Text Message Brands Quebec Man a Terror Suspect

An anonymous reader writes "Saad Allami likely never expected that a simple text message of encouragement would have turned his life upside down. But as seen in a similar case of absurd overreaction by authorities, a simple text message is all it takes to have yourself branded as a terrorist. From the article: 'The Quebec man says he was arrested by provincial police while picking up his seven-year-old son at school. A team of police officers stormed into his home, telling his wife she was married to a terrorist. And his work colleagues were detained for hours at the U.S. border because of their connection to him.'"

Comments

Much worse

[Squiddie]

They arrested him because of a simple text message, not because any actions that he took. Just speech. That's a lot worse, if you ask me.

Nations of Cowards

[swbirding]

The US and Canada have become such cowardly nations that anything can be made into a threat.

Ask The Right Questions...

[IonOtter]

We need to be asking the right questions here:

He made the tweet on Jan 21, and he was picked up three days later. That is an incredibly fast turnaround for law enforcement, even for the US or Canada. They were throwing the T-word around like it was a known fact, all while terrorizing his wife and co-workers.

So, let's ask some useful questions.

1. How long have the authorities been monitoring this man?
2. WHY have they been monitoring him?
3. WHY did they go after his co-workers?

The answers are bound to be exceptionally interesting and frightening.

Re:Yup

[TheGratefulNet]

So if a guy solicits you in a bathroom, you'll have to assume it's a DHS agent.

the hell with that: if some guy approaches me in a restroom, I'm assuming he's a republican and I'm running for my life!

Re:What was it?

[meerling]

more likely? Considering they went ballistic on one misinterpreted word in a text message, I'd say they it's 100% positive they were spying on him.

Re:What was it?

[deanklear]

Compared to what they had on their plates it probably wasn't seen as a big whoop.

Don't paper over our intelligence failures. The title of the memo to the President of the US was "Bin Laden Determined to Strike Inside the US." Bin Laden was, at that time, the head of an organization that had already carried out terrorist attacks against the United States in Kenya, as well as the bombing of the USS Cole. He wasn't a sales manager in Montreal.

If our governments are going to assume that we are all terrorists until proven innocent, the war on terror is over. We lost.

Re:The text message is the least of my worries

[Sowelu]

Don't send your buddies a text about metaphorically blowing people away at a trade convention, just because they're getting on a plane soon? You have to be shitting me. Sorry, I don't live in a reality where that's common sense. I won't stop flying because I'm afraid of terrorists blowing up my plane, and I won't stop sending perfectly ordinary text messages because I'm afraid of the authorities coming after me. You are a degenerate coward.

Re:What was it?

[Runaway1956]

I like this guy, already. He isn't suing for millions, he is suing for $100,000. And, he wants a certificate of good conduct so that he can work in the field of his choosing. Obviously, he wants to embarrass the fools responsible. Sounds like a reasonable guy to me. I get so disgusted with people who have a legitimate greivance, but blow it all out of proportion by suing for tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. It's like, "Oh, these guys insulted me - I should never have to work again! Set me up with luxury homes, luxury cars, furs, diamonds, yachts and private jets!"