YOUNGSTOWN Group plans walk, vigil to protest U.S. Patriot Act

Many people aren't aware of the Patriot Act's effect, the protest organizer said.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Organizers expected about 150 people downtown today to protest the U.S. Patriot Act and erosion of civil liberties.
Local church members were to conduct a prayer walk and vigil in front of the Mahoning County Courthouse.
The aim is to call attention to the civil liberties lost through the Patriot Act, said Kryss Chupp, a staff member for Christian Peacemaker Teams, which is organizing the event.
The Chicago-based group is an organization whose volunteers travel to trouble spots around the world to promote peace. Christian beliefs compel them to speak out on violations of humanity and dignity, she said.
Demonstrators were to walk from John Knox Presbyterian Church on Market Street at 11:30 a.m. to the courthouse.
Topics planned
Speakers at the courthouse were to talk about their work with families in the United States and Iraq whose relatives are being held indefinitely and in secrecy, Chupp said.
People in Iraq are having relatives disappear, learning only later that the U.S. military is holding them, she said. Little else is known about such detainees, she said.
Speakers also were to give an overview of the Patriot Act. Many people aren't aware of how the legislation has hurt civil liberties, Chupp said.
Due process has been lost, with people in the United States being held without being charged with a crime and without being given access to lawyers, she said. The Patriot Act also has given the government expanded powers to search homes without warrants, tap phones and monitor e-mail, she said.
"It's happening here, it's happening in Iraq," Chupp said. "We need to speak back to that, to the realities going on."
rgsmith@vindy.com