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Justice Department's Bio-terror Mistake

destinyland writes "University professor and artist Steve Kurtz publicizes the history of chemical weapons with performance art pieces. The day his wife died of a heart attack, 911 responders mistook his scientific equipment for bioterrorism supplies. After he was detained for 22 hours, Homeland Security cordoned off his block, and a search was performed on his house in hazmat suits, they found nothing. Now they're prosecuting him for "mail fraud" for the way he obtained $256 of harmless bacteria."

5 of 477 comments (clear)

  1. The USA needs a new motto by Chuck+Chunder · · Score: 1, Troll

    "Land of the free" seems a bit passe.

    How about:

    "We're shitscared!"

    --
    Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
  2. He asked for it.... by clarkkent09 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Any artist whose art can be mistaken for a biological weapon ought to be detained imho. What was so bad about paintings and sculptures of people and nature that they had to be completely abandoned by modern artists in favor of making mostly stuff that a scrap yard would turn down as too hideous.

    Back on topic, the mail fraud charge really smells of them trying to find something, anything to charge him with to justify all the damage they did to the guy. Hope he has a good lawyer because if the facts are as they seem from a casual reading of the article (a big IF) he might have a good case for a lawsuit.

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    Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
  3. Re:Terror is winning by timmarhy · · Score: 0, Troll

    what part of harmless bacteria don't you understand?

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    If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
  4. Re:how did he commit fraud? by ivan256 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Haven't you ACLU types done enough to weaken this country?


    Oh, spare me the ACLU crap. Yes, that's right, I wrote that original post, and I'm going to say bad shit about the ACLU.

    Where is the ACLU on this stuff? They only get involved, it seems, if whoever is involved is a minority, or there's actually a grey area, and the person may have actually broken a law. They push an agenda, and that agenda is a distinct subset of "civil liberties". They're the reason why somebody like me can say what I said, and somebody who *isn't* being sarcastic really can say what you said and be taken seriously. I honestly think the ACLU does more harm than good.
  5. Re:Terror is winning by jackspenn · · Score: 0, Troll

    Thanks for the information, after reading about the Geneva Convention, it is clear that the detainees do not satisfy the requirements in the Geneva Convention.

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    Respect the Constitution