Drilling Opponents Spied on Like Terrorists

[deminks]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-stanley/drilling-opponents-spied_b_719567.html

Once again, police "intelligence" functions created to supposedly help prevent terrorism are being used to violate the rights of peaceful political groups — this time in Pennsylvania.

Documents obtained by the investigative journalism group ProPublica revealed that the Pennsylvania Office of Homeland Security (OHS) has been gathering information on the peaceful political activities of environmental activists opposed to a controversial form of gas drilling called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." In addition, the documents strongly suggest that the Pennsylvania OHS was actively taking sides in the political dispute between environmentalists and drilling companies.

According to the ProPublica documents, a private contractor was hired by the Pennsylvania OHS to supply anti-terrorism bulletins. These bulletins included things like overseas intelligence about possible new plots — but also, the new documents show, things like lists of public meetings that anti-drilling activists planned to attend.

The fact that natural gas drilling activists were planning on attending zoning meetings in Butler County, Pennsylvania, may be considered "hot intelligence" in the boardrooms of the drilling companies that the activists were opposing — but there is no justification for police officials to be tracking such things.

As the AP reports, the bulletin also tracked other "potential security concerns" including "demonstrations by anti-war groups, deportation protesters in Philadelphia, mountaintop removal mining protesters in West Virginia and an animal rights protest at a Montgomery County rodeo." It also listed "Burn the Confederate Flag Day," and Jewish and Muslim holidays and included warnings concerning "anarchists and Black Power radicals."

(end snip)

J. Edgar, is that you?

[L0oniX]

1. This is what the patriot act is all about.

[Democrats_win]

2. Tempted to say it's the law of unintended consequences. But this was the intention.

The patriot act was intended to keep Americans from protecting their homes, their health and their lives in general. Corporations rule America. That's why people DO turn to religion because the actual Christian religion does promise to "bring to ruin those ruining the earth."

[joeybee12]

3. KNR...I'm too disgusted by thsi to say more...n/t

[deminks]

4. Kick once for the evening

:kick:

[Panaconda]

5. K&R

Homeland apparatus in high gear.