Sunday, April 22, 2012

President signs bill that makes protest a potential felony

By recently signing into law HR 347 (the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act), President Obama effectively gave federal agents power to arrest and bring felony charges against citizens engaged in protests anywhere the Secret Service is present. Nicknamed the "Trespass Bill", HR 347 narrows significantly the parameters regarding where citizens are allowed to be when on-duty Secret Service agents are present to protect the President or other government officials.

Thanks to Bill Clinton's Presidential Decision Directive 62 in 1998, U.S. presidents were granted the authority to classify any event they choose as a "National Special Security Event" (NSSE) - meaning Secret Service protection is required, thereby making the event a restricted one. NSSE classification has vastly expanded to include a wide range of public events such as Superbowl games, presidential conventions, WTO and G-8 summits, the Academy Awards, and so on.

Under HR 347, what this means essentially is that American citizens who have used the First Amendment to peacefully assemble, hold protests and publicly express their views as an important form of direct citizen action are no longer allowed to be in the very areas their protests might most likely be heard. But if they assemble there anyway, they can be tossed in prison for up to ten years.

HR 347 accomplishes this not by actually creating new crimes, but merely by making one slight change in language to an existing trespass law from 1971. But the change is significant and is what makes HR 347 so dangerous. The original law states that a person must enter a restricted area  “knowingly” and “willfully”, placing the burden of proof on the government to prove a citizen's intentions. HR 347 removes "willfully", thereby placing the burden of proof on the citizen.

As Rep. Justin Amash (R-Michigan), who voted against HR 347, put it, "Current law makes it illegal to enter or remain in an area where certain government officials, more particularly, those with Secret Service protection, will be visiting temporarily if and only if the person knows it's illegal to enter the restricted area but does so anyway. The bill expands current law to make it a crime to enter or remain in an area where an official is visiting even if the person does not know it's illegal to be in that area and has no reason to suspect it's illegal."

Since the President can designate any event he wishes as one requiring Secret Service protection, and because HR 347 imposes a real threat of arrest to citizens, this conveniently separates the President from the public and isolates him from questions, complaints and other forms of legitimate protests allowed under the First Amendment. Under HR 347, citizens merely in the presence of the President can now be charged with a felony for the simple act of voicing a concern or holding a sign he doesn't want to see. While the President may claim HR 347 simply adds a layer of security, since when did posters and chants constitute danger?

The real danger here is that our own government is working not to improve America, but to silence her citizens from their free speech rights. That's a threat that deserves resounding protests, but where would an American be able to make his protests meaningfully heard without being arrested? Once again our Constitution is being assaulted, while U.S. citizens are further marginalized and silenced.

 
What do you think?  Click on the comments link in the bar below to share your thoughts. No registration necessary.

8 comments:

  1. My Mom was a card carrying Nazi. She went to her grave thinking Hitler was a "Good Man. Like Nixon, he just had bad advisers". I studied World War Two to prove her wrong. Hitler failed when he tried to take the country by force. He succeeded by being voted into power and then changed the laws until everything important was illegal. All the while the People loved him because he could little more than a good speech. This remind you of someone? Mom would have Loved Obama.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Walt - it's amazing how people are swayed by charisma, isn't it? While we ourselves might not think of Hitler as charming, he did have a lot of sway over the people because of his ability to "give a good speech" like you say. And yes, that's exactly the tactic our current President depends on. Let's hope the charm is wearing off! Thanks for reading and commenting. Have a great day.

      Delete
    2. Walt maybe your mom was right and the majority has been subject to jewish propaganda for so long that finding the truth becomes very difficult. Remember that the victors wrote the history. The jews had declared war against Germany a long time before Hitler ever came to power. The uSA is now under the same jewish control that Germany was when Hitler came into power. They had control of the media, laws, money, etc and Germany was attempting to break that choke hold they were under. Sadly few ppl here realize that the uSA is under intense attack from the same kind of people. The jews hate whites and seek to destroy our culture by pitting other races and religions against us. They have used the blacks, latinos, and now are using the Muslims to try and create wars and strife against whites and our culture.

      Delete
  2. Walt hit it on the head. Obama just needed to get into office to find ways around the Consitution/Congress. And look at the executive orders he's signed - and isn't done yet. Yet, the masses just yawn because they can still go to the mall or the movies, so what does it matter. that plust they don't hear any of this in the mainstream news.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for posting this as I did not see it in our obviously slanted media. Just think that this occurred during Obama's centrist campaign mode. Can you imagine what we are in for if he gets in again and is more "flexible"?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I swore an oath to protect this country and our citizens as well as the constitution... this so called president is the the biggest tyrant I've seen in my 34 years of life. He needs to be charged with treason and impeached!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Walt maybe your mom was right and the majority has been subject to jewish propaganda for so long that finding the truth becomes very difficult. Remember that the victors wrote the history. The jews had declared war against Germany a long time before Hitler ever came to power. The uSA is now under the same jewish control that Germany was when Hitler came into power. They had control of the media, laws, money, etc and Germany was attempting to break that choke hold they were under. Sadly few ppl here realize that the uSA is under intense attack from the same kind of people. The jews hate whites and seek to destroy our culture by pitting other races and religions against us. They have used the blacks, latinos, and now are using the Muslims to try and create wars and strife against whites and our culture.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your right, but the media is controlled by the jews, and if you can control the media than public opinion will never change

      Delete