Second attempt to post this here ...

www.counterpunch.org

November 2, 2001

Green Party USA Coordinator Detained at Airport; Prevented by Armed Military Personnel from Flying to Political Meeting in Chicago

CounterPunch Wire

Armed government agents grabbed Nancy Oden, Green Party USA coordinating committee member, Thursday at Bangor International Airport in Bangor Maine, as she attempted to board an American Airlines flight to Chicago.

"An official told me that my name had been flagged in the computer," a shaken Oden said. "I was targeted because the Green Party USA opposes the bombing of innocent civilians in Afghanistan."

Oden, a long-time organic farmer and peace activist in northern Maine, was ordered away from the plane. Military personnel with automatic weapons surrounded Oden and instructed all airlines to deny her passage on any flight.

"I was told that the airport was closed to me until further notice and that my ticket would not be refunded," Oden said.

Oden is scheduled to speak in Chicago Friday night on a panel concerning pesticides as weapons of war. She had helped to coordinate the Green Party USA's antiwar efforts these past few months, and was to report on these to The Greens national committee. "Not only did they stop me at the airport but some mysterious party had called the hotel and cancelled my reservation," Oden said.

The Greens National Committee -- the governing body of the Green Party USA -- is meeting in Chicago Nov. 2-4 to hammer out the details of national campaigns against bio-chemical warfare, the spraying of toxic pesticides, genetic engineering, and the Party's involvement in the burgeoning peace movement.

"I am shocked that US military prevented one of our prominent Green Party members from attending the meeting in Chicago," said Elizabeth Fattah, a GPUSA representative from Pennsylvania who drove to Chicago. "I am outraged at the way the Bill of Rights is being trampled upon."

Chicago Green activist Lionel Trepanier concluded, "The attack on the right of association of an opposition political party is chilling. The harassment of peace activists is reprehensible."

-- mark (mrobinowitz@igc.nospam.org), November 03, 2001

Answers

The government should prepare itself for a mammoth law suit.

-- Steve McClendon (ke6bjd@yahoo.com), November 03, 2001.

Sure didn't make much of a splash in Bangor. Absolutely no mention in the 2 newspapers. Whose agenda are we pushing here?

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), November 03, 2001.

There may -- or may not -- be more about Nancy Oden that got her put her on a list than this "report" indicates.

JB

============

From - Link

Portland Press Herald

Sunday, May 13, 2001

Ecoterrorism fuels call for stiffer penalties

By MEREDITH GOAD, Portland Press Herald Writer

[[snip]]

""In 1999, a group calling itself "Seeds of Resistance" destroyed a half-acre of genetically modified corn grown by a University of Maine researcher in Orono.

Nancy Oden, a Jonesboro activist who is part of a loose-knit group called Revolution Against Genetic Engineering, or RAGE, says she e-mailed people about the crop, telling them where it was and that it "should not be allowed to mature."

Oden views the destruction of the crop as self-defense, not environmental terrorism.

[[snip]]

-- Jackson Brown (Jackson_Brown@deja.com), November 03, 2001.

Bombing innocent terrorists? Whaa? Say that in Manhattan. Even better say that in her final destination here in Chicago. She’s not welcomed here.

I glad someone in the military is doing their job.

-- Rick V (rickv@mc.net), November 03, 2001.

So, because you disagree with her, she has no rights? Kinda Facist thinking!

-- zippy (zipzip@zip.net), November 04, 2001.

Since you have not one clue about what other reasons they may have had to stop her, you assume it was just a whim they kept her from boarding?

Kind of stupid, uhh?

-- poopy (poopy@poopy.net), November 04, 2001.

======= Green party press release==========

News Release - Sunday, November 04, 2001 Home | Press The Green Party of the United States Contacts: Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator 207-326-4576, nallen@acadia.net Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, scottmclarty@yahoo.com

On the Press Reports of Green Activist Being Detained at Bangor Airport in Maine. Air traffic safety measures should not violate constitutional rights or be used to target political dissenters.

Correction of erroneous information in press reports on the detention of a Green at Maine airport. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party organizers are attempting to confirm a report from sources in Maine that a Green was detained by officials at Bangor International Airport because of her political affiliation.

Greens support measures to keep air traffic safe during the current crisis, as long as constitutional rights are not violated and people who engage in nonviolent political dissent are not targeted. Numerous Green Party organizers and activists have flown over the past weeks without incident, and they have complied in every way with airport security measures.

PLEASE NOTE: Recent press reports on the incident contained incorrect information about the affiliation of the Green Party member, stating that Nancy Oden is a "coordinating committee member" of the Green Party of the United States. Ms. Oden is not a member of the party's Coordinating Committee (which consists of delegates from affiliated states), but of a different organization.

The Green Party of the United States is the only Green political organization organized nationally as a party, in which at least 31 states are represented (with other states' memberships pending). It organized the Green National Convention in Denver in June, 2000, at which Ralph Nader was nominated to run for President, and is recognized among Green Parties around the world.

The Green Party of the United States has filed papers with the Federal Election Commission for recognition as a national party with national committee status, and expects an announcement of the FEC's decision within the next few weeks.

Media inquiries about national policies and activities of the Green Party should be directed solely to the Green Party of the United States, through its media representatives as listed in the heading above. To contact state Green Parties, visit the Green Party of the United States web site and follow the links to the state parties and their contacts and web sites.

MORE INFORMATION

The Green Party of the United States http://gpus.org

END

News Release - Sunday, November 04, 2001

http://gpus.org/press/pr_11_04_01.html

-- Jackson Brown (Jackson_Brown@deja.com), November 04, 2001.

Oden has a combative nature, and she has never been afraid to speak her piece. Sounds like she chose the wrong time to try to make a statement. I've seen no indication that other Green activists have been targeted this way, so for now I think it's an isolated incident that has more to do with the personalities involved than the politics. Interesting that the airport admitted she was singled out for additional searches because she bought her ticket online.

And Rick, Oden has never been accused of violence, much less charged or convicted. Last time I checked, the Constitution still guarantees the right to travel to any citizen. IMO, this whole airport security thing is getting way out of hand, classic no-brain bureaucratic response to the barn door after the horse has escaped. From the Bangor Daily News Fair Use, for educational purposes only. www.bangornews.com/editorialnews/article.html?ID=44958 By Jeff Tuttle, Of the NEWS Staff November 3, 2001 Green Party activist denied Chicago flight BANGOR — Green Party activist Nancy Oden was grounded at Bangor International Airport on Thursday after reportedly becoming uncooperative when she was targeted for additional screening. Oden, who said she believed she was singled out for extra scrutiny because of her activist past and public opposition to the current war effort, was on her way to Chicago to attend a Green Party USA meeting when airline personnel told her that she had been selected to undergo added security screening before boarding. “I was treated if I were guilty just because I’m a dissident and I speak out,” Oden, a middle-aged woman who sits on the party’s national coordinating committee, said from her Jonesboro home after she had abandoned her travel plans. “They’re looking at me like I’m a terrorist and I’m just a peaceful person trying to go to a meeting in Chicago.” Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, security has been tightened at all the nation’s airports — including BIA, where armed National Guardsmen monitor the screening area and passenger lists are checked against the FBI’s terrorist watch list. Officials at BIA and American Eagle Airlines have a much different account of Oden’s afternoon run-in with the added security. “She was uncooperative during the screening process,” said American Eagle spokesman Kurt Iverson, who added that Oden reportedly would not stand still when security staff tried to wave a metal-detecting wand over her. “Obviously if they can’t submit to screening, [Federal Aviation Administration] regulations require that they not be allowed to board the plane.” Oden said that while she asked security staff not to touch her with the wand, she did allow them to complete their search of both her person and her baggage. Oden said that she did pull away from a National Guardsman when he grabbed her left arm and asked her if she “knew what happened on September 11,” she said. While acknowledging that Oden was singled out for added extensive screening, authorities said it was more likely due to the manner in which she purchased her ticket than for her activist past. Under newly adopted FAA regulations, more passengers — either randomly or based on a computerized profile — are being targeted for more intense screening during the boarding process. While industry officials were unwilling to release the criteria under which they would profile a passenger, they said the criteria did not include federally protected characteristics such as race, religion, age or sex. Without providing details, interim airport director Rebecca Hupp said that the FAA guidelines “have more to do with the ticket than the person.” For instance, one airline official said, a passenger who pays cash for a ticket the day of the flight would likely undergo added scrutiny. Oden bought her nonrefundable ticket online, she said. While an FBI spokeswoman would neither confirm nor deny the presence of any name on the terrorist watch list — another trigger for added security response — one law enforcement source said it was “extremely unlikely” Oden was on the list of potential terrorists because her name is unknown to the FBI. After the incident, Oden was told she could not take her scheduled flight to Chicago, and that she could not travel on any other airline at the airport that day. “If I had done something wrong, they should have arrested me instead of denying me my right to travel,” an upset Oden said Friday. “We’re losing more of our rights and people don’t realize it.”

-- Cash (Cash@andcarry.com), November 05, 2001.