From: Gary Hunt at the Outpost of Freedom in Waco, Texas
Date: MARCH 25, 1993"Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or
of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of
grievances" reads the first amendment to the
constitution. This amendment being first was not by
accident, the fundamental rights protected by the first
are considered the most sacred for they deal with
everyday circumstances that affect virtually all
Americans.
Welcome to Waco, Texas, where peaceable
assembly has been disturbed by glaring lights and loud
music, music which, in some cases, has a theme
religiously contrary to those to whom it is directed.
These people are also being denied the fundamental right
of speech. They are unable to send out communications,
radio stations have been threatened for attempting to get
messages out from the complex, the only word that does
get out is filtered by that very dirty filter known as
the FBI morning press conference.
What of this press that is reporting
the news from the morning conferences? Thus far at least
two people have been barred from the conferences. The
first was Lewis Beam, who, under credentials from a
religious newspaper, posed a question that may have been
a bit embarrassing. The question was whether the Gestapo
type tactics used in the initial assault were indicative
of the imposition of a police state in America. Mr. Beam
was escorted from the conference at the point of a gun,
never to return.
I had been attending the conferences
for a few days when I was barred, taken aside and
questioned as to the legitimacy of my credentials. I
answered questions about my newspaper, "Outpost of
Freedom", and was finally allowed to enter the
conference. I was told that the questioning was a result
of a disturbance that had occurred at the federal
courthouse a few days before. That disturbance was the
result of the FBI detaining me while I was in the Clerk
of the Court's office. I did not start the disturbance,
but did participate since I was being detained when the
FBI agreed that I had broken no laws. It did, however,
appear that there was a determination that my credentials
were legitimate and that I would be allowed access to the
conferences in the future.
Saturday I did not attend the
conference, however, there was another disturbance that
evening when I went to the press site near the Church
complex. I was with two members of the Associated
Electronic News (AEN) of Indianapolis Indiana, and was
using a press pass issued by them. We had no trouble
entering the area, however, upon leaving the area we were
detained, at gunpoint, by BATF and State Troopers until
the FBI arrived and interrogated each of us. They then
retained our "falsified" press credentials,
whatever that is, and let us out of where we should never
have been in.
Sunday, when I attempted to enter the
press conference, I was, once again, barred from entry. I
asked to speak to the person who had made this decision
and was given the phone number of the FBI in Washington,
D.C. On Monday I contacted the D.C. Office and was
directed to the San Antonio office. Mr. Joe Hanley, of
the San Antonio office, upon hearing the story indicated
that I should not be barred from the conferences. He said
that he would contact the Waco people and would get back
to me. I have yet to hear from Mr. Hanley.
On Tuesday, I was accompanied by Mr.
Dick Reavis of the Dallas Observer. At the conference I
was again denied access. Mr. Reavis was almost denied
access as a result of the FBI associating him with me. He
was able to report, after the conference, that he had
been unable to find any other member of the press that
cared whether another member of the press, myself, was
being denied access. Perhaps they are part of an elite
class such as those that rule this country, and look down
upon the rest of us as a sort of scum that must be
tolerated. Interestingly, these are the same people that
appear to be stenographers for the government. Regardless
of the nature of the questions posed by smaller, or
foreign press, they tend to follow the lead of the FBI
and assure us that we will know what color the car was
that removed Church members from the complex.
Yesterday I was finally able to meet a
person close to those that have made the decision to bar
me from the press conferences. Previously I had dealt
with Melissa Simms, of the Waco Police Department, who
had been able to tell me nothing more than that I could
not go in 'cause the FBI said so. Both Randy D. Parsons
and Carlos Hernandes, supervisory special agents,
whatever that is, posed a number of questions. I was
asked if I was legitimate press, to which I responded,
what is legitimate press? I was asked where I got my pass
and explained that I got mine the same place that NBC got
theirs, I made it at Kinkos. They asked if I would be on
their list (presumably a national press association) and
I explained that I had not joined any press
organizations, then asked if it was required to be
legitimate press. They answered no, it was not necessary,
they said. It appeared that they were attempting to find
some means of rejecting me as not legitimate press. So,
what am I getting at?
Through the history of our country the
press has always defended the right to gather news
without government intervention or licensing. It has been
held that the first amendment has provided that no law
(law enforcement agency) may be made that would abridge
that right. It also appears that, here in Waco, this
fundamental right is going to be trashed, as have so many
others these past few weeks.
We will see. The two FBI agents were
supposed to get back with me yesterday, however, from my
experience, I will have to find them to see if they have
found another means of barring me from the conferences.
So much for redress of grievances!
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