Filed under: 9/11 Truth, Anti-War, bill of rights, Congress, Dictatorship, Dissent, domestic terror, domestic terrorist, Empire, end the fed, enemy combatants, John McCain, mandatory detention, mccain, Military, Military Industrial Complex, Protest, rendition, tea party, Torture, truth movement, US Constitution, War On Terror
Americans Could Be Locked-Up For Life Without Trial Under New Bill
Filed under: 1st amendment, 2008 Election, Anti-War, army, bill of rights, colorado, demonstration, Denver, Dictatorship, Dissent, DNC, Empire, Fascism, free speech, Iraq, iraq deaths, Iraqnam, IVAW, Marines, Military, nation building, Nazi, occupation, Oppression, Police State, Protest, PTSD, Troops, US Constitution, USMC, veterans, War Crimes, War On Terror | Tags: soldiers, u.s. soldiers
U.S. Marines Act Out Iraq Scenarios at the DNC
The Oregonian
August 26, 2008
The group, representing Iraq Veterans Against the War, staged a series of simulated car stops, detainments, reaction to sniper fire and secure movement through an urban area.
“We’re trying to bring a taste of what an occupied city feels like,” said Army Spc. Garret Reppenhagen, one of the participants.
Filed under: 1984, 1st amendment, 4th amendment, arlen specter, Big Brother, bill of rights, Control Grid, Department of justice, DOJ, FBI, free speech, mukasey, orwell, Patrick Leahy, privacy rights, racial profiling, Racism, Senate, stasi, stasi tactics, Surveillance, US Constitution, War On Terror | Tags: Dick Durbin, edward m. kennedy, Russ Feingold, sheldon whitehouse
Senators: FBI rules could target innocent people
AP
August 20, 2008
Proposed rules to help the FBI catch terrorists could lead to innocent Americans being spied upon by government agents or informants “all without any basis for suspicion,” a group of Democratic senators said Wednesday.
The rules, known as the attorney general guidelines, have not been approved or even publicly released yet, but four Democrats joined a growing chorus of lawmakers raising concerns after being briefed on what the guidelines say.
Among their fears: Americans could be targeted in part based on their race, ethnicity or religion — or free speech activities protected by the Constitution.
“As you know, attorney general guidelines were first implemented in the wake of the FBI abuses of the 1960s and 1970s, and serve as one of the most important bulwarks against future abuses,” the senators said in a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
The four Democrats — Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island — indicated they remained concerned even after assurances from officials during the Justice Department briefings.
The lawmakers asked Mukasey to hold off finalizing the rules to allow a public review.
“Given the importance of these guidelines, providing a period of time for public comment would be a reasonable and responsible way to move forward and achieve the best possible end result,” the Democrats wrote.
Earlier this week, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and the panel’s top Republican, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, also called for delaying the guidelines.
Justice spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the department will review the requests. Citing remarks earlier by Mukasey about the new rules, the spokesman said an investigation would not be opened based solely on a person’s race, ethnicity or religion.
“The guidelines will require all activities to have a valid purpose,” Roehrkasse said, adding that the rules will “include robust and effective oversight measures.”
The guidelines are expected to be finalized next week. They do not require congressional approval.
First reported last month by The Associated Press, the rules are intended to update policies governing investigations as the FBI shifts from a traditional crime-fighting agency to one whose top priority is protecting the United States from terrorist attacks.
Currently, the FBI must have evidence or allegations of wrongdoing before opening an investigation of U.S. citizens or legal residents from other countries. As described by some law enforcement officials, the new policy would let agents open preliminary terrorism investigations after mining public records and intelligence to build a profile of traits that, taken together, were deemed suspicious.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the rules, said factors that could trigger an inquiry would include travel to regions of the world known for terrorist activity and access to weapons or military training, along with the person’s race or ethnicity.
Following their briefings, the four Democrats said the guidelines would:
_Let the FBI use “a variety of intrusive investigative techniques” with no evidence of possible wrongdoing. The techniques could include: long-term FBI surveillance, interviewing neighbors and work-mates, recruiting informants and searching commercial databases for information on people “all without any basis for suspicion.”
“We are particularly concerned that the draft guidelines might permit an innocent American to be subjected to such intrusive surveillance based in part on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or on protected First Amendment activities,” the senators wrote.
_Allow the government to collect foreign intelligence information inside the United States without current legal protections for U.S. citizens or legal residents. The senators noted that the broad term “foreign intelligence” would cover any information relating to the activities of a foreign government, organization or person.
_Allow the information gathered to be broadly shared among government agencies. “We have serious questions about the scope of information sharing as it relates to U.S. persons who are under no suspicion of wrongdoing,” the senators wrote.
Filed under: 1984, 4th amendment, 9/11, 9/11 Truth, Airport Security, Big Brother, bill of rights, Britain, CCTV, civil liberties, civil rights, Control Grid, Darpa, DHS, Dictatorship, domestic terror, domestic terrorism, Empire, Europe, european union, Fascism, Ground Zero, Homeland Security, michael chertoff, militarized police, Military, Military Industrial Complex, nanny state, Nazi, New York, NYPD, NYSE, Oppression, orwell, Police State, Posse Comitatus, privacy rights, stasi, stasi tactics, Surveillance, TSA, United Kingdom, urban warfare, US Constitution, War On Terror | Tags: Combat Zones That See, cop cam, CTS, donna lieberman, license plate, Manhattan, new yorkers' civil liberties, NYCLU, operation sentinel, plate scan, plate scanning, police fortress, radiation, radiation detector, ray kelly, red light camera, ring of steel, toll camera, union
New York Turns Into a High-Tech Police Fortress
Antifascist
August 14, 2008
However, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) has denounced the proposal as “an attack on New Yorkers’ right to privacy.” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman lambasted this outrageous proposal saying,
Despite repeated attempts by NYCLU to obtain information on Operation Sentinel, NYPD and DHS have refused to provide any information about their mega-surveillance system. While all traces of CTS disappeared from DARPA’s website, portions of the program have resurfaced with a vengeance, courtesy of the NYPD and DHS.
According to New York Times reporter Al Baker,
Data on each vehicle–its time-stamped image, license plate imprint and radiological signature–would be sent to a command center in Lower Manhattan, where it would be indexed and stored for at least a month as part of a broad security plan that emphasizes protecting the city’s financial district, the spokesman, Paul J. Browne, said. If it were not linked to a suspicious vehicle or a law enforcement investigation, it would be eliminated, he said. (“City Would Photograph Every Vehicle Entering Manhattan and Sniff Out Radiation,” The New York Times, August 12, 2008)
Filed under: 1st amendment, 4th amendment, BBC, bill of rights, Britain, brownshirts, Camera Ban, cell phone, Child Abuse, Dictatorship, Empire, Europe, european union, Fascism, free press, lawsuit, Media, Nazi, New York, NYPD, Oppression, police brutality, Police State, speeding ticket, Taser Guns, times square, traffic stop, United Kingdom, US Constitution | Tags: christian gutierrez, jordan groh, joyce lin, richard vazquez, sargeant timothy horohoe, sgt. timothy horohoe, timothy horohoe
Police Arrest Photographers For Taking Pictures in Times Square
BBC UK Covers Police Brutality at Climate Camp ’08
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_10092259
Injured teen sees no reason police used stun gun 19 times on him
http://www.ky3.com/home/video/26158674.html
UK: Speeding Fines Up 400%
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main..ring/2008/08/05/mnspeed105.xml
Filed under: 2nd Amendment, anti gun, bill of rights, Connecticut, Gun Control, Oppression, Police State, US Constitution | Tags: seized, warrantless gun confiscation
Police Seizing Guns Before Crime Is Committed
Republican American
August 3, 2008
Using a unique state law, police in Connecticut have disarmed dozens of gun owners based on suspicions that they might harm themselves or others.
The state’s gun seizure law is considered the first and only law in the country that allows the confiscation of a gun before the owner commits an act of violence. Police and state prosecutors can obtain seizure warrants based on concerns about someone’s intentions.
State police and 53 police departments have seized more than 1,700 guns since the law took effect in October 1999, according to a new report to the legislature. There are nearly 900,000 privately owned firearms in Connecticut today.
Filed under: 1st amendment, 2008 Election, 9/11, 9/11 Mysteries, 9/11 Truth, Afghanistan, al-qaeda, anthrax, anthrax vaccine, army, bill of rights, bin laden, Bio Weapons, biochemicals, biological attack military, biological warfare, Congress, david letterman, Dissent, False Flag, FBI, Fort Detrick, Habeas Corpus, HR 6166, inside job, Iraq, jews, John McCain, lone nut, media blackout, Military, military commissions act, muslim, nation building, neocons, New York, occupation, Patriot Act, Police State, Protest, religion, Senate, State Sponsored Terrorism, Taliban, us army, US Constitution, USAMRIID, War On Terror, Washington D.C. | Tags: Cipro, michael fury, tom daschle, United States Army Medical Research Institute
Army Scientist Accused of Anthrax ’Commits Suicide’
London Times
August 1, 2008
The chief suspect in the 2001 anthrax postal attacks in the US has died from an apparent suicide just as the Justice Department was to file criminal charges against him.
Bruce Ivins, 62, one of America’s top biodefense researchers, had been told that he was going to be prosecuted for the attacks that killed five people and sent the country into panic in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers. He died in hospital on Thursday after taking a huge dose of prescription Tylenol, a painkiller, mixed with codeine.
The scientist had worked at the the United States Army Medical Research Institute,(USAMRIID), the government’s elite biodefense research laboratories in Maryland for 18 years. He had played a pivotal role in research to improve anthrax vaccines, and during the attacks had helped the FBI analyse powdery material recovered from an envelope tainted with anthrax which had been sent to the Washington DC office of Tom Daschle, a US senator.
His imminent prosecution had not been made public but followed a government payout of $US5.82m (Pounds 2.9m) to a former government scientist, Steven Hatfill, who had been the FBI’s chief suspect for the anthrax attacks almost since the beginning. The payout to Hatfill, an unusual development that exonerated him of being the anthrax attacker was an essential step to clear the way for prosecuting Ivins, lawyers familiar with the case told the LA Times.
Government Tries to Bury Anthrax Story
George Washington’s Blog
August 1, 2008
The government is trying to bury the 2001 anthrax attack scandal (the anthrax came from a U.S. military base) by claiming that one of the key suspects – Bruce E. Ivins – was a “lone nut” who committed suicide. The government claims that the anthrax letters were an innocent mistake which was “part of an Army scientist’s warped plan to test his cure for the deadly toxin“. Case closed.
There are just a couple of loose ends:
The government is trying to bury the 2001 anthrax attack scandal (the anthrax came from a U.S. military base) by claiming that one of the key suspects – Bruce E. Ivins – was a “lone nut” who committed suicide. The government claims that the anthrax letters were an innocent mistake which was “part of an Army scientist’s warped plan to test his cure for the deadly toxin“. Case closed.
There are just a couple of loose ends:
- “The attacks were not entirely unexpected“, according to a journalist, who was urged soon after 9/11 to take Cipro by a high-level government official (confirmation that government employees started taking Cipro before the Anthrax attacks here). As Michael Fury put it, “So even if Ivins was involved, how would ’a high government official’ know that a rogue bioweapons scientist was going to ’go postal’ with anthrax if that ’high government official’ was not himself involved?” (and see this comment by Atrios)
- If Ivins was trying to “test his cure for the deadly toxin”, why did he only send anthrax to the members of Congress most likely to say no to the Patriot Act and to people within the media? (I guess the Unabomber’s lawyer should have argued that his client sent bombs to certain specific people involved in the technology field because he was testing defenses to bombs). And why didn’t Ivins send his “cure” to the targets before he mailed the anthrax? How could that be a “test [of] “his cure”?
- Why did the anthrax letters attempt to link 9/11 and the anthrax attack and pretend to be from radical Muslims and be anti-America and anti-Israel, if they really came from an American with a warped plan but good intentions?
- Why did the U.S. government – including, apparently, the people responsible for sending the anthrax letters – falsely claim (and read this) that the materials in the anthrax proved that it was manufactured in Iraq? Would a disgruntled “lone nut” be motivated to concoct a false justification for invading Iraq?
- “The FBI has completely shut Congress out of its now five-year investigation into anthrax attacks on Capitol Hill and around the nation”. In other words, Congress — which legally has every right to know what really happened, and which was the main victim of the attack — is being kept in the dark. Why is that?
- An entirely different guy was actually caught on tape entering the storage area where the anthrax used in the letters was stored, without proper authorization and after being fired from his job over a racially motivated attack on an Egyptian co-worker. But instead of investigating him, or Ivins, the FBI spent years wasting time and falsely accusing an innocent guy
- The lawyer who had been representing Ivins in connection with the anthrax investigation categorically maintains Ivins’ innocence
But its only crackpots who think that these loose ends point towards anything sinister, right? Well, the bioweapons expert who actually drafted the current bioweapons law (the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989), says he is convinced that the anthrax attacks that killed five people were perpetrated and covered up by criminal elements of the U.S. government. The motive: to foment a police state by killing off and intimidating opposition to post-9/11 legislation such as the USA PATRIOT Act and the later Military Commissions Act.
Is he right?
Maybe, but he clearly forgot one motive: to justify war against Iraq.
Note: Even if Ivins was the killer, and even if he did act alone, it was still a false flag attack. Why?
Because Ivins was solidly in the Judeo-Christian, not Muslim, camp, and yet the anthrax letters were made to frame Muslims for the attack. For example, Ivins was a parishioner and musician at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church. And he wrote:
“By blood and faith, Jews are God’s chosen”
One thing is clear: he wasn’t a Muslim.
After 9/11, McCain Linked Anthrax to Iraq
http://noworldsystem.com/2008/05/3..ller-anthrax-came-from-us-army-facility/
The 9/11 Anthrax Frame-Up
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/frameup.html
NYT Changes Anthrax Story… As I Was Reading It!
http://willyloman.wordpress.com/20..-storyas-i-was-reading-it/
Filed under: 4th amendment, 9/11, Airport Security, bill of rights, DHS, Homeland Security, humiliation, mental health screening, Oppression, police brutality, Police State, TSA, US Constitution, War On Terror
Airport security agent pulls pants off man in public
CBS2
July 24, 2008
“He yelled at me to get the belt off. ‘I told you to get the belt off.’ So I took the belt off. He ran his hands down over and pulled the pants down, they went down around my ankle.”
http://usgovinfo.about.com/b/2..ndom-behavioral-screening.htm
Filed under: 1984, 2-party system, 4th amendment, Abu Ghraib, Alberto Gonzales, Alex Jones, Big Brother, big pharma, bill of rights, Boystown, brainwashing, Britain, Child Abuse, child sex slavery, Communism, Conditioning, Control Grid, CPS, Dictatorship, education, education system, Empire, Europe, european union, Fascism, franklin coverup, global elite, Hitler, house of representatives, jeff gannon, john decamp, john yoo, johnny gosch, knock and talk, left right paradigm, Mark Foley, medical industrial complex, mental health screening, middle class, Military, nanny state, Nazi, neocons, Neolibs, Oppression, orwell, paul bonacci, pedophilia, Police State, Propaganda, Psyops, rape, scandal, Sex Scandal, stasi, stasi tactics, Surveillance, Taxpayers, Texas, Torture, Troops, United Kingdom, US Constitution, Washington D.C. | Tags: Congressional Budget Office, CRB checked, Danny Davis, education begins at home act, house visits, HR 2343, HR 3289, Karen Effrem, lleana Ros-Lehtinen, Mazie Hirono, pre-k act, rape rooms, texas youth commission, u.s. state workers
U.S. government: We know parenting better than you
Proposals would give Washington unprecedented control over kids
World Net Daily
July 24, 2008
The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to debate two bills that could give the federal government unprecedented control over the way parents raise their children – even providing funds for state workers to come into homes and screen babies for emotional and developmental problems.
The Pre-K Act (HR 3289) and the Education Begins at Home Act (HR 2343) are two bills geared toward military and families who fall below state poverty lines. The measures are said to be a way to prevent child abuse, close the achievement gap in education between poor and minority infants versus middle-class children and evaluate babies younger than 5 for medical conditions.
’Education Begins at Home Act’ – HR 2343
HR 2343 is sponsored by Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., and cosponsored by 55 Democrats and 11 Republicans. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that implementing the Education Begins at Home Act would cost taxpayers $190 million for state home visiting plus “such sums as may be necessary” for in-hospital parent education.
While the bill may appear to be well-intentioned, Pediatrician Karen Effrem told WND government provisions in HR 2343 to evaluate children for developmental problems go too far.
“The federal definition of developmental screening for special education also includes what they call socioemotional screening, which is mental health screening,” Effrem said. “Mental health screening is very subjective no matter what age you do it. Obviously it is incredibly subjective when we are talking about very young children.”
While the program may not be mandatory for low-income and military families, there is no wording in the Education Begins at Home Act requiring parental permission for treatment or ongoing care once the family is enrolled – a point that leads some to ask where parental rights end and the government takes over. Also, critics ask how agents of the government plan to acquire private medical and financial records to offer the home visiting program.
“There’s no consent mentioned in the bill for any kind of screening – medical, health or developmental,” Effrem said. “There are privacy concerns because when home visitors come into the home they assess everything about the family: Their financial situation, social situation, parenting practices, everything. All of that is put into a database.”
Effrem said it does not specify whether parents are allowed to decline evaluations, drugs or treatment for their children once they are diagnosed with developmental or medical conditions.
“How free is someone who has been tagged as needing this program in the case of home visiting – like a military family or a poor family?” she asked. “How free are they to refuse? Even their refusal will be documented somewhere. There are plenty of instances where families have felt they can’t refuse because they would lose benefits, be accused of not being good parents or potentially have their children taken away.”
When WND asked Effrem how long state-diagnosed conditions would remain in a child’s permanent medical history, she responded:
“Forever. As far as I know, there isn’t any statute of limitations. The child’s record follows them through school and potentially college, employment and military service.” Effrem said conflicts could also arise when parents do not agree with parenting standards of government home visitors.
“Who decides how cultural tolerance is going to be manifested?” she asked. “There’s some blather in the language of the bill about having cultural awareness of the differences in parenting practices, but it seems like that never applies to Christian parents.”
’Providing Resources Early for Kids’
The Pre-K Act, or HR 3289, is sponsored by Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and cosponsored by 116 Democrats and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla. Estimated to cost $500 million for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2013, the bill provides funds for state-approved education. Government workers would reach mothers and fathers in the hospital after a baby has been delivered to promote Pre-K programs.
“They give them information about Child Care Resource and Referral Network so they can get the child into a preschool or daycare that follows the state standards and get the mom working as quickly as possible,” she said. “It’s always that sort of thing: It’s a list of resources, it’s intruding on parental autonomy and authority and it’s not necessarily accurate or welcome information.”
While parents may choose to be involved in preschool programs, Effrem said the Pre-K Act poses similar concerns about government trumping parents’ rights.
“Once they are involved, they don’t have any say over curriculum,” she said. “There’s plenty of evidence of preschool curriculum that deals with issues that have nothing to do with a child’s academic development – like gender, gender identity, careers, environmentalism, multiculturalism, feminism and all of that – things that don’t amount to a hill of beans as far as a child learning how to read.”
Effrem said the Pre-K Act extends a “really messed-up K-12 system” to include even younger, more vulnerable children.
“This is an expansion of the federal government into education when there really is no constitutional provision for it to do so.”
http://www.prisonplanet.com/..cpre-k-education%e2%80%9d-bills.html
Government Permission Required For Parents To Kiss Children
http://noworldsystem.com/200..ission-required-for-parents-to-kiss-children/
Filed under: 1st amendment, 9/11 Truth, Ahmadinejad, bill of rights, CFR, Cindy McCain, Dictatorship, Empire, Fascism, flip flip, flip flopping, free speech, Hillary Clinton, Iran, Iraq, Israel, John McCain, Keith Olbermann, Media, minnesota, MSNBC, nation building, Nazi, neocons, occupation, Pakistan, Police State, Protest, rape, Saddam Hussein, scandal, Sex Scandal, Tehran, Troops, US Constitution, veterans, War On Terror, We Are Change, WMD, WW3, ww4 | Tags: janet reno, St. Paul Town Hall Meeting
John McCain Jokes About Women Enjoying Rape
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBALqvp08Vk
McCain Suggests Rationing Vets Health Care
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/military_mccain_healthcare_072208/
McCain Thought Iraq Bordered Pakistan
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=64464§ionid=351020101
Bush pushing for McCain presidency to ’cover over’ the misdeeds of his presidency
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thVvJajZAuc
McCain says US will never allow a ’second Holocaust’ as a potshot against Iran
http://www.spacewar.com/2006/080721180258.rdyx8bq6.html
Filed under: 1984, 1st amendment, 2nd Amendment, 4th amendment, Air Force, anti gun, Anti-War, army, Big Brother, bill of rights, Britain, Canada, civil liberties, civil rights, Department of Defense, DHS, Dictatorship, Dissent, DoD, Empire, Europe, european union, Fascism, FOIA, free speech, global elite, global government, global police force, Globalism, Gun Control, Homeland Security, Israel, marine, mark koernke, Martial Law, michael chertoff, Military, militia, national guard, Nazi, New World Order, Oppression, patriot movement, police brutality, Police State, Posse Comitatus, presidential directive, Protest, Provocateurs, Psyops, puerto rico, SPP Summit, Surveillance, Troops, UN, United Kingdom, US Constitution, US Marshal, USMC, War On Terror, Washington D.C., world police force, Zionism | Tags: cidcon-1, israeli police, Montebello, opsec
Operation Garden Plot: Military & U.N. to Control Civil Dissent
Filed under: 2nd Amendment, anti gun, bill of rights, Dictatorship, Empire, Gun Control, supreme court, US Constitution, Washington D.C. | Tags: dick heller, gun registration, handguns, revolvers, semi-automatic
D.C.’s New Gun Regulations Lock-Up Handguns
Residents only able to own guns IF handguns are unloaded, locked in a safe, disassembled or secured with a trigger lock.
DC Rejects Handgun Application
9NewsNow
July 18, 2008
District residents can start registering their guns today. But at least one very high profile application was already rejected.
Dick Heller is the man who brought the lawsuit against the District’s 32-year-old ban on handguns. He was among the first in line Thursday morning to apply for a handgun permit.
But when he tried to register his semi-automatic weapon, he says he was rejected. He says his gun has seven bullet clip. Heller says the City Council legislation allows weapons with fewer than eleven bullets in the clip. A spokesman for the DC Police says the gun was a bottom-loading weapon, and according to their interpretation, all bottom-loading guns are outlawed because they are grouped with machine guns.
Besides obtaining paperwork to buy new handguns, residents also can register firearms they’ve had illegally under a 180-day amnesty period.
Though residents will be allowed to begin applying for handgun permits, city officials have said the entire process could take weeks or months.
Filed under: 1984, 1st amendment, 4th amendment, ACLU, Anti-War, Big Brother, bill of rights, Control Grid, Dennis Kucinich, DHS, Dissent, FBI, FOIA, free speech, George Bush, Homeland Security, maryland, Military, nanny state, neocons, NSA, Oppression, Pentagon, Police State, Posse Comitatus, Protest, stasi, stasi tactics, Surveillance, Taxpayers, Troops, US Constitution, war on drugs, War On Terror | Tags: HIDTA, Max Obuszewski
Police Infiltrate and Spy on Protest Groups
Peaceful Activist labeled a terrorist in a federally-funded database
Washington Times
July 18, 2008
Undercover Maryland state troopers infiltrated three groups advocating peace and protesting the death penalty — attending meetings and sending reports on their activities to U.S. intelligence and military agencies, according to documents released Thursday.
The documents show the activities occurred from at least March 2005 to May 2006 and that officers used false names, which the documents referred to as “covert identities” – to open e-mail accounts to receive messages from the groups.
Also included in the 46 pages of documents, obtained by the Maryland chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, is an account of an activist’s name being entered into a federally funded database designed to share information among state, local and federal law-enforcement agencies on terrorist and drug trafficking suspects.
ACLU attorney David Rocah said state police violated federal laws prohibiting departments that receive federal funds from maintaining databases with information about political activities and affiliations.
The activist was identified as Max Obuszewski. His “primary crime” was entered into the database as “terrorism – anti govern(ment).” His “secondary crime” was listed as “terrorism – anti-war protestors.” The database is known as the Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA.
“This is not supposed to happen in America,” said Mr. Rocah. “In a free society, which relies on the engagement of citizens in debate and protest and political activity to maintain that freedom … you should be able to attend a meeting about an issue you care about without having to worry that government spies are entering your name into a database used to track alleged terrorists and drug traffickers.”
Mr. Rocah called the surveillance “Kafka-esque insanity.”
State police Chief Col. Terrence B. Sheridan said the agency “does not inappropriately curtail the expression or demonstration of the civil liberties of protesters or organizations acting lawfully.”
The surveillance of Mr. Obuszewski, of Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore, and another person came to light during his trial for trespassing and disorderly conduct in a 2004 protest outside the National Security Agency’s headquarters in Fort Meade, Md.
Documents released by the prosecution revealed that the protesters had been under surveillance by an entity called the Baltimore Intelligence Unit.
The Maryland ACLU sued last month, claiming the state police refused to release public documents about the surveillance of peace activists.
The documents, which include intelligence reports and printouts from the database, show that several undercover officers from the state police’s Homeland Security and Intelligence Division attended meetings of three groups: Mr. Obuszewski’s group; the Coalition to End the Death Penalty; and the Committee to Save Vernon Evans, a convicted murderer who was slated for execution.
The documents show at least 288 hours of surveillance over the 14-month period. The undercover officers attended at least 20 organizing meetings at community halls and churches and a dozen rallies against the death penalty, including several at the state’s SuperMax jail in Baltimore.
Included in the documents are references to a proposed sit-in at the offices of Baltimore County State’s Attorney SandraA. O’Connor. However, they show no trooper reports of violence or threats of violence. Organizers repeatedly stressed the importance of peaceful and orderly demonstrations, the documents show.
“There were about 75-80 protestors at the rally and none participated in any type of civil disobedience or illegal acts,” said one report of a demonstration against the death penalty at the SuperMax jail. “Protesters were even careful to move out of the way for Division of Correction employees who were going into the parking lot for work.”
Still, information about the protesters and their activities was sent to seven agencies, including the National Security Agency and an unnamed military intelligence official.
“Americans have the right to peaceably assemble with others of a like mind and speak out about what they believe in,” Mr. Rocah said. “For state agencies to spend hundreds of hours entering information about lawful and peaceful political activities into a criminal database is beyond unconscionable. It is a waste of taxpayer dollars, which does nothing to make us safer from actual terrorists or drug dealers.”
Kucinich to investigate police surveillance of protest groups
Raw Story
July 18, 2008
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who has figured prominently in recent political news for his attempts to begin impeachment hearings against President George W. Bush, today announced that the congressional subcommittee he chairs will look into reports of peace groups being surveilled by police and private investigators.
“[M]ost people would be upset to know that police were spying on lawful citizens and infiltrating peaceful organizations, rather than chasing down real criminals,” said Kucinich in a press release delivered to RAW STORY. “At a minimum, such police spying is clearly a waste of taxpayer dollars and a diversion from the mission of protecting and serving the people.
“I want the subcommittee to determine how widespread these activities are and who ordered them,” the Ohio Democrat and former presidential candidate said.
Kucinich chairs the House Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
The press release referred to reports that Maryland state police officers infiltrated peace and anti-death penalty groups and that private investigators working on behalf of “several large corporations” had surveilled environmental groups.
Such surveillance is apparently not limited to law enforcement and private investigators. In January 2007, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a report showing “widespread Pentagon surveillance of peace activists.
Filed under: 2nd Amendment, anti gun, bill of rights, Gun Control, supreme court, US Constitution, Washington D.C.
DC To Vote On New Gun Laws
AP
July 15, 2008
The District of Columbia Council plans to vote on new gun legislation Tuesday as officials scramble to comply with last month’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the city’s 32-year-old ban.
The emergency legislation announced Monday would allow handguns if they are used only for self-defense in the home and carry fewer than 12 rounds of ammunition.
The proposal, which maintains some of the city’s strict gun ownership rules and adds more regulations, was immediately criticized by gun rights advocates threatening more legal action.
The emergency legislation, which has strong support from the council, would remain in effect for 90 days. It adopts many of the regulations proposed earlier this month by D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson.
Filed under: 1984, 4th amendment, amnesty, Big Brother, bill of rights, Control Grid, DHS, endgame, florida, hackers, Homeland Security, ICE, Illegal Immigration, Immigration, Martial Law, Miami, MJTF, New World Order, operation endgame, Oppression, police brutality, Police State, Surveillance, US Constitution, warrantless search | Tags: Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Multi-Jurisdictional Gang Task Force
Hackers recover destroyed arrest footage
Reporter assaulted and arrested for filming MJTF (Multi-Jurisdictional Gang Task Force) and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) randomly searching young black men.
Federaljack.com
May 26, 2008
A reporter for FEDERALJACK.COM was arrested at 3:15am in front of Royal Palm Hotel on Miami Beach during Urban (Hip Hop) Beach Week for obstructing an investigation. The charge was later changed to resisting arrest without violence, and the arrest was considered a Gang Activity and Fraud Activity related arrest according to the arrest affidavit.
Recent reports from the Miami Herald indicated that the ACLU and NAACP were keeping close watch on the police activity. Reporters from the FederalJack.com Tyranny Response Squad were dispatched to South Beach with video cameras, audio recorders, and flyers urging attendees to report police oppression to the ACLU hotline.
Upon approaching the Royal Palm Hotel, the reporters noticed dozens of agents from the Muti-Jurisdictional Gang Task Force conducting unwarranted searches of several young black men. The cameras started rolling. An officer approached the reporter and said “You’re really pissing me off with that fucking camera.”
He closed the camera to diffuse the situation, however the camera continued to record video and audio. Upon walking away, the reporter had his arm grabbed and bent back by an agent from the MJTF. He was choked and slammed on the pavement, while being interrogated with questions about his country of citizenship.
An unidentified member of the MJTF was heard by the reporter to remark, “Is that FederalJack.com?” Other remarks made by the agents involved threats of sodomy and related tortures.
The reporter spent a total of 16 hours in custody of the Miami-Dade County Corrections department. He was first brought in to the Miami Beach Police Department, and was held for approximately 3 hours.
While in the possession of police officials, the digital memory of the camera was erased.
He was then transfered to the downtown Justice Center and held for an additional 13 hours. At 10:10am the required $1000 bond was posted, and he was still held for over 8 additional hours. He was released at approximately 6:30 pm.
FederalJack.com is currently investigating legal defense options.
More detailed information, video, audio, photos, and arrest documents will be posted as they are made available.
If you have encountered any police brutality during the festivities at South Beach, please submit any stories, images, video, or documents to jack@federaljack.com.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversu..a69-490e-95ec-f66549612b0a
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art..ed-teenagers-cut-knife-crime.html
Pubs To Search Customers For Knives
http://www.independent.co.uk/new..mers-for-knives-866478.html
Amtrak expands random security sweeps
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2008-07-10-amtrak_N.htm
Filed under: 1984, amnesty, Big Brother, bill of rights, Britain, California, Camera Ban, Censorship, CFL, civil liberties, civil rights, Communism, Dictatorship, Empire, Europe, european union, Fascism, fascsim, Founding Fathers, george carlin, health and environment, humor, nanny state, New York, Oppression, police brutality, Police State, Racism, Raid, san fransisco, smoking ban, stasi, stasi tactics, Surveillance, United Kingdom, US Constitution, war on drugs | Tags: drew carey
Comedian Drew Carey on the Nanny State