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So if he has broken a law why is he not being charged? What happened to due process? If they are not charging him it has at least not been determined by law tha

So if he has broken a law why is he not being charged? What happened to due process? If they are not charging him it has at least not been determined by law that he has broken the law, in fact he has not even been formally accused of it. Still he is being punished with $30,000. I wonder how you would react if the police would take e.g. your car under the pretence of "we think you might have been speeding" and after six month you still have not have your car returned, or been actually fined (or taken to court for speeding). But the only comment on a forum is "well he should have been speeding".

doubleg72 3y ago
Cause taking photos of military installation is equivalent to a summary offense such as speeding, huh?
ianburrell 3y ago
Charging comes after collecting evidence. The FBI has to go through all of the evidence from search warrant. Then they have to determine if should charge him. Then he gets arrested or has his devices returned.
- simple-thoughts 3y ago
  The process is the punishment. Most likely he will win in court, but after years of legal battles, lost equipment that he has to replace without reimbursement, and having to find funds to pay contractors to repair his residence.
  - nextaccountic 3y ago
    > lost equipment that he has to replace without reimbursement This is just theft. How is this legal?
    - simple-thoughts 3y ago
      Because the State does it instead of a different organization. I wish I was joking but that is literally their justification- that because it’s done by a State it’s automatically legal. Of course the courts will rule differently but the people who stole won’t be punished.
      - LocalH 3y ago
        The "monopoly of violence" at play, which has devolved into "the state has a monopoly on violence, so any application of that violence by the state is justified and moral"
  - flangola7 3y ago
    How do you prepose criminal investigators collect possible evidence... without actually collecting it? You come with complaints but no proposed solutions.
flangola7 3y ago
In principle I agree with you. The US j̶̶̶u̶̶s̶̶t̶̶i̶̶c̶̶e̶ legal system is not fair. But flying surveillance drones over the most clandestine military facility on the continent and posting the photos online is maybe the swiftest and least justifiable way to poke the bear outside of physical violence. Police investigate before they press charges. Investigation involves gathering and seizing evidence. On a national security matter I would expect them to be thorough and tight-lipped. In most nations simply attempting to photograph the base at all, whether trespassing or not, would be criminal. For all their problems the US feds are legally required to tolerate many activities that would be plainly illegal in most nations. The Snowden documents circulated because it's not illegal in the US for regular civilians or newspapers to view or distribute classified material, only those who are military or have a clearance (and no need to know) are forbidden. Elsewhere state secrets laws define that activity to be universally criminal.
- 18pfsmt 3y ago
  I don't think anyone cares about what candaians who think they are Americans believe simply because they live nearby. As subjects of the King, canadians have no understanding of liberty, nor the founding principles of the American nation. They fled as soon as people suggested defiance. Subjugation is in the veins of canadians.
- nextaccountic 3y ago
  Area 51 is not clandestine anymore, but it's odd that it was only officially acknowledge in 2013 https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/government-officially-acknowledges-existence-of-area-51-but-not-the-ufos/2013/08/16/ca4feaec-06be-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/government-of...
  - flangola7 3y ago
    Walk up to the Area 51 gate and ask them if you can wonder around their labs and take some photos. I think you'll quickly find that their work is still top secret.

doubleg72 3y ago

Cause taking photos of military installation is equivalent to a summary offense such as speeding, huh?

ianburrell 3y ago

Charging comes after collecting evidence. The FBI has to go through all of the evidence from search warrant. Then they have to determine if should charge him. Then he gets arrested or has his devices returned.

simple-thoughts 3y ago
The process is the punishment. Most likely he will win in court, but after years of legal battles, lost equipment that he has to replace without reimbursement, and having to find funds to pay contractors to repair his residence.
- nextaccountic 3y ago
  > lost equipment that he has to replace without reimbursement This is just theft. How is this legal?
  - simple-thoughts 3y ago
    Because the State does it instead of a different organization. I wish I was joking but that is literally their justification- that because it’s done by a State it’s automatically legal. Of course the courts will rule differently but the people who stole won’t be punished.
    - LocalH 3y ago
      The "monopoly of violence" at play, which has devolved into "the state has a monopoly on violence, so any application of that violence by the state is justified and moral"
- flangola7 3y ago
  How do you prepose criminal investigators collect possible evidence... without actually collecting it? You come with complaints but no proposed solutions.

flangola7 3y ago

In principle I agree with you. The US j̶̶̶u̶̶s̶̶t̶̶i̶̶c̶̶e̶ legal system is not fair. But flying surveillance drones over the most clandestine military facility on the continent and posting the photos online is maybe the swiftest and least justifiable way to poke the bear outside of physical violence. Police investigate before they press charges. Investigation involves gathering and seizing evidence. On a national security matter I would expect them to be thorough and tight-lipped. In most nations simply attempting to photograph the base at all, whether trespassing or not, would be criminal. For all their problems the US feds are legally required to tolerate many activities that would be plainly illegal in most nations. The Snowden documents circulated because it's not illegal in the US for regular civilians or newspapers to view or distribute classified material, only those who are military or have a clearance (and no need to know) are forbidden. Elsewhere state secrets laws define that activity to be universally criminal.

18pfsmt 3y ago
I don't think anyone cares about what candaians who think they are Americans believe simply because they live nearby. As subjects of the King, canadians have no understanding of liberty, nor the founding principles of the American nation. They fled as soon as people suggested defiance. Subjugation is in the veins of canadians.
nextaccountic 3y ago
Area 51 is not clandestine anymore, but it's odd that it was only officially acknowledge in 2013 https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/government-officially-acknowledges-existence-of-area-51-but-not-the-ufos/2013/08/16/ca4feaec-06be-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/government-of...
- flangola7 3y ago
  Walk up to the Area 51 gate and ask them if you can wonder around their labs and take some photos. I think you'll quickly find that their work is still top secret.