- (St. Louis-AP) -- A federal appeals court has upheld
the sentence for a man who had suggested that President Bush might be set
ablaze.
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- Richard Humphreys appealed his three-year sentence, saying
his comment was protected by free speech rights. He was convicted in 2002
of threatening to kill or harm the president.
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- The court found Humphreys suffers from bipolar disorder,
and should serve his confinement in a federal medical center.
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- Humphreys says he got into a barroom discussion with
a truck driver a day before Bush's March 2001 visit to Sioux Falls, South
Dakota.
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- A bartender who overheard the conversation told police
that Humphreys talked about a "burning Bush" and the possibility
of someone setting Bush on fire.
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- Comment
Alton Raines
12-23-03
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- It would be one thing to take this man aside, question
him, even keep him locked down while the President was in town -- all would
be reasonable precautions to protect the President "just in case"
the guy might be someone who decided to do the honors of the molatov cocktail.
But 3 years in prison?? For mere words??? Whenever someone pooh-pooh's
your objections to the Patriot Act or the encroaching gov't police state,
the case of Richard Humphreys is a perfect example to put in their face.
Or the case of Sherman Austin, sentenced for one year for simply linking
to a site which happened to have information on bomb making (Sherman
Austin -Jailed For Net Link). These
are just the initial symptoms of the fascist disease which will spread
like a cancer in the years to come, destroying personal liberties and freedoms.
Count the days, folks. It's just going to get worse. Oh, and for the fools
who think getting a democrat in office to replace Bush will resolve the
problem, you're hopelessly deluded.
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