LIBERTARIAN PARTY Libertarian Party Defenders of Liberty NEWS 1528 Pennsylvania Ave SE

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| LIBERTARIAN PARTY                                       Libertarian Party |
| Defenders of Liberty           NEWS              1528 Pennsylvania Ave SE |
|                                ----                  Washington, DC 20003 |
|                                                              202-543-1988 |
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For immediate release.                             FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
11 March 1993                                   Gary E. Johnson: 512-441-6378


        PROTEST IN WACO ON SATURDAY, MARCH 13, AGAINST FEDERAL SIEGE

WACO, TEXAS -- Libertarian Party members will demonstrate Saturday, March
13, at 10:00 a.m. in Waco in front of the Convention Center, to protest the
federal siege of the Mount Carmel religious community, Libertarian Party
spokesperson Gary E. Johnson announced today in Austin.

"We will be exercising our First Amendment rights of 'freedom of speech' and
'the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances' before these liberties fade away,
too," he said.

"We will be demonstrating to defend some of our most precious liberties:
freedom of religion, freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, the right to
be secure from unreasonable searches, and equal protection under the law."

Libertarians will peacefully picket and carry signs, Mr. Johnson said. Some
signs will say "I love my country, but I fear my government," "Live and let
live," "Please, no more macho cops," and "the Bill of Rights, R.I.P.".

Many signs will specifically refer to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms, such as "ATF ignores the Constitution," "Is your church ATF
approved?" "Arrest the ATF Gunmen," and "Abolish the ATF."

"The Mount Carmel incident trampled on nearly every Constitutional right
supposedly guaranteed by the Bill of Rights -- from the free exercise of
religion and the right to keep and bear arms to due process of law and the
right to be secure from unreasonable searches," Mr. Johnson warned.

"We condemn not only the bloody massacre, but also the chilling use of an
undercover agent to infiltrate a church, the attempts to censor the press,
the treatment of a so-called 'cult' as if it were not entitled to religious
freedom, and the issuance of a sealed search warrant without public
disclosure of any probable cause," he added.

"The unprovoked and unjustified government raid and the subsequent
occupation violated the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth
Amendments."

"The ATF poses a dangerous threat to our Constitutional rights," Mr. Johnson
concluded, reiterating a long-standing plank of the party's platform: "We
demand the immediate abolition of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms."

                                    [END]
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