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Local Teacher's Run-In With Homeland Security Creates Insecurities

Thu Apr 6, 5:29 PM ET

A local school employee said a rough run-in with a couple of
Homeland Securityofficers has left him with a strong sense of insecurity.
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Leander Pickett, a teacher's assistant at Englewood Elementary, said he was manhandled and handcuffed by two plain clothed Homeland Security officers in front of the school Tuesday for no reason at all.

"I would like to treat people the way I would want to be treated, and yesterday I wasn't treated that way," Pickett said.

Pickett has been working at Englewood for two years, and his principal and colleagues told Channel 4 they have never met a harder worker or nicer guy.

"He's well loved by everyone because he's willing to do anything to help children," said the Englewood Elementary Principal Gail Brinson.

However, Tuesday afternoon Pickett's niceness turned to anger, disappointment, and betrayal when, as Pickett was directing bus traffic, he said he was handcuffed and roughed up and humiliated by the very people that were supposed to protect him.

"I walked up to him and said, 'Sir, you need to move.' That's when he said 'I'm a police officer. I'm with Homeland Security ... I'll move it when I want to.' That's when he started grabbing me on my arm," Pickett said.

However, Homeland Security tells a different story.

The department said the only reason the officers were at the school was because they pulled over to look at a map.

The department also said it's looking into what happened, and that Pickett's version is wrong. It claims he was antagonizing the officers.

Several people were outside of the school, watching the incident take place, and those witnesses agree with Pickett's story.

"Mr. Pickett asked the guy blocking the bus loading zone to move, and the guy told him he would move his car when he got ready to move it," said Englewood coach Alton Jackson.

"At that point I intervened and I went up to the gentleman and said, 'Mr. Pickett is an employee here,' and they said that didn't matter," said Englewood media specialist, Terri Dreisonstok.

"'We're with Homeland Security,' and on and on they went, and pretty soon, before you know it, he's handcuffed and slammed against a car," Brinson said. "All the children are watching, they're all upset."

After about 30 minutes, the men released Pickett.

"The part that really upsets me is all these students were watching, and that and it isn't good," Jackson said.

Pickett said he plans to sue.

"You now you hear these stories everyday and say, 'This will never happen to me,' but yesterday it happened to me," Pickett said.

"If this is Homeland Security, I think we ought to be a little afraid," Brinson said.

The central office of Homeland Security contacted Channel 4 about the incident and stated that it considers all allegations seriously and the matter has been referred to a neutral investigative entity.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/wjxt/20060406/lo_wjxt/3379371
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If this hadn't been in a highly public area he would be in jail right now for assaulting a federal officer. Is it facism yet?

yes guerilla, its fascism, not get the fuck out while you still can

The dept. is saying flat out "the teacher is wrong" before any investigations even though all the witness agree with his version of the events. This man was Illegally detained and harassed and I'll be you $50 absolutly nothing happens to the agressors.

They obviously weren't just looking for directions but probably on assignment.

Lets just hope it wasn't anything like this creep.
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Homeland official arrested on Internet pedophile charge
Apr. 4, 2006. 11:48 PM

MIAMI (AP) — The deputy press secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was arrested Tuesday for using the Internet to seduce somebody he thought was a teenaged girl, authorities said.

Brian Doyle, 55, of Silver Spring, Md., was arrested on charges of use of a computer to seduce a child and transmission of harmful material to a minor. The charges were issued out of Polk County, Fla.

Doyle had a sexually explicit conversation with somebody he believed was a 14-year-old girl whose profile he saw on the Internet on March 14, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

The "girl" was an undercover Polk County Sheriff's Computer Crimes detective, the sheriff's office said.

....

Doyle, who is the fourth-ranking official in the department's public affairs office, was expected to be placed on administrative leave Wednesday morning.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=1144187412823&col=968705899037&call_page=TS_Canada&call_pageid=968332188774&call_pagepath=News/Canada

Americans would need to monitor the actions and the powers of 'Homeland Security',they can say just about anything,do just about anything,and get away with it,no questions asked.Looks to me as an outsider,that its just another excuse to steamroll over more American Civil Libertys,what ever happened to the good old days,when they used to bullshit'a matter of National Security',wake up guys,the enemy within is as dangerous as the foreign one.

The homeland security agents in this case were dickheads. That doesn't mean we should scrap homeland security any more than the fact that certain cops are dickheads means we should scrap police forces. The officers in question should be held responsible for their actions but the entire agency should not be held responsible.

Maybe 'Homeland Security'should be restructured,I always thought it was a reaction to events,rather than a well thought out idea,like I said it seems to impede on American Citizens,rather than say foreifn sleepers,or illegals with dubios intentions.

The officers in question should be held responsible for their actions but the entire agency should not be held responsible.yes they should frogger. that is my point. But the police adn HS have no interest in upholding the law otherwise these guys would be fired. They are only interested in 'maintaining control' through fear and violence. Thats why nothing will happen to these guys and nothing happens to most cops who cross the line.