US Government Urges Citizens to Avoid Peaceful Political Protest
By Carey Shenkman, SpeakOut
On Thursday, August 22nd, travelers to Iceland received an e-mail from the United States Embassy in Reykjavik, Iceland, that discouraged US citizens from participating in political protest against the actions of the US government. It also labeled a peaceful advocacy organization a potential security threat, representing the increased used of a tactic to describe protesters using the language of terrorism. These actions have deep implications for the right of US citizens to dissent.
Titled "United States Embassy Reykjavik, Iceland Security Message for US Citizens," the e-mail would first appear to warn of a terror threat or natural disaster. In context, the message arrives at the tail of the shutdown and evacuation of several embassies across the Middle East following an Al Qaeda terror threat.
Yet the message is about neither, instead warning travelers to steer clear of a protest against the unprecedented sentencing the previous day of army whistleblower Chelsea Manning to thirty-five years in prison. Human rights and civil liberties organizations have decried the decision issued by a court martial in Fort Meade, Maryland, pointing, for instance, to Manning's exposure of crimes committed by the US army against civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan. Manning supporters also protest President Barack Obama's aggressive stance toward whistleblowers, which has resulted in more prosecutions under the 1917 Espionage Act than under all other presidents combined.
The US State Department is known to sometimes jump the gun with its travel warnings (The New York Times recently ran a cartoon making fun of it). Some journalistic organizations in Iceland and elsewhere have picked up on the story and its absurdity. But what is most disturbing from a legal standpoint is that the US government is, under cover of national security, compelling US citizens not to protest against it.
"You should avoid areas of demonstrations" are not instructions one expects to hear from a government founded on the fundamental rights of assembly and protest guaranteed by the First Amendment.
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http://truth-out.org/speakout/item/18573-us-government-urges-citizens-to-avoid-peaceful-political-protes
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wrote the Constitution precisely because they wanted to create a country that would be free of this sort of nonsense. They foresaw the likelihood that those in power might once again try to restrict the freedoms of the population. Ironic that those who talk the most about the founding fathers and our Constitution are also the loudest voices when accusing anyone who disagrees with them of being 'unpatriotic'. Shame on the Obama administration for not putting our Constitutional rights ahead of their need to cater to those voices. 
Democracy in this country is being systematically destroyed. 
Getting really tired of it. 
want to accidently wander into a political protest, even if it is peaceful. Urging people to avoid the area sounds more like they don't want folks to be caught offguard. I don't see that they are compelling anyone to stay away. People who intend to demonstrate are not going to be put off by this memo. There is always a chance of violence where large groups are gathered. Consider that anarchists and cops have been known to show and and disrupt peaceful events. My guess is that the Embassy would like as few visitors as possible involved in the event that there is a problem because they're the ones who would have to deal with it.
