FLORIDA GRANDMOTHER HARASSED BY SECRET SERVICE

Margaret 'Maggie' Richards, who runs the website Grannies Against George has had her privacy violated by the Secret Service because she spoke her mind. What's next?


Apr 16, 2001
Angry e-mail prompts Secret Service visit
DAVID WASSON and BEN FELLER of The Tampa Tribune

Angered by a Florida legislator's antigay comments, Pensacola seamstress Margaret Richards decided to give him a piece of her mind. She dashed off a blunt e-mail message to state Rep. Allen Trovillion, suggesting a "firing squad'' would be too good for the Winter Park Republican and blaming him for helping "appoint a dictator to the White House.'' She sent electronic copies to President Bush and to Gov. Jeb Bush.

Then came a knock at the door.

Two U.S. Secret Service agents wanted to know if the 58-year-old mother of five belonged to any terrorist organizations, was stockpiling firearms or had spent any time in a mental institution.

"I was floored,'' Richards said of the hourlong encounter Saturday afternoon. "When they showed up at the door, the first thing I thought was, "This must be a joke.''

The agents weren't laughing.

Richards said they took her picture, persuaded her to sign a waiver giving them access to her medical records and asked to search her small, two-bedroom home.

That's when Richards put her foot down. `

"My God,'' she said Monday. "I've written worse letters to Jeb Bush.

"I've been writing letters to presidents and my elected representatives ever since Nixon - and I called Nixon some pretty choice things and never had something like this happen.''

Richards said she told the agents she has never been in a mental institution. She doesn't own a gun, she told them, and wouldn't know how to load one, much less use it. Further, she was simply expressing her opinion as a voter when she dashed off the e-mail.

Now, the weekend encounter is fast becoming an Internet rallying cry for those who fear the government is seeking to stifle political comment.

Linda Miklowitz, a Tallahassee lawyer and president of the local chapter of the National Organization for Women, said she understands why Richards' e-mail raised eyebrows but believes agents went too far.

"There were maybe some red flags there, but I think they overreacted,'' Miklowitz said. "She doesn't fit the profile of an assassin, so I'm surprised they were that concerned.''

The Secret Service confirmed Monday that two agents from its Mobile, Ala., field office were dispatched to Pensacola over the weekend to question Richards about the note.

Agent Gail Linkins, who supervises the Mobile office, described it as "very, very routine.''

Among other things, the agency is responsible for protecting the president. Linkins refused to disclose how Richards' e-mail message came to the attention of the Secret Service.

Richards' e-mail to Trovillion was among thousands the state lawmaker has received - an estimated 5,000 cyber messages on Monday alone - either supporting or criticizing him.

Trovillion said Monday he hadn't seen the message, nor did he ask anyone to investigate it. But he said he supports the decision of Secret Service agents to pursue it.

Trovillion said his computer has become so clogged with e-mail he can't even count on it for necessary legislative correspondence.
"I'm not reading any of their e- mail, so they might as well stop it,'' he said. "I'm not wasting my time.''

Trovillion, 74, said he also was forced to unplug his office fax machine rather than ``use up all my paper on their faxes.''

Meanwhile, he remains in disbelief over how a 10-minute afternoon meeting with students who asked for a few minutes of his time last week could become national news.

In his meeting with the gay students, who were seeking his support for broadening Florida's antidiscrimination laws, Trovillion told the youths they were "going to cause the downfall of this country.'' He added that God had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and would destroy them and that they would "suffer the consequences'' of their actions.

Trovillion acknowledges telling the gay activists that, based on the Bible, they will have to pay for the sins of their lifestyle. But he said he felt the meeting was cordial and productive, not confrontational and hurtful.

"I am not prejudiced against anybody. I'm a very compassionate person. I care about people. In fact, that's the reason I'm here,'' said Trovillion, a four-term legislator.

"Hopefully, what I do will contribute for good and not for evil.''

But that's exactly what Richards worries about.

She said she has become concerned over the push in the Florida Legislature for everything from school prayer to increasing the role of religious groups in delivering government-financed social services.

Richards, who is Catholic, said she suspects lawmakers are pushing a Christian agenda rather than embracing many different religions. She said that's why she reacted so strongly after reading about Trovillion's comments to the gay students.

"It's this religion thing,'' she said, "that everybody is trying to shove down our throats.''

© The Tampa Tribune
http://www.tampatribune.com/FloridaMetro/MGAQGWQ1NLC.html