... or not.

https://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/05/15-7

Summary: 3 aged peaceniks, including a nun, cut through chain link fences to get close to nuclear weapons facility where they put up a banner and sang songs for the couple hours it took for security to realize they were there and respond. In the litigation that followed the charges against them escalated from felony trespass and destruction of government property to obstruction of security - which is an act of violent terrorism.

Now these 3 are idiots, hands down. But what they ended up being charged with and convicted of is ridiculous.

I share this here for 3 reasons:
1) Another dangerous precedent in overweening government abuse of power that we should all be aware of.
2) This is a warning to activists: be smart. These 3 could have made their little statement in ways that would not have invited this Hammer of God down upon their heads.
and
3) Just in case you thought the government was only unfairly prosecuting activists on the Right, they obviously are not.

This is everybody's problem.

It is everyone's problem.  They sure chose a poor way to "demonstrate", and are now having to pay the consiquences.....unfortunately at this level of prosecution.  Guess the government has to send a consistent message though.

The link below didn't "work" for me.  Was part of it cut off in your original post?  I'll search the news sites, but I bet I get different "news" depending on if its NPR or another subsized news agency vs BBC vs Fox News affiliate.   LOL
What happend to the day when they use to report the facts as honestly as they had at the time without these agencies filing the "news" with their opinions.......
"....even nastalgia isn't what it use to be...."

Disregard the broken link request.  It worked just fine when I ignored the "trusted certificate" warning I get from my old XP OS which forces me to use an outdated web browser.  Operator error on my part....

It is everyone's problem.  They sure chose a poor way to "demonstrate", and are now having to pay the consiquences.....unfortunately at this level of prosecution.  Guess the government has to send a consistent message though.
The link below didn't "work" for me.  Was part of it cut off in your original post?  I'll search the news sites, but I bet I get different "news" depending on if its NPR or another subsized news agency vs BBC vs Fox News affiliate.   LOL
What happend to the day when they use to report the facts as honestly as they had at the time without these agencies filing the "news" with their opinions.......
"....even nastalgia isn't what it use to be...."

Yeah, the consistent message is that dissent will not be tolerated. 

Yeah, the consistent message is that dissent will not be tolerated.

Unfortunately, that's the message I get too.  Seems like I've heard this somewhere else...in a darker part of world history.....   
"papers please...we have to see your travel papers...."

I agree that they're getting charged with more than they should..

But COME ON!!!  Breaking into a nuclear weapons facility??  Theft of nuclear materials and/or nuclear secrets allows guards to use deadly force--regardless of collateral damage (if there are friendlies beyond the target, they can still open fire).  I'm having a hard time figuring out what they were smoking to give them the bright idea to break into a facility housing nuclear weapons.

Oh, I have a pretty good idea of what it was they might have been smoking. 

I think this really points more to a problem with how the courts work. Its a lawyers' game. Someone breaks the law and the Prosecutors see how far they can push the charges and "win" if they can keep the Defendant's lawyer from getting the charges and sentences reduced.

Truth has little or nothing to do with it. The biggest mistake these 3 made was assuming that the trial had anything to do with the truth. They admitted to being there and doing the things that they did. Then let the prosecution redefine what "they did" into the harshest terms possible. I can only assume that their lawyer was smoking the same stuff they were to have let that happen and for the jury to have agreed with the prosecution.

But that's the "justice" system. A friend of mine went away for a few years under the new terrorism laws. He was being loud down at a beach too close to military land and it was MP's who came to investigate. Being drunk he didn't take kindly to their intrusion and was belligerent - though not violent. They cuffed him and searched his car. They found a fake japanese tanto (the kind that "can't" be sharpened) that he used as an opihi knife and an M80 firecracker left over from New Years that had rolled under the seat. He was then arrested by HPD who had arrived on scene.

He was convicted of having an "assault weapon" (the knife) and an "explosive device" under new, anti-terror definitions that put what was essentially drunk and disorderly conduct into the category of potentially being a terrorist. 15 years ago he would have gotten a slap on the wrist and a night in the tank. As it was he got 5 years but was out in 3 with good behavior. Had trouble with parole, though, and went back in for a year.

All for being drunk at the beach with a dull tanto and a firecracker in the car.

Oh, I have a pretty good idea of what it was they might have been smoking. 

I think this really points more to a problem with how the courts work. Its a lawyers' game. Someone breaks the law and the Prosecutors see how far they can push the charges and "win" if they can keep the Defendant's lawyer from getting the charges and sentences reduced.

Truth has little or nothing to do with it. The biggest mistake these 3 made was assuming that the trial had anything to do with the truth. They admitted to being there and doing the things that they did. Then let the prosecution redefine what "they did" into the harshest terms possible. I can only assume that their lawyer was smoking the same stuff they were to have let that happen and for the jury to have agreed with the prosecution.

But that's the "justice" system. A friend of mine went away for a few years under the new terrorism laws. He was being loud down at a beach too close to military land and it was MP's who came to investigate. Being drunk he didn't take kindly to their intrusion and was belligerent - though not violent. They cuffed him and searched his car. They found a fake japanese tanto (the kind that "can't" be sharpened) that he used as an opihi knife and an M80 firecracker left over from New Years that had rolled under the seat. He was then arrested by HPD who had arrived on scene.

He was convicted of having an "assault weapon" (the knife) and an "explosive device" under new, anti-terror definitions that put what was essentially drunk and disorderly conduct into the category of potentially being a terrorist. 15 years ago he would have gotten a slap on the wrist and a night in the tank. As it was he got 5 years but was out in 3 with good behavior. Had trouble with parole, though, and went back in for a year.

All for being drunk at the beach with a dull tanto and a firecracker in the car.

I just wish that they would go after all the criminals that commit violent crimes with this kind of zeal!  World would be a better place!