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Posted 4/28/13
A FEARFUL NATION
Is extremism in the defense of liberty a virtue?
For Police Issues by Julius (Jay) Wachtel. On the morning after Boston, with the nation reeling from the violent deaths of three innocent persons and the grievous wounding of scores of others, a prestigious nonpartisan committee (its co-chairs were former Congressmen - one a Democrat, the other Republican) issued a thick report documenting the torture and mistreatment of terrorism suspects, and attributing ultimate responsibility to “the nation’s most senior officials.” Meaning, of course, two Presidents.
It was a lousy time for a human rights lesson. As grisly images of blood and severed limbs shocked the nation, members of Congress were already demanding that the surviving bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a naturalized American citizen arrested on American soil, be turned over to the military as an enemy combatant. Although that didn’t happen, the FBI used the public safety exception to justify questioning Tsarnaev for hours without advising him of his rights or providing a lawyer. Then, when a magistrate finally arrived, our elected guardians of the Constitution bitterly criticized Federal agents for obligingly stepping out of the way.
Click here for the complete collection of terrorism essays
True enough, delaying Miranda is not per se illegal. Not reading someone their rights doesn’t invalidate an arrest - it merely makes anything they say inadmissible in court. In any event, Tsarnaev is no longer cooperating. Once the judge advised him that he was entitled to an attorney and didn’t have to talk the accused terrorist went mum. As one might expect, that instantly drove pundits to accuse the Feds of bumbling the case.
Fears of terrorism have spurred a host of unpalatable practices. Remember Guantanamo? A hunger strike at America’s infamous penal colony has spread to more than half the facility’s 166 prisoners, none yet adjudicated. Authorities are responding with a brutal force-feeding campaign. (We say “brutal” because that seems the most accurate way to describe the shoving of tubes up nostrils without consent. It’s led critics to demand that participating physicians be stripped of their State licenses.)
It seems inevitable that the “War on Terror” will diminish the craft of policing. Consider the FBI stings that, in an insidious mimicry of legitimate undercover work, have lured oddballs, wannabes and big talkers into accepting bombs from strangers. Although the Supremes have yet to weigh in, lower courts have held that the investigative techniques, however deplorable, didn’t amount to illegal entrapment. But in most of these cases it seems questionable that, absent the FBI’s involvement, any crimes would have really been committed.
Horrific episodes such as 9/11, Oklahoma City and now, the Boston bombing make it difficult to discourage the government from seeking shortcuts. So if appeals to conscience don’t work, the only thing left is to point out that neither do extralegal measures. Does torture generate useful leads? No, concluded the committee that investigated our treatment of terrorism suspects. All the abuse accomplished was to diminish us in the eyes of the world, and probably our own.
Most cops want to do the right thing. Indeed, by all accounts the FBI and local police did a splendid job collecting evidence in Boston. Unfortunately, their efforts stand to be tarnished by Tsarnaev’s protracted interview outside Miranda, which went on far longer than the few moments allowed by the Supreme Court in Quarles. And what was gained by this? Nothing. Dzokhar Tsarnaev reportedly told the FBI that no one besides himself and his late brother Tamerlan were involved.
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In the end, whether or not he was being truthful won’t be resolved through beatings or torture. A lot of good police work will be needed to figure out if the brothers had help. Turning to extralegal measures can only taint the findings. It’s a lesson that some cops and politicians apparently have yet to learn.
UPDATES (scroll)
6/19/25 Fellow protesters at a “No Kings” rally in Philadelphia called the cops on Kevin Krebs, a 31-year old local man who was carrying a pistol under his raincoat. Police detained him, and a search of his person turned up the handgun along with “nine fully loaded magazines, a bayonet, pepper spray and a ski mask.” Krebs was arrested for unlicensed carry. An AR-15 style firearm was found in his vehicle, and a search of his home uncovered armored vests, drawings of grenades, and an assortment of pipe bombs, some containing nails and pellets. Krebs has been denied bail.
6/17/25 Vance Luther Boelter, the Minnesota man who murdered a State legislator and her husband and wounded another State legislator and his wife, has been charged with stalking and murder in Federal court. According to the FBI, Bolter actually went to the homes of four legislators that morning. His second trip was to a residence in Maple Grove. Video depicts him impersonating a police officer, banging on the door and saying he had a warrant. But no one was home. He was then spotted in New Hope, near another legislator’s home. But police had been sent there to check on the occupant’s safety, and he drove off. Click here for AP’s detailed timeline.
6/16/25 Early Saturday, June 14, reports of gunfire led police to the Champlin, MN home of State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Both had been seriously wounded. Officers from nearby Brooklyn Park promptly went to the home of State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. They found Vance Boelter, 57, as he was shooting through the home's front door. They exchanged fire and Boelter fled on foot; the bodies of the couple were found inside. “AK-47” style firearms were in Boelter’s police-like vehicle. It also contained a notebook with the names of lawmakers, community leaders, abortion rights advocates and healthcare facilities. Both legislators that Boelter targeted are Democrats. After an intensive search, Bolter was arrested, without incident, on Sunday afternoon.
10/29/24 According to a recent Department of Homeland Security report obtained by Politico, online forums are replete with anonymous discussants promoting the notion of staging a civil war should their preferred candidate lose. They’re encouraging individuals to prepare for using violence against Government agents by joining military-themed groups and gaining tactical skills. As for communicating, they recommend using encrypted channels for all messaging. Meanwhile, incendiary devices were set off at ballot boxes in Portland and Vancouver, Washington. Internal fire suppression devices and a security guard saved all but three ballots in Portland, but “hundreds” were destroyed in Vancouver. (See below update)
10/28/24 As concerns mount about how supporters of the losing Presidential candidate might react, DOJ announced developments in four cases preferred by its Elections Threat Task Force, which brought the FBI and US Attorney offices to bear on this issue in 2021. Colorado man Teak Brockbank, 45, pled guilty to threatening State election officials. Alabama resident Brian Ogstad, 60, drew 20 months for threatening Arizona election workers. And a 61-year old Tampa man and a 62-year old Philadelphia resident were just charged with making threats. (See above update) Memo launching the ETTF
4/21/22 Eight years ago a Los Angeles-area hospital nursing assistant was arrested for sexually assaulting a patient. He was acquitted at trial. He later sued over his interrogation by a deputy, who didn’t advise him of his rights and supposedly held him incommunicado until he confessed. Overruling a lower court, the Ninth Circuit held that a Miranda warning is a Constitutional right, and failure to deliver it is grounds for a civil rights lawsuit. But the Supreme Court has accepted the County’s appeal.
3/5/22 On a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court reinstated the death sentence handed down to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for his 2015 conviction of killing four persons, including a police officer, and wounding over two-hundred in the bombing of the 2013 Boston Marathon. An appeals court had vacated the penalty because prosecutors withheld information that Tsarnaev was heavily influenced by his brother Tamerlan, who perished during the attack. Federal executions, however, were suspended last year.
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“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice” - From Barry Goldwater’s acceptance speech at the 1964 Republican National Convention
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