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Secret Service Question Students
KRON 4 ^ | May 7, 2003 | KRON 4

Posted on 05/10/2003 8:54:58 PM PDT by VivaVilla

OAKLAND (KRON) -- Some teachers in Oakland are rallying behind two students who were interrogated by the Secret Service. That followed remarks the teenagers made about the President during a class discussion. The incident has many people angry.

For years the classroom has been the setting for the free expression of ideas, but two weeks ago certain ideas led to two students being taken out of class and grilled by the United States Secret Service.

It happened at Oakland High. The discussion was about the war in Iraq. That's when two students made comments about the President of the United States. While the exact wording is up for debate, the teacher didn't consider it mere criticism, but a direct threat and she called the Secret Service.

Teacher Cassie Lopez says, "They were so shaken up and afraid."

Now, other teachers are coming to the aid of the two students and crying foul.

"I would start with the teacher, she made a poor judgement," Lopez says.

Teacher Larry Felson says, "What we're concerned about is academic freedom and that students have the right to free expression in the classroom."

Even worse, they say, is the fact that the students were grilled by federal agents without legal counsel or their parents present, just the principal.

"When one of the students asked, 'do we have to talk now? Can we be silent? Can we get legal council?' they were told, 'we own you, you don't have any legal rights,'" Felson says.

"We don't want federal agents or police coming in our schools and interrogating our children at the whim of someone who has a hunch something might be wrong," Lopez says.

The union representing Oakland teachers requires that students be afforded legal counsel and parental guidance before they're interrogated by authorities. It's too late for the two involved in this incident, and teachers say it's something they'll carry with them for years.

"I tell you the looks on those childrens faces. I don't know if they'll say anything about anything ever again. Is that what we want? I don't think we want that," says Lopez.


TOPICS: Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: California; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: du; kids; police; secret; service; thechildren; threat
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To: jellybean; Woahhs; gonzo
I remember when Gonzo was interrogated because of things he posted on FR about Clinton.

Don't know that he'll be answering today though, Jim Robinson posted a thread yesterday saying Gonzo's in the hospital with a bad infection, but recovering.
81 posted on 05/11/2003 6:53:46 AM PDT by Amelia (#8!)
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To: The_Media_never_lie
Something is missing in this story.

Couldn't be intentional, now could it?

82 posted on 05/11/2003 7:04:55 AM PDT by jackbill
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To: Brandon; Experiment 6-2-6
Yeah, but if you're not under arrest, you're free to get up and leave whenever you want. It doesn't sound like these kids were.

At most schools I'm familiar with, if a student is being questioned about a serious offense in the principal's office, the student will be told to sit down and answer the questions.

I'm not positive about schools in California, but in Georgia a student is supposed to be where the adult in charge has told him or her to be, and no where else. (Conversely, the adults are held responsible for the safety and well-being of the students in their charge.)

83 posted on 05/11/2003 7:05:12 AM PDT by Amelia (#8!)
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To: mwyounce
I wonder if one of the boys had said they were going to shoot and kill several of the teachers,...

Or even worse what if one said that they were going to lead the class in prayer or someone said that they were going to burn a cross? Yeah, free expression. Just as long as it conforms to the party line.

84 posted on 05/11/2003 7:16:31 AM PDT by FreePaul
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To: ConservativeMan55
To act like bozos? Bullying schoolkids? Yeah, right. Good idea.
85 posted on 05/11/2003 7:19:16 AM PDT by bvw
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To: John Lenin
You're correct. If they threatened the Prez, they got what they deserved.
86 posted on 05/11/2003 7:25:11 AM PDT by Beck_isright (FOR SALE: Hardly used French weaponry. Contact Baghdad Bob's Clearance Warehouse.)
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To: The_Media_never_lie
Something is missing in this story.

There is more than "something" missing, almost everything. This reporter apparently spoke to two people, teachers Lopez and Felson, who are upset about the incident. Notice that there is not a single quote from anyone who was involved in or witnessed the the classroom discussion or the subsequent interrogations first hand.

No quotes from:
The students or their parents.
The students who witnessed the comments.
The teacher involved.
The principal involved.
The U.S. Secret Service.

This passes for professional journalism?

87 posted on 05/11/2003 7:27:18 AM PDT by SC Swamp Fox (Aim small, miss small.)
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To: Amelia
Jim Robinson posted a thread yesterday saying Gonzo's in the hospital with a bad infection, but recovering.

Yes, someone freep mailed me that info. I found the thread and have added my prayers to the chorus of good wishes headed gonzo's way.

88 posted on 05/11/2003 7:42:35 AM PDT by jellybean (Not a member of the wet panties brigade)
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To: Amelia
That was a joke. Of course newspapers frequently get their facts wrong. But my concern is that if it IS true, there seems to be a few people on this forum that think it's OK for government agents to behave in this manner.
89 posted on 05/11/2003 7:44:40 AM PDT by DLfromthedesert
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To: DLfromthedesert
But my concern is that if it IS true, there seems to be a few people on this forum that think it's OK for government agents to behave in this manner.

Perhaps. It appears to me that most of the people on this thread think (1) the story was poorly written to give the impression that the students were mistreated, the teacher who reported them was a lunatic, and the USSS agents were jack-booted thugs, and (2) threatening the president is not a smart idea.

90 posted on 05/11/2003 7:56:24 AM PDT by Amelia (#8!)
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To: mwyounce
These kids are just saying what many a LIBERAL has said PUBLICLY since the ramp up to the war in Iraq. Some Lib language has gone well over the top!
91 posted on 05/11/2003 10:06:18 AM PDT by TalBlack
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To: steplock
The Secret Service would NEVER use language such as "You have no rights. the government owns you".

Get real. THis is simply the communist/socialist state of disrepair Kalifornia baby-coms trying to cover their A**e* by lying like hell.

I would like to know much more than the article says, in order to have an opinion on this but I can say positively that USSS agents in the Cincy area don't talk that way.

92 posted on 05/11/2003 10:20:34 AM PDT by muggs
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To: The_Media_never_lie
Yes, something is missing in the story. The students probably threatened the president and the teacher did the right thing and once again, the biased press left out something very salient facts. I'm sure if Clinton were president, the exact words would have been printed.
93 posted on 05/12/2003 9:02:26 AM PDT by Coleus (God is Pro Life)
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