Patriot Act strips 16 year old of due process

[vector7]

Mom says Patriot Act stripped son of due process

Posted: Apr. 29, 2009


Ashton Lundeby is being held under the USA Patriot Act on a criminal complaint that a bomb threat was made from his Oxford home the night of Feb. 15.

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• Teen's mom questions Patriot Act

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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.


WATCH VIDEO
Teen's mom questions Patriot Act

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.

• Reporter: Amanda Lamb
• Photographer: Chad Flowers
• Web Editor: Kelly Gardner

Copyright 2009 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Ryan Ruck]

Hmm... Will be interesting to see how this plays out. The Patriot Act is an important tool in fighting terrorism but, like any tool it needs to be used responsibly and it certainly doesn't sound like it is here. There is a way to have the Patriot Act coexist with the rights and freedoms that are guaranteed to every American citizen.

"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."

Believe me... They are certainly very real! Unlike a unicorn, I've even touched them!

[Malsua]

Believe me... They are certainly very real! Unlike a unicorn, I've even touched them!

And I'm touching one now.

That's right, I'm a gun toucher. I'm a dirty low down filthy gun toucher.

[Beetle]

"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.


Amazing how they think that a combatant picked up on a battlefield in Afghanistan or Iraq should have rights, but a kid picked up in the homeland should have his rights suspended.

This will be interesting to see how it pans out.

[Ryan Ruck]

And I'm touching one now.

That's right, I'm a gun toucher. I'm a dirty low down filthy gun toucher.

"THIS IS MY RIFLE, THIS IS MY GUN! THIS IS FOR FIGHTING, THIS IS FOR FUN!"

[American Patriot]

And I'm touching one now.

That's right, I'm a gun toucher. I'm a dirty low down filthy gun toucher.

LOL!

you SICKO!

ROTFLMAO.

Oh wait. I'm one too.

[Aplomb]

I've only got one gun. I'm happy about that, actually.

[Malsua]

Guns are like rabbits. When you get the second one, they tend to multiply.

Then you find yourself touching them. That's when the problems start. Next thing you know, you're compulsively cleaning them and rubbing them down with oil. Then comes the baby talk, well, it just gets ugly from there.

[vector7]

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

Posted: May 04, 2009
8:31 pm Eastern

© 2009 WorldNetDaily


Ashton Lundeby

A 16-year-old homeschooled boy from North Carolina was taken away from his home in handcuffs two months ago and has been held by the FBI in Indiana ever since, a victim, his mother claims, of the Patriot Act spun out of control.

According to Annette Lundeby of Oxford, N.C., armed FBI agents and local police stormed her home around 10 p.m. on March 5, looking for her son, Ashton. The officers presented a federal search warrant and seized the tenth-grader's computer, cell phone and bank statements.

Ashton was then taken to a juvenile facility in South Bend, Ind., charged with making a bomb threat in Indiana from his home.

His mother, however, told Raleigh's WRAL-TV that she argued with the authorities, claiming someone must have hacked into her son's IP address and used it to make crank calls. The agents' search, she claims, also failed to uncover any trace of bomb-making materials.

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

Allowed little access to see her son over the last two months, facing a court date that keeps being pushed back and given no information by FBI agents sitting behind a gag order on the case, Lundeby now says the USA Patriot Act has unjustly imprisoned an innocent boy and stripped her son of due process.

"We have no rights under the Patriot Act to even defend them, because the Patriot Act basically supersedes the Constitution," she told WRAL-TV.

"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 World Trade Center, the USA Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism – or P.A.T.R.I.O.T. – Act armed law enforcement with new tools to detect and prevent terrorism. Among other measures, it better enables interagency cooperation and allows law enforcement a wider array of technological and surveillance tools to more quickly and stealthily investigate terrorist threats.

Dan Boyse, a former U.S attorney not connected to the case, explained to WRAL-TV how Ashton Lundeby could have been swept up by the Patriot Act.

"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,'" Boyce told the station.

Boyce theorized that if an FBI agent came to the conclusion that Lundeby was a serious terrorist threat, the usual rules of law enforcement don't apply.

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

Ashton's mother told the television station, "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. This is the United States, and I feel like I live in a third world country now."

The WRAL-TV news report, including Annette Lundeby's comments, can be seen below:

VIDEO

According to the WRAL report, because a federal judge has issued a gag order in the case, the U.S. attorney in Indiana cannot comment on Lundeby, nor can the FBI.

[Malsua]

There has to be more to this story.

Even JBTs will back off if they've got nothing.

[samizdat]

Yup, I¿m curious to see how it ends up too. He could have received $$$ by an anonymous source to issue bomb threats- helping out mom. Or he could have been set up.

[Malsua]

See, there is more to it...
-------------------
Feds: Teen's not being held under Patriot Act


Posted: Today at 5:04 p.m.
Updated: 4 minutes ago
Raleigh, N.C. — The U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday a local mother's claim that her son is being held under the USA Patriot Act is incorrect.

Annette Lundeby told WRAL News on April 29 that her 16-year-old son, Ashton Lundeby, is being held at a juvenile facility in South Bend, Ind., on a criminal complaint that he made a bomb threat from his Oxford home on the night of Feb. 15.

WATCH VIDEO
Feds dispute mom's claim



She said she believed authorities applied the Patriot Act to strip her son of his due process rights. She said she has had little access to him since his March 5 arrest.

Responding after nationwide media attention following the story, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana said in a news release that the charge is based on federal law prohibiting bomb and death threats.

"This charge is unrelated to the Patriot Act," U.S. Attorney David Capp said.

Capp and the FBI initially declined to talk about the case, citing a gag order and law that prohibits disclosure of information in federal cases involving juveniles.

But in Thursday's release, he said, the arrest stems from a false bomb threat directed at Perdue University and similar threats to other schools.

"The FBI, the Purdue University Police Department and the Tippecanoe County Prosecutor's Office conducted an extensive investigation into this matter, resulting in that arrest," Capp said.

Annette Lundeby said Thursday afternoon she had assumed federal agents arrested her son under the Patriot Act based on jackets they wore that read "Terrorist Task Force" and because they have given her no information about the case.

She also said she has been trying for weeks to get information about the case and was "amazed" it took nationwide attention for the U.S. attorney to release it.

"They have had plenty of time to contact me, and they won't even return my calls, yet they contact the media?" Lundeby said.

In her initial WRAL News interview last month, she said told agents that someone hacked into her son's IP address and used his Internet phone account to make the alleged threats.

Investigators seized a computer, cell phone, gaming console and routers from her home, according to search warrants, but Lundeby said they found no bomb-making materials.

Not mentioning Ashton Lundeby by name, Capp also said the "juvenile" has been represented by counsel at each of his three court appearances and that his mother "has been apprised of each" and that he is being held in a facility that permits family visits.

Lundeby said Thursday she has not been made aware of any other court appearance other than his initial one in Raleigh, despite her "constant inquiries."

"I want to be there," she said.

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. Critics of the statute have argued that it threatens the most basic of liberties.

[samizdat]

http://lewrockwell.com/grigg/grigg-w93.html

Something's fishy here. I mean the kid looks creepy, but why did they move him from NC to Indiana. The above article claims he was "punished"- held incomunicado for @30 days for rolling his eyes.

Where are the warrants? I really do object to his being held in adult facilities. I don't like the patriot act's "wide range", but used honestly it can be effective.

Since the threat occurred on 15 Feb, and the arrest on 5 March, there don't seem to be any exigent circumstances. However, and however good his alibis, allies and intentions are it's an OK by me if feds were monitoring his philanderings or anyone elses by bigbrother tactics. He could in fact have been fooling around with fools, and receiving recompense for "not innocent pranks".

The media reports are not flawless. Now I see there was a warrant. A gag order could be prudent, even to protect the kid who likely revealed his contacts if guilty.
Even if mom and witnesses stories are true- he could have text messaged the threats.

I'm still curious how this will thresh out. More curious why real terrorist camps sleep gently w/out disturbance, even though everyone knows no animals, let alone pigs are allowed to sleep in beds. Unless of course, the beds have no sheet, said Squealer.

The complaint against him is subject to a gag order, so the prosecutor isn't talking about the case. A hearing is scheduled for May 27 but Ashton's mother says it has already been pushed forward several times.

Mrs. Lundeby says that for three of the weeks of her son's detention she was refused the right to speak with him with authorities providing no explanation.

[vector7]

Mom Outraged by Son's Arrest Reportedly Knew of His Web Stardom for Phone Threats

Friday, May 08, 2009


When a North Carolina woman accused the federal government last week of abusing the Patriot Act to imprison her teenage son for allegedly making bomb threats, the mother's allegation caused quite an uproar, including calls to free 16-year-old Ashton Lundeby.

But a new report by Wired News suggests that, not only was the teenager an online superstar in rogue tech communities for his prank phone calls, but his mother may have known all along that the boy was conspiring with others to make bomb threats.

Lundeby, known online as "Tyrone," allegedly had progressed into selling his services as a threatmaker, charging schoolchildren from across the country $5 apiece to place threatening, Internet-based phone calls that would cause administrators to shut down their schools, Wired News reports.

"I heard the prank phone calls he made," his mother, Annette Lundeby, said in the Wired report. "They were really funny prank calls."

On top of that, the U.S. Attorney's office handling the case says her story about abuse of the Patriot Act was false.

On March 5, FBI agents took Ashton Lundeby into custody at his Oxford, N.C., home and placed him in a federal juvenile facility in Indiana, where he remains on charges he made bomb threats against Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., and other schools.

Last week the boy's mother, Annette Lundeby, went on local TV and called her son's arrest a violation of the Constitution. She said Ashton, who'd been home-schooled and lived in a house full of American flags, was innocent, and that others had "hacked her son's IP address."

Bloggers on both the left and right of the political spectrum had come to the boy's defense, calling him a victim of government oppression, prompting the U.S. Attorney's office to issue a statement Thursday refuting the mother's claim.

Ashton Lundeby was charged under a long-standing law against making threats, and "this charge is unrelated to the Patriot Act," the statement says.

Wired News reports that Ashton was famous in online chat rooms as "Tyrone," a prank caller who'd patch hundreds of like-minded jokers into Internet-based conference calls where they could listen to him harass employees at Wal-Mart and other stores.

Related Stories

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Videos of him doing so, often with profane and offensive language, are on YouTube.

"Tyrone" allegedly moved on to bigger things, according to Wired News, which says he began calling in bomb threats and pretty soon was being paid for them via a PayPal account.

Annette Lundeby admitted to Wired News that she knew Ashton had been making "really funny" prank calls, and that he'd made bomb threats, and that he'd received money for some of the calls — but she said it was all just a joke.

An Australian college student who told Wired News that he tipped off the FBI about Ashton said Annette Lundeby knew exactly what her son was doing.

"His mother knew that he was making calls, because she'd come on the microphone when he was talking and tell him not to do any bomb threats because the house was going to get raided," the student told Wired News.

A phone message left by FOXNews.com at the Lundeby home was not immediately returned.

[Malsua]

Yeah, I thought so. This little turd ain't so innocent.