Documents Prove a Bank-Intelligence-Police Spy & Repression Network Against Occupy!

[Peter Lemkin]

[Magda had posted the first, and I had posted the second on the 'Occupy' thread; however I think this too important - it needs its own thread. It shows/proves/documents what we all suspected - that the Police and Intelligence Apparatus are run by and for the rich, the banks, the corporations - they protect not the People! - they only persecute them!]

Revealed: how the FBI coordinated the crackdown on Occupy

New documents prove what was once dismissed as paranoid fantasy: totally integrated corporate-state repression of dissent

Naomi Wolf
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 29 December 2012 14.58 GMT

Police used teargas to drive back protesters following an attempt by the Occupy supporters to shut down the city of Oakland. Photograph: Noah Berger/AP

It was more sophisticated than we had imagined: new documents show that the violent crackdown on Occupy last fall so mystifying at the time was not just coordinated at the level of the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and local police. The crackdown, which involved, as you may recall, violent arrests, group disruption, canister missiles to the skulls of protesters, people held in handcuffs so tight they were injured, people held in bondage till they were forced to wet or soil themselves was coordinated with the big banks themselves.
The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, in a groundbreaking scoop that should once more shame major US media outlets (why are nonprofits now some of the only entities in America left breaking major civil liberties news?), filed this request. The document reproduced here in an easily searchable format shows a terrifying network of coordinated DHS, FBI, police, regional fusion center, and private-sector activity so completely merged into one another that the monstrous whole is, in fact, one entity: in some cases, bearing a single name, the Domestic Security Alliance Council. And it reveals this merged entity to have one centrally planned, locally executed mission. The documents, in short, show the cops and DHS working for and with banks to target, arrest, and politically disable peaceful American citizens.
The documents, released after long delay in the week between Christmas and New Year, show a nationwide meta-plot unfolding in city after city in an Orwellian world: six American universities are sites where campus police funneled information about students involved with OWS to the FBI, with the administrations' knowledge (p51); banks sat down with FBI officials to pool information about OWS protesters harvested by private security; plans to crush Occupy events, planned for a month down the road, were made by the FBI and offered to the representatives of the same organizations that the protests would target; and even threats of the assassination of OWS leaders by sniper fire by whom? Where? now remain redacted and undisclosed to those American citizens in danger, contrary to standard FBI practice to inform the person concerned when there is a threat against a political leader (p61).
As Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the PCJF, put it, the documents show that from the start, the FBI though it acknowledgesOccupy movement as being, in fact, a peaceful organization nonetheless designated OWS repeatedly as a "terrorist threat":"FBI documents just obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) … reveal that from its inception, the FBI treated the Occupy movement as a potential criminal and terrorist threat … The PCJF has obtained heavily redacted documents showing that FBI offices and agents around the country were in high gear conductingsurveillance against the movement even as early as August 2011, a month prior to the establishment of the OWS encampment in Zuccotti Park and other Occupy actions around the country."
Verheyden-Hilliard points out the close partnering of banks, the New York Stock Exchange and at least one local Federal Reserve with the FBI and DHS, and calls it "police-statism":"This production [of documents], 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 … These documents also show these federal agencies functioning as a de facto intelligence arm of Wall Street and Corporate America."
The documents show stunning range: in Denver, Colorado, that branch of the FBI and a "Bank Fraud Working Group" met in November 2011 during the Occupy protests to surveil the group. The Federal Reserve of Richmond, Virginia had its own private security surveilling Occupy Tampa and Tampa Veterans for Peace and passing privately-collected information on activists back to the Richmond FBI, which, in turn, categorized OWS activities under its "domestic terrorism" unit. The Anchorage, Alaska "terrorism task force" was watching Occupy Anchorage. The Jackson, Michigan "joint terrorism task force" was issuing a "counterterrorism preparedness alert" about the ill-organized grandmas and college sophomores in Occupy there. Also in Jackson, Michigan, the FBI and the "Bank Security Group" multiple private banks met to discuss the reaction to "National Bad Bank Sit-in Day" (the response was violent, as you may recall). The Virginia FBI sent that state's Occupy members' details to the Virginia terrorism fusion center. The Memphis FBI tracked OWS under its "joint terrorism task force" aegis, too. And so on, for over 100 pages.
Jason Leopold, at Truthout.org, who has sought similar documents for more than a year, reported that the FBI falsely asserted in response to his own FOIA requests that no documents related to its infiltration ofOccupy Wall Street existed at all. But the release may be strategic: if you are an Occupy activist and see how your information is being sent to terrorism task forces and fusion centers, not to mention the "longterm plans" of some redacted group to shoot you, this document is quite the deterrent.
There is a new twist: the merger of the private sector, DHS and the FBI means that any of us can become WikiLeaks, a point that Julian Assange was trying to make in explaining the argument behind his recent book. The fusion of the tracking of money and the suppression of dissent means that a huge area of vulnerability in civil society people's income streams and financial records is now firmly in the hands of the banks, which are, in turn, now in the business of tracking your dissent.
Remember that only 10% of the money donated to WikiLeaks can be processed because of financial sector and DHS-sponsored targeting of PayPal data. With this merger, that crushing of one's personal or business financial freedom can happen to any of us. How messy, criminalizing and prosecuting dissent. How simple, by contrast, just to label an entity a "terrorist organization" and choke off, disrupt or indict its sources of financing.
Why the huge push for counterterrorism "fusion centers", the DHS militarizing of police departments, and so on? It was never really about "the terrorists". It was not even about civil unrest. It was always about this moment, when vast crimes might be uncovered by citizens it was always, that is to say, meant to be about you.
[URL="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/29/fbi-coordinated-crackdown-occupy?CMP=twt_gu"]Article Original Here.
[/URL]

[Peter Lemkin]

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: We begin with a look at newly revealed documents that show the FBI monitored the Occupy Wall Street movement from its earliest days last year. Internal government records show Occupy was treated as a potential terrorism threat when organizing first began in August of 2011. Counterterrorism agents were used to track Occupy activities despite the internal acknowledgment that the movement opposed violent tactics. The monitoring expanded across the country as Occupy grew into a national movement, with FBI agents sharing information with businesses, local police agencies and universities. One FBI memo warned that Occupy could prove to be an "outlet" through which activists could exploit "general government dissatisfaction." Although the documents provide no clear evidence of government infiltration, they do suggest the FBI used information from local law enforcement agencies gathered by someone observing Occupy activists on the ground.

AMY GOODMAN: The heavily redacted FBI records were obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund through a Freedom of Information Act request. We invited the FBI to join us on the program to discuss the latest revelations, but they declined. Instead, spokesperson Paul Bresson issued a written statement saying, quote, "The FBI cautions against drawing conclusions from redacted FOIA documents." He also said, quote, "It is law enforcement's duty to use all lawful tools to protect their communities."

Well, for more, we're joined by Mara Verheyden-Hilliard. She's executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, which obtained the documents showing how the FBI monitored Occupy Wall Street, joining us now from Washington, D.C.

Welcome to Democracy Now!, Mara. Tell us what you found. We've got time. Tell us what you found in these documents.

MARA VERHEYDEN-HILLIARD: Well, the documents, as you stated, show that the FBI and American intelligence agencies were monitoring and reporting on Occupy Wall Street before the first tent even went up in Zuccotti Park. The documents that we have been able to obtain show the FBI communicating with the New York Stock Exchange in August of 2011 about the upcoming Occupy demonstrations, about plans for the protests. It shows them meeting with or communicating with private businesses. And throughout the materials, there is repeated evidence of the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, American intelligence agencies really working as a private intelligence arm for corporations, for Wall Street, for the banks, for the very entities that people were rising up to protest against.

AMY GOODMAN: Interesting that they came out on Friday before Christmas?

MARA VERHEYDEN-HILLIARD: Well, we certainly thought so. We have been trying to get these documents for more than a year. The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund filed original FOIA demands with federal agencies as well as municipalities and police departments all around the United States, and we did so in the fall of 2011, when there was evidence of a coordinated crackdown on Occupy all around the country. And we wanted to get the documents out to be able to show what the government was doing. And the FBI has stonewalled for a year, and we were finally able to get these documents. They came to us, you know, as you said, the Friday before the holiday weekend. And we wanted to get them out to people right away. We assumed the FBI was expecting that, you know, it would just get buried. And instead, I have to say, it was, you know, great to be able to get these up and have people around the United States be able to see what the FBI is doing.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And Mara, what about the issue of actual infiltrators, either paid or sent in by law enforcement or the FBI into the Occupy groups?

MARA VERHEYDEN-HILLIARD: Well, the documents are heavily redacted. There is a lot of material that, on the pages themselves, we cannot see. And the documents also, in terms of the breadth and scope of the production, we believe that there is a lot more that's being withheld. Even when you go through the text of the documents, you can see that there's a lot more in terms of meetings and memos that must exist. And we are filing an appeal to demand and fight for more material to be released.

But even in these heavily redacted documents, you can see the FBI using at least private entities as a proxy force for what appears to be infiltration. There isthere are documents that show the Federal Reserve in Richmond was reporting to the FBI, working with the Capitol Police in Virginia, and reporting and giving updates on planning meetings and discussions within the Occupy movement. That would appear, minimally, that they were sending undercovers, if not infiltrators, into those meetings.

There is another document that shows the FBI meeting with private port security officers in Anchorage, Alaska, in advance of the West Coast port actions. And that document has that private port security person saying that they are going to go attend a planning meeting of the demonstrators, and they're reporting back to the FBI. They coordinate with the FBI. The FBI says that they will put them in touch with someone from the Anchorage Police Department, that that person should take the police department officer with him, as well.

And so these documents also show the intense coordination both with private businesses, with Wall Street, with the banks, and with state police departments and local police departments around the country.

AMY GOODMAN: We're going to go to break and then go specifically to several of the documents you got under the Freedom of Information Act. We're talking to Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, who is the executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, which got the documents under the Freedom of Information Act, has been trying to get them over the past few years. This is Democracy Now! Back in a minute.

[break]

AMY GOODMAN: We go back right now to Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, which released documents showing how the FBI monitored Occupy Wall Street. I want to turn right now to one of the documents. I'm Amy Goodman, with Juan González. I want to turn to part of a memo dated October 19, 2011, from the FBI's field office in Jacksonville, Florida. The document is titled, quote, "Domain Program Management Domestic Terrorism." It shows the FBI was concerned the Occupy movement, quote, "may provide an outlet for a lone offender exploiting the movement for reasons associated with general government dissatisfaction." In particular, the document cites certain areas of concern in Central Florida where, quote, "some of the highest unemployment rates in Florida continue to exist." Mara, can you talk about this idea of a lone offender threat?

MARA VERHEYDEN-HILLIARD: I think that that is very much a measure of box checking by the FBI. I don't believeand their documents show that they did not believethat this was a movement that posed a threat of violence. Now, throughout the documents, they're using their counterterrorism resources and counterterrorism authorities, they are defining the movement as domestic terrorism and potentially criminal in nature. But the fact is, they also throughout the documents say that they know that this is a peaceful movement, that it is organized on a basis of nonviolence. And by that logic, of course, you can investigate everyone in every activity in the United States on the grounds that someone might do something sometime. And, in fact, think about the tea party rallies. The tea party was having rallies all around the United States where their members come carrying weaponsthey're open carryingincluding at events where the president of the United States was speaking. But the FBI is turning its attention to this movement.

And when they reference the locations in Florida, I think that's actually a political analysis, a recognition that this is a movement whose time has come. And whether it's in hibernation right now, it is based on an organic reality of the economic situation in the United States. And the FBI is referencing the high level of unemployment, the needs that people have, and it's a recognition, too, of the dynamism and the dynamic nature of the people of the United States, the people all over the world, when they organize and come together. That's the threat that we believe the FBI and Department of Homeland Security are truly focused on, not a threat of violence.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, Mara, I'd like to turn to another document from the FBI's New York field office that shows FBI personnel met with representatives of the New York Stock Exchange on August 19th, 2011, to discuss the Occupy Wall Street protests that were set for the following month. The memo describes the meeting, saying, quote, "Discussed was the planned anarchist protest titled 'Occupy Wall Street,' scheduled for September 17, 2011. The protest appears on anarchist websites and social network pages on the internet." The memo goes on to say, quote, "Numerous incidents have occurred in the past which show attempts by anarchist groups to disrupt, influence, and or shut down normal business operations of financial districts." Talk about these meetings between law enforcement and the parties targeted by Occupy Wall Street, Mara.

MARA VERHEYDEN-HILLIARD: Well, again, the documents throughout show that they know that the movement is nonviolent. And the FBI routinely uses reference to anarchists and demonizing anarchists or a political ideology as if it's anidentical with criminal behavior. And so, they often reference anarchists in these materials and other materials that we've gotten over the years in our litigation, even where they know there are not acts of violence. And we also know how frequently the police themselves, you know, mask up and infiltrate demonstrate demonstrations, posing themselves as the anarchists that they're always saying that they're worried about.

But those documents again show the FBI working with private industry, with the banks. They're not bringing evidence of real threats of violence. They're talking about political uprising. And I think we can be sure that if they had evidence of criminal activity, they wouldn't have redacted it. They would have been happy to produce that. But they don't have it. And over and over again, you have the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security basically conducting themselves in a form of police statism in the United States against the people of the United States.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And what about the historical precedent here, the history of the FBI's involvement in monitoring, surveiling and sometimes disrupting peaceful, dissident activity in the United States?

MARA VERHEYDEN-HILLIARD: Well, exactly. This is just part and parcel of the long history of the FBI. And this is not the first incident, it is not going to be the last, and it's not the worst, to be honest. We all know that. It's notyou know, the FBI has a long history '50s, '60s, '70s of mass surveillance, of targeting of people based on political ideology, of efforts to disrupt the movements for social justice, for efforts to shut down black liberation movement, the antiwar movement. And in the '70s, of course, there were these great revelations about the abuses of the FBI, of the CIA, of other security agencies. And there were the Church Committee hearings. There were supposedly protections put in place. But we can see, you know, decade after decade, with each social justice movement, that the FBI conducts itself in the same role over and over again, which is to act really as the secret police of the establishment against the people.

AMY GOODMAN: Mara, a document from October 2011 indicates law enforcement from the Federal Reserve in Richmond, Virginia, was giving the FBI information about Occupy Wall Street. It says the Federal Reserve source contacted the FBI to, quote, "pass on information regarding the movement known as occupy Wall Street." Interestingly, the memo also notes that Occupy Wall Street, quote, "has been known to be peaceful but demonstrations across the United States show that other groups have joined in such as Day Of Rage and the October 2011 Movement," it says. The memo describes repeated communications to, quote, "pass on updates of the events and decisions made during the small rallies." Can you talk about the significance of this document, Mara?

MARA VERHEYDEN-HILLIARD: That document is one of the ones that would indicate the FBI was minimally using private entities or local police departments as proxy forces for infiltration, for undercover operations, to monitor, surveil, collect information. And that document, too, and the series of documents also showed the breadth of the reporting. So you have individuals on the ground with the Federal Reserve Bank, with the state police agencies, apparently monitoring and collecting information on the planning discussions of protests in Richmond, reporting them into the FBI and also reporting them into state fusion centers and to other intelligence and domestic terrorism data centers.

Now, the data warehousing in the United States, the mass collection of data on the people of the United States, is of great concern. And you can see, through these documents, the FBI is collecting a lot of information on completely lawful activities, on the activities of people who are not alleged to have committed criminal acts, are not planning criminal acts, who actually are engaged in cherished, First Amendment-protected activities. And yet, it's being collected under the imprimatur of domestic terrorism or criminal activity and being entered into these mass databases, which have a huge level of dissemination and access and which are virtually unregulated.

[Peter Lemkin]

FBI Documents Reveal Secret Nationwide Occupy Monitoring
To See The FBI Documents - Click HERE!
December 22, 2012 Email Print
Issue: Free Speech Gov't Transparency
Case: Occupy Crackdown FOIA Requests

FBI documents just obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) pursuant to the PCJF's Freedom of Information Act demands reveal that from its inception, the FBI treated the Occupy movement as a potential criminal and terrorist threat even though the agency acknowledges in documents that organizers explicitly called for peaceful protest and did "not condone the use of violence" at occupy protests.

The PCJF has obtained heavily redacted documents showing that FBI offices and agents around the country were in high gear conducting surveillance against the movement even as early as August 2011, a month prior to the establishment of the OWS encampment in Zuccotti Park and other Occupy actions around the country.

"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 Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF). "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. These documents also show these federal agencies functioning as a de facto intelligence arm of Wall Street and Corporate America."

"The documents are heavily redacted, and it is clear from the production that the FBI is withholding far more material. We are filing an appeal challenging this response and demanding full disclosure to the public of the records of this operation," stated Heather Benno, staff attorney with the PCJF.
As early as August 19, 2011, the FBI in New York was meeting with the New York Stock Exchange to discuss the Occupy Wall Street protests that wouldn't start for another month. By September, prior to the start of the OWS, the FBI was notifying businesses that they might be the focus of an OWS protest.
The FBI's Indianapolis division released a "Potential Criminal Activity Alert" on September 15, 2011, even though they acknowledged that no specific protest date had been scheduled in Indiana. The documents show that the Indianapolis division of the FBI was coordinating with "All Indiana State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies," as well as the "Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center," the FBI "Directorate of Intelligence" and other national FBI coordinating mechanisms.
Documents show the spying abuses of the FBI's "Campus Liaison Program" in which the FBI in Albany and the Syracuse Joint Terrorism Task Force disseminated information to "sixteen (16) different campus police officials," and then "six (6) additional campus police officials." Campus officials were in contact with the FBI for information on OWS. A representative of the State University of New York at Oswego contacted the FBI for information on the OWS protests and reported to the FBI on the SUNY-Oswego Occupy encampment made up of students and professors.
Documents released show coordination between the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and corporate America. They include a report by the Domestic Security Alliance Council (DSAC), described by the federal government as "a strategic partnership between the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the private sector," discussing the OWS protests at the West Coast ports to "raise awareness concerning this type of criminal activity." The DSAC report shows the nature of secret collaboration between American intelligence agencies and their corporate clients - the document contains a "handling notice" that the information is "meant for use primarily within the corporate security community. Such messages shall not be released in either written or oral form to the media, the general public or other personnel…" (The DSAC document was also obtained by the Northern California ACLU which has sought local FBI surveillance files.)
Naval Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS) reported to the DSAC on the relationship between OWS and organized labor for the port actions. The NCIS describes itself as "an elite worldwide federal law enforcement organization" whose "mission is to investigate and defeat criminal, terrorist, and foreign intelligence threats to the United States Navy and Marine Corps ashore, afloat and in cyberspace." The NCIS also assists with the transport of Guantanamo prisoners.
DSAC issued several tips to its corporate clients on "civil unrest" which it defines as ranging from "small, organized rallies to large-scale demonstrations and rioting." It advised to dress conservatively, avoid political discussions and "avoid all large gatherings related to civil issues. Even seemingly peaceful rallies can spur violent activity or be met with resistance by security forces. Bystanders may be arrested or harmed by security forces using water cannons, tear gas or other measures to control crowds."
The FBI in Anchorage reported from a Joint Terrorism Task Force meeting of November 3, 2011, about Occupy activities in Anchorage.
A port Facility Security Officer in Anchorage coordinated with the FBI to attend the meeting of protestors and gain intelligence on the planning of the port actions. He was advised to request the presence of an Anchorage Police Department official to also attend the event. The FBI Special Agent told the undercover private operative that he would notify the Joint Terrorism Task Force and that he would provide a point of contact at the Anchorage Police Department.
The Jacksonville, Florida FBI prepared a Domestic Terrorism briefing on the "spread of the Occupy Wall Street Movement" in October 2011. The intelligence meeting discussed Occupy venues identifying "Daytona, Gainesville and Ocala Resident Agency territories as portions …where some of the highest unemployment rates in Florida continue to exist."
The Tampa, Florida FBI "Domestic Terrorism" liaison participated with the Tampa Police Department's monthly intelligence meeting in which Occupy Lakeland, Occupy Polk County and Occupy St. Petersburg were discussed. They reported on an individual "leading the Occupy Tampa" and plans for travel to Gainesville for a protest planning meeting, as well as on Veterans for Peace plans to protest at MacDill Air Force Base.
The Federal Reserve in Richmond appears to have had personnel surveilling OWS planning. They were in contact with the FBI in Richmond to "pass on information regarding the movement known as occupy Wall Street." There were repeated communications "to pass on updates of the events and decisions made during the small rallies and the following information received from the Capital Police Intelligence Unit through JTTF (Joint Terrorism Task Force)."
The Virginia FBI was collecting intelligence on the OWS movement for dissemination to the Virginia Fusion Center and other Intelligence divisions.
The Milwaukee division of the FBI was coordinating with the Ashwaubenon Public Safety division in Green Bay Wisconsin regarding Occupy.
The Memphis FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force met to discuss "domestic terrorism" threats, including, "Aryan Nations, Occupy Wall Street, and Anonymous."
The Birmingham, AL division of the FBI sent communications to HAZMAT teams regarding the Occupy Wall Street movement.
The Jackson, Mississippi division of the FBI attended a meeting of the Bank Security Group in Biloxi, MS with multiple private banks and the Biloxi Police Department, in which they discussed an announced protest for "National Bad Bank Sit-In-Day" on December 7, 2011.
The Denver, CO FBI and its Bank Fraud Working Group met and were briefed on Occupy Wall Street in November 2011. Members of the Working Group include private financial institutions and local area law enforcement.
Jackson, MS Joint Terrorism Task Force issued a "Counterterrorism Preparedness" alert. This heavily redacted document includes the description, "To document…the Occupy Wall Street Movement."

You can read the FBI - OWS documents below where we have uploaded them in searchable format for public viewing.

The PCJF filed Freedom of Information Act demands with multiple federal law enforcement agencies in the fall of 2011 as the Occupy crackdown began. The FBI initially attempted to limit its search to only one limited record keeping index. Recognizing this as a common tactic used by the FBI to conduct an inadequate search, the PCJF pressed forward demanding searches be performed of the FBI headquarters as well as FBI field offices nationwide.

The PCJF will continue to push for public disclosure of the government's spy files and will release documents as they are obtained.

To See The FBI Documents - Click HERE!

[Peter Lemkin]

OFFICIAL USE ONLY

To: Jacksonville From: Jacksonville b7A
Re: 10/19/2011 b7E
b6

[REDACTED]

of the Occupy Movement by [REDACTED]
interested in developing a long--term plan to kill local Occupy leaders
via sniper fire.

292l1kahO5ec.wpd
O0

OFFICIAL USE ONLY

2
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The original can be found as page 69. Hard to believe - yet not hard to believe. Only hard to believe it was released or ever committed to paper!

[Magda Hassan]

:jawdrop: Their arrogance know no bounds.

OFFICIAL USE ONLY

To: Jacksonville From: Jacksonville b7A
Re: 10/19/2011 b7E
b6

[REDACTED]

of the Occupy Movement by [REDACTED]
interested in developing a long--term plan to kill local Occupy leaders
via sniper fire.

292l1kahO5ec.wpd
O0

OFFICIAL USE ONLY

2
-------------------------------------
The original can be found as page 69. Hard to believe - yet not hard to believe. Only hard to believe it was released or ever committed to paper!

[Peter Lemkin]

Why is the FBI spying on Occupy protesters? The ACLU-NC is determined to find out.

The ACLU of Northern California and San Francisco Bay Guardian today filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the FBI to find out whether and to what extent the feds have been spying on members of the Occupy movement. Although the right to protest goes to the heart of our democracy, and the FBI exists to keep us safe, the FBI has a perverse history of interpreting its mission to mean that it can spy on political activists, including Martin Luther King, Jr.

Last fall, the grassroots protest movement Occupy Wall Street - or simply "Occupy" - swept the nation. Originating in New York, prominent Occupy movements sprung up all over Northern California. But the law enforcement response was swift and brutal, as police showered protesters with exploding projectiles, batons, and pepper spray. (The ACLU-NC is currently suing UC Davis over its pepper spraying of peaceful student protesters, and is also partnering with the National Lawyers Guild in suing the City of Oakland over the violent crackdown on Occupy Oakland.)

Last fall's law enforcement response was also coordinated, with simultaneous crackdowns across the country in November 2011. As the San Francisco Bay Guardian and other media outlets reported that month, a non-governmental law enforcement group called "PERF," or the Police Executive Research Forum, coordinated conference calls with big city mayors and police chiefs to advise them on policing matters and the response to Occupy. More recently, documents obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund show that the Department of Homeland Security was engaged in nationwide monitoring and surveillance of the Occupy movement.

But we also have reason to believe that the FBI has been involved. Just days before the inaugural Occupy Wall Street protest on September 17, 2011, the FBI issued this Intelligence Bulletin, labeling the now-iconic OWS image as a "Propaganda poster." Why is the federal government spying on protesters? And just what arms of the federal government are involved? These are just some of the questions our lawsuit hopes to answer.

[Peter Lemkin]

How America handled an earlier 'Occupy' movement https://deeppoliticsforum.com/forums/sho...ans-of-WWI

Not much has changed.

[Peter Lemkin]

I have uploaded the two images. They appear to be talking about some related plan. By whom is not clear.....with all the redaction....but I think this still lends itself to an interpretation of official 'actors' making such longterm plans. I'm rather shocked that these documents have garnered little MSM or Public attention. The progressive blogs and forums are, of course, abuzz about these. Florida and Texas are certainly the focus of the two documents.

[Jan Klimkowski]

I have uploaded the two images. They appear to be talking about some related plan. By whom is not clear.....with all the redaction....but I think this still lends itself to an interpretation of official 'actors' making such longterm plans. I'm rather shocked that these documents have garnered little MSM or Public attention. The progressive blogs and forums are, of course, abuzz about these. Florida and Texas are certainly the focus of the two documents.

This is all very curious.

Is this raw intelligence suggesting a sniper attack on Occupy leaders?

The agency responding to a Freedom Of Information request has several options, and can refuse, redact and/or contextualise information.

What we seem to have here by the agencies involved is a decision that these "sniper" documents:

i) can be released;
ii) can be partially redacted;
iii) do not need to be contextualised by an explanatory statement.

Hmmmmmm.......

[Peter Lemkin]

I have uploaded the two images. They appear to be talking about some related plan. By whom is not clear.....with all the redaction....but I think this still lends itself to an interpretation of official 'actors' making such longterm plans. I'm rather shocked that these documents have garnered little MSM or Public attention. The progressive blogs and forums are, of course, abuzz about these. Florida and Texas are certainly the focus of the two documents.

This is all very curious.

Is this raw intelligence suggesting a sniper attack on Occupy leaders?

The agency responding to a Freedom Of Information request has several options, and can refuse, redact and/or contextualise information.

What we seem to have here by the agencies involved is a decision that these "sniper" documents:

i) can be released;
ii) can be partially redacted;
iii) do not need to be contextualised by an explanatory statement.

Hmmmmmm.......

Any interpretation is menacing in the extreme. It seems to me [though one can not be 100% sure] that someone within a Police or Intelligence Agency [Public or Private] had plans for a longterm OWS extermination program. Whoever it was, why were they not arrested and prosecuted? Why did they allow these documents out without explanation [obviously to scare the shit out of anyone who'd go to an OWS event...as one might be shot by 'suppressed rifle fire']. Even the FBI admits that these documents are just a tiny, infinitesimal portion of those they have on OWS. Many FOIA requests have failed, are being stalled or, as in this case, only partially responded to - as it asked for ALL documents on ALL agencies spying on, infiltrating or acting to thwart OWS. The Guardian is the only paper I of any standing that has written about this and allowed Naomi Klein to write about it, as well. The comments to both articles are about half uplifting and the other half by fascist knuckle-draggers. I guess someone felt pepper-spray, CS, bean bags, night clubs, buckshot and general mistreatment by the Police and being spied upon and infiltrated by intelligence/police were not enough..... One thing is sure........the 'establishment' sees OWS as more threatening than they can imagine.....and is determined to end it - at any cost.