The FBI Treated Occupy Like a Terrorist Group

[dudeone]

The FBI Treated Occupy Like a Terrorist Group

By Adam Clark Estes | The Atlantic Wire – 19 hrs ago

http://news.yahoo.co...-021450389.html

Now that it's been over a year since the Occupy movement swept across the country, FOIA requests are being fulfilled, revealing uncomfortable details about how authorities viewed the protestors. One such request by the Partnership for Civil Justice came through this weekend, and the 112 heavily redacted pages reveal that the FBI approached the Occupy Wall Street protests as "criminal activity" -- which is not terribly surprising -- and investigated the groups as perpetrators of "domestic terrorism" -- which is fairly unsettling. More specifically, the Feds enlisted its own as well as local terrorism task forces in nine different cities across the country to investigate Occupy. In Memphis, the group was lumped together with Anonymous and the Aryan Nation in discussing the threat of "domestic terrorism." White supremacists and 99 Percenters aren't really two groups that we think about hand-in-hand but whatever.

This isn't the first time that a FOIA request has shown the FBI to have engaged in some suspicious activity around the Occupy movement. In September, a FOIA request from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) showed extensive surveillance of the movement's prominent players, leading ACLU attorney Linda Lye to ask, "Why does a political protest amount to a national security threat?" The FBI denied the surveillance accusations by saying that its investigation did not include "unnecessary intrusions into the lives of law-abiding people" and that its prohibited from investigating Americans "solely for the purpose of monitoring activities protected by the First Amendment or the lawful exercise of other rights." Of course, if you classify the actions as "domestic terrorism," other rules apply.

That in mind, we still don't really have any idea how far the FBI went in chasing the Occupiers. At the time of this latest disclosure over two-thirds of the bureau's records on the movement have been made public. As the Partnership for Civil Justice said in a press release, this latest batch of documents is only "the tip of the iceberg."

[Buddhas Hand]

The Cointelpro Papers: Documents from the FBI's Secret Wars Against Dissent in the United States

byWard Churchill, Jim Vander Wall

The Cointelpro Papers: Documents from the FBI's Secret Wars Against Dissent in the United States4.09 · rating details · 97 ratings · 11 reviews

Readers anxious about civil liberties under George W. Bush will find fodder for fears—and suggestions for activism—in The COINTELPRO Papers. Ward Churchill and Jim Vander Wall's exposé of America's political police force, the FBI, reveals the steel fist undergirding "compassionate conservatism's" velvet glove. Using original FBI memos, the authors provide extensive analysis of the agency's treatment of the left, from the Communist Party in the 1950s to the Central America solidarity movement in the 1980s. The authors' new introduction posits likely trajectories for domestic repression

Are you a victim of the cointel pro ?

[Mr. Ambien]

Well colour me surprised, government doesn't like dissent..

[inane]

Seriously, who thought otherwise...

[Common sense]

Occupy. What a joke.

[dudeone]

FBI considered Occupy movement potential threat, documents say

By

Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley

, CNN

updated 5:34 AM EST, Thu December 27, 2012

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/26/us/fbi-occupy/index.html

A participant in the Occupy Wall Street protest is arrested during a rally to mark the one-year anniversary of the movement in New York on Monday, September 17.

Occupy Wall Street: One year later

New York (CNN) -- The FBI extensively monitored the Occupy Wall Street movement around the United States, using counterterrorism agents and other resources, according to recently released FBI internal documents.

The heavily redacted documents indicate that FBI counterterrorism agents were in close communication with law enforcement agencies, businesses, universities and other organizations across the country about the Occupy Wall Street movement, even before Occupy Wall Street set up a camp in New York's Zuccotti Park in September 2011.

In August 2011 the FBI informed New York Stock Exchange officials of a "planned Anarchist protest titled Occupy Wall Street" scheduled for September 17, 2011. The FBI also notified several New York businesses of the impending protests, according to the documents.

The documents, released under a Freedom of Information Act request, contain references to an October 2011 FBI domestic terrorism briefing in Jacksonville, Florida, regarding the spread of the Occupy Wall Street movement and "the emergence of Occupy chapters in and around the North Florida area." FBI officials also recommended setting up tripwires with Occupy event organizers.

The FBI was concerned that the Occupy venues could provide "an outlet for a lone offender exploiting the movement for reasons associated with general government dissatisfaction," according to the documents

At a Joint Terrorism Task Force meeting in November 2011, FBI agents reported about Occupy Wall Street activities in Anchorage, Alaska, according to the documents.

The documents also described instances from California, Colorado Mississippi, Virginia, and other states involving cooperation between the FBI and other agencies.

FBI counterterrorism agents are traditionally tasked with investigating and curtailing both domestic and foreign terrorism threats.

The agency prepared surveillance and precautionary measures despite acknowledging that Occupy Wall Street organizers "did not condone the use of violence during their events" and, and that the organizers had called for peaceful protest, according to the documents.

The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, which describes itself on its website as a Washington-based organization "dedicated to the defense of human and civil rights secured by law, the protection of free speech and dissent, and the elimination of prejudice and discrimination," obtained the documents through the Freedom of Information Act.

"This production, which we believe is just the tip of the iceberg, is a window into the nationwide scope of the FBI's surveillance, monitoring, and reporting on peaceful protestors organizing with the Occupy movement," stated Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the organization.

"These documents show that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are treating protests against the corporate and banking structure of America as potential criminal and terrorist activity."

The FBI, responding to the release of the documents regarding Occupy, said it recognizes the rights of individuals and groups to engage in constitutionally protected activity but must take precautions to deal with any potential threats of violence.

"While the F.B.I. is obligated to thoroughly investigate any serious allegations involving threats of violence, we do not open investigations based solely on First Amendment activity," FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said in a statement to CNN. "In fact, the Department of Justice and the F.B.I.'s own internal guidelines on domestic operations strictly forbid that."

The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund said it believes the FBI is withholding more information regarding its surveillance of the Occupy movement, and will be filing an appeal demanding full disclosure of its operations, according to Verheyden-Hilliard.

[TOMapleLaughs]

Well, it was potential criminal and terrorist activity. All protests are.

[Kamero89]

Occupy. What a joke.

[ThaBestPlaceOnEarth]

So, Occupy was all a bolshevik plot? I figured as much.

[Charlie.the.Unicorn]

The only joke here is you. You live in the most liberal city in North America. Your views are NOT Canadian. You are NOT a Canadian.

[surtur]

occupy what?

[wiseupsucker]

Occupy. What a joke.

[lowest common denominator]

_{FBI did the same thing to John Lennon for singing about such terrifying subjects as "Love" and "Peace", terrifying to the US government that is.}

_{We are on the list now, too, for contributing to this thread.}

[The Colt 45s]

Even if the movement was benign, having the FBI investigating was the right thing to do. I believe one concern was the connection of the anarchists within the Occupy movement. The fact is the government investigates a lot of different movements, and we need to be thankful they do. It has helped them prevent things from happening, and most of all it has helped prevent the 99% of the Occupy Movement from becoming patsies for the 1 or 2 people that really wanted something more.

[woofwoofmoomoo]

Even if the movement was benign, having the FBI investigating was the right thing to do. I believe one concern was the connection of the anarchists within the Occupy movement. The fact is the government investigates a lot of different movements, and we need to be thankful they do. It has helped them prevent things from happening, and most of all it has helped prevent the 99% of the Occupy Movement from becoming patsies for the 1 or 2 people that really wanted something more.

[lowest common denominator]

Even if the movement was benign, having the FBI investigating was the right thing to do. I believe one concern was the connection of the anarchists within the Occupy movement. The fact is the government investigates a lot of different movements, and we need to be thankful they do. It has helped them prevent things from happening, and most of all it has helped prevent the 99% of the Occupy Movement from becoming patsies for the 1 or 2 people that really wanted something more.

[Electro Rock]

COINTELPRO I could see, because most if not all of the groups they investigated were ultimately backed by the Soviet Union or one of its allies, making them agents of influence of a foreign power.

I *really* doubt that's the case with the Occupy crowd though, what has the "Feebs" so worried I wonder?

[hsedin33]

They should just put up walls around the US and call it 'The Guantanamo States of America'. That way they can stop pretending like they are not doing anything wrong.

[Common sense]

The only joke here is you. You live in the most liberal city in North America. Your views are NOT Canadian. You are NOT a Canadian.

[Kryten]

Occupy. What a joke.