When I read that Patrick Howley admitted to deliberately provoking violence at a Stop the Machine rally, my first thought was, "This guy needs to be before a judge." I was initially unsure that there was a way to bring him up on criminal charges without raising First Amendment concerns. Then I remembered--Howley has tacitly admitted to trying to incite a riot. Last time I checked, deliberately inciting a riot is not, and never has been, protected speech. To my mind, if U.S. Attorney Ron Machen isn't already investigating possible criminal charges against Howley--and anyone else involved in planning this stunt--he needs to do so.
Apparently someone at the American Spectator must have figured out Howley had just put it in legal hot water, because it furiously tried to edit the story and even briefly took it offline. But as of now (Monday afternoon EST), it's back online. Speaking as a journalism major, this is, without a doubt, the second most outrageous stunt I've ever seen perpetrated by a newspaper. In fact, the News of the World phone hacking scandal doesn't top this by a whole lot in my book.
Think about it, folks. Can you imagine what would happen if a writer for The Nation, Mother Jones or a mainstream paper pulled something like this at a tea party rally? There would be demands--and rightly so--for the "journalist" to be fired and prosecuted. This is no different.
Call the DC U.S. Attorney's office at 202-252-7566, email them at dc.outreach at usdoj dot gov, or snail-mail them here:
United States Attorney's Office
555 4th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20530
Plus, it goes without saying that Howley needs to be fired. It looks like the best way to put pressure on them is to write this rag's owner, the American Spectator Foundation. Somehow I would think somebody on the foundation board of directors has a conscience. Here's how to write them:
The American Spectator Foundation
1611 North Kent Street, Suite 901
Arlington, VA 22209