Secret Service grills MySpace teen

Now she's fighting back

By Ashlee Vance in London • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 16th October 2006 11:48 GMT

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Not satisfied with creating militants abroad, the US has decided to nurture homegrown government haters.

California teenager Julia Wilson has dedicated herself to organising student protests against the Iraq war in an act of retaliation against a firm visit from the Secret Service.

US investigators last week pulled the student out of her classroom for questioning about a MySpace page that showed President Bush being stabbed in the hand with the words "Kill Bush" scribbled above the photo. Both Wilson and her parents thought the Secret Service's tactics inappropriate.

"I wasn't dangerous," honours student Wilson told the AP. "I mean, look at what's (stenciled) on my backpack — it's a heart. I'm a very peace-loving person. I'm against the war in Iraq. I'm not going to kill the president."

According to reports, the Secret Service agents – apparently huge MySpace fans – first stopped by the 14-year-old's house (naturally, they would assume that she was a delinquent). The agents contacted Wilson's mother and then promised to return later when they could interview the lass along with her parents.

Instead, the agents stormed Wilson's school in Northern California and grilled her for 15 minutes.

"They yelled at me a lot," she told the newswire. "They were unnecessarily mean."

The agents also threatened to haul Wilson off to juvenile hall.

Class acts.

Both Wilson and her parents conceded that the Secret Service agents were right to look into the matter, as threatening the President is illegal. They, however, thought the deception and verbal rough-up to be over the line.

Wilson now plans to create a new MySpace page to help students organise protests against the Iraq war. ®

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