Protest the War:FBI file you as" domestic terrorism and acts of terrorism"

[IChing]

ACLU: Protesters placed in terror files

By ANSLEE WILLETT THE GAZETTE

The names and licenseplate numbers of about 30 people who protested three years ago in Colorado Springs were put into FBI domestic-terrorism files, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Colorado said Thursday.

The Denver-based ACLU obtained federal documents on a 2002 Colorado Springs protest and a 2003 anti-war rally under the Freedom of Information Act.
ACLU legal director Mark Silverstein said the documents show the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force wastes resources generating files on “nonviolent protest.”

“These documents confirm that the names and license plate numbers of several dozen peaceful protesters who committed no crime are now in a JTTF file marked ‘counterterrorism,’” he said.
“This kind of surveillance of First Amendment activities has serious consequences. Law-abiding Americans may be reluctant to speak out when doing so means that their names will wind up in an FBI file.”

The FBI documents indicated agents planned surveillance in Denver where protesters gathered to carpool to Colorado Springs for the 2003 anti-war protest at Palmer Park, the ACLU said. FBI agents also collected information on three Web sites that listed details of the planned protest, the ACLU said.

The file was classified as domestic terrorism and acts of terrorism, Silverstein said. >>>>snip

http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1312739&secid=1

[rosesaylavee]

1. I will still speak out. I will still protest an illegal war.

This is still my country. Can't imagine all the agents are scumbags who think the 1st Amendment is dead.

Hi Agent Browning! :hi:

[IChing]

5. I think it is time for another massive protest

This pisses me off, and to think the the Patriot Act, (god I hate that term) still has the powers it has.
I am thankful for Russ Feingold and his stance, however I would like to see an independent ombudsman agency and oversight committee working again on federal agencies.
I placed an article in the editorial section today which I would suggest people read to understand the erosion of oversight that has occurred dramatical
under this regime.

Link: War crimes made easy http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x178446

[Clara T]

2. Continued policy

Domestic Surveillance:
The History of Operation CHAOS
by Verne Lyon
from Covert Action Information Bulletin, Summer 1990

Verne Lyon is a former CIA undercover operative
who is now a director of the Des Moines Hispanic Ministry.

For over fifteen years, the CIA, with assistance from numerous government agencies, conducted a massive illegal domestic covert operation called Operation CHAOS. It was one of the largest and most pervasive domestic surveillance programs in the history of this country. Throughout the duration of CHAOS, the CIA spied on thousands of U.S. citizens. The CIA went to great lengths to conceal this operation from the public while every president from Eisenhower to Nixon exploited CHAOS for his own political ends.

One can trace the beginnings of Operation CHAOS to 1959 when Eisenhower used the CIA to "sound out" the exiles who were fleeing Cuba after the triumph of Fidel Castro's revolution. Most were wealthy educated professionals looking for a sympathetic ear in the United States. The CIA sought contacts in the exile community and began to recruit many of them for future use against Castro. This U.S.-based recruiting operation was arguably illegal, although Eisenhower forced FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to accept it as a legitimate CIA function. Congress and the public showed no interest in who was recruiting whom.

The CIA's Office of Security was monitoring other groups at this time and had recruited agents within different emigré organizations. (1) The CIA considered this a normal extension of its authorized infiltration of dissident groups abroad even though the activity was taking place within the U.S. Increased use of the CIA's contacts and agents among the Cuban exiles became commonplace until mass, open recruitment of mercenaries for what was to be the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion was no longer a secret in southern Florida. It was no secret to Fidel Castro either, as we later found out.

This activity led the CIA to establish proprietary companies, fronts, and covers for its domestic operations. So widespread did they become that President Johnson allowed the then CIA Director, John McCone, to create in 1964 a new super-secret branch called the Domestic Operations Division (DOD), the very title of which mocked the explicit intent of Congress to prohibit CIA operations inside the U.S. (2) This disdain for Congress permeated the upper echelons of the CIA. Congress could not hinder or regulate something it did not know about, and neither the President nor the Director of the CIA was about to tell them. Neither was J. Edgar Hoover, even though he was generally aware that the CIA was moving in on what was supposed to be exclusive FBI turf. (3)

more...
http://www.serendipity.li/cia/lyon.html

[bonito]

10. This is what I was taught

America, home of the brave and the free.

[madeline_con]

3. Given their track record....

I doubt the FBI is going to suddenly get energetic and do a whole lot about these "subversives".

[Ouabache]

15. Yeah but if one of these 'subversives' applies for a gov't job

requiring an FBI background check, does this little file become a show-stopper for them?
That would be so wrong.

[Bloodblister Bob]

29. Why would a person of conscience want to work for the government? nt

[kitkatrose]

30. 'Want' may not enter into the equation. n/t

[WhiteTara]

31. once upon a time they

were called civil servants and it was an honorable work. Now it is scummy and sleazy because of the corruption. The real civil servants are all leaving the government and all that is left are the slugs.

[Taverner]

34. Not just that - but they probably wouldnt gain security clearance

And if they did sales, they couldnt have govt contracts for that reason

[enough]

4. I'm nominating this story, but I'm afraid

that it will be deleted or moved from LBN unless you change the subject line to reflect the actual headline.

People wonder "Is it fascism yet? " -- all you have to do is read this to know the answer.

[IChing]

6. I'm game, .... Mods send me a quick mail if you want me to change it n/t

[IChing]

8. I tried but it timed out

anyway still an important story

John Lennon still has ten pages of FBI files that will not be released because of "national security"
just wanted to add that.

[Straight Shooter]

7. The FBI needs to get a grip on reality. n/t

[sofa king]

9. This makes me sad.

I'm pretty sure the government is watching me and everything I say here. But what I am doing and what I am saying is as an American, and eyes wide open American who sees something they, apparently do not. I see the systematic destruction of our government and our freedoms. What, pray tell, do they see in me?

[intheflow]

11. Hmmm... I wonder if my plate was among the 30 collected?

I find it so ironic that they used chemical weapons (tear gas) on us peaceful protestors yet we got stuck with the terrorist ties. Geesh, whatta world! :crazy:

Police Attacked Protestors in Colorado Springs

[tblue37]

12. Sounds just like what they did to antiwar protesters during

the Vietnam War.

[gratuitous]

14. Yep, and dissidents for decades before that

That little shit, Hoover, was all over the populace with his "counter intelligence program" or COINTELPRO. Among some of the choicer habits our FBI cultivated was the benign-sounding "mail cover." Basically, this was opening your mail and reading it before sending it on to you.

[Rich Hunt]

21. and on the flipside...

Fake civil libertarians think it's perfectly okay to terrorize entire families of federal agents.

'Cos if one is bad, they're ALL bad. Yeah, terrorizing children is okay now.

Let's have both sides here. Because a lot has changed since then. \

Nobody hates the FBI more than corporate
criminals and the cops, and their infiltrators and disruptors
and apologists are still stuck in 1970, helping the local
police virtually imprison and terrorize people just because
they think that person knows 'where the feds are'.

You do something about this, and then we'll take you seriously about REAL civil liberties issues.

Because you people NEVER say anything about corporate stalkers and their friends the police.

[gratuitous]

32. Who are these "fake" civil libertarians?

And it's not like federal agents don't have recourse to federal courts, their own agency, and the power and treasury of the government to do practically anything they wish to do. Their victims, on the other hand, like the peace groups being harassed in this story, have very few resources for taking effective countermeasures to rein in rogue elements.

It's hard to imagine the scenario you posit where the FBI is virtually imprisoned, and strangely enough, your little screed is long on rant and very short on details. Where is this happening? Who's being terrorized and "virtually" imprisoned, and what does "virtually" imprisoned mean, anyway? Because the FBI has the power to actually imprison people and it has abused that power in the past. How does "virtual" imprisonment compare to actual imprisonment? But as far as a "virtual" imprisonment goes, consider that the FBI also has the power to NOT investigate a crime, and allow the citizenry to remain terrorized (e.g. organized crime and Hoover's refusal for decades to investigate the Mafia). How does your undescribed "virtual" imprisonment of a handful of folks compare to the depradations suffered by large swaths of the citizenry in major American cities at the hands of organized crime through much of the 20th Century because the FBI resolutely looked the other way?

What abuses are occurring today in the FBI? You and I have no idea of the true extent, because that's the nature of their agency. Rot and corruption fester for years before the principles are finally shuffled out of their positions and a little sunshine is allowed in. That's why folks are "stuck" in 1970 (actually, I think we're up to the mid-1980s and the advent of the crack epidemic) -- because the FBI isn't very forthcoming about its more current abuses of the law it's supposed to uphold. But every now and then a little nub of it pokes up into public view, like this story. And innocent, law-abiding citizens have every right to object to such illegal surveillance of their activities by a government agency.

[enlightenment]

13. It's disgustingly easy to get labeled

about a million years ago, I was with some friends and we saw a fire inside one of the buildings of our high school. We called and reported it. We were in Japan, it was a DOD school. We were all interviewed a number of times, even after they caught the guy who had set the fire (another high school kid who was mad at a teacher). No one EVER said we had anything to do with it.
A few years later, I'm back in the US -- dad's retired -- we're civilians. I get a call from the AF version of the feebs, and have to go back and tell my story of that night again. Annoying and weird. I get over it.
A few years after that I'm applying for my first security clearance and lo and behold -- I find out I have a "flag" on my record with the feds. I am a "potential threat to the safety and security of the nation."
For reporting a fire.

That flag is still there -- at this point in my life, I'm kinda proud of it, even if I didn't do anything to deserve it.
:crazy:

[teryang]

19. Isn't that the truth

Before you call the police or other law enforcement, you need to second guess yourself because this sort of unfavorable result is not all that uncommon. Sad to say.

[pschoeb]

35. Well as political activists always say

The bigger your FBI file, the better the activist, size does matter ;). At least it's good for something ;)

[Zhade]

16. K/R

NT!

[salin]

17. but just THurs pm on NPR I heard a clip of AG Gonzolas

claiming that the extension of the Patriot Act should be supported because the FBI and DOJ have demonstrated that there are no abuses, they have a great track record and have fully cooperated with Congress per oversight...

:eyes:

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kingofalldems]

20. I don't believe he attended that meeting

If the meeting ever took place. Where did you get your info on that?:popcorn:

[Callie]

27. question.....

What kind of 'proof' do you want? The F.B.I. files are available on the net and the VVAW meeting with Scott Camil can be queried.

I checked Kerry out before the election, it's a shame no one else did. We could have picked a much better candidate.

[Vickers]

26. Where did you read these? Are they online somewhere?

:shrug:

Frankly it sounds like Rush-Hannity-Dildo "facts" to me. :eyes:

[Callie]

28. Yeah

they are on-line, anyone can access them, so cut the crap and why is that flag you're flying upside down?

[Kingofalldems]

36. Well give us a link

Because I remember the charges and they were debunked. If you have more info, let us in on it.

[Callie]

38. here ya go.......

http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2004/6/emw132432.htm

[Kingofalldems]

41. The site said nothing about your original post

Bye now. Try telling the truth next time.

[Vickers]

40. You don't know what it means to fly the flag upside down?

Guess you didn't spend much time in the military, huh? :eyes:

[lonestarnot]

22. Cops photographed us when bushitler in town last month.

[Rich Hunt]

23. yeah well

The cops are harassing me and holding me virtual prisoner in Chicago, all because of the perception that my father is a fed.

They've terrorized us for forty years. And I sit in my prison and watch pampered middle-class academics
paper over this fascism and apologize for the terror wrought against my family.

You make it stop. TODAY. I've had just about enough of the harassment.

You prove you really give a shit about civil rights, civil liberties and human rights
and do something about my situation and my family's situation TODAY.

I know shit about 9/11. The fact that you don't listen and don't help is a sign
to me and to many others that you'd all rather collect your paychecks and let us die
and let the bad news that makes your middle-class pampered butt so squirmy
die as well.

Do you want to hear what I have to say or not? Because I can't say it until I
am safe from this virtual imprisonment and surveillance.

[lonestarnot]

24. Sorry for your plight. What do they do actually to interfer with your

life?

[tblue37]

25. Why don't you tell us what has actually happened?

It isn't possible to protest against an injustice if you have no idea what the injustice is.

You want us to "maki it stop now," but we still don't know what "it" is.

And have you contacted the ACLU?

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[tkmorris]

39. What ........the .............HELL????

nt

[newspeak]

37. so, who has had some of the thickest files?

Eleanor Roosevelt, Jane Addams--social activists, peace activists. Seems like the agency feels more threatened by people who believe in peaceful protests against violence. Now why is that? Are people who believe in non-violence more of a threat to the corp-fascist goals? It's always been that way. J. Edgar Hoover, Mr. Pervert himself, couldn't stand Eleanor Roosevelt. Anything that brings social justice and peace is apparently anathema to certain individuals. What a world we live in.