New information on Patriot Act detention of Ashton Lundeby

May 6, 5:54 PMCharlotte Gun Rights ExaminerPaul Valone

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Have you seen this child? The FBI has ...

On March 5, 16-year-old Ashton Lundeby of Oxford, NC was arrested in a late night raid on his home by a team of FBI agents and local police. Accused of delivering bomb threats via the Internet, he has been denied due process of law and has apparently been detained for two months in South Bend, Indiana, under the sweeping powers of the Patriot Act. I have just spoken with Ashton’s mother, Annette Lundeby, and new information indicates FBI intent to misrepresent facts in order to bolster the government case.

On February 5, the night the FBI claims the teenager made Internet bomb threats, the entire Lundeby family was at the Union Chapel Methodist Church – with witnesses – on a timetable which would have made it difficult if not impossible for Lundeby to have committed the crime. Mrs. Lundeby has strong evidence that other teens with previous grievances may have hacked her son’s Skype account, used for Internet calling, to make it appear he had made the threats. She notes previous incidents of such problems, including false 911 calls made by others about the family.

In an interview on the Alex Jones show, she said: “They posted my son’s IP address on YouTube.” As Jones noted during the show – and as a Google search affirmed – “Skype hacking” is a common and very real threat. Yet according to Mrs. Lundeby, FBI agents lied at Ashton’s detention hearing:

“… the FBI blatantly lied to the federal magistrate, Judge Gates, that you could not hack an I.P. address … they wanted my son, and they wanted to make an example of him.”

The Lundeby family has reportedly been denied due process in a variety of ways: At Ashton’s arrest, Mrs. Lundeby was not allowed to call an attorney, and a court-appointed attorney – who only spoke to Ashton for “less than 30 seconds” prior to his hearing, has been less than vigorous in advocating Lundeby’s case. Meanwhile, under a federal gag order, Mrs. Lundeby has been denied access to transcripts and other materials necessary for his defense. “I’m not allowed to have any information concerning my son,” she says.

By all accounts, the home-schooled youth has never been in trouble. Says his mother, “He is kind of a poster boy of all-American good kid.”

While the government has not specifically said Ashton is being held under the Patriot Act, neither have they denied it under questioning from court-appointed counsel. An FBI press release on the issue reveals almost nothing. Elsewhere, activists continue to record instances of the Patriot Act being applied to U.S. citizens with no connections to terrorism.

Ashton Lundeby is scheduled to be charged as an adult on May 22.

YOU MUST GET INVOLVED

Given governmental stonewalling, political pressure must be applied to the Department of Justice. Mrs. Lundeby has contact her Congressman – Brad Miller – and found him to be, at best, unresponsive. Not just North Carolinians, but anyone and everyone should contact members of the North Carolina delegation to Congress and demand an immediate investigation as to why a teenager without apparent connections to terrorism is being held under a law which gives the government sweeping powers of arrest and detention.

This is not an issue of conservatism or liberalism; it is a matter of fundamental human rights. Citizens should form a united front and immediately contact these United States Senators:

Senator Richard Burr
http://burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm
(202) 224-3154

Senator Kay Hagan
http://hagan.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm
(202) 224-6342
 

For legislative alerts on the issue, go to: http://grnc.org/alerts/alert_5_5_09.htm

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