It was too late.
Federal authorities had found the page and placed Wilson at the top of their most wanted list, despite the fact that the dagger depicted a stab wound to the hand, an obviously non-fatal injury. “Any speech or action that doesn’t completely and blindly support the Bush administration is taken seriously,” an anonymous secret service staff member was quoted as saying.
They finally reached her this week in her molecular biology class. An uncited FBI spokesman was overheard saying “We’ve made tremendous strides in finding these dangerously vocal teenagers by hiring former representative Mark Foley, an expert at using the internet to find youngsters.”
The 14-year-old freshman was taken out of class Wednesday and questioned for about 15
On Friday, the teenager said the agents' questioning led her to tears.
"I wasn't dangerous. I mean, look at what's (stenciled) on my backpack — it's a heart. I'm a very peace-loving person," said Wilson, an honor student who describes herself as politically passionate. Then, her eyes glazed over, her voice became strangely monotone, and she continued, saying "I'm against the war in Iraq. Er, I mean I was. Now, I totally support the administration’s efforts. I'm not going to kill the president."
Her mother, Kirstie Wilson, said two agents showed up at the family's home Wednesday afternoon, questioned her and promised to return once her daughter was home from school. “At least I think they were Secret Service agents. I don’t think they’re members of Mark Foley’s administration, because he’s a gay pedophile. Isn’t he?”
After they left, Kirstie Wilson sent a text message to her daughter's cell phone, telling her to come straight home: "There are two men from the secret service that want to talk with you. Apparently you made some death threats against president bush. Run! Run, or we may never see you again!"
"Are you serious!?!? omg. Am I in a lot of trouble?" her daughter responded.
Moments later, Kirstie Wilson received another text message from her daughter saying agents had pulled her out of class.
“I can’t believe she was able to get that text to her mom with that black hood over her head and her hands tied behind her back,” the capturing agent stated. “We tried capturing her by offering her candy, but she was too smart for that, so we had to don the hoods and burst into her class with weapons drawn. You know how dangerous free-thinking children can be.”
Julia Wilson said the agents threatened her by saying she could be sent to juvenile hall for making the threat, and that she was a very naughty girl who needed a spanking.”
"They yelled at me a lot," she said. "They were unnecessarily mean, and their voices seemed a little creepy when they talked about spanking me.”
Spokesmen for the Secret Service in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., said they could not comment on the case, but several of them had Wilson’s pictures as screensavers on their personal laptops.
Wilson and her parents said the agents were justified in questioning her over her MySpace.com posting. But they said they believe agents went too far by not waiting until she was out of school. “Mr. Bush, I understand that your enforcers needed to fix our wrong-think, but this task force isn’t supposed to exist, is it? When they burst into class like that, everyone in the whole school saw your ‘non-existent’ goon squad. Now, they’re going to have to do the same thing to everyone that witnessed it. Oops, I shouldn’t have said that.”
They also said the agents should have more quickly figured out they weren't dealing with a real danger. Ultimately, the agents told the teen “we were never here.”
Assistant Principal Paul Belluomini said the agents gave him the impression the girl's mother knew they were planning to question her daughter at school. There is no legal requirement that parents be notified. “And even if there is, this is the President. He’s not subject to the laws of the land.”
"This has been an ongoing problem," said Ann Brick, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union in San Francisco. Former Govs. Pete Wilson and Gray Davis vetoed bills that would have required that parents give consent or be present when their children are questioned at school by law enforcement officers. A similar bill this year cleared the state Senate but died in the Assembly.
Julia Wilson plans to post a new MySpace.com page, this one devoted to organizing other students to protest the Iraq war... “er, I mean, devoted to our beloved President.”
"I decided today I think I will because it (the questioning) taught me that our President is totally right," she said.
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