experienced similar interrogations—and the ACLU believes the First and Fourth Amendments must be honored within U.S. airports.

Video at the link --

[Angry Dragon]

1. It was always my dream to live in a Police State

I am so glad I could live to see this

[mike_c]

2. when I was a kid, we were often told that the biggest difference between the U.S....

...and the communist Soviet Union was that we "had freedom" while the Soviets were oppressed by their government. The most oft cited example was that "we can travel freely, wherever we want," while people in Soviet nations were subject to police harassment when they traveled. In a culture accustomed to moving freely whenever we wanted, that was a powerful example.

Oppression often starts "for our own good" and to protect us from harm. I believe we are witnessing the death of American democracy during my lifetime.