Secret Service questions student
On Thefacebook.com, the freshman wrote a comment about killing President Bush.
William W. Savage III - DAILY STAFF WRITER
March 08, 2005
While washing his hands at 3 p.m. March 1, University College freshman Saul Martinez wasn't prepared to meet a Secret Service agent, especially not one who was under the impression that Martinez was a trained assassin.
"I turned around to see [a] male [standing in the doorway] in a suit and a long black trench coat," Martinez said. "I had no idea who he was, and he pulled out his badge and showed me who he is."
According to a card he gave Martinez, the man was Special Agent Dana West of the Department of Homeland Security Secret Service. He was in Martinez's 11th-floor Johnson Tower dorm room to question him.
"He tells me the reason he's here is because of a comment I made on the Internet," Martinez said. "I was like, 'I've made a million comments on the Internet.'"
But one comment in particular, posted on Thefacebook.com Web site in November 2004, was coming back to haunt him.
"It was on a message board for a 'Bush sucks' group," Martinez said. "Someone before me said their fish was cute and should replace the president."
"I thought it was really funny, so I said something along the lines of: 'Maybe we should replace him with your pet fish. Or we could all donate a dollar and raise millions of dollars to hire an assassin to kill the president and replace him with a monkey.'"
Martinez said he was making a joke, but others must have taken it literally.
Kent Chrisman, assistant to West, said an OU student triggered the investigation by notifying the Secret Service of the comment.
"He violated a law," Chrisman said. "The courts are pretty clear about this--a threat's a threat. Whether it's a verbal threat, a letter type or e-mail, a threat is a threat."
Chrisman said his office sent its report last week to the U.S. attorney who will decide whether to file charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob Troester said he could not comment on the investigation.
"At this point we don't know [what will happen]," he said. "We do two or three of these a week. A lot of times we may do more in a campaign year."
Chrisman said 99 percent of such threats do not yield federal charges.
Meanwhile, Martinez said he is still shocked by the event.
"He asked me my personal information, health history, criminal history," he said. "He asked if I was obsessed with assassination, or if I ever wanted to assassinate anyone or if I was obsessed with assassination training. To that I replied, 'I like the "Kill Bill" movies, but that's about it.'"
Martinez said West filled out a checklist and made notes during the interview which lasted about 30 minutes.
"He looked around my room and saw a poster of the Beatles, piles of magazines, a teddy bear and pictures of Britney Spears," Martinez said, "so he knew that I was kind of a normal person."
Martinez said West, who was escorted by an OU Department of Public Safety officer, told him he had clearance to pull Martinez out of class for the questioning.
"I guess they do have to take everything out there seriously," Martinez said. "There might actually be some crazy person out there who wants to replace [President Bush] with a monkey."
Still, Martinez said the investigation was unnecessary.
"The whole thing, first of all, felt like an invasion of me and my freedom of speech," he said. "It felt ridiculous to be questioned like that for a silly comment."
Chrisman said that, owing to the seriousness of a federal threat, the Secret Service had more than enough justification to obtain Martinez's personal information. He added that the investigation was routine.
"We're not looking at all Martinez's e-mails or bugging his phone," Chrisman said.
Austin Bodin, Martinez's roommate and University College freshman, had just left the dorm room when West reportedly arrived. He said he was stunned when Martinez told him what happened.
"At first I thought it was some sort of joke," Bodin said. "It seemed to me like sort of an invasion of privacy. I always thought there was some sort of rule against disclosure [of personal information]."
Martinez said he regrets posting the comment, but said he has learned from the experience.
"I learned that the Patriot Act actually does affect normal citizens and not to offend the president anymore," he said.
On Thefacebook.com, the freshman wrote a comment about killing President Bush.
William W. Savage III - DAILY STAFF WRITER
March 08, 2005
While washing his hands at 3 p.m. March 1, University College freshman Saul Martinez wasn't prepared to meet a Secret Service agent, especially not one who was under the impression that Martinez was a trained assassin.
"I turned around to see [a] male [standing in the doorway] in a suit and a long black trench coat," Martinez said. "I had no idea who he was, and he pulled out his badge and showed me who he is."
According to a card he gave Martinez, the man was Special Agent Dana West of the Department of Homeland Security Secret Service. He was in Martinez's 11th-floor Johnson Tower dorm room to question him.
"He tells me the reason he's here is because of a comment I made on the Internet," Martinez said. "I was like, 'I've made a million comments on the Internet.'"
But one comment in particular, posted on Thefacebook.com Web site in November 2004, was coming back to haunt him.
"It was on a message board for a 'Bush sucks' group," Martinez said. "Someone before me said their fish was cute and should replace the president."
"I thought it was really funny, so I said something along the lines of: 'Maybe we should replace him with your pet fish. Or we could all donate a dollar and raise millions of dollars to hire an assassin to kill the president and replace him with a monkey.'"
Martinez said he was making a joke, but others must have taken it literally.
Kent Chrisman, assistant to West, said an OU student triggered the investigation by notifying the Secret Service of the comment.
"He violated a law," Chrisman said. "The courts are pretty clear about this--a threat's a threat. Whether it's a verbal threat, a letter type or e-mail, a threat is a threat."
Chrisman said his office sent its report last week to the U.S. attorney who will decide whether to file charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob Troester said he could not comment on the investigation.
"At this point we don't know [what will happen]," he said. "We do two or three of these a week. A lot of times we may do more in a campaign year."
Chrisman said 99 percent of such threats do not yield federal charges.
Meanwhile, Martinez said he is still shocked by the event.
"He asked me my personal information, health history, criminal history," he said. "He asked if I was obsessed with assassination, or if I ever wanted to assassinate anyone or if I was obsessed with assassination training. To that I replied, 'I like the "Kill Bill" movies, but that's about it.'"
Martinez said West filled out a checklist and made notes during the interview which lasted about 30 minutes.
"He looked around my room and saw a poster of the Beatles, piles of magazines, a teddy bear and pictures of Britney Spears," Martinez said, "so he knew that I was kind of a normal person."
Martinez said West, who was escorted by an OU Department of Public Safety officer, told him he had clearance to pull Martinez out of class for the questioning.
"I guess they do have to take everything out there seriously," Martinez said. "There might actually be some crazy person out there who wants to replace [President Bush] with a monkey."
Still, Martinez said the investigation was unnecessary.
"The whole thing, first of all, felt like an invasion of me and my freedom of speech," he said. "It felt ridiculous to be questioned like that for a silly comment."
Chrisman said that, owing to the seriousness of a federal threat, the Secret Service had more than enough justification to obtain Martinez's personal information. He added that the investigation was routine.
"We're not looking at all Martinez's e-mails or bugging his phone," Chrisman said.
Austin Bodin, Martinez's roommate and University College freshman, had just left the dorm room when West reportedly arrived. He said he was stunned when Martinez told him what happened.
"At first I thought it was some sort of joke," Bodin said. "It seemed to me like sort of an invasion of privacy. I always thought there was some sort of rule against disclosure [of personal information]."
Martinez said he regrets posting the comment, but said he has learned from the experience.
"I learned that the Patriot Act actually does affect normal citizens and not to offend the president anymore," he said.
