WAR: FBI Charges Laser Suspect Under Patriot Act: Despite Acknowledging Not A Terrorist Act

Perhaps it is my alien, newfound optimism, but I simply cannot get upset about this at all. I don;t see it as the end, but the beginning of the end for the Patriot act.

All we need, are nationaly publicised cases of people, who are charged with the Patriot act for non terrorist crimes, and i am confident that the Patriot act will meet its doom. Because then the sheep will be easily stirred by angry family members of s citzen who is being held without trial or charges, or who is treated like a terrorist for a normal crime. The civil liberties groups and lobbys will began to sue, people will write angry letters to congress, demanding it be weakened or repealed. All we need are a few cases of everyday joes being arrested and mistreated under the patriot act.

Remeber, look on the bright side. Mc Carthyism didn't last forever. the Japanese internment camps didn't last forever. Niether will this abomination. I Have faith that the Orwellian nightmare state Dumbya and his axis of evil have planned will come crashing down around him.

This could be the turning point that alot of people have been prediciting.

And sadly, you won't even see a single story on THAT angle of this...at least in the regular press.... Still too soon to say I told you so to the Bushies? Probably, we'll have to wait till they're goose-stepping down the street perhaps....

so, let me get this straight. The FBI said

The FBI acknowledged the incident had no connection to terrorism but called David Banach's actions "foolhardy and negligent."

So being foolhardy and negligent is a reason to be charged under the current patriot act? Can we say populace control? I believe the comparisons to the Nazi regime are becoming more clear as time passes. Will we just sit and let this facism come to pass? With out a doubt, a resounding YES! Half the voting population voted for this Hitler wannabe, so half the nation wants this kind of control over the average citizen of the US. I wonder if any conservatives will actually admit that this is a gross vulgarization of our constitution that they claim to hold so high. If this doesnt stop soon, we will end up being more repressed than Saudi Arabia.

Come on guys, this is what we have been screaming at all along that they would do with the damn patriot act, and all I ever heard from the neocons was that we were being extremists, alarmists, etc. I hate to say we told you so, but dammit, WE TOLD YOU SO. When a law like this is passed, one MUST look at the extremes of the law, because sooner or later they will use it to extremes. This guy had no business being charged as a terrorist. To borrow from FredT, every time I mention the toddler over in North Korea..."I've said it before, and I'll say it again." The administration should just come out and say it: all criminals=terrorists. Nough said. This sucks.

The guy is so stupid he deserves what he gets.

Originally posted by SpittinCobra
The guy is so stupid he deserves what he gets.

Yeah, he deserves to be convicted of something, but not under the patriot act. That is supposed to make us safe from terrorist. This guy, as stated by the FBI, is no terrorist. This should not fall under the patriot act.

Originally posted by Kidfinger
t. That is supposed to make us safe from terrorist. This guy, as stated by the FBI, is no terrorist. This should not fall under the patriot act.

I hear what you are saing and I think you are right, but we are in a diffrent world now.

In this day and age everyone is suspect. Thiere signs at the airport, that say this is no laughing matter, and the have a picture of a bomb, to me that means I cant say the work bomb without being concedered a terrorist. This guy, im sure has seen the news, and knew they where having problem with lazars, he does it anyway then tries to blame it on his daughter.

He knows he could cause a plane to crash and still does it, he IS a Terrorist.

What if he is just covering for his daughter? Is he still a terrorist then? Its something I would do. I mean covering for my daughter, not shining a laser in a cockpit. I would do what ever it took to keep my daughter out of a federal prison. Even if it ment taking the blame for something stupid.

[edit on 1/5/05 by Kidfinger]

Originally posted by Kidfinger
What if he is just covering for his daughter? Is he still a terrorist then? Its something I would do. I mean covering for my daughter, not shining a laser in a cockpit. I would do what ever it took to keep my daughter out of a federal prison. Even if it ment taking the blame for something stupid.

[edit on 1/5/05 by Kidfinger]

What took him so long to decide to take the blame?

I dont like alternate history, But I will ask my own "what if".

What if the man was muslim, and he did the exact same thing?

Originally posted by SpittinCobra

What if the man was muslim, and he did the exact same thing?

Good question. I cant answer that one without letting some emotion get in the way, but I will do my best.

Part of me says "Lock his arse up untill his feet rot off"
That is the part that is still resentfull over 9-11.

The other part of me says
'treat him without color or race, because that is the human thing to do." So if I listened to my second half, I would say extend to him the same benifit of the doubt that is given to any other American.

Just so you know where Im coming from, I will give a little info on my place of residence. I live in a two bedroom town house. My neighbors on my left are Muslims from Lebenon. The neighbors on my right are black Muslims. I live in a very diverse part of town.



[edit on 1/5/05 by Kidfinger]

The minute he shined the laser the at the helicopter,cessna or jet, he became a criminal. Where as he may not have the "agenda" of a terrorist, he could have caused mass casualties in his own city.

Federal authorities on Tuesday used the Patriot Act to charge David Banach, 38, with interfering with the operator of a mass transportation vehicle and making false statements to the FBI

That is what he was charged with, lying to Federal officers and interferring with mass transit, which are covered under the Patirot act. Tough Shi$. THis guy is a moron who could not have the mental capacity to 'cover for his daughter', he tried to blame it on her the scum$#g. He was probably drunk or trying to 'do something cool' to impress people. and we all know actions like that generally get you in fronnt of a judge. HE should be charged with child endangerment for showing his kid that you can shine a laser at a flying craft.

When someone is shoplifting and is charged under the PAtriot Act, start worrying..., till then, this is another moron now caught in the wheels of justice....

Originally posted by esdad71
HE should be charged with child endangerment for showing his kid that you can shine a laser at a flying craft.

You are right. He SHOULD be charged with child endangerment, IF he is not just covering for his daughter. Child endangerment does NOT fall under the patriot act last time I checked.

Ok the way i see it the guy had the patriot act used on him improperly as he was not a terrorist and in my thinking that would mean the fbi needs a warrant, right. so in order to bypass the warrant they use the patriot act and to arrest him and then come up with the charges. still sounds a bit fishy to me.

It's all downhill from here. Watch this act be abused from now on.

I don't have a problem with them arresting this idiot and throwing the book at him as long as he is being charged correctly, IF, as Caz pointed out he he being charged with endangering the passengers and crew of the flight

Throw the book at him.

My problem is with the PA becoming a catch all law to arrest whoever. I think they will continue to push till one of two things happen, we forget about it and they are free to do as they wish, OR, we kick up a fuss and make them drop it.

The problem I have with it is like the problem I have with Hate crimes, nothing in the law allows any of the behavior this "protects" us from to begin with it just sets the stage for the next step of stripping our rights. Like the Hate crime laws its just a feel-good load of BS.

Was it legal to blow up air-planes BEFORE the PA?

[edit on 5-1-2005 by Amuk]

Originally posted by SpittinCobra
The guy is so stupid he deserves what he gets.

I've pointed a laser at aircraft before. I never even thought it was possible to blind the pilot, until recently. It doesn't even seem like a punishable offense, to me. Especially since I've actually done it myself, in the past. How in the hell can a pilot be blinded from below anyway? You have to aim it right in someone's eyes, or it has to reflect off of something to blind them with a laser. I really don't see how that can be an easy thing to do from thousands of feet below. Even if the laser did manage to hit the pilot's eyes for a second, it doesn't really "blind" you.

[edit on 5-1-2005 by Damned]

Originally posted by Damned

Originally posted by SpittinCobra
The guy is so stupid he deserves what he gets.

I've pointed a laser at aircraft before. I never even thought it was possible to blind the pilot, until recently. It doesn't even seem like a punishable offense, to me. Especially since I've actually done it myself, in the past. How in the hell can a pilot be blinded from below anyway? You have to aim it right in someone's eyes, or it has to reflect off of something to blind them with a laser. I really don't see how that can be an easy thing to do from thousands of feet below.

Even if the laser did manage to hit the pilot's eyes for a second, it doesn't really "blind" you.

[edit on 5-1-2005 by Damned]

All of that doesn't even matter. He is so stupid because he knows people looking for it, relating it with terror and he still does it.

How do you know that? He could be as innocent as I was. Again, how in the hell can someone even be blinded from below? Do these planes have glass bottoms, or something?

Originally posted by Damned
Again, how in the hell can someone even be blinded from below? Do these planes have glass bottoms, or something?

Laser guided missiles are used to take down planes. That is the real fear, also I think you would have to shine it in the eyes to blind.

How many people have laser guided missiles? This just seems like a bunch of paranoid BS, to me. It's about as unlikely that a pilot will be blinded by a laser as it is that my portable CD player will interfere with in flight radio communications, IMO. What's next? Will it be illegal to shine a powerful flashlight into the night sky?

[edit on 5-1-2005 by Damned]