--If a group of Tar Sands Blockade activists were, in fact, planning to bomb TransCanada’s Calgary, Alberta headquarters or to assassinate its CEO, then they would absolutely be terrorists. But right now, they’re just protestors or vandals and should not be treated as terrorists. So what makes TransCanada think it can get the American police to treat people sitting in trees like Mohammad Atta? The PATRIOT Act. The U.S. Legal Code definition of terrorism was expanded to include a new meaning of “domestic terrorism” by Congress in 2001. This new definition considers domestic terrorism as: “…activities that involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State; appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States" According to the ACLU, “this definition is broad enough to encompass the activities of…prominent activists, campaigns and organizations.”
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 04:59:38 +0000