February 19, 2009

Police Harassment Of Obama Dissenters

While I personally don’t find “Abort Obama” to be a particularly helpful bit of political rhetoric, I also recognize that it is not a death threat. So would most folks. Too bad some cops in Oklahoma are incapable of doing the same.

The police officers who stopped Oklahoma City motorist Chip Harrison and confiscated a sign from his car told him he has a right to his beliefs, but the U.S. Secret Service "could construe this as a threat against President Obama," according to the incident report released this morning.

The sign was quickly returned by the department, where higher-ups recognized the First Amendment violation that had occurred. But by that time the Secret Service was on his doorstep.

'The Secret Service called and said they were at my house," Harrison said.

After talking to his attorney, Harrison went home where he met the Secret Service.

''When I was on my way there, the Secret Service called me and said they weren't going to ransack my house or anything ... they just wanted to (walk through the house) and make sure I wasn't a part of any hate groups."

Harrison said he invited the Secret Service agents into the house and they were "very cordial."

''We walked through the house and my wife and 2-year-old were in the house," Harrison said.

He said they interviewed him for about 30 minutes and then left, not finding any evidence Harrison was a threat to the president.

I’m curious – what would they have done if they had found that Harrison was a member of a “hate group”? Membership in “hate groups” is not illegal – and expression of extreme political sentiments (and Harrison’s position is hardly extreme) is fully protected by the Constitution.

HereÂ’s hoping that this law-abiding patriot, who dares to dissent from the pro-abortion orthodoxy of the Obama regime, files a lawsuit of sufficient size to quell the tendency of some law enforcement officers to violate the right of Americans to freely engage in political expression.

Posted by: Greg at 12:24 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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