Scouts Receive "Civics Lesson" in American Totalitarianism

by William Norman Grigg
Jul. 24, 2014

Visitors to the former Soviet Union were frequently admonished not to take photographs of buildings and government personnel, out of fear of attracting the attention of the secret police. The danger was particularly acute when entering or leaving East Germany, where border guards stationed at the Berlin Wall checkpoints were very aggressive and entirely capable of killing people on the spot for trivial infractions.

The same is true while crossing the border between South Korea and Communist North Korea – or crossing into and out of the United States of America.

A Boy Scout troop from Des Moines, Iowa traveling to Alaska was detained after one of the Scouts photographed a border guard. Without legal authority, the guard confiscated the young man’s camera and threatened to arrest him, claiming he faced a $10,000 fine and ten years in prison. The agents demanded to search the troop’s vehicle. As one Scout moved to comply, he was threatened by an agent who drew his pistol and pointed it at the teenager’s head.

After being detained without legal cause for four hours, the troop was allowed on its way.

One Scout leader described this incident as a “civics lesson.” It is, in the sense that it shows how closely the US government resembles its totalitarian ancestors.