FBI Raids On Anti War Activists, Internet Spying & Infiltration Of Protest Groups
September 25th, 2010
Not a single mainstream media source seems to have picked up this most recent series of FBI abuses of civil rights. There are reports below of FBI raids on anti war activists, and of FBI spying which is from a Justice Department report.
From Digital Journal
FBI raids hope to link anti-war protesters to terrorism
By Stephanie Dearing.
The FBI conducted multiple raids Friday, targeting the homes and offices of anti-war activists in Minneapolis and Chicago.
The raids, characterized by one lawyer as "patently political" focused on people who organized anti-Iraq war protests, as well as protests that took place two years ago in St. Paul during the Republican National Convention, reported the New York Times. A total of eight warrants were executed. FBI spokesman Steve Warfield said
"They were seeking evidence related to an ongoing Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation. They are looking at activities connected to the material support of terrorism."
World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) reported that no-one was arrested in the raids, but the people being investigated were issued with subpoenas to appear before the Grand Jury in Chicago in October. WSWS also said there were unconfirmed reports of raids conducted on activists in Michigan and North Carolina.
Pioneer Press said five activists in Minneapolis were targeted, with suspicion that the anti-war activists have ties to terrorist organizations in Columbia and the Middle East. Warfield is quoted as saying
"There is no imminent threat to the community, and we're not planning any arrests at this time."
Those served with search warrants in Minneapolis are believed to be Mick Kelly, Jess Sundin, Anh Pham, Sarah Martin, Tracy Molm and Steff Yorek. In Chicago, Hatem Abudayyeh, Thomas Burke, Stephanie Weiner and Joseph Losbaker.
The early morning raids were conducted with the help of SWAT teams, reported Pioneer Press. A lawyer for Minneapolis-based Mick Kelly said the search warrant focused on his client's travels to the Middle East and Columbia, as well as his
"ability to pay for his own travel within the United States or to Palestine or Colombia from the year 2000 until today. And this has to do with any contact with FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) and Hezbollah, all of which are FTOs (Foreign Terrorist Organizations)."
Activists raided in Chicago told the Chicago Tribune the warrants were similar to those executed in Minneapolis. The activists deny any wrongdoing, and lawyer for one of the Chicago activists told the Associated Press her clients were
"… committed to social justice. That is not a crime in this country."
One Minneapolis activist who was targeted in the searches was Jess Sundin. She told the Associated Press she thought her activism against the US funding given to Columbia and Israel, combined with her group's activism against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were the reasons she had been centered out, saying
"It's kind of outrageous that citizens of the United States could be targeted like this."
Kelly claimed the FBI was (sic)
"… harrassing anti-war organizers and leaders, folks who opposed U.S. intervention in the Middle East and Latin America."
The Huffington Post reported Warfield said he couldn't provide specific information about the search warrants because the case was "ongoing."
Two of those raided, Sundin and Kelly, are said to be associated with the Chicago-based Freedom Road Socialist Organization. They also organized a peaceful mass rally that took place in St. Paul two years ago. The rally had an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 participants. Both Sundin and Kelly were arrested during the Republican Convention in 2008, along with 800 other people."
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/298094#ixzz10Yg53dFr
This is from the ACLU Site
Justice Department Report Finds FBI Spied on American Protestors
Earlier this week, we learned that yet another Department of Justice
(DOJ) Inspector General (IG) report has found malfeasance in the FBI.
This time, the IG found the bureau spying on American citizens engaged
in protests and other activities protected by the First Amendment. These
investigations have led to several activists being inappropriately placed
on terrorist watchlists.
The IG's investigation was prompted by an ACLU Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA) request, which uncovered evidence in 2006 that the FBI was
chilling political association by improperly investigating peaceful
advocacy groups like Greenpeace and People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals (PETA).
The report concludes that the FBI was not spying on groups because of
their political views. Rather, it was investigating them because they
suspected the groups might commit crimes, which was okay under the FBI
rules that existed at the time. By that logic, everyone can be subject
to FBI investigation and possibly be included on a terrorist
watchlist.
The report found FBI investigations were often opened based on
"factually weak" or even "speculative" justifications, and were often
kept open even after it was clear there was no criminal activity. We
can attribute this low bar to Attorney General guidelines for opening
investigations, which were gradually weakened during the Bush
administration.
In 2002, the guidelines under then-Attorney General John Ashcroft
required only the "possibility" of a federal crime. This guideline led
activities like the FBI infiltrating a peace group that was doing
nothing more nefarious than handing out anti-war leaflets in downtown
Pittsburgh.
>> Learn more about spying on First Amendment activities.
http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=H3wm7p5THE54qKwv3tUs4g..
This is from Global Research
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8622
"Spying on Americans: The FBI's "Quantico Circuit" — Still Spying, Still Lying
by Tom Burghardt
Global Research, April 9, 2008
Tuesday's Washington Post reports that FBI investigators "with the click of a mouse, [can] instantly transfer key data along a computer circuit to an FBI technology office in Quantico."
Last month I wrote that evidence of the Bureau's massive spying operations on Americans had been uncovered and "that a new FISA whistleblower has stepped forward with information about a major wireless provider apparently granting the state unrestricted access to all of their customers' voice communications and electronic data via a so-called `Quantico Circuit'."
According to whistleblower Babak Pasdar, a telecom carrier he worked for as a security consultant, subsequently named as Verizon by the Post, said the company maintained a high-speed DS-3 digital line that allowed the Bureau and other security agencies "unfettered" access to the carrier's wireless network, including billing records and customer data "transmitted wirelessly."
Verizon denied the report that the FBI has open access to its network; a denial belied by documents obtained by the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation describing the Bureau's Digital Collection System.
When these allegations first surfaced they were stonewalled by major media. Nevertheless, the reports continued and we now have learned that electronic connections between major telecom firms and FBI personnel scattered across the country provide the Bureau with real-time access to who is speaking to whom, the time and duration of each call as well as the locations of those so targeted.
Despite half-hearted protests by Congress, the FBI's budget for these operations have increased significantly. According to Post reporter Ellen Nakashima,
"The bureau says its budget for the collection system increased from $30 million in 2007 to $40 million in 2008. Information lawfully collected by the FBI from telecom firms can be shared with law enforcement and intelligence-gathering partners, including the National Security Agency and the CIA. Likewise, under guidelines approved by the attorney general or a court, some intercept data gathered by intelligence agencies can be shared with law enforcement agencies."(Ellen Nakashima, "FBI Transfers via Telecoms Questioned," The Washington Post, Tuesday, April 8, 2008; A03)"
No comments:
Post a Comment