Posted on 08/14/2002 1:31:54 PM PDT by John W
PRINCETON, N.J. -- A day after the announcement that a New Jersey mailbox tested positive for anthrax exposure, federal agents canvassed the streets with a photograph of the researcher under scrutiny in last fall's anthrax attacks.
A senior U.S. law enforcement official on Wednesday confirmed that FBI officers are showing Steven J. Hatfill's photograph to business owners in the area.
Click on Source for article.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
However at present he is still presumed innocent, yet the FBI have been going around treating him like he is already guilty. How can they say he is one of 30 people 'being investigated' yet they 'leak' reports about him to the media virtually ensuring that during the searches there will be truckloads of camera men filming the whole thing, including the search they did at his girlfriend's house! And now they are going around that area with his photograph, showing it to everyone, especially business owners, asking them if they saw him around the mailbox 'in the months of September and October!'
First of all that is asinine! It is a proven fact that the majority of people cannot recall events clearly .....even if they were in a bank during a bank robbery it has been shown that different people will see vastly different things. Now the Feds expect 'normal' citizens to recall if they saw a guy pass a mailbox around 11 months ago! Someone would have to have a didactic memory to recall that!
Further compound this with the fact that this guys photograph has been inundiating the evening news for the last couple of weeks, meaning people have seen his face. This means that when questions are asked, for example 'did you see this guy last September mailing a letter?', chances are several people will say yes based primarily on the fact that his face is still fresh in their memory ......because they just saw his mug on yesternights news! A similar example is showing a suspect on telly, and then telling potential witnesses to 'identify' the suspect in a line up! Most probably they will select the person they saw in the morning news (actually there is evidence of this happening where a rape suspect identified the wrong guy for her rape ....he was proven innocent over a decade later using DNA ......and she made this error because the news papers had printed the guy's face with the caption 'Rape suspect arrested' and obviously her subconscious mind melded his visage with that of the rapist, whom she did not see well due to the lighting and her terror, and she 'indentified' the poor guy as her assailant).
This is similar .....if you let the whole nation see this guy's face for two weeks, and then you go and ask 'normal' people (that is people who do not have photographic memories) if they recall seeing him eleven months ago mailing a letter, the results will potentially be skewed!
The other thing that bothers me is that the Feds could have handled this is a more appropriate manner! As long as the guy is still not proven guilty they ahve no right to go and ruin his life! Presently this guy's life is messed up ....he was placed on leave from his job, he is getting trouble getting a new one, he is leaving his apartment complex, everyone who sees him immediately associates him as 'the Anthrax guy', he is maligned, the FBI is placing 'leaks' with the media causing him to be broadcast all over the antion, his girlfriend's place was ransacked with cameras outside (and she claims she was harrased verbally by the Feds) etc etc!
If this guy is guilty (and up to know the FBI are saying he is not a suspect, he is just one of 30 'persons of interest') then he deserves to be treated as not only a terrorist but a traitor. That is what should happen to him if he is guilty! However destroying this person's life with damaging innuendo is extremely unfair when you consider he is not even a suspect (officially)!
The important point is, when the dust settles and the "lone nut" theory dies a very public death, which will be in a few days, everybody will be forced to ask themselves: "Who gave Mohammed Atta the anthrax, and what for?"
Good timing, eh?
A man's face is shown on TV and in the newspapers all over the country, and then you start showing his photo to people, and asking if they've seen him ????????????
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