Carey Wedler

November 17, 2014

(TheAntiMedia) America is anxiously waiting to see if Officer Darren Wilson will be indicted for the August murder of Michael Brown. People are frustrated with the beatings, tasings, rapes and murders that so often go unchecked. They are sick of seeing cops receive immunity from the laws they enforce.

But as people around the country and the world wait for the decision, another individual has been indicted and charged — not simply for murder, but for “terrorism.” His charges highlight the very problem of not just police brutality, but of the conduct of the entire United States government.

Eric Frein, the “survivalist” who killed one cop and critically injured another, went missing after his ambush on Pennsylvania state police barracks in September. After the initial shooting, the story fell by the wayside and people lost interest. Nevertheless, the police manhunt that ensued cost 11 million dollars and saw encroachments on civil liberties. To be sure, murder and violence are never preferable options (though police demand exemption). But one specific element turned Frein’s charges from homocide — already a capital felony because he killed an officer — into terrorism.

It is one thing to kill a cop in for the sake of killing a cop. It is entirely another, according to the state, to do it as an indictment of institutions. It is this particular element of Frein’s attack on police that has warranted claims of terrorism.

Police claim Frein, once in custody, told them he shot the police officers to “wake people up.” He allegedly told police that he felt voting was an ineffective method to stop the tyranny (a sentiment of many Americans). In a letter to his parents that police recovered from his hard drive, he complained that liberties were lost and lamented that nothing short of revolution could restore them:

“…another revolution can get us back to the liberties we once had…The time seems right for a spark to ignite a fire in the hearts of men.”

He threatened not just the life of an officer, but the machinations of government — and so he is a terrorist. Murder is one thing, sedition and armed “rebellion” against the state are another.

In addition to one count of homocide, Frein is charged with two counts of terrorism:

1. attemping to “influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion” and 2. attempting to “affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping”

These charges are directly in line with the FBI’s definitions of terrorism. Another definition is the intention to “intimidate or coerce a civilian population.” The general definition involves “violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law.”

Intimidation, coercion, assassination, and kidnapping are employed against civilians on a daily basis by police, who are enabled by countless other departments. Though Frein committed murder, it is astounding that he is charged with terrorism when by the government’s own definitions of it, they are bigger terrorizers than he could ever hope to be. He attacked no civilians, which is more than the police can say for themselves. But since they don’t threaten the existence of oppressing institutions, killer cops receive paid vacations for their terrorist plots. Frein may receive the death penalty.

One of the details often glossed over in the Eric Frein case is that he came from a military family. His father was a major in the army. Yet in all of the government and police outrage over Frein’s aggressive tactics, little attention has been paid to where Frein’s violent tendencies came from. He re-enacted war battles. He carried military handbooks. He believed violent action was necessary to make a change: a direct reflection of the military’s philosophy.

The fact that Frein was a product of militant American values is lost on authorities and the media. Though he is a product of the violent system, he is portrayed as a danger to it.

The FBI defines international terrorism the same way it defines domestic terrorism, but as taking place primarily outside the United States.

By all of the definitions, the United States military is a terrorist organization. This is not a new perspective to anyone who pays attention to the military’s conduct. Police may not drop bombs, but they intimidate, coerce, and invoke violence as part of their job description. Armed in military gear, the problem has worsened.

Should the grand jury in Ferguson choose not to indict Darren Wilson, it is nearly guaranteed that the protests and resistance that follow will invoke further terrorist attacks against peaceful protesters by a government opposed to dissent.

Regardless of whether or not Wilson is held accountable, the problem of police and government violence will continue. As seen with Eric Frein’s capture and charges, those who dare to commit violence against them will be cast away as terrorists while the state glorifies terrorism on its own behalf.

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