Filed under: 1984, 1st amendment, 4th amendment, Anti-War, army, Big Brother, Checkpoints, civil liberties, civil rights, Control Grid, data mining, denver colorado, Dictatorship, Dissent, DNC, domestic terror, domestic terrorism, Empire, facism, FBI, federal crime, free speech, Military, national guard, Nazi, NORTHCOM, Oppression, police brutality, Police State, Posse Comitatus, Protest, riot, RNC, secret service, Spy, Surveillance, Taser Guns, Taxpayers, Troops, us army, US Constitution, War On Terror | Tags: CIAC, Colorado National Guard, Colorado State Patrol, Drury Hotel, fusion centers, Johnson university, maryland, NLCS, Non-Lethal Capability Sets, phraselaters, soldiers, TLA, TLO, u.s. soldiers, Wales University, x-spray
Army Deploys All-In-One Nonlethal Warfare Kit
Wired
August 8, 2008
The U.S. Army is deploying an all-in-one package of nonlethal devices that covers everything from checkpoint control to riot control. “The first of the Brigade Non-Lethal Capability Sets (NLCS) is now fielded to the Army’s 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team,” reports Defense Daily, an industry newsletter (sorry, subscription only).
The kits are put into large, weatherproof containers, and include everything from high-intensity lights to loud speakers. The checkpoint tools, for example, includes “equipment to establish and operate hasty and deliberate checkpoints.” That means tire spikes and capture nets.
Other nonlethal sets have been fielded in the past, but the NLCS “includes items not found in the previous sets, such as tasers, Phraselators, Vehicle Lightweight Arresting Devices and Ex-Spray, which allows soldiers to detect explosive residue.”
Colorado ’fusion center’ to step up intelligence gathering during DNC
The Colorado Independent
July 30, 2008
Federal and state law enforcement officials will increase intelligence operations during the Democratic National Convention, overseeing an information war room that will be staffed around the clock with analysts who access a dozen databases while receiving reports of “suspicious activity” — activity that some civil libertarians claim could be nothing more than engaging in anti-war protests or photographing federal facilities that could be targeted for terrorist attack.
Central to the efforts is Colorado’s “fusion” center, a place designed to facilitate intelligence sharing among federal, state and military agencies in an effort to prevent terrorism. But civil rights advocates fear that the Colorado Information Analysis Center, (CIAC) now housed in an inconspicuous office building in Centennial, a southern suburb of Denver, could enable unwarranted spying on Americans exercising their First Amendment rights at the convention.
Inside the building, intelligence analysts with the Colorado State Patrol, Colorado National Guard and Federal Bureau of Investigation take local reports of suspicious criminal activity and determine what merits further investigation.
“It’s a filtration point for information,” says Lance Clem, a representative for the Colorado Department of Public Safety, which directs the state troopers who work at CIAC. “We take information from the international and national level and decide what needs to be pushed out to local law enforcement agencies.”
CIAC personnel also take reports of suspicious activities from citizens and other police departments. If a report is deemed by analysts to require additional investigation, it is shared with the appropriate law enforcement officials, but if a report is not determined to merit further inspection, CIAC workers make a log of the event, according to Clem, essentially creating a massive collection of data, some of it reliable and some of it not.
When the Democratic National Convention is held in August, CIAC will be operating 24 hours a day and be fully staffed with up to eight intelligence analysts at any given time.
“CIAC is going to be expanding hours for physical presence in the office,” Clem says about the convention. “Any known threats specifically related to the convention are going to go right to the United States Secret Service and FBI, but CIAC is going to be there to take any reports that citizens have.”
Malcolm Wiley, a spokesman for the Secret Service, says he can’t confirm if members of his agency will be physically present at CIAC while the convention takes place, but he does acknowledge the center’s part in analyzing intelligence data during the event.
“They’ll be sharing information with other intelligence gatherers,” including the Secret Service and FBI, Wiley says.
The military will also be sharing intelligence information and providing support through U.S. Northern Command, (NORTHCOM) a unit stationed at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs that was created in 2002 for homeland defense missions.
While NORTHCOM personnel will not be working at CIAC during the convention, the unit will share information that is relevant to the center,as it has done occasionally in the past, according to Master Sgt. Anthony Hill, a NORTHCOM spokesman.
Federal and state law enforcement officials will increase intelligence operations during the Democratic National Convention, overseeing an information war room that will be staffed around the clock with analysts who access a dozen databases while receiving reports of “suspicious activity” — activity that some civil libertarians claim could be nothing more than engaging in anti-war protests or photographing federal facilities that could be targeted for terrorist attack.
Central to the efforts is Colorado’s “fusion” center, a place designed to facilitate intelligence sharing among federal, state and military agencies in an effort to prevent terrorism. But civil rights advocates fear that the Colorado Information Analysis Center, (CIAC) now housed in an inconspicuous office building in Centennial, a southern suburb of Denver, could enable unwarranted spying on Americans exercising their First Amendment rights at the convention.
Inside the building, intelligence analysts with the Colorado State Patrol, Colorado National Guard and Federal Bureau of Investigation take local reports of suspicious criminal activity and determine what merits further investigation.
“It’s a filtration point for information,” says Lance Clem, a representative for the Colorado Department of Public Safety, which directs the state troopers who work at CIAC. “We take information from the international and national level and decide what needs to be pushed out to local law enforcement agencies.”
CIAC personnel also take reports of suspicious activities from citizens and other police departments. If a report is deemed by analysts to require additional investigation, it is shared with the appropriate law enforcement officials, but if a report is not determined to merit further inspection, CIAC workers make a log of the event, according to Clem, essentially creating a massive collection of data, some of it reliable and some of it not.
When the Democratic National Convention is held in August, CIAC will be operating 24 hours a day and be fully staffed with up to eight intelligence analysts at any given time.
“CIAC is going to be expanding hours for physical presence in the office,” Clem says about the convention. “Any known threats specifically related to the convention are going to go right to the United States Secret Service and FBI, but CIAC is going to be there to take any reports that citizens have.”
Malcolm Wiley, a spokesman for the Secret Service, says he can’t confirm if members of his agency will be physically present at CIAC while the convention takes place, but he does acknowledge the center’s part in analyzing intelligence data during the event.
“They’ll be sharing information with other intelligence gatherers,” including the Secret Service and FBI, Wiley says.
The military will also be sharing intelligence information and providing support through U.S. Northern Command, (NORTHCOM) a unit stationed at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs that was created in 2002 for homeland defense missions.
While NORTHCOM personnel will not be working at CIAC during the convention, the unit will share information that is relevant to the center,as it has done occasionally in the past, according to Master Sgt. Anthony Hill, a NORTHCOM spokesman.
Military to commandeer campus for DNC operations
The Colorado Independent
July 29, 2008
The Colorado Army National Guard is expected to transform a private Denver university campus into a restricted military lodging area during the Democratic National Convention in August.
More than 400 soldiers could be stationed in official capacity on the campus according to the National Guard, but the Guard is not disclosing what the troops will be doing during the convention.
In mid-July The Colorado Independent reported that the Colorado National Guard was planning to rent more than 500 rooms around the Denver area for business relating specifically to the Democratic National Convention being held Aug 25-38.
At least 400 of those rooms will be used for nine days during Aug. 22-30 at Johnson & Wales University, the old University of Denver law school at 7150 Montview Blvd. in east Denver.
“We only have the Colorado Army National Guard staying with us.” says Lindsay Tracy, a spokeswoman for Johnson & Wales University.
The private university, offering culinary and hospitality programs, will be closed to students during the soldiers’ stay.
“They’re the only ones using the campus. The campus basically will be shut down during that time,” Tracy says. “Only essential staff will be allowed.”
Along with lodging at the school, the National Guard has also ordered more than 30 rooms at an Extended Stay America hotel in an unknown location and more than 70 rooms at the Drury Hotels, also located in east Denver, at 4400 Peoria St.
A Drury Hotels representative declined to comment, citing a policy to not release information about guests.
The Colorado National Guard — composed of both Air and Army Guard units totaling over 5,000 military personnel — will not say why or how soldiers will be using the facilities, but officials have confirmed that no other federal or local agencies will be using the rooms.
“All we’re concerned with is the National Guard personnel,” says Capt. Robert Bell, a public affairs officer for the Colorado National guard. “That’s what we asked for.”
Bell says the soldiers will be on duty and wearing personal protective equipment, which can include helmets and combat armor. He also said weapons will be kept in National Guard armories, in the city of Centennial south of Denver, and at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora. Both Johnson & Wales University and Drury Hotels are less than 10 miles from the base.
Maj. Gen. H. Michael Edwards, who was appointed by Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter as the adjutant general for Colorado in 2007, oversees both Army and Air National Guard operations in the state.
Bell and Tracy said they do not know how much taxpayer money will be spent on the room rentals.
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0619904520080807
Nothing says “Change” like 3,000 cops in riot gear ready to bash your skull in
http://www.theseminal.com/2008/08/06/n..change-like-3000-cops-in-riot-gear/
Filed under: 1984, 1st amendment, 4th amendment, ACLU, Big Brother, California, CIA, civil liberties, civil rights, Congress, Control Grid, corporations, data mining, Dictatorship, Dissent, DNI, Empire, Executive Order, Fascism, FBI, federal crime, FISA, FOIA, free speech, George Bush, LAPD, mukasey, Nazi, neocons, NSA, Oppression, Police State, Protest, Ronald Reagan, Spy, stasi, stasi tactics, Surveillance, US Constitution, virginia, War On Terror, warrantless search, warrantless wiretap, White House | Tags: Director of National Intelligence, Executive Order 12333, fusion centers, Lexis-Nexus, LocatePlus, maryland, TLA, Virginia General Assembly
“Fusion Centers” to Gather Intelligence on Peaceful Protesters
The Progressive
July 30, 2008
On the heels of the Maryland State Police spying scandal, the ACLU is ringing the alarms over “fusion centers.”
These are the state-by-state groupings of various law enforcement agencies working together at all levels, from local police to the FBI, NSA, and CIA, ostensibly to share terrorism threat information. But, as we saw in the Maryland case, they may sometimes just be sharing information about lawful, peaceful First Amendment-protected speech.
There is “mission creep from watching out for terrorism to watching out for peace activists,” said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, in a press conference July 29. She called the fusion centers an incipient “domestic intelligence apparatus.” And she warned that the kind of spying that occurred in Maryland was “very dangerous to our democracy.”
In December 2007, the ACLU published a report “What’s Wrong with Fusion Centers?”
It noted that there are more than 40 fusion centers already created. And it cited several problems with them, including the participation of military personnel in law enforcement, as well as “private sector participation.” “Fusion centers are incorporating private-sector corporations into the intelligence process, breaking down the arm’s length relationship that protects the privacy of innocent Americans who are employees or customers of these companies.”
On July 29, the ACLU issued an update to that report.
The fusion centers represent an attempt to create a “total surveillance society,” the update says.
It notes that the LAPD fed into its fusion center an array of ““suspicious activity reports” that included such innocuous activities as “taking notes” or “drawing diagrams” or “using binoculars.” (Since one out of six Americans is a birdwatcher, this last item could really swell the files.)
The “suspicious activity” criteria of the LAPD “gives law enforcement officers justification to harass practically anyone they choose, to collect personal information, and to pass such information along to the intelligence community,” the update says.
Frighteningly, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has called the LAPD program “a national model.”
The Director of National Intelligence urges state and local law enforcement to “report non-criminal suspicious activities,” the update says. According to the standards of the Director of National Intelligence, these activities are defined as “observed behavior that may be indicative of intelligence gathering or pre-operational planning related to terrorism, criminal, or other illicit intention.”
The ACLU notes that “other illicit intention” is not defined, and that fusion centers are fed intelligence before “reasonable suspicion” is established.
Fusion centers also engage in data mining, as they rely not only on FBI and CIA records. They also often “have subscriptions with private data brokers such as Accurint, ChoicePoint, Lexis-Nexus, and LocatePlus, a database containing cell phone numbers and unpublished telephone records,” the ACLU notes, referring to a Washington Post article from April 2.
The ACLU calls fusion centers “out-of-control data-gathering monsters.”
While the government is gathering more and more information about us citizens, it’s trying to shield itself from telling us what it’s doing. “There appears to be an effort by the federal government to coerce states into exempting their fusion centers from state open government laws,” the ACLU notes. “For those living in Virginia, it’s already too late: The Virginia General Assembly passed a law in April 2008 exempting the state’s fusion center from the Freedom of Information Act.”
As I noted in “The New Snoops: Terrorism Liaison Officers, Some from the Private Sector”, the Department of Justice has come up with “Fusion Center Guidelines” that flat-out recommend that “fusion centers and their leadership encourage appropriate policymakers to legislate the protection of private sector data provided to fusion centers.”
The ACLU is absolutely right: Congress must investigate these fusion centers and exercise appropriate oversight before law enforcement agencies and their private sector partners violate the rights of more Americans and usher us all into the total surveillance society.
Bush turning intelligence agencies on Americans
Raw Story
July 31, 2008
President Bush seems to be slowly turning the nation’s massive surveillance apparatus upon its citizens, and some worry that administration assurances to protect civil liberties are nothing but empty promises.
With his update to a decades-old executive order governing the Intelligence Community, Bush is giving the Director of National Intelligence and the 16 agencies of the US Intelligence Community more power to access and share sensitive information on Americans with little to no independent oversight. The update to Executive Order 12333, first issued by former President Ronald Reagan, introduces a more prominent role for the Attorney General in approving intelligence gathering methods, calls for collaboration with local law enforcement agencies, eases limits on how information can be shared and urges cooperation between the IC and private companies.
“This Intelligence Community that was built to deal with foreign threats is now being slowly and incrementally turned inward,” says Mike German, policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, in an interview with RAW STORY.
Bush’s latest update of a decades old executive order governing intelligence activities is a “lit fuse” that could end with the Constitution’s immolation, another ACLU official says.
“This kind of concentrated power, exercised in secret, is a lit fuse with our Constitution likely in danger of being burned,” said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington legislative office.
The White House insists that the update to Executive Order 12333 maintains protections for Americans’ civil liberties, but senior administration officials who briefed reporters Thursday provided little reassurance that the new order would correct some of the Bush administration’s most egregious abuses.
Peaceful Activist labeled a “terrorist” in a federally-funded domestic terrorism database
http://noworldsystem.com/2008/07/19/..d-spy-on-protest-groups/
noworldsystem.com 