Domestic spying on the rise

[G_j]

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/03/22/domestic_spying_on_rise/

Domestic spying on the rise?
By Murray Polner, 3/22/2004

WITH THE FIRST anniversary of the invasion of Iraq last week and the nationwide demonstrations, not to mention the coming presidential convention, there is growing apprehension among civil libertarians and ordinary Americans that the FBI is once again dredging up its infamous J. Edgar Hoover legacy of spying on political dissenters who are exercising their constitutional rights.

Last October the FBI notified local police agencies to keep close tabs on people and groups opposed to the war and occupation of Iraq. Since it is obvious that the Bush administration loves playing the 9/11 card for political purposes, it is no surprise that efforts are being made to squelch as much domestic dissension as it can.

We've been through this wave of repression before in the 20th century with calamitous results, when government snoopers developed a vast spying apparatus during the '20s, McCarthyite '50s, and the '60s, '70s, and '80s against nonviolent dissenters who dared challenge the wisdom of US foreign policies. And although the FBI (and others in the government) deny they are hindering free speech or assembly -- declaring that they are only concerned with deterring potential criminals and terrorists -- their October memorandum nevertheless asked some 17,000 local and state police agencies to keep a very close eye on antiwar demonstrations and report allegedly suspicious activity to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.

The risk now is that the "war against terrorism" has given policing agents on all levels greater latitude to play ideological sentry. In Chicago, for example, the Sun-Times reported in February that undercover cops have been spying on different groups, including the American Friends Service Committee. Political espionage has occurred in Denver, Colorado Springs, Colo., Austin, Texas, Fresno, Calif., Atlanta, and probably many other places.

...more...

[Sugarbleus]

1. PLUS they are, no doubt, watching us here in DU n/t

[Mike Niendorff]

15. DU, Indymedia, you'd better believe it.

And that's not even counting all the "private" wingnut groups that do exactly the same thing (or worse).



MDN

[strategery blunder]

2. I suppose I had better start getting paranoid

I was in an antiwar protest Friday and I don't think it slipped under the Asscroft radar because I got interviewed.

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1254659>

[G_j]

19. in our town

the police film every protest. That's why I always try to look my best. :-)

[Zorra]

3. A message from America:

[brook]

4. I bought Clarke's book today.

When I got home I saw a 'sticky' plastic barcode thingie on a page
near the middle. My first thought was it was a way to track it. If it was an anti-theft device, they'd have removed it at the store, right?

[chascarrillo]

7. No

Too much of a bother. They just demagnetize it instead of ruffling through the pages trying to find it.

[LoZoccolo]

14. Nah, they leave stuff in all the time.

I've seen 'em in books before. Matter fact, you buy a CD at Best Buy now, and the little anti-theft thing'll be stuck inside the shrink-wrapped CD case. I got a wallet in my stocking this year, and started setting the alarm off at this grocery store by my work...turns out the anti-theft thing was put inside one of the credit card slots, far enough down as to not be visible! Took me more than one visit there to find it out, and the second time I was doing stuff like "OK maybe it was my wallet" and sticking just my wallet into the field. Now I have a little card I can put in someone else's backpack or something and they'll go crazy every time the beeper goes off when they're leaving!

[Solon]

5. Cointelpro never stopped...

FBI Investigates Domestic Activities to Identify Terrorists
by GAO
GGD-90-112

International Terrorism: FBI Investigates Domestic Activities to Identify Terrorists

RESTRICTED---Not to be releatsed outside the General Accounting oiplce unless specifically approved by the Office of Congressional

General Government Division
B-23289 1
September 7,199O


The Honorable Don Edwards Chairman, Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights Committee on the Judiciary
House of Representatives

Dear Mr. Chairman:

This report responds to your February 1,1988, request that we review the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) international terrorism program. We also address specific questions in your July 27, 1989, letter about our detailed file review. Unfortunately, data access issues both impeded our progress and limited our ability to draw conclusions.

As you know, the FBI removed (" redacted") information it considered sensitive from the files before we were granted access to them. The redaction procedures were time consuming and delayed issuance of this report. Given that the FBI redacted the closed files before we reviewed them, we were limited in our ability to develop overall conclusions regarding the FBI'S international terrorism program. The questionnaire and case file data clearly demonstrated that the FBI did engage in monitoring of First Amendment-type activities during its international terrorism investigations. However, we are not able to determine if the FBI infringed First Amendment rights when monitoring these activities or if the FBI had a reasonable basis to monitor such activities.

Unless you publicly announce the contents earlier, we plan no further distribution of this report until 30 days from the date of issuance. At that time, we will send copies of the report to the Attorney General and the FBI Director. Upon request, we will send copies to other interested parties.

Major contributors to this report are listed in appendix IV. Please contact me at 276-8389 if you have any questions concerning the report.

Sincerely yours,

Lowell Dodge
Director, Administration of Justice Issues
<Snip>
http://www.totse.com/en/politics/federal_bureau_of_investigation/167467.html

<Snip>
On April 22, 1970, as 22 million Americans rallied across

the country on the first Earth Day celebration, FBI agents in over 40 cities were ordered to spy on and infiltrate these events. Senator Edwin Muskie, himself a victim, remarked from the floor of Congress that this surveillance was "a dangerous threat to fundamental constitutional rights." The power of the environmental movement and the challenge it posed to business-as- usual made it an instant target for FBI suppression.


Twenty years later on May 24, 1990, a shrapnel-wrapped car

bomb went off under noted Earth First! activist Judi Bari's car seat, nearly killing her and injuring fellow organizer Darryl Cherney. Even more frightening to Bari, as she woke up in the hospital intensive care unit under armed guard, was the realization that a major FBI "counter-intelligence" operation against Earth First! was underway.


Within minutes of their arrival on the scene of the blast,

the FBI was falsely characterizing nonviolent environmental organizers Bari and Cherney as "terrorists". Within hours, the Oakland Police Department had arrested and detained them for transporting explosives. It was not enough that the two leaders had been physically blown up; the FBI immediately began to orchestrate a disinformation campaign designed to discredit and imprison these activists and destroy Earth First!
<Snip>
http://www.totse.com/en/politics/federal_bureau_of_investigation/162841.html

[madrchsod]

6. storm front- the white power site

was visited by the FBI with a warrant looking for a posters id,email and all that. the poster made some death threats..whether he was turned in or the feds were lurking the article did`t say.

i was paid a visit by the feds in the 60`s..i was surprised at what they knew. i learned my lesson about the feds and informers....

[Solon]

8. One thing to keep in mind...

is that I would defend their rights to spew out their speil because I know that to deny them that right diminishes all of ours. The FBI and government in general are purusing this site, that is a given. We are not a private board, all can see it and that includes the government. Most of these agents are halfway decent, however, many of them and their bosses view the Bill of Rights as a hinderance to "Law and Order". They will do all they can to circumvent our rights if the goal isn't to lawfully arrest us for true crimes. They are bearuecrats that care little for who is in power, only that their power remains unchallenged. This applies to the CIA and the NSA as well, the toothless reforms of the 1970s were nothing but window-dressing for public consumption. Our civil-rights have been under attack by these types of people since the country was founded, there is no change now, except for the names of the players and organizations.

[G_j]

9. actually there is a difference now

the PATRIOT act.

[Solon]

11. Alien and Sedition acts were just as bad.

We are in agreement here, just pointing out that it is not a new phenomenon. Eugene Debs was jailed under these types of laws for speaking out against WWI.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

12. Right. This is not new.

What is interesting is the historical evaluation of these acts. All of them are looked upon as anti-American and as a sad chapter in America's history. The current laws and actions will be viewed no differently.

[G_j]

13. true, and as your post below

demonstrates, much of the PATRIOT is a formality. In many ways it merely legitimizes what they had been doing all along. PATRIOT 2 definately enters some new territory though.

[Solon]

16. The thing I most fear is that the FBI already displays a bias...

Unless Right Wing terrorists conduct extreme acts of violence, then the FBI acts, but not before. Yet when a Left wing activist agitates for fairness or peace, the FBI slams down on them with both feet, and pull all stops with local police as well. As the Example here:

The FBI, COINTELPRO and Far-Right Vigilante Networks
by Tom Burghardt
"Over the years, our approach to investigative problems in the intelligence field has given rise to a number of new programs, some of which have been most revolutionary, and it can be assumed that with a continued aggressive approach to these problems, new and productive ideas will be forthcoming. These ideas will not be increased in number or improved upon from the standpoint of accomplishments merely through the institution of a program such as COINTELPRO which is given another name, and which in fact, only encompasses everything that has been done or will be done in the future." J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director, Memorandum, July 15, 1964 <1>

1. COINTELPRO AND THE FAR-RIGHT: THE POLITICAL CONTEXT OF ANTI-CHOICE VIOLENCE

Now that the Christian Right's anti-abortion, "national cultural and holy war"2 has evolved into a campaign of arson, murder and terror, mainstream "feminist" groups tied to the capitalist Democratic Party -- NOW, NARRAL, and The Feminist Majority Foundation -- are demanding that the FBI investigate anti-choice violence.

In the wake of Rev. Paul Hill's assassination of Dr. John Bayard Britton; clinic escort, James Barrett; and the wounding of clinic escort, June Barrett, July 29 in Pensacola, FL, the drumbeat for federal intervention has reached deafening proportions.

Armed U.S. Marshals, FBI agents using "special investigative techniques," and police SWAT teams, however, will neither defend women seeking reproductive health care nor abortion providers; rather, such intervention will transform women's clinics into armed camps. The net result of such a massive show of firepower by the State will not guarantee women's safety at clinics. Neither will such intervention increase women's access to reproductive health care.

Rather, police intervention on such a grand scale, plays into the hands of anti-choice terrorists. They believe that such displays of State power only assist their own propaganda efforts and tend to buttress their assertion that "abortion is murder," and that women who control their bodies are doing something "wrong."

Despite U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno's statement that clinic violence, "is a problem throughout the nation" and that "it is appropriate to address an issue of deep concern,"3 two more women's clinics have been fire-bombed since Rev. Paul Hill's murderous rampage.

A clinic in Falls Church, VA sustained more than $10,000 in damage, July 30, while a Planned Parenthood facility in Brainerd, Minnesota, was burned to the ground on August 10; the Minnesota facility did not perform abortions. During the same period these two clinics were attacked, a right-wing vigilante was arrested in Philadelphia outside a women's clinic; six molotov cocktails were seized from the trunk of his car. Reports of death threats against patients, doctors and health care workers since the Pensacola murders have skyrocketed.

While the State is poised through the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (the FACE law), to legitimize anti-abortion thugs who "sidewalk counsel" and engage in other forms of harassment against women, gangsters such as convicted clinic bomber, Rev. Michael Bray, an endorser of Hill's Defensive Action "Declaration" insist:

"Anyone who truly believes that the slaughter of innocent children is what we have with abortion could go out and shoot an abortionist."4

Similarly, other supporters of the "justifiable homicide" position, go further. According to the Rev. David Trosch, even pharmacists might eventually become targets. "I would see no problem with shooting a pharmacist," who provided a "morning after pill" to women who seek to terminate their pregnancies.5 Trosch, in a July 16 letter that predicted the "massive killing of abortionists and their staffs," pointedly warned that clinic defenders and reproductive rights activists "will be sought out and terminated as vermin are terminated."6
<Snip>
http://www.totse.com/en/politics/federal_bureau_of_investigation/162746.html

I would advise reading this article in its entirely, however it is long. But it is LONG.

[G_j]

17. yes, thats very obvious

just an example of the mindset: There was an anti-gay rally here recently. There were eleven arrests all counter-protesters.

[Solon]

10. More info: FBI did not need to have "Patriot Act" powers at all.

The FBI's Domestic Counterterrorism Program
by CDT
The FBI's Domestic Counterterrorism Program

Recent news commentary has suggested that the FBI is hamstrung in its efforts to combat domestic terrorism. One former FBI official was quoted as saying that "you have to wait until you have blood on the street before the Bureau can act." Steven Emerson has asserted that the FBI is severely restricted in infiltrating known extremist groups, that it has no terrorism data base like the CIA's, and that it is powerless to stop extremist groups from masquerading as "religious" groups.

All of these claims are incorrect. Persons concerned about addressing the threat of terrorism need to begin with a clear understanding of current FBI capabilities, which are in fact broad.

Attorney General Guidelines

The FBI currently operates under a set of guidelines issued in 1983 by Ronald Reagan's Attorney General, William French Smith. The Smith guidelines were a modification of guidelines issued by Gerald Ford's Attorney General Edward Levi in 1976. The Levi guidelines were criticized as being too restrictive and cumbersome. Indeed, many of the criticisms of the current guidelines are really the same criticisms lodged against the Levi guidelines, which the Smith guidelines were intended to rectify.

The Smith guidelines make it absolutely clear that the FBI does not have to wait for blood in the streets before it can investigate a terrorist group. The guidelines expressly state: "In its efforts to anticipate or prevent crimes, the FBI must at times initiate investigations in advance of criminal conduct."

The threshold for opening a full investigation is low: a domestic security/terrorism investigation may be opened whenever "facts or circumstances reasonably indicate that two or more persons are engaged in an enterprise for the purpose of furthering political or social goals wholly or in part through activities that involve force or violence and a violation of the criminal laws of the United States."

Indeed, the FBI is also authorized to open a preliminary inquiry on an even lower threshold: The Bureau can begin investigating when it receives any information or allegation "whose responsible handling requires some further scrutiny." Preliminary inquiries can be conducted without headquarters approval for 90 days, during which the FBI can conduct interviews, contact confidential sources and previously established informants, and carry out physical surveillance. Preliminary inquiries can be extended with Headquarters approval.

Advocacy

One of the main purposes of the Smith guidelines was to make it clear that the FBI could open an investigation based on advocacy of violence. While urging respect for the First Amendment, the guidelines state: "When, however, statements advocate criminal activity or indicate an apparent intent to engage in crime, particularly crimes of violence, an investigation under these guidelines may be warranted ... ."

How do the Guidelines work in practice?

In any given year, the FBI engages in approximately two dozen full domestic terrorism investigations. Over the years since the Smith guidelines were adopted, nearly two thirds of these full investigations were opened before a crime had been committed. The FBI has investigated right-wing, anti-government, anti-tax, paramilitary and militia groups under this authority. The FBI's characterization of White American Resistance (WAR) is typical: After opening a domestic terrorism investigation of WAR, the FBI stated "No known acts of violence have as yet been attributed to WAR; however, leaders of the group have been encouraging members to arm themselves."

The FBI has been successful in preventing terrorist crimes before they occurred. In 1993, for example, the FBI arrested several skinheads in Los Angeles after a lengthy investigation determined that they has been discussing and planning attacks on a black church, Jewish targets and other religious targets.

Calling something a church or a religious organization does not immunize it from investigation. In fact, a number of the white supremacist groups investigated by the FBI had assumed a religious mantle, under the "Christian Identity" philosophy. The FBI investigated under the terrorism guidelines the Yahweh Church, a militant black group in Miami, and other religious groups.

Nothing in law or logic prohibits the FBI from opening investigations based on public source material or reports from private civil rights groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center. The FBI opens investigations based on any credible source, including news reports. For example, the FBI opened a civil rights investigation into the Rodney King case as soon as officials saw the broadcast of the videotape. And the Justice Department has met with abortion rights activists to solicit information about groups that may be planning attacks on abortion clinics.

Terrorist Information System

The FBI has a state of the art, on-line computer database known as the Terrorist Information System containing information on suspected terrorist groups and individuals. The system has over 200,000 individuals and over 3000 organizations or enterprises. The individuals indexed include not only subjects of investigations but also known or suspected members of terrorist groups, associates, contacts, victims and witnesses. The organizations or enterprises include not only terrorist groups but also affiliated organizations or enterprises. TIS allows the FBI to rapidly retrieve information and to make links between persons, groups or events.

Issues to Be Considered

There appears to be a growing problem of disaffected loners who cut themselves off from all groups. An increased effort to monitor anti-government groups is unlikely to identify these loners, who may pose the greatest threat. In this context, the enterprise concept that serves as the basis of the Smith guidelines -- and that serves as the basis for calls for greater infiltration of groups -- may be irrelevant.

MODS: This text is to the best of my knowledge, not under copyright, no violations here.
http://www.totse.com/en/politics/federal_bureau_of_investigation/162341.html

[Ksec]

18. Now I am paranoid