Police Go On Fishing Expedition, Based Upon Political Prejudices

http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/fbi-raid-anarchist-literature-portland-seattle/6267/#more-6267

 Now this is completely invalid. What they're investigating would constitute a "thought crime". And also, some of the items searched for, and seized, are not intrinsticly political. Black clothing, seriously? So what, they're going after goths now? Citizens of this supposedly free country should feel safe to pursue ideas, and express their opinions, without fearing repression from the police forces. Persons should only be investigated, and subsequently incarcerated, upon reasonable indication of terrorist, and/or otherwise criminal activity. In other words, for what one does, not how one feels. If these authorities are genuinely concerned about anti-government sentiment, such abuses of political power will only heighten it. I think that even those who are not in any way anarchistic still might have reason to be concerned about this. I mean, what if the state starts to turn it's attention to other people who they might possibly find to be potentionally dangerous. For instance political groups that are old right, as well as those that are left.. Are perhaps the powers that be might come looking for religious literature even, such as Qurans, or even Bibles. Such guilt be association, directed at undefined enemies, endangers all persons who have strong dissent about any issue, regardless of ideology. As Pastor Martin Niemöller once said, "First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a communist;

Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist;

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist;

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew;

Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak out for me."