Government thugs kidnap, hold 16-year-old Homeschooler under Patriot Act

[gls]

Apparently this poor kid was a victim of "Swatting" (http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.swatting08feb08,0,2687144.story).

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5049867/



Mom says Patriot Act stripped son of due process

Posted: Apr. 29, 2009
Oxford, N.C. — Sixteen-year-old Ashton Lundeby's bedroom in his mother's Granville County home is nothing, if not patriotic. Images of American flags are everywhere – on the bed, on the floor, on the wall.

But according to the United States government, the tenth-grade home-schooler is being held on a criminal complaint that he made a bomb threat from his home on the night of Feb. 15.

The family was at a church function that night, his mother, Annette Lundeby, said.

"Undoubtedly, they were given false information, or they would not have had 12 agents in my house with a widow and two children and three cats," Lundeby said.

Around 10 p.m. on March 5, Lundeby said, armed FBI agents along with three local law enforcement officers stormed her home looking for her son. They handcuffed him and presented her with a search warrant.

"I was terrified," Lundeby's mother said. "There were guns, and I don't allow guns around my children. I don't believe in guns."

Lundeby told the officers that someone had hacked into her son's IP address and was using it to make crank calls connected through the Internet, making it look like the calls had originated from her home when they did not.

Her argument was ignored, she said. Agents seized a computer, a cell phone, gaming console, routers, bank statements and school records, according to federal search warrants.

"There were no bomb-making materials, not even a blasting cap, not even a wire," Lundeby said.

Ashton now sits in a juvenile facility in South Bend, Ind. His mother has had little access to him since his arrest. She has gone to her state representatives as well as attorneys, seeking assistance, but, she said, there is nothing she can do.

Lundeby said the USA Patriot Act stripped her son of his due process rights.

"We have no rights under the Patriot Act to even defend them, because the Patriot Act basically supersedes the Constitution," she said. "It wasn't intended to drag your barely 16-year-old, 120-pound son out in the middle of the night on a charge that we can't even defend."

Passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S., the Patriot Act allows federal agents to investigate suspected cases of terrorism swiftly to better protect the country. In part, it gives the federal government more latitude to search telephone records, e-mails and other records.

"They're saying that 'We feel this individual is a terrorist or an enemy combatant against the United States, and we're going to suspend all of those due process rights because this person is an enemy of the United States," said Dan Boyce, a defense attorney and former U.S. attorney not connected to the Lundeby case.

Critics of the statute say it threatens the most basic of liberties.

"There's nothing a matter of public record," Boyce said "All those normal rights are just suspended in the air."

In a bi-partisan effort, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., last month introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives a bill that would narrow subpoena power in a provision of the Patriot Act, called the National Security Letters, to curb what some consider to be abuse of power by federal law enforcement officers.

Boyce said the Patriot Act was written with good intentions, but he said he believes it has gone too far in some cases. Lundeby's might be one of them, he said.

"It very well could be a case of overreaction, where an agent leaped to certain conclusions or has made certain assumptions about this individual and about how serious the threat really is," Boyce said.

Because a federal judge issued a gag order in the case, the U.S. attorney in Indiana cannot comment on the case, nor can the FBI. The North Carolina Highway Patrol did confirm that officers assisted with the FBI operation at the Lundeby home on March 5.

"Never in my worst nightmare did I ever think that it would be my own government that I would have to protect my children from," Lundeby said. "This is the United States, and I feel like I live in a third world country now."

Lundeby said she does not think this type of case is what the Patriot Act was intended for. Boyce agrees.

"It was to protect the public, but what we need to do is to make sure there are checks and balances to make sure those new laws are not abused," he said.


Let me get this straight. According to the FBI, terrorists aren't entitled to due process, and the determination of who qualifies as a "terrorist" is at their sole discretion. How convenient...so much for Constitutional “rights”.

[angelatc]

a criminal complaint that he made a bomb threat from his home on the night of Feb. 15.

Around 10 p.m. on March 5, Lundeby said, armed FBI agents along with three local law enforcement officers stormed her home

Obviously speed was not really all that essential.

[Paulitical Correctness]

Reminds me of cops and robbers. Us robbers grew up and got some perspective. The cops grew up with insecurity issues and got real guns.

Now they're tough guys that'll lern ya if ya dont do as ya told.

[tangent4ronpaul]

This kind of BS pisses me off to no end!

-t

[ChaosControl]

More fuel to the fire of burning hatred I have for the U.S. government.

The greatest threat against the U.S., the worst enemy to the citizens, is the Federal Government.

She said it correctly when we are a third world nation. To be honest, with many of the comments I have made, I am surprised I haven't been hauled in under the "Patriot Act." Should correctly be called the Anti-American Act.

[Bern]

The Patriot Act (among other things) will forever stain the Bush administration's legacy. It's an abomination.

[gls]

The Patriot Act (among other things) will forever stain the Bush administration's legacy. It's an abomination.

Considering that Obama voted to reauthorize it and it is being applied under his watch, his administration is just as culpable.

Same with the wars and wiretapping.

[heavenlyboy34]

My nightmarish visions of government police attacking the citizenry are coming true! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

[donnay]

My nightmarish visions of government police attacking the citizenry are coming true! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Absolutely--even more so since the census takers have gone around the country painting everyone's front door with Military-Industrial Complex's GPS. :mad:

[Agent CSL]

I bet she was one of the millions who thought the Patriot Act was a great thing to keep us protected from terrists and mooslims. It always comes back to hit them in the face.

[silverhawks]

She said it correctly when we are a third world nation. To be honest, with many of the comments I have made, I am surprised I haven't been hauled in under the "Patriot Act." Should correctly be called the Anti-American Act.

Depends if the Act was titled to indicate who it would be best directed against.

[GunnyFreedom]

OMG, this is 10 minutes down the road from here

[GunnyFreedom]

I bet she was one of the millions who thought the Patriot Act was a great thing to keep us protected from terrists and mooslims. It always comes back to hit them in the face.

"I don't believe in guns"

yeah, probably :(

[GunnyFreedom]

Absolutely--even more so since the census takers have gone around the country painting everyone's front door with Military-Industrial Complex's GPS. :mad:

Yeah, and yet when I brought this up, apparently most Paulers on this board think GPS measurements of every front door in America is "OK" :mad:

[andrewh817]

Wow that kid's mom is still completely out of touch with reality...... even after the laws affect her household. This is EXACTLY what the Patriot Act was made for, holding people indefinitely without a trial or due process. You think the government's going to make an exception because he's a kid?! What a fucking joke...... people don't give two shits about the law when it passes, only when it is enforced!

[asimplegirl]

This is VERY scary.

[mczerone]

Wow that kid's mom is still completely out of touch with reality...... even after the laws affect her household. This is EXACTLY what the Patriot Act was made for, holding people indefinitely without a trial or due process. You think the government's going to make an exception because he's a kid?! What a fucking joke...... people don't give two shits about the law when it passes, only when it is enforced!

Exactly.


"It wasn't intended to drag your barely 16-year-old, 120-pound son out in the middle of the night on a charge that we can't even defend."

No, that was the exact intention, just you thought it would only be used against brown people. Welcome to the party, Mrs. Lundeby - people that do not have political value do not have rights.

[donnay]

Yeah, and yet when I brought this up, apparently most Paulers on this board think GPS measurements of every front door in America is "OK" :mad:

Yeah, they do not realize how nefarious that is in of itself. Now everyone will be on the Military-Industrial Complex grid. :mad:

The mother was just interviewed on Alex Jones.

The Feds are saying that there is no such thing as IP hacking--which is a lie.

The feds will not give this woman any information whatsoever about her son. She is pleading with people to help her find a Pro Bono defense atty.

If anyone would like to help her, her home phone is: 919-693-5566.

The U.S. Attorney General's office number: 574-236-8287.

[silverhawks]

Yeah, and yet when I brought this up, apparently most Paulers on this board think GPS measurements of every front door in America is "OK" :mad:

Right there with you, Gunny. There's no reason for them to be painting people's doors unless they want to use that information later. The amount and nature of the information that can be gathered as part of the Census is clearly defined under the Constitution.

Personally, I'd believe that, since the White House took over responsibility for the Census (in itself an unconstitutional act), the FBI will be given full access to the collected data in order to update the Custodial Detention Index (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custodial_Detention_Index) "for reasons of national security, and other purposes".


As with any large collection of personal data that can be traced back to individuals, the potential for abuse of census data exists. From 1939 to 1941, the FBI, using primarily census records, compiled the Custodial Detention Index ("CDI") on citizens, "enemy" aliens and foreign nationals, who might be dangerous. This later led to the large-scale internment of Japanese-Americans.

In 1980 FBI agents went to the Census Bureau's Colorado Springs office with warrants to seize Census documents, but were forced to leave with nothing. Courts upheld that all agencies, including the FBI, do not have access to Census data.

Anyone else really believe that is still going to stand when the White House controls the information that is gathered?

Edit:

Here are the official reasons why GPS is being used...again, information is being collected outside of constitutional boundaries.

1:
The U. S. Postal Service, along with state, tribal, and local governments, provides address updates to the Census Bureau throughout the decade. During Address Canvassing, census workers will travel all known streets and roads to identify every living quarter where people live or could potentially live. Each structure also will receive Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates to make sure it is recorded in the right location. The census workers will confirm, add, and delete addresses using a GPS-equipped hand held computer. Census workers also will update maps by adding new roads. This work is done to ensure our address list is complete so that we can count every one in the census.

2:
Some Census workers have laptops to aid them in the interview process, and handheld computers that provide them access to maps of the area they’re working in. The handheld computer uses a global positioning system (GPS) technology to help locate addresses. This GPS technology allows us to reduce the amount of time spent by census workers in locating addresses while increasing productivity. Most importantly, by adding a GPS coordinate to each housing unit, the Census Bureau is able to ensure that residents are counted in the right location. This is important as the data are used to apportion congressional representation and used to draw redistricting lines.

This information is also being used to update the MAF/TIGER (Master Address File/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing) database.


MAF—Master Address File
The MAF is a complete and current list of all addresses and locations where people live, as well as the addresses or locations where people work. Also, the MAF is intended to contain information that identifies methods for the Census Bureau to communicate with the residents or employees at these addresses and locations.


TIGER—Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Reference System
TIGER is the system and digital database developed at the Census Bureau to support the decennial census and other Census Bureau statistical programs. The topological structure of the TIGER database defines the types, locations, names, and relationships of streets, rivers, railroads, and other geographic features to each other and to the numerous geographic entities for which the Census Bureau tabulates data from its censuses and household surveys.

[JaylieWoW]

Because a federal judge issued a gag order in the case

Anytime I see the words "gag order" my stomach rolls over. Aside from the obvious abdication of due process, a GAG ORDER to me is even worse. How can you ask for help?!!

[heavenlyboy34]

ZOMG, this thread is Orwellian scary! :eek:

[angelatc]

"I don't believe in guns"

yeah, probably :(

I associate "no guns" with the left, who didn't really support the Patriot Act. She should be happy that Obama repealed it.

Oh, wait...

[gls]

I associate "no guns" with the left, who didn't really support the Patriot Act. She should be happy that Obama repealed it.

Oh, wait...

Maybe, but I don't know too many leftists who home school. It's more likely they belong to a religious denomination that conscientiously objects to all violence, IMO. However her shock that the Patriot Act is being abused would be laughable if it wasn't so sad.

[Roonie]

A lot of people (mostly MSM "conservatives") keep asserting that Bush and the PATRIOT Act kept us safe for seven and a half years.

Bull.

The thing that most Americans don't get about the radical Islamic Jihad is that *IT'S* *NOT* *ABOUT* *US.*

Right now, the radical Muslims are trying to bully all the more moderate Muslims into accepting their fundamentalist agenda. And they know that their most powerful potential enemy is an America committed to freedom and middle-class mobility. So, they need to make sure that moderate Muslims do not see us as a potential ally.

The best way to do that is to make us look like belligerant assholes.

That was what the terrorists wanted when they planned 9-11, and W. delivered in spades. The reason we have not been attacked again is not because W. was just that good, but because W. gave the terrorists everything they wanted after just the one attack.

W. kept us "safe" because he committed a strategic error of the highest magnitude and played directly into the enemies' hand. We do not celebrate a president for that kind of ineptitude.

[phill4paul]

OMG, this is 10 minutes down the road from here

Of note, regarding Oxford, N.C.:

Through the colonial and revolutionary periods, the county was the home of a number of citizens of considerable social influence in North Carolina. Most notable was John Penn, a landowner in present day Stovall, who was elected in 1775 to be a member of the Continental Congress. He was one of North Carolina's three signers of the Declaration of Independence.

He's rollin' in his grave!

[Reason]

bump

[0zzy]

Just thought I'd update you guys on the case.


During the raid, the FBI executed a search warrant and thoroughly searched the family home. They found absolutely nothing illegal or suspicious. No bombs, no bomb-making material or anything unlawful.


It turns out, someone hijacked the family's internet IP address and used it to make numerous phone calls and terrorist threats.


This turns out to be incorrect. Ashton Lundeby made several prank calls that included (albeit unrealistic) bomb threats. You can find them under the alias "Tyrone," on this youtube page (http://www.youtube.com/user/4ChanVent) (as you can see they recently uploaded the video "YouTube - Tyrone The Patriot (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YTfbglOpm0)")

The one that most likely got him caught was YouTube - Tyrone calls Netgear 1/2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQfCNPbdAqI) when he called Net Gear customer support, only to be informed 7:20 through that "this is a federal facility, and those terrorist threats that you made, ya, the feds will be on top of that, so good luck with that." As you can hear, the prankster didn't take it too seriously.

Fortunately for him, the Constitution still protects pranksters and false bomb threats under the 4th and 5th amendments. Unfortunately for him, the Constitution hasn't been followed for quite some time.

[GunnyFreedom]

what a f'n moron that kid; doesn't mean he should be strung up on PATRIOT Act -- but what a f'n moron that kid. :rolleyes:

I am sure there are plenty of 'terroristic threats' laws that the kid could have been frightened under as instituted by the state police or county sheriff. Honestly the kid probably needed some kind of scare (if he was doing this again and again and again like it sounds), and back in the day that job used to fall to the Sheriff or the State Police. As often as not, something like this would have caused the kid to get booked, stay overnight, and have the fear of God installed into him for being a moron; and then let go without charges in the hopes he bought a clue.

Of course, the "terroristic threat" laws were designed for people who took the threats seriously, and actually feared for their lives (obviously this was not the case here) which has a serious negative impact on a persons life, and merits some level of prosecution. Not so much prank calls like this one; but I know when I was younger kids like this were usually processed and booked without charges eventually being filed (and generally with parental consent) in the hopes of scaring the kid into NOT being this much of an idiot in the future.

BUT ALL THAT SAID

Just because the person in question is a scumbag, or because he may well have actually violated other kinds of laws, does not mean that PATRIOT is valid. For instance, Eliot Laurence Spitzer, former Governor of New York was a scumbag through and through. He did NOT deserve to be in public office whatsoever.

But the fact that a political enemy had him taken out via PATRIOT is beyond disgusting.

[phill4paul]

Just thought I'd update you guys on the case.




This turns out to be incorrect. Ashton Lundeby made several prank calls that included (albeit unrealistic) bomb threats. You can find them under the alias "Tyrone," on this youtube page (http://www.youtube.com/user/4ChanVent) (as you can see they recently uploaded the video "YouTube - Tyrone The Patriot (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YTfbglOpm0)")

The one that most likely got him caught was YouTube - Tyrone calls Netgear 1/2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQfCNPbdAqI) when he called Net Gear customer support, only to be informed 7:20 through that "this is a federal facility, and those terrorist threats that you made, ya, the feds will be on top of that, so good luck with that." As you can hear, the prankster didn't take it too seriously.

Fortunately for him, the Constitution still protects pranksters and false bomb threats under the 4th and 5th amendments. Unfortunately for him, the Constitution hasn't been followed for quite some time.

Can you cite a definitive source that "Tyrone" is Ashton Lundeby, please.

[0zzy]

Can you cite a definitive source that "Tyrone" is Ashton Lundeby, please.

I don't have any definitive source. But it adds up.

A home school kid with lots of times on his hands.
4Chan (creator of memes and master of annoyance) does pranks on ventrilo.
They claim Ashton is Tyrone.

I haven't heard it from Ashton or his mother, and I haven't even heard it from the police. But let's just say, I'm pretty certain that it is he for the information provided.

[phill4paul]

I don't have any definitive source. But it adds up.

A home school kid with lots of times on his hands.
4Chan (creator of memes and master of annoyance) does pranks on ventrilo.
They claim Ashton is Tyrone.

I haven't heard it from Ashton or his mother, and I haven't even heard it from the police. But let's just say, I'm pretty certain that it is he for the information provided.

As you say "They" doesn't cut it as a definitive source. However, that is some nice detective work.
I seems that SWATing has become something of rage with pranksters so that, to me, is just as viable an excuse. The problem with this kind of pranking is that it puts all of us in jeopardy with regards to the PATRIOT Act.
Could be "Tyrone" is Ashton. Could be he is sharing a cell with him.

[Bern]

Thanks for the update Ozzy. If the rumor is true, Tyrone should be prosecuted for whatever crimes he has committed.

The Patriot Act is still an abomination though and in no way should ever give the government the power to trample civil liberties or due process.

[BillyDkid]

This is one of the more horrifying abuses of power I have read about lately. What is astonishing to me is that there is not a single person in power (and I don't know if Dr. Paul is even familiar with this situation.) standing up like someone finally stood up to McCarthy and saying "Do you have no decency???" Kafka would look at this and say "Oh my God!!!" You know what is also sickening - there were a mere handful for people, Dr. Paul for example, who stood up and said the Patriot Act would be abused and as is typical everybody else was saying he was being hysterical. Well, here you are.

[phill4paul]

Here is a link to another write-up. Goes into more detail of his alibi.

http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2009/05/free-ashton-lundeby.html

Also from the article: "The standard that they used to arrest and detain my son was not `probable cause,' as the Constitution requires, but rather `good faith,' as specified in the PATRIOT [sic] Act," Annette Lundeby observes. "This meant that they didn't have to provide real evidence of a crime, because they didn't have any. All they had to do was assert their `good faith' reasons for arresting and holding Ashton, and the judge simply let it stand."

As of today (May 5), a criminal complaint in this case does exist, but Ashton has yet to be charged with a crime. Were we living in a country in which the habeas corpus guarantee was operational, Ashton would most likely be free, and a lawsuit against his persecutors would probably be in the works.

[Liberty Star]

Most supporters of PA probably had thought it would be used against middle easterners, foreigners etc. Had many Repulican supporters of PA imagined that it would be later on used to imprison "white christian males" withouit due process? This could cause a GOP mutiny regarding PA.


Teen homeschooler jailed under Patriot Act
FBI holds 10th-grader for months with little contact from family

May 04, 2009
8:31 pm Eastern

http://worldnetdaily.com/images/090504ashtonlundeby.jpg

http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=97099


Don't know how reliable this source is but this is shocking.

[Reason]

bump

[ergocogitamus]

It is commendable Ozzy made the effort and found the the 16 year old kid and the prankster videos being associated, and I recommend Ozzy perhaps do some more research to follow up, but this is very different from presenting fact. The above text is not to stay that party a could not be the same as party b. There might be a connection in someway. For that matter, party a, could be many other things too. Simply, no facts are presented.
Any comments afterwards based on the belief of the above association, is speculation on an issue that has no factual basis. My concern is that media may pick up the association someone made and present it and people would believe it and then ignore the issue at hand. Let's give the kid above the benefit of doubt.
This speculation is mainly a distraction for those that go in that direction and detracts from the core of the issue here:

1. The government is using the Patriot Act, to super-cede Constitutional and US stated rights of Due Process, Probable Cause, right to an attorney, etc. to incarcerate, isolate, and gag its citizens.
2. Due to the purposeful governmental handling and effects of isolation in prison for over 60 days, under psychological and physical stress, the government is tampering against the right to not accuse oneself, right to remain silent, right against unusual and cruel punishment, etc.)
3. Regardless of the accusation, the above rights cannot be taken away from an american citizen.

[bg1654]

This is exactly the type of situation for which Militias exist. This is a situation in which I could see the People standing up to the government and having widespread support regardless of the action taken to secure freedom.