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    • They Came for the Muslims, and I Didn't Speak Up

    By Stephen F. Rohde | Nov. 21, 2002
    Columns

    Civil Rights

    Nov. 21, 2002

    They Came for the Muslims, and I Didn't Speak Up

    Forum Column - By Stephen Rohde - First they came for the Muslims, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Muslim. The USA PATRIOT Act became law a little over one year ago.

    Stephen F. Rohde

    Email: rohdevictr@aol.com

    Stephen is a retired civil liberties lawyer and contributor to the Los Angeles Review of Books, is author of American Words for Freedom and Freedom of Assembly.

            Forum Column
            
            By Stephen Rohde
             
            Author's Note: The USA PATRIOT Act became law a little over one year ago.
            
            First they came for the Muslims, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Muslim.
            
            Then they came for the immigrants, detaining them indefinitely solely on the certification of the attorney general, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't an immigrant.
            
            Then they came to eavesdrop on suspects consulting with their attorneys, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a suspect.
            
            Then they came to prosecute noncitizens before secret military commissions, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a noncitizen.
            
            Then they came to enter homes and offices for unannounced "sneak and peak" searches, and I didn't speak up because I had nothing to hide.
            
            Then they came to reinstate Cointelpro and resume the infiltration and surveillance of domestic religious and political groups, and I didn't speak up because I no longer participated in any groups.
            
            Then they came to arrest American citizens and hold them indefinitely without any charges and without access to lawyers, and I didn't speak up because I would never be arrested.
            
            Then they came to institute TIPS - Terrorism Information and Prevention System - recruiting citizens to spy on other citizens, and I didn't speak up because I was afraid.
            
            Then they came for anyone who objected to government policy because it only aided the terrorists and gave ammunition to America's enemies, and I didn't speak up ... because I didn't speak up.
            
            Then they came for me, and by that time, no one was left to speak up.
            
            Stephen Rohde, author of American Words of Freedom, is indebted to the Rev. Martin Niemoller for his words in a 1937 sermon.

    #268750

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