'PATRIOT RAID'

Patriot Raid

By Jason Halperin
AlterNet
April 29, 2003

A month ago I experienced a very small taste of what
hundreds of South Asian immigrants and U.S. citizens of
South Asian descent have gone through since 9/11, and
what thousands of others have come to fear. I was held,
against my will and without warrant or cause, under the
USA PATRIOT Act. While I understand the need for some
measure of security and precaution in times such as
these, the manner in which this detention and
interrogation took place raises serious questions about
police tactics and the safeguarding of civil liberties in
times of war. 

That night, March 20th, my roommate Asher and I were on
our way to see the Broadway show "Rent." We had an hour
to spare before curtain time so we stopped into an Indian
restaurant just off of Times Square in the heart of
midtown. I have omitted the name of the restaurant so as
not to subject the owners to any further harassment or
humiliation. 

We helped ourselves to the buffet and then sat down to
begin eating our dinner. I was just about to tell Asher
how I'd eaten there before and how delicious the
vegetable curry was, but I never got a chance. All of a
sudden, there was a terrible commotion and five NYPD in
bulletproof vests stormed down the stairs. They had their
guns drawn and were pointing them indiscriminately at the
restaurant staff and at us. 

"Go to the back, go to the back of the restaurant," they
yelled. 

I hesitated, lost in my own panic. 

"Did you not hear me, go to the back and sit down," they
demanded. 

I complied and looked around at the other patrons. There
were eight men including the waiter, all of South Asian
descent and ranging in age from late-teens to senior
citizen. One of the policemen pointed his gun point-blank
in the face of the waiter and shouted: "Is there anyone
else in the restaurant?" The waiter, terrified, gestured
to the kitchen. 

The police placed their fingers on the triggers of their
guns and kicked open the kitchen doors. Shouts emanated
from the kitchen and a few seconds later five Hispanic
men were made to crawl out on their hands and knees, guns
pointed at them. 

After patting us all down, the five officers seated us at
two tables. As they continued to kick open doors to
closets and bathrooms with their fingers glued to their
triggers, no less than ten officers in suits emerged from
the stairwell. Most of them sat in the back of the
restaurant typing on their laptop computers. Two of them
walked over to our table and identified themselves as
officers of the INS and Homeland Security Department. 

I explained that we were just eating dinner and asked why
we were being held. We were told by the INS agent that we
would be released once they had confirmation that we had
no outstanding warrants and our immigration status was
OK'd. 

In pre-9/11 America, the legality of this would have been
questionable. After all, the Fourth Amendment to the
Constitution states: "The right of the people to be
secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects,
against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable
cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly
describing the place to be searched and the persons or
things to be seized." 

"You have no right to hold us," Asher insisted. 

"Yes, we have every right," responded one of the agents.
"You are being held under the Patriot Act following
suspicion under an internal Homeland Security
investigation." 

The USA PATRIOT Act was passed into law on October 26,
2001 in order to facilitate the post 9/11 crackdown on
terrorism (the name is actually an acronym: "Uniting and
Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools
Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act.") Like
most Americans, I did not recognize the extent to which
this bill foregoes our civil liberties. Among the
unprecedented rights it grants to the federal government
are the right to wiretap without warrant, and the right
to detain without warrant. As I quickly discovered, the
right to an attorney has been seemingly fudged as well. 

When I asked to speak to a lawyer, the INS official
informed me that I do have the right to a lawyer but I
would have to be brought down to the station and await
security clearance before being granted one. When I asked
how long that would take, he replied with a coy smile:
"Maybe a day, maybe a week, maybe a month." 

We insisted that we had every right to leave and were
going to do so. One of the policemen walked over with his
hand on his gun and taunted: "Go ahead and leave, just go
ahead." 

We remained seated. Our IDs were taken, and brought to
the officers with laptops. I was questioned over the fact
that my license was out of state, and asked if I had
"something to hide." The police continued to hassle the
kitchen workers, demanding licenses and dates of birth.
One of the kitchen workers was shaking hysterically and
kept providing the day's date, March 20, 2003, over and
over. 

As I continued to press for legal counsel, a female
officer who had been busy typing on her laptop in the
front of the restaurant, walked over and put her finger
in my face. "We are at war, we are at war and this is for
your safety," she exclaimed. As she walked away from the
table, she continued to repeat it to herself: "We are at
war, we are at war. How can they not understand this?" 

I most certainly understand that we are at war. I also
understand that the freedoms afforded to all of us in the
Constitution were meant specifically for times like
these. Our freedoms were carved out during times of
strife by people who were facing brutal injustices, and
were intended specifically so that this nation would
behave differently in such times. If our freedoms crumble
exactly when they are needed most, then they were really
never freedoms at all. 

After an hour and a half the INS agent walked back over
and handed Asher and me our licenses. A policeman took us
by the arm and escorted us out of the building. Before
stepping out to the street, the INS agent apologized. He
explained, in a low voice, that they did not think the
two of us were in the restaurant. Several of the other
patrons, though of South Asian descent, were in fact U.S.
citizens. There were four taxi drivers, two students, one
newspaper salesman – unwitting customers, just like Asher
and me. I doubt, though, they received any apologies from
the INS or the Department of Homeland Security. 

Nor have the over 600 people of South Asian descent
currently being held without charge by the Federal
government. Apparently, this type of treatment is
acceptable. One of the taxi drivers, a U.S. citizen,
spoke to me during the interrogation. "Please stop
talking to them," he urged. "I have been through this
before. Please do whatever they say. Please for our
sake." 

Three days later I phoned the restaurant to discover what
happened. The owner was nervous and embarrassed and
obviously did not want to talk about it. But I managed to
ascertain that the whole thing had been one giant
mistake. A mistake. Loaded guns pointed in faces, people
made to crawl on their hands and knees, police officers
clearly exacerbating a tense situation by kicking in
doors, taunting, keeping their fingers on the trigger
even after the situation was under control. A mistake.
And, according to the ACLU a perfectly legal one, thanks
to the PATRIOT Act. 

The PATRIOT Act is just the first phase of the erosion of
the Fourth Amendment. From the Justice Department has
emerged a draft of the Domestic Securities Enhancement
Act, also known as PATRIOT II. Among other things, this
act would allow the Justice Department to detain anyone,
anytime, secretly and indefinitely. It would also make it
a crime to reveal the identity or even existence of such
a detainee. 

Every American citizen, whether they support the current
war or not, should be alarmed by the speed and facility
with which these changes to our fundamental rights are
taking place. And all of those who thought that these
laws would never affect them, who thought that the
PATRIOT Act only applied to the guilty, should heed this
story as a wake-up call. Please learn from my experience.
We are all vulnerable so speak out and organize, our
Fourth Amendment rights depend upon it. 

Jason Halperin lives in New York City and works at
Doctors Without Borders/Medicins San Frontieres. If you
are moved by this account, he asks that you consider
donating to your local ACLU chapter.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15770

End of forwarded message

Jai Maharaj
Creator of newsgroups alt.jyotish, alt.language.hindi, alt.religion.hindu
http://www.mantra.com/jyotish
http://www.mantra.com/jai
Om Shanti

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