Is this proof that America's Republic is less democratic than Britain's Constitutional Monarchy?
In Britain, anyone can mock the Head of State - the Monarch - without officials knocking on your door and interrogating you. We have free speech.
But in the US, it seems that you can't mock the President without getting into trouble from officials who come round to your home -
17 October 2006
The Mirror
'KILL BUSH' GIRL GRILLED BY ANTI-TERROR COPS
By Ryan Parry Us Correspondent
A GIRL of 14 was dragged out of her biology class by Secret Service agents for writing "Kill Bush" on her website.
Julia Wilson's internet page, called "So Bush is an idiot but hey what else is new?", infuriated security experts.
She also posted the words "Kill Bush" and ran a cartoon of a knife stabbing the hand of the president.
Two federal agents went searching for Julia at her home before finding the teenager at school.
After pulling her out of class, they subjected her to a gruelling 20-minute interview.
Julia explained: "I told them I just really don't agree with Bush's politics. I do not have any plans of harming Bush in any way.
"I am very peaceful. I just don't like Bush."
She said the agents warned her she could be locked up for making the threat.
And they quizzed her about her father's job, her email address and social security number. She added: "They yelled at me a lot. They were unnecessarily mean."
When the agents first arrived at Julia's home in Sacramento, California, her mother Kirstie sent a text telling her to come home from McClatchy High School.
Julia replied by text: "Are you serious!?!? Oh my God. Am I in a lot of trouble?"
Her mum said: "She was in molecular biology, and I said I really didn't want to take her out of class for this. But I said I'd make sure she came right home from school."
She asked the Secret Service to come back in an hour.
But the agents would not wait for her to return and went to find her.
Kirstie said Julia was wrong to post her rant on the My-Space website, but was unhappy she was quizzed without an adult present.
Father Jim Moose (LOL!) added: "I don't condone what she did, but it all seems a little over the top.
"You would think they could determine that she is not a credible threat."
Ann Brick (LOL!), a civil liberties lawyer, said Julia's post did not sound like a "true threat".
She added: "The courts have to distinguish between political rhetoric and hyperbole and a real threat."
Peter Scheer, of the California First Amendment Coalition, said: "The threshold that brings agents in has lowered. It's a cautionary tale for children on MySpace that putting something on it like 'Kill the President' is not the same as saying it on email or over the telephone.
"The Government is not systematically listening to all phone calls or going through emails, but it probably does search the internet."
Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren refused to comment on the incident.
r.parry@mirror.co.uk
mirror.co.uk
In Britain, anyone can mock the Head of State - the Monarch - without officials knocking on your door and interrogating you. We have free speech.
But in the US, it seems that you can't mock the President without getting into trouble from officials who come round to your home -
17 October 2006
The Mirror
'KILL BUSH' GIRL GRILLED BY ANTI-TERROR COPS
By Ryan Parry Us Correspondent
A GIRL of 14 was dragged out of her biology class by Secret Service agents for writing "Kill Bush" on her website.
Julia Wilson's internet page, called "So Bush is an idiot but hey what else is new?", infuriated security experts.
She also posted the words "Kill Bush" and ran a cartoon of a knife stabbing the hand of the president.
Two federal agents went searching for Julia at her home before finding the teenager at school.
After pulling her out of class, they subjected her to a gruelling 20-minute interview.
Julia explained: "I told them I just really don't agree with Bush's politics. I do not have any plans of harming Bush in any way.
"I am very peaceful. I just don't like Bush."
She said the agents warned her she could be locked up for making the threat.
And they quizzed her about her father's job, her email address and social security number. She added: "They yelled at me a lot. They were unnecessarily mean."
When the agents first arrived at Julia's home in Sacramento, California, her mother Kirstie sent a text telling her to come home from McClatchy High School.
Julia replied by text: "Are you serious!?!? Oh my God. Am I in a lot of trouble?"
Her mum said: "She was in molecular biology, and I said I really didn't want to take her out of class for this. But I said I'd make sure she came right home from school."
She asked the Secret Service to come back in an hour.
But the agents would not wait for her to return and went to find her.
Kirstie said Julia was wrong to post her rant on the My-Space website, but was unhappy she was quizzed without an adult present.
Father Jim Moose (LOL!) added: "I don't condone what she did, but it all seems a little over the top.
"You would think they could determine that she is not a credible threat."
Ann Brick (LOL!), a civil liberties lawyer, said Julia's post did not sound like a "true threat".
She added: "The courts have to distinguish between political rhetoric and hyperbole and a real threat."
Peter Scheer, of the California First Amendment Coalition, said: "The threshold that brings agents in has lowered. It's a cautionary tale for children on MySpace that putting something on it like 'Kill the President' is not the same as saying it on email or over the telephone.
"The Government is not systematically listening to all phone calls or going through emails, but it probably does search the internet."
Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren refused to comment on the incident.
r.parry@mirror.co.uk
mirror.co.uk
