Why the FBI chose to pursue this case is unclear, but Kurtz's supporters are convinced that it was an intentional attempt to punish an artist who is critical of the government's authoritarian tendency. As Nature magazine put it: "It seems that government lawyers are singling Kurtz out as a warning to the broader
artistic community".

Perhaps, as far as the FBI is concerned, a science experiment posing as politically-motivated art is a form of terrorism.

... Guardian

Science and art aren't redneck fundamentalist notions of a good American.