This video is one in a series run in partnership with The Bay Citizen and Decade911.com.
After 9/11, schools and municipalities across the country added the charge of “terroristic threat” to their disciplinary codes. For folks who grew up long before 9/11, it can sound more like the stuff of action thrillers than real life.
That was our attitude when we first heard Alex Molina tell his story. We asked Alex, “How has 9/11 affected your life?”
It’s a broad question, and we got a long, unwieldy answer. But then, toward the end of our interview, Alex said as an afterthought that it seems police can call anything — from tagging walls to fighting — terrorism. Alex had heard from older friends that that wasn’t always the case, but he shrugged it off.
And so did we, until we met John Doe — not his real name. John requested anonymity because he’s in the military and is afraid that there might repercussions for expressing his views.
Here are their stories:
Alex Molina, 22, is a writer from San Jose. He said once a police officer threatened to arrest him as a “terrorist.”
“I guess after every big incident like [9/11], you lose rights,” he said.
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“John Doe” is in the military. In the eighth grade, he was arrested for making a “terroristic threat.”
“I feel very aware of how scared the nation is of the smallest potential threat,” he said.
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After 9/11 life was downgraded to degradation we have today. NO one has anything today, no hope either, basically the terrorists won, and the american people lost what they had before.