Oxford, N.C. — Sixteen-year-old Ashton Lundeby's bedroom in his mother's Granville County home is nothing, if not patriotic. Images of American flags are everywhere – on the bed, on the floor, on the wall.
But according to the United States government, the tenth-grade home-schooler is being held on a criminal complaint that he made a bomb threat from his home on the night of Feb. 15.
The family was at a church function that night, his mother, Annette Lundeby, said.
"Undoubtedly, they were given false information, or they would not have had 12 agents in my house with a widow and two children and three cats," Lundeby said.
Around 10 p.m. on March 5, Lundeby said, armed FBI agents along with three local law enforcement officers stormed her home looking for her son. They handcuffed him and presented her with a search warrant.
"I was terrified," Lundeby's mother said. "There were guns, and I don't allow guns around my children. I don't believe in guns."
Lundeby told the officers that someone had hacked into her son's IP address and was using it to make crank calls connected through the Internet, making it look like the calls had originated from her home when they did not.
Her argument was ignored, she said. Agents seized a computer, a cell phone, gaming console, routers, bank statements and school records, according to federal search warrants.
"There were no bomb-making materials, not even a blasting cap, not even a wire," Lundeby said.
Ashton now sits in a juvenile facility in South Bend, Ind. His mother has had little access to him since his arrest. She has gone to her state representatives as well as attorneys, seeking assistance, but, she said, there is nothing she can do.
Lundeby said the USA Patriot Act stripped her son of his due process rights.
"We have no rights under the Patriot Act to even defend them, because the Patriot Act basically supersedes the Constitution," she said. "It wasn't intended to drag your barely 16-year-old, 120-pound son out in the middle of the night on a charge that we can't even defend."
Passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S., the Patriot Act allows federal agents to investigate suspected cases of terrorism swiftly to better protect the country. In part, it gives the federal government more latitude to search telephone records, e-mails and other records.
"They're saying that 'We feel this individual is a terrorist or an enemy combatant against the United States, and we're going to suspend all of those due process rights because this person is an enemy of the United States," said Dan Boyce, a defense attorney and former U.S. attorney not connected to the Lundeby case.
Critics of the statute say it threatens the most basic of liberties.
"There's nothing a matter of public record," Boyce said "All those normal rights are just suspended in the air."
In a bi-partisan effort, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., last month introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives a bill that would narrow subpoena power in a provision of the Patriot Act, called the National Security Letters, to curb what some consider to be abuse of power by federal law enforcement officers.
Boyce said the Patriot Act was written with good intentions, but he said he believes it has gone too far in some cases. Lundeby's might be one of them, he said.
"It very well could be a case of overreaction, where an agent leaped to certain conclusions or has made certain assumptions about this individual and about how serious the threat really is," Boyce said.
Because a federal judge issued a gag order in the case, the U.S. attorney in Indiana cannot comment on the case, nor can the FBI. The North Carolina Highway Patrol did confirm that officers assisted with the FBI operation at the Lundeby home on March 5.
"Never in my worst nightmare did I ever think that it would be my own government that I would have to protect my children from," Lundeby said. "This is the United States, and I feel like I live in a third world country now."
Lundeby said she does not think this type of case is what the Patriot Act was intended for. Boyce agrees.
"It was to protect the public, but what we need to do is to make sure there are checks and balances to make sure those new laws are not abused," he said.
16 comments:
this guys an idiot. you don't make a bomb threat from your house. The cops can't do anything about it.
This horrifying incident is a blatant violation of the Constitution. Also, the fact that nothing has been done to get the boy out of prison and to compensate the family shows how inefficient our government is. The act of arresting the boy would have been excusable if he had been released and if an apology had been issued. It outrages me how the government will not do anything to help the child and his mother. This blatant disrespect of civil rights shows only some of the faults of the Patriot Act. Action should be taken emmediately to limit the government's power under the Patriot Act.
Well we have a gag order forbidding public oversight, suspension of the fifth amendment right of due process of law, and no legal enforcement for crimes committed over the internet, but honestly this shouldn't be an issue who honestly wants all those pesky rights and responsibility. Right to life, liberty, and happiness? Is that why we fought a revolution against Britain, no pretty sure that was the fact that we really just didn't like having to pay those stupid taxes? Look at the media which is getting more attention histrionically inaccurate tea parties or this. Obviously the American public has spoken and it tyrannical anarchy all the way. America was way to optimistic to begin with anyway, I have to keep myself alive and happy. Look at the depression rates in this country it would be so much simpilar if one guy just told everyone what to do. Hitler/Castro ticket on the "For America" party anyone?
Oh my gosh! this is so ridiculous!
That poor boy!
They need to do something about these sorts of things. They need to revise the Patriot Act in some way so things like this do not happen to the citizens the law is supposed to protect.
I don't know what to think about this. I mean, there shouldn't be anything that can take away the rights guaranteed by the constitution. The idea that something can override it goes against the very idea of having one. The Patriot Act seems completely open to exploitation, which I find scary. And although legitimate terroristic threats should be investigated, the idea of a most-likely innocent young boy locked away seems so wrong.
I think that the government needs to settle down. They weren't this worried about things before they shouldn't be now. They have been getting into way too much stuff and they haven't really been able to handle themselves very well with it either. They should just take a few steps back and just be easy.
Things I'm afraid of: intercoms, internets, sound waves, lie detectors, the republican party, heat-seeking missles, satellite radio, and tivo. Oh, and PEOPLE TAPPING INTO MY PHONE LINES AND LISTENING TO MY PERSONAL CONVERSATIONS. I mean, who really thought the Patriot Act was a good idea? It goes against the (should be) prevalent ideas that America was based on. I feel bad for this kid. Case by case, the government is turning proud Americans into refugees inside their own homes.
"Make sure those new laws are not abused" is right!!!
What an unbelievable abuse of power. This is really shocking. What ever happened to the 4th and 5th amendments?!?!?!?! The Patriot Act definitely needs to be revised.
Wow. That makes me sick. That's why I'm moving to Denmark ASAP.
Why is this whole article about the mother? I want to know how the kid feels. I bet that guy is a living legend at his school now though. I don't even know what to say on this. It is just another article about how controlling and insane our government is. And what does the mom mean when she says she never thought she would have to protect her children from the US government? My biggest fear is the government.
This is ridiculous. A parent or legal guardian should have access to his or her children in a case like this. Ripping a child from his home isn't what the Patriot Act was supposed to be for. I hope legislators hurry up to pass something that limits the extent and effectiveness of this thing, so it doesn't get further out of hand.
Sure, we need to be able to react quickly to a suspected terrorist attack. It is directly connected to our nations security. However, when the FBI comes into a house looking for a bomb threat and there isn't so much as a blasting cap to be found, they really need to take the time to look into it. By arresting the boy immediately they were within their rights, but when they give him no chance to defend himself or listen to the possiblities of a hacked computer, the incident was taken too far. There needs to be someone to step in and put everything back on track. There has to be checks and balances on every case of power or it eventually gets taken advantage of.
I really hope Obama gets rid of this garbage. Just another piece of trash left over from the Bush administration. I believe it gives the feds too much power. You could call anyone a terrorist, and then go kidnap them from their beds, suspending all of the rights every American is guaranteed. This has nothing to do with our constitution, and it needs to be stopped. Apparently this kid was part of an Internet-based prank call or something and said the wrong things. Pretty stupid of him? Sure. Does he deserve punishment? Probably. But every American has a right to due process, and that cannot be forgotten.
Hmmm thats kinda wrong that they did that to him but then again i can see why theye did that. I think the FBI went about it the wrong way but then again who knows he probably could have been making a bomb and who knows what could have happened if they never showed up??? But then again hes probably not the only 1 doing it (if he did do it) hes just the unlucky that got caught and has to go through torture...poor kid :(
I think that dude was really dumb for doing that. To be honest it really makes no sense for him to do it.
It should have been properly investigated before they took action, it make seem like they didn't "want to waste any time" but more time is wasted by sorting the fiasco out when the subject turned out innocent.
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