Yesterday, Steve Bierfeldt, a member of the Ron Paul group “Campaign for Liberty,” was detained by authorities and questioned at the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. They were questioning him over his possession of $4700 that were collected from fundraising activities for the Campaign for Liberty. Bierfeldt asked if he was legally required to ask questions about carrying around money and the officers got angry, started cursing, and threatened to release him to the DEA and FBI. They never answered the question until the last minute of this half hour detention when they asked if he worked for Ron Paul, Bierfeldt said yes, and they released him.

The New Face of Terror (take notes, Al Qaeda)

A couple of months ago, the Missouri State Highway Patrol was adopting a report on local militias that said that militia members may claim to be part of Ron Paul’s, Bob Barr’s, or other third party campaigns. They ultimately decided on not using this report and not profiling third party campaigns. Bierfeldt at the time was carrying around campaign literature, stickers, etc. that linked him to these campaigns. It is uncertain whether or not the authorities were profiling at the airport.

The problem with this situation is twofold: the authorities did not explain what this young man was legally obligated to do and most people (except Mr. Bierfeldt) do not know their rights. The problem of miscommunication in our society is most evident during encounters between law enforcement and regular citizens, because the former believe they have powers without immediate oversight and the latter not knowing how far law enforcement can go. At airports, I have never seen a sign prohibiting me from carrying large sums of money (under $10,000), yet the person was detained and questioned for just that. The only result that linking militias to third party candidates and their campaigns is to discredit their ideas and give cause for law enforcement to detain them and disrupt their activities.

America must be careful that in our push for security in this post-9/11 world that we do not sacrifice all of our freedoms. At a time when Al Qaeda can disguise itself as a college student, a stay-at-home mom, a professor, or even a police officer, we cannot decide that the detention of every person with a beard, ululating in public, or carrying a bag is permissible. Without detaining everyone, we cannot know what disguise the enemy is using. This is why we need to find the enemy and strike at the root before they can send terrorists here. This is why we need more funding for and better intelligence. This is why we need to fight them on their territory and not on ours. Of course, common sense must be used: if we see someone wearing an “I Love Bin Laden” bandana running towards a crowd, we need to be able to stop them. What is needed is a clear set of rules on public safety that does not violate our human rights… otherwise the terrorists win.

-AG