In other words, according to the courts, “willful” means that you are aware that what you are doing is against some law; “knowing” means that you are simply conscious of what you are doing.Sorry, I don't see the FEMA boxcars. Yet.
“Sorry, I don’t see the FEMA boxcars. Yet.”
Nor do some others that have replied here, but I don’t think that’s really what this thread is about.
To quote from your very helpful reply #25 above, the person committing the “offense” at least “knowingly enters or remains in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority to do so”
Say that you or I or any other Freeper were caught up on the “grounds” of an event “designated as an event of national significance” or the “grounds” of any building where a “person protected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting”.
The result is this: a federal crime with penalty of up to one year in prison — and if it happens one is exercising a right, and “carries a deadly or dangerous weapon or firearm”, then up to 10 years in prison. As you may already know, a pocketknife with a blade longer than 3” is considered a deadly weapon under various laws now in effect all over this country.
So, I think that the application of H.R. 345 could put a serious damper on Freeper activism in the future.
And from what I’ve just read since entering this thread, by eliminating the word “willfully” from this section of U.S. Code, a word that had specific meaning and application according to legal precedent, it just makes it easier to convict for the “offense”. [see article at link]
http://www.opencongress.org/articles/view/2483-House-and-Senate-Passed-Bill-Could-Help-Feds-Crack-Down-on-Protesters
(off to work now...will check in later if I have time)