Sometimes the government does really dumb things in the name of protecting us from terrorism. You know, like making 90-year-old quadraplegic Swedish nuns disassemble their wheelchairs to prove they are not al-Qaeda terrorists. Or giving heightened scrutiny at airports to military personnel in uniform carrying travel orders from the Department of Defense.

Or investigating this case.

Jim Bensman thought his suggestion during a public hearing was harmless enough: Instead of building a channel so migratory fish could go around a dam on the Mississippi River, just get rid of the dam.

Instead, the environmental activist found himself in hot water, drawing FBI scrutiny to see whether he had any terrorist intentions.

The case "shows just how easy it is to be labeled a suspected terrorist," he says.

It all started on July 25 in Alton, Ill., when the Army Corps of Engineers invited public discussion about options for improving fish movement at the nearby Melvin Price Locks and Dam, considered a major impediment to roughly three dozen species that migrate upstream.

During the 90-minute hearing that included on the agenda whether to build a fish channel, Bensman says, he reiterated he's no fan of dams, contending they're environmentally destructive and amount to billions of dollars in corporate welfare for boating interests.

He urged that the dam be torn out. He said he never mentioned blowing the dam up, though the corps' presentation of possible options included a picture of a dam being dynamited.

The next day, however, a local newspaper reported that Bensman "said he would like to see the dam blown up and resents paying taxes to fix dam problems when it is barge companies that profit from the dam."

Workers at the corps' St. Louis office "took a dim view (of the article) and questioned if it was a potential threat," and a security manager forwarded the clipping to the FBI, said corps spokesman Alan Dooley.

Now hold on here -- the guy gets words attributed to him in a newspaper -- words that can easily be refuted by listening to the tape of the public hearing (such things are recorded by the government, you know, to provide a full record of the public hearings). The only mention of blowing up the dam was in the Corps' own presentation ,not in Bensman's comments. But the FBI conducted a full-scale investigation?

What's more, the Corps of Engineers refuses to make any apology or even acknowledge that it had over-reacted in calling the FBI over a newspaper article without even checking its own records of the event.

I'm all for keeping America safe -- but this is ridiculous.

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Posted by: Greg at 05:10 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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