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Sunday, November 23, 2003

Peace activists beware

An interesting tidbit from the New York Times. Can't say I'm surprised...

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has collected extensive information on the tactics, training and organization of antiwar demonstrators and has advised local law enforcement officials to report any suspicious activity at protests to its counterterrorism squads, according to interviews and a confidential bureau memorandum.

The memorandum, which the bureau sent to local law enforcement agencies last month in advance of antiwar demonstrations in Washington and San Francisco, detailed how protesters have sometimes used "training camps" to rehearse for demonstrations, the Internet to raise money and gas masks to defend against tear gas. The memorandum analyzed lawful activities like recruiting demonstrators, as well as illegal activities like using fake documentation to get into a secured site.

F.B.I. officials said in interviews that the intelligence-gathering effort was aimed at identifying anarchists and "extremist elements" plotting violence, not at monitoring the political speech of law-abiding protesters.

The initiative has won the support of some local police, who view it as a critical way to maintain order at large-scale demonstrations. Indeed, some law enforcement officials said they believed the F.B.I.'s approach had helped to ensure that nationwide antiwar demonstrations in recent months, drawing hundreds of thousands of protesters, remained largely free of violence and disruption.

But some civil rights advocates and legal scholars said the monitoring program could signal a return to the abuses of the 1960's and 1970's, when J. Edgar Hoover was the F.B.I. director and agents routinely spied on political protesters like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"The F.B.I. is dangerously targeting Americans who are engaged in nothing more than lawful protest and dissent," said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. "The line between terrorism and legitimate civil disobedience is blurred, and I have a serious concern about whether we're going back to the days of Hoover."

More here...it's worth a read.

posted by Jenny at 11:38 AM |

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Sunday, November 23, 2003

Peace activists beware

An interesting tidbit from the New York Times. Can't say I'm surprised...

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has collected extensive information on the tactics, training and organization of antiwar demonstrators and has advised local law enforcement officials to report any suspicious activity at protests to its counterterrorism squads, according to interviews and a confidential bureau memorandum.

The memorandum, which the bureau sent to local law enforcement agencies last month in advance of antiwar demonstrations in Washington and San Francisco, detailed how protesters have sometimes used "training camps" to rehearse for demonstrations, the Internet to raise money and gas masks to defend against tear gas. The memorandum analyzed lawful activities like recruiting demonstrators, as well as illegal activities like using fake documentation to get into a secured site.

F.B.I. officials said in interviews that the intelligence-gathering effort was aimed at identifying anarchists and "extremist elements" plotting violence, not at monitoring the political speech of law-abiding protesters.

The initiative has won the support of some local police, who view it as a critical way to maintain order at large-scale demonstrations. Indeed, some law enforcement officials said they believed the F.B.I.'s approach had helped to ensure that nationwide antiwar demonstrations in recent months, drawing hundreds of thousands of protesters, remained largely free of violence and disruption.

But some civil rights advocates and legal scholars said the monitoring program could signal a return to the abuses of the 1960's and 1970's, when J. Edgar Hoover was the F.B.I. director and agents routinely spied on political protesters like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"The F.B.I. is dangerously targeting Americans who are engaged in nothing more than lawful protest and dissent," said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. "The line between terrorism and legitimate civil disobedience is blurred, and I have a serious concern about whether we're going back to the days of Hoover."

More here...it's worth a read.
posted by Jenny at 11:38 AM |

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Blogs...
The Lefty Directory
The Agonist Alas, a Blog Arms and the Man Back in Iraq 2.0 The Bitter Shack of
Resentment BlogLeft Body & Soul Corrente Counterspin Central The Daily Outrage Daniel Drezner Deborama Eschaton Kieran Healy Late Night Thoughts Long story; short pier Lying Media Bastards Magpie Matthew Yglesias Nathan Newman Oligopoly Watch Open Source Politics Pen-Elayne The RANT The ReachM High Cowboy Network Noose RuminateThis Rush Limbaughtomy Serenity The Seth Bulletin shock & awe Skippy the Bush Kangaroo South Knox Bubba Stoutdem TalkLeft Ted Barlow Tom Tomorrow veiled4allah Vegan Blog Wampum Where is Raed? wil wheaton
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Consumer Awareness... Transnationale.org Behind the Label animalconcerns.org Corp Watch GetVegan Multinationals? MediaChannel.org Take Back the Media Sweatshop Watch Stop Gap Sweatshops! 10 To Never Buy Again Whole Foods Hurts Animals Stop ExxonMobil Boycott Shell Boycott Proctor & Gamble McSpotlight Fast Food Nation Prozac Spotlight Pharmaceuticals IMF/World Bank

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