An Open Letter to the Boston Police Dept....I am not a terrorist...
let me state that again, I am not a terrorist.
If I may elaborate a bit, no one in Veterans For Peace is a terrorist. Those of us who have actually served, served our nation dutifully and some of us spilled our blood on foreign fields after taking an oath the defend and protect the Constitution. To those of you who might find us a bit "off the wall", well, that's the way it is in every group, some are more passionate than others, however, no VFP member or associate I have met, or know of is a terrorist.
To be sure, you may not like what we do, we are ardent proponents for Peace and Social Justice, but those do not a terrorist make, in fact, those are two things that make us a tad more "Patriotic" than other groups. We believe in dissent, we believe we have the Constitutional Right to peacefully assemble and demand redress from our government; those of us who swore an oath do not take such things lightly, and we are understandably upset when our government, whether federal, state or local, has decided, upon it's own volition, that for unknown reason, we have somehow become lumped in with "dissidents" and "terrorists".
You take our pictures because you can, we take your pictures, because we can. It was never meant to be this way, we are being profiled as potential criminals simply because we may "fit" a profile. Who are the real terrorists here? Please allow me to be more specific, if, in your official capacity, can do photo-facial recognition, and inevitably make errors, you are doing this as a form of intimidation, which is a form of terrorism in itself.
I, and others, have shed our blood on foreign fields, I never thought I would have to shed my blood within the confines of my national borders. I meet peaceably with others who seek Peace, and we are greeted with batons, pepper spray truncheons, armored police officers and overwhelming force, while I, and others stand with a flag or a placard, perhaps a laptop is in the mix.
Ladies and gentlemen of law enforcement, there is no honor in this, many of you are veterans yourselves. You know who we are, what we stand for and how we conduct ourselves.
I am not a terrorist, I am a veteran, as such, you should know that I, and other Veterans For Peace have given up a portion of our lives defending this nation, something a terrorist would not do.
Take my picture, but do not allude that I am somehow subversive, I fought for you as well.
Bob Funke
(This is posted originally in response to the BPD, and other PD's, that routinely use photography for "facial recognition of "possible terrorists and dissidents". The ACLU, NLG, Code Pink, VFP and others sued the BPD, and won, to receive information on just why, and where this was being done, it's backed by a Homeland Security grant)
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