SOA protesters won't face metal detectors

National Catholic Reporter, Oct 29, 2004 by Joe Feuerherd

When thousands of demonstrators descend on Fort Benning, Ga., the end of next month to protest U.S. military training of Latin American soldiers, they will not have to go through metal detectors local officials said were necessary to protect against terrorist threats.

That's the immediate result of a three-judge federal circuit court ruling issued Oct. 15.

According to civil libertarians, the implications of the case go beyond the annual protest at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, previously known as the School of the Americas.

"It is going to be a case that is cited in a lot of situations where you have the government asserting that there is a threat of terrorism," said Gerry Weber, the American Civil Liberties Union attorney who brought the case on behalf of School of Americas (SOA) Watch. "Now, they are going to have to have factual, predicate, real evidence" that terrorism is a legitimate threat at otherwise peaceful gatherings.

Said Weber, "The court recognized that mass searches without rhyme or reason are never permitted."

In November 2002, a week before the annual gathering at the gates of Fort Benning, the city of Columbus instituted a policy requiring anyone who wished to participate in the SOA Watch vigil to submit to a metal detector.

SOA Watch has held a demonstration at the main entrance to Fort Benning each November since 1990 calling for the closure of the training facility.

"We have seen an erosion of civil liberties during the past three years," said Fr. Roy Bourgeois, SOA Watch founder. "This ruling by the Eleventh Circuit Court is a victory not only for these rights, but for the U.S. Constitution."

Bourgeois said use of the metal detectors was unduly cumbersome. "It's like trying to get 10,000 people through an airport security gate," he said.

At press time, there was no word on whether city officials planned to appeal the ruling.