Feeling safer now? A couple weeks ago (sorry to be so behind the times, but I’ve been newspaperless at the beach) seven Haitian-Americans from Miami were arrested on charges of planning to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago. Problem is, they didn’t have any maps, weapons, coherent plan, or “uniforms” (please tell me, what kind of terrorist wears a uniform?). This isn’t the first group of Americans who have been arrested on such nebulous charges, and the scary thing about these folks is they seem to disappear, in a move more reminiscent of Soviet Russia or fascist Argentina than our allegedly transparent judicial system.
Remember the Portland seven? They were arrested about four years ago now. Exactly why, I could never figure out, something about attempting to enter Afghanistan to fight on the side of Taliban. Trouble is, they never entered Afghanistan, and needless to say, never fired a shot. Is there a law against wanting to go to Afghanistan? Is there a law against sympathizing with the Taliban. Granted, these people did not seem the most savory of individuals. but they were never convicted of breaking a law, and now they seem to have vanished without a trial.
Arrests and convictions on conspiracy charges have become easier since the creation of the RICO statutes, intended to make it easier to imprison Mafia operatives who kept slipping through net because nobody could ever catch them in their nefarious acts. Maybe if they are that clever, they should be allowed to run free. Because the trouble is, conspiracy is a thought crime. The line between freedom of speech and the actual commission of a crime becomes very muddied. If I mention to someone at a dinner party that I’d love to kill my boss, is that a crime? If I say this, and I also have in my possession a murder mystery where someone kills their boss and a key to my office building, is that a crime? You see the point.
I’m sure tons of people blather about blowing up buildings without every having the slightest intention of doing so. the popularity of role playing violent video and computer games, in which characters are ALWAYS killing people and blowing up buildings, muddies the line between fantasy and reality that much further. Obviously a line has to be drawn somewhere as to what constitutes a plan to commit a crime or terrorist act, but I would say that possession of a weapon and/or a coherent provable plan should be minimum requirements.
Whatever the charges, they should be addressed in a timely manner, in the light of day, in court. Bring these “conspirators” back from wherever they’ve been hidden.
