The Right To Protest

This week's Frontline, to be first aired Thursday, January 8 at 9 P.M. (times vary by station), focuses on Iran. The website for frontline World describes the episode this way:

This edition of FRONTLINE/World includes a harrowing report from Iran, where reporter Jane Kokan risks her life to secretly film shocking evidence of a government-sponsored reign of terror. Kokan escapes the constant surveillance of Iranian authorities to record exclusive interviews detailing the systematic torture and execution of students opposed to the current regime.

Students who complain that high school is torture should check themselves. The upcoming Iran Story, the Tiananmen Square disaster, and violence at student protests in South Korea make me think, "Phew, I'm glad that I'm living in America."

As usual, when I get cocky about being an American, something comes along and stops me--such as, "What about the Kent State Massacre?" It was a dark event in our history, but we as Americans have always prided ourselves on our right to speak out and protest. It seems to be integral to the American spirit. Or so I thought.

In Protesters Cry Foul, Claim Their Actions Were Nonviolent, I read about FBI infiltration of protest groups:

Six people were arrested during an anti-war sit-in at U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard's office on April 14, but only five were charged.

The sixth protester, the one who wasn't arrested, was a man who called himself "Chris Taylor." He was in fact an undercover officer planted by the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office.

Taylor, whose real name is Darren Christensen, attended a training session in nonviolence with the other protesters the day before the sit-in, as well as the protest itself at Allard's Arapahoe County office.

The protesters who were taken in by Christensen say they are angry at the deceit and at being monitored covertly.

How free are we if we can't even hold a simple sit-in without being spied on by The FBI? With the Patriot Act and now some new powers granted by Bush to the FBI (see With a Whisper, Not a Bang), aren't we becoming more like the countries whose civil rights infringements we disdain? Of course, 2000 Seattle IMF/World Bank protest and the recent Miami protest against the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit offer examples of our government using violent tactics on protesters. We need to stem the tide before we become the next China, Iran or South Korea.

Article Author: Dirtgrain

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