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"We are at war and this is for your safety"
Mon May 5 16:44:48 2003
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"We are at war and this is for your safety"

Feeling the Boot Heel of the Patriot Act
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0502-06.htm

Published on Friday, May 2, 2003 by the Los Angeles Times
Feeling the Boot Heel of the Patriot Act
by Jason Halperin

Several weeks ago, my roommate Asher and I went to an
Indian restaurant just off Times Square in the heart
of midtown Manhattan. We helped ourselves to the
buffet and sat down to begin eating.

Suddenly there was a terrible commotion and five
police officers 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 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 from late teens to senior
citizen. One of the officers pointed his gun in the
waiter's face 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
Latino men crawled 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 restrooms with their fingers glued to
their triggers, officials in business suits emerged
from the stairwell. Two walked over to our table and
identified themselves as agents of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service and the Homeland Security
Department.

Having some limited knowledge of the rights afforded
to U.S. citizens, I asked why we were being held. The
INS agent said we would be released once they
confirmed that there were no outstanding warrants
against us and our immigration status was OK.

In pre-9/11 America, the legality of this would have
been questionable. After all, the 4th Amendment
states: "The right of the people to be secure against
unreasonable searches and seizures. "

"You have no right to hold us," said Asher. But they
explained that they did: This was a homeland security
investigation under the authority of the Patriot Act.

The Patriot Act was passed into law on Oct. 26, 2001,
in order to facilitate the post-9/11 crackdown on
terrorism. Among the unprecedented rights it grants to
the federal government are the right to wiretap or
detain without a warrant. As I quickly discovered, the
right to an attorney has been fudged as well. When I
asked to speak to a lawyer, the INS official told me I
did have the right to a lawyer but I would have to be
taken to the station for 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 police officers, with his
hand on his gun, taunted: "Go ahead and leave, just go
ahead." We remained seated.

Our IDs were taken. I was questioned why my license
was from out of state and asked whether 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 and kept
providing the day's date — March 20, 2003 — over and
over.

As I continued to press for legal counsel, a female
officer 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, and
that we need some measure of security in times like
these. But I also understand that the freedoms in the
Constitution were meant specifically for times like
these.

After an hour and a half, the INS agent returned our
licenses. An officer escorted us out. Before we left,
the INS agent apologized.

Among the customers, there were four taxi drivers, two
students, one newspaper salesman. Several said they
were U.S. citizens. I doubt they received apologies.
Nor have the hundreds of immigrants being held without
charge. Apparently, this type of treatment is
acceptable.

Three days after the incident, I phoned the
restaurant. The owner was nervous, embarrassed and 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, police officers 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.

Jason Halperin lives in New York City.

Copyright 2003 Los Angeles Times