Friday, August 22, 2003

Ashcroft: Patriot Act protects lives
By John Wisely / The Detroit News

Ricardo Thomas / The Detroit News

About 50 people protested against the Patriot Act outside Cobo Center, as John Ashcroft was inside defending it.

DETROIT -- Inside Cobo Center, more than 100 police officers applauded as U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft called the USA Patriot Act a powerful tool to protect Americans from terrorism.

Outside, about 50 protesters accused him of using the war on terrorism to undermine civil liberties.

The differences underscored the passion the law has generated, especially in Metro Detroit, since Congress passed it in the wake of the September 2001 terrorist attacks. The area is home to an estimated 220,000 Arab-Americans, and federal courts in Detroit have already hosted a terrorist sleeper cell trial and are scheduled to try a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Patriot Act.

Ashcroft stopped in Detroit on Thursday as part of a national tour to defend the law.

"America is not sitting back while terrorists wage war against us; we are waging war against them," he told the assembled law enforcement officers and media.

Ashcroft said critics have misinterpreted the law. He urged people to read about the law at a new Department of Justice Web site, lifeandliberty.gov, and said the act has given law enforcement officers at all levels new ways to cooperate and to thwart terrorist attacks.

"It closes gaping holes in our ability to share information," Ashcroft said.

He also defended provisions in the law that allow investigators to delay notifying people that their homes and businesses have been searched. Ashcroft said the delays are supervised by courts and are needed to prevent terrorists from escaping, tipping off their colleagues or even detonating weapons.

"Such search warrants have been available and utilized in organized crime and drug cases for decades and they have been upheld fully by the courts," Ashcroft said. "Most Americans expect that law enforcement tools used for decades to fight organized crime and drugs be available to fight terrorists in order to protect the lives of liberties of the United States."

Public sentiment varies

About two dozen high-ranking police officers from various departments flanked Ashcroft on stage with 10 American flags outlined against a blue background. Farmington Hills Police Chief William Dwyer led the pledge of allegiance and Karen Young from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit sang the national anthem.

One protester, Robert Lucero, a 30-year-old Southfield resident who described himself as a member of the Lyndon LaRouche youth movement, managed to get into the ballroom and disrupt Ashcroft's speech.

"Tell them that you lied to the American people," Lucero said as the police glared at him. "Have a nice tour."
Lucero left and said later that he opposed Ashcroft and the Patriot Act.

"It's a drive toward fascist law in the United States," Lucero said.

Ashcroft dismissed the protest.

"One of the great things about America is its citizens are allowed to speak their minds," Ashcroft said.

Polls, he said, show overwhelming public support for the law. For instance, a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll last month said Americans, by a 2-to-1 margin, call the Patriot Act "a good thing for America."

Other polls show different results depending on how the question is worded. A poll taken by CBS News in late May showed 52 percent of Americans were either very concerned or somewhat concerned about "losing your civil liberties as a result of recent measures enacted by the Bush administration to fight terror."

Protesters speak out

Outside Cobo, the protesters were speaking loudly, some through megaphones, against the act.

State Rep. Aldo Vagnozzi attended.

"I'm worried about the erosion of our civil liberties," said the Farmington Hills Democrat who was born in Italy in 1925 and came to America in 1933. "I grew up under a dictatorship and I know what they do."

Vagnozzi said he is particularly offended by the prospect of the government monitoring e-mail and library records to learn what people are reading and writing.

[Raging Granny] Emilia Grombala, 84, of Detroit said she remembers how fearful the country was during World War II.

"This is worse," she said. "People were together, but now people are afraid of each other."

Kary Moss, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, said she would have liked to hear Ashcroft's speech, but she was not allowed inside the ballroom.

"He's using the war on terror to concentrate a lot of power in the executive branch at the expense of the courts," Moss said.

Moss also said she doubts that Americans overwhelming support the law. More than 140 cities and three states have passed resolutions opposing it, she said.

Laws challenged

The ACLU named Ashcroft in a lawsuit filed in Federal Court in Detroit last month. The suit is filed on behalf of six advocacy groups whose officials believe they are being investigated because they serve Arab and Muslim American communities.

The suit claims section 215 of the USA Patriot Act is unconstitutional because it allows federal agents to easily obtain information on people's reading habits, religious affiliations and medical conditions.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is one of the plaintiffs. Haaris Ahmed, executive director of the group's Michigan chapter, said Ashcroft's defense of the Patriot Act rings hallow.

"I really think it's misplaced," Ahmed said. "We definitely feel that parts of (the Patriot Act) are unconstitutional. The tools were already there and this has great room for abuse."

No hearing date has been set for the lawsuit, Moss said.

Inside, the police praised the Patriot Act, saying it helps them do their jobs.

Troy Police Chief Charles Craft said the new laws make it easier for his officers to cooperate with federal agents and others investigating terrorism.

"I don't think people realize, particularly between federal and state, the barriers that were in place before on sharing information," Craft said.

Michigan State Police Inspector Michael Morenko agreed. "The public may not understand how important it is."

You can reach John Wisely at (313) 222-2035 or jwisely@detnews.com.