Posted on 10/15/2006 3:31:37 PM PDT by calcowgirl
SACRAMENTO Upset by the war in Iraq, Julia Wilson vented her frustrations with President Bush last spring on her Web page on MySpace.com.
She posted a picture of the president, scrawled Kill Bush across the top and drew a dagger stabbing his outstretched hand. She later replaced her page on the social-networking site after learning in her eighth-grade history class that such threats are a federal offense.
It was too late.
Federal authorities had found the page and placed Wilson on their checklist. They finally reached her this week in her molecular biology class.
The 14-year-old freshman was taken out of class Wednesday and questioned for about 15 minutes by two Secret Service agents. The incident has upset her parents, who said the agents should have included them when they questioned their daughter.
On Friday, the teenager said the agents' questioning led her to tears.
I wasn't dangerous. I mean, look at what's (stenciled) on my backpack it's a heart. I'm a very peace-loving person, said Wilson, an honor student who describes herself as politically passionate. I'm against the war in Iraq. I'm not going to kill the president.
Her mother, Kirstie Wilson, said two agents showed up at the family's home Wednesday afternoon, questioned her and promised to return once her daughter was home from school.
After they left, Kirstie Wilson sent a text message to her daughter's cell phone, telling her to come straight home: There are two men from the secret service that want to talk with you. Apparently you made some death threats against president bush.
Are you serious!?!? omg. Am I in a lot of trouble? her daughter responded.
Moments later, Kirstie Wilson received another text message from her daughter saying agents had pulled her out of class.
Julia Wilson said the agents threatened her by saying she could be sent to juvenile hall for making the threat.
They yelled at me a lot, she said. They were unnecessarily mean.
Spokesmen for the Secret Service in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., said they could not comment on the case.
Wilson and her parents said the agents were justified in questioning her over her MySpace.com posting. But they said they believe agents went too far by not waiting until she was out of school.
They also said the agents should have more quickly figured out they weren't dealing with a real danger. Ultimately, the agents told the teen they would delete her investigation file.
Assistant Principal Paul Belluomini said the agents gave him the impression the girl's mother knew they were planning to question her daughter at school. There is no legal requirement that parents be notified.
This has been an ongoing problem, said Ann Brick, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union in San Francisco.
Former Govs. Pete Wilson and Gray Davis vetoed bills that would have required that parents give consent or be present when their children are questioned at school by law enforcement officers. A similar bill this year cleared the state Senate but died in the Assembly.
Julia Wilson plans to post a new MySpace.com page, this one devoted to organizing other students to protest the Iraq war.
I decided today I think I will because it (the questioning) went too far, she said.
Add "liar" to the list. The Secret Service doesn't go around yelling at 14 year olds, even if they's like to.
Not true. My favorite example is the minutemen. Screw protesting - they make their statement by actually trying to accomplish something. If they were to expend their energy instead by protesting, I would write them off as inept morons, just like the leftist twits who stand in front of the White House every weekend and annoy tourists. Protesting is the ultimate empty gesture. It is provocative posturing and rhetoric used by those incapable of taking meaningful action or formulating coherent arguments, IMHO.
"This country was founded on protest."
I get your point, but I would characterize it as armed rebellion. And I think the difference is important to note. Protesting in this country is little more than a social event; a way to spend a Saturday. Tiananmen Square - THAT was a PROTEST! I think that if you empowered most protesters in this country with the means (and responsibility) to effect worthwhile change that they would either avoid it, because they would suddenly realize that they have no real ideas or abilities, or they would run with it and wreak a havoc many times worse than what they were complaining about.
You've got to be kidding? You are taking the word of a kid that wrote "Kill Bush"? You've been watching way too much TV and movies. The Secret Service doesn't work like that. She was probably intimidated by being called out for questioning. Just being in the room with people that powerful can be intimidating to anyone. By-the-way, here's a news flash...they were investigating! And they were guarding...the President!
She's not a good kid because she did it in the first place!
Put the cup down and back away from the koolaid.
Oh, poor little peace-loving leftist. They should have waterboarded her.
The SS isn't saying anything about one way or another because it isn't our business. It is a matter of "he said/she said" and you take the side of a kid that thought it was okay to banter about killing the President. This speaks volumes about who you are.
Umm... in all fairness to history, she missed. So did Sara Jane Moore.
I was old enough to remember those attempts, two weeks apart.
How do you know they're not serious 'moonbats' until you talk to them. Most, I'm sure, appear to be non-violent.
Just because one covers up or destroys the evidence of a crime doesn't mean the crime didn't occur. If this young girl had the mindset to even think about the murder of our president then this girl is not only a criminal for publishing such thoughts but needs some serious mental help.
Girls can blow themselves (and others around them) up just like boys can. Once they question her they have a better idea what kind of nut they are dealing with.
Nothing new here. I've had to report 2 incidents in association with the Prayer Thread/ prayforgeorgewbush.com website. These people can be seriously evil.
sorry, I meant to say "shot at"........ thanks for the important correction.
Still, a would-be assassin, even a fruitcake, must be taken very seriously..... I doubt anyone would have looked at wimply John Hinckley, Jr. before his assassination attempt and evaluated him as much of a threat unless they could read his mind AND believed that he could in fact get that close to President Reagan with a gun..... it can't be easy to evaluate which angry and delusional leftists might turn out to be real threats and which are just the usual Al Franken or Alec Baldwin wannabes..........
"We're not talking about "peaceful protest." We're talking about a girl who put "Kill Bush" on her website."
You missed the point. I wasn't addressing the "Kill Bush" thing. I was addressing the person's comments about protest in general, not threatening to kill somebody.
Serious enough that it's pretty much assured the following claim never happened.
"They also said the agents should have more quickly figured out they weren't dealing with a real danger. Ultimately, the agents told the teen they would delete her investigation file."
There will rightfully be an investigative record of this girl as long as she lives, guaranteed.
If I recall, the Secret Service had seen Hinckley at appearances by Jimmy Carter. They screwed up big time.
Failing to develop any meaningful contact with Foster, Hinckley developed such plots as hijacking an airplane and committing suicide in front of her in order to gain her attention. Eventually he settled on a scheme to win her over by assassinating the president, on the theory that as a historical figure, he would be her equal. To this end, he trailed then-president Jimmy Carter from state to state, but was arrested in Nashville, Tennessee on a firearms charge.
From Wikipedia (for what it's worth.)
At this juncture, yes. That was simple enough.
You've been watching way too much TV and movies.
Bad grammar aside, no I haven't been wathing too much tv and movies [sic].
She's not a good kid because she did it in the first place!
Good kids do bad things. The good ones will own up to it, and the bad ones won't. Put the cup down and back away from the koolaid.
More snideness. The rudeness on this thread says a great deal.
Of course it does. No doubt in your eyes I'm now guilty of odious sins too numerous to mention. Excuse my lack of concern, but I'm just find with who I am as are all the people who are important to me.
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