Social Dangerousness arrests in America?

[Levant]

Now not only is protesting becoming illegal, planning on protesting is also becoming illegal. Sort of like conspiracy to protest, I suppose. I am

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7589405.stm

A court in Havana, Cuba, has ordered a punk rock musician to pay a fine of $30 (£15) for public disorder for playing his band's music too loud.

However, Gorki Aguila was cleared of a more serious charge that could have led to a jail sentence.

The lead singer of band Porno Para Ricardo is known for songs that ridicule Cuba's communist government.

He had faced a possible four year term in prison for the crime known in Cuba as social dangerousness.

The controversial law allows the jailing of people who the authorities believe have been displaying behaviour that would indicate they could be on the verge of committing a crime.

(Bold added for emphasis)


http://carlosmiller.com/2008/08/30/police-raid-several-homes-before-republican-national-convention/

Police raid several homes before Republican National Convention
August 30th, 2008 · 5 Comments
Republican National Convention coverage

By Carlos Miller
Minneapolis-St. Paul police have been raiding homes of people who plan to protest and document the upcoming Republican National Convention, confiscating cameras and laptops and arresting five people on “conspiracy to riot” charges.

One of the homes raided was the headquarters of Food Not Bombs, an international antiwar organization known to provide food for the homeless.

But police were mainly interested in the “RNC Welcoming Committee”, a self-described anarchist group that vowed on its Website it was going to “crash the convention”.

Police say they confiscated weapons, explosives and ingredients to make Molotov cocktails and disrupt buses.

The RNC Welcoming Committee said that police also confiscated “computers, boxes of protest literature, maps, cell phones, digital cameras, a video camera, the landlord’s pvc piping, and poster making supplies.”

More interesting reading on Carlos Miller's home page: http://carlosmiller.com/

Attacks on the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, and the Fifth Amendment are as scary and as threatening as attacks on the Second Amendment to the Constitution.

 

[TimRB]

"Police say they confiscated weapons, explosives and ingredients to make Molotov cocktails and disrupt buses."

These guys may be crackpot loons, but that said, what reloader here doesn't have a firearm, some powder, and a gas can at home? Probably if you have an assortment of plumbing fittings, you have the makings of pipe bombs, too.

Tim

 

[jrfoxx]

While I'm no fan of anti-war protesters, if they didn't have some pretty good evidence these people were actually planning to commit an actual crime, I don't think cops should be raiding these people just because some protesters have broken laws and rioted in the past,so these people MAY do it too. By that standard, any of us MAY do something, since somewhere, someone like us, has done it before. Also, just because a group is considered "nutty" and speaks out against those in power, and says a common phrase that does NOT imply doing anything illegal like "crash" an event, and express extreme dislike for another group or activity, is not enough evidence to go on some raids, and take some property (and just because a warrant makes it legal, it doesnt always make it right)

as for " Police say they confiscated weapons, explosives and ingredients to make Molotov cocktails and disrupt buses."

Weapons: a MASSIVE number of people in this country own a gun or knife. Proves nothing. Also, ANYTHING can be a weapon. I'm skeptical since they don't specifically mention guns of other "traditional" weapons, since we know if guns were found, the cops and media would have NO issue saying exactly that, and proving pics too.

Explosives: a can of black powder or bag of fertilizer or some firecrackers? again, no specifics, and again, if they had actual bombs, they'd have no issue saying so, and again, parading the pics.

Ingredients to make Molotov cocktails: ANY flammable liquid, and ANY container will fit that. I bet 99% of U.S. homes have the items needed to make one in seconds, and again, why no pics of the scary devices?

and finally, whats an ingredient to disrupt buses? sugar for the gas tank? an old tire? nails?

Again, maybe these people actually WERE planning some serious stuff, the cops had good evidence to this fact, it's all on the up and up, and lives were saved. Certainly possible, and I honestly hope thats the case. But, having seen some occasions where the vague charges/descriptions sounded real scary and damning, then seen the BS items shown to have been the ones in question, and seeing it being a REAL stretch, I'm skeptical, especially when the whole thing involves the impending presence of powerful people, and a group of people that aren't real popular, and where the 2 groups vehemently disagree on things.This kind of raid against a group like this, with very vague details, just has a fishy smell to it.

Hope we find out some more details on this one.

ETA: I am in NO way accusing ANYONE in law enforcement of breaking any laws, or even saying that if the raid was bogus, it was the raiding officer's fault, as I suspect this intel/order trickled down from a politician, not a policeman, and certainly not one of the guys/gals who was told to go on the raid.But where the orders to raid came from doesnt make it right (if it is in fact "hokey"), it just shifts whose to blame for the scum-baggery.

 

[Levant]

Of course we have no way of knowing the full details of the investigation and arrest. Buckets of feces and urine are definitely suspicious. It is certainly possible that the bust was legit but there were a lot of problems that I just can't find a way to rationalize in my own mind. For instance, why were "boxes of protest literature" and "poster making supplies" taken? These things are clearly covered under the 1st Amendment to the Constitution.