President coming to Missouri
Residents filed the report to work within the prescribed institutional path to report criminal activity, graduate student David Criger said.
Published April 11, 2006
Ryan Amundson approached the window at the Columbia Police Department on Monday and asked to fill out a police report because he said he knew a criminal will be in town on Tuesday.
When questioned about where the crimes had occurred, he said they happened in all 50 states.
The police denied Amundson an official police report, but they told him that his concerns were noted and that he could file another report on Tuesday when the man was in town. Amundson went outside and told the group waiting: "They didn't want a report. They didn't take any names. It shows that if (President George Bush) commits a crime, it is different than when any other person commits felonies."
Amundson, a first-year graduate student, members of Students for a Democratic Society and community members attempted to file a police report in response to Bush's trip to mid-Missouri today. Bush is scheduled to discuss the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit in Jefferson City.
Bush's announced visit has stirred reactions from both ends of the spectrum.
Columbia resident Rita Preckshot said she would love to be able to go down and see Bush if she could get off work, especially because she missed seeing him the last time he visited Mid-Missouri. She said she thinks any protests will not be effective because the same people protest all the time about too many different issues.
"I think it is kind of funny that these peaceniks get their jollies going out and causing a ruckus all the time," Preckshot said. "They were out there protesting Clinton, Bush Sr. and basically every president since the '60s. They just don't like how America is run.
Graduate student David Criger went to the Police Department with the group to file a report. He said obvious crimes have been committed, and they have been traced back to Bush.
The group filed the report because it wanted to work within the prescribed institutional path to report criminal activity, Criger said.
Amundson said he expected the police not to take his complaint seriously. He said the group members would go back to make sure their complaint was heard and try to file another report while Bush is in town today.
"We are not trying to exaggerate the fact that he is in violation of many laws," Amundson said. "We believe he is a criminal. If we went in and told them about a poor drug dealer coming to Columbia, we would have been taken more seriously."
Amundson said his brother died at the Pentagon during the Sept. 11 attacks. He said he does not believe that the United States' foreign policy is making the nation safer.
"No matter what wall we build or what war we fight abroad, we will continue to have terrorists if we continue our imperialist foreign policy," Amundson said. "Terrorists come from political grievances, which our president is causing. He needs to take accountability for his actions."
Mid-Missouri Peaceworks Director Mark Haim said his group is going to try to protest at Bush's arrival at Columbia Regional Airport because it is easier for students and people with jobs to only miss half a day instead of the full day to protest in Jefferson City.
"By waging wars of aggression, our government is responsible for deaths, creating enemies around the world, squandering money and being guilty of war crimes," Haim said. "It is the duty and obligation of the citizens to speak out against these crimes."