If you disagree with the policies of the U.S. government, or are a member of a group or association which expresses disagreement with government policies, an agent of the federal government is likely reading your web site and subscribed to your mailing list.
Undercover officers of the Federal Protective Service subscribed to the mailing lists and monitored Web sites of peaceful anti-war groups, and contributed information about those groups’ activities to a military intelligence database, according to Pentagon documents released Tuesday.
NBC News revealed in December 2005 that the Threat and Local Observation Notice database, used by the military to track potential terrorist threats to military installations, contained data on peaceful protesters and anti-war groups. The Pentagon subsequently announced that after a review, the data had been cleaned out of the database and intelligence personnel retrained.
“I don’t want it, we shouldn’t have had it, not interested in it,” said Daniel J. Baur, the acting director of the counterintelligence field activity unit, which runs the Talon program at the Defense Department. “I don’t want to deal with it.”
Mr. Baur said that those operating the database had misinterpreted their mandate and that what was intended as an antiterrorist database became, in some respects, a catch-all for leads on possible disruptions and threats against military installations in the United States, including protests against the military presence in Iraq.
“I don’t think the policy was as clear as it could have been,” he said. Once the problem was discovered, he said, “we fixed it,” and more than 180 entries in the database related to war protests were deleted from the system last year. Out of 13,000 entries in the database, many of them uncorroborated leads on possible terrorist threats, several thousand others were also purged because he said they had “no continuing relevance.” — New York Times
Each of the documents, (PDF) released Tuesday to the American Civil Liberties Union pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request, show that the leads on anti-war protests originated with undercover FPS agents, whose names were redacted from the documents at the request of FPS’s parent agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
One such document details an anti-war protest of a Sacramento, Calif., military entrance processing station planned by Veterans for Peace on Veterans Day in 2004, a day the center was closed. VFP specifically rejects any type of violent protest, according to its Web site. There were “no known vandalism or incidents as a result of the protest,” the document notes.
Another document notes that VFP “is a peaceful organization, but there is potential future protest[s] could become violent,” an accusation that VFP executive director Michael McPhearson calls “appalling.”
“The federal government should not be wasting valuable resources gathering files on peaceful protesters who disagree with the Bush administration’s policies,” McPhearson said.
Another document details peaceful protests by the War Resisters League in New York City in 2005, noting that it “advocates Gandhian nonviolence,” “will not use physical violence or verbal abuse toward any person” and “will not damage any property.”
Several other documents detail peaceful protests at military recruiting stations by the American Friends Service Committee, National Front for Peace and Justice, and other groups.
FPS, originally created in 1971 as part of the General Services Administration to protect federal buildings, was moved under the Department of Homeland Security in 2003. It routinely monitors anyone it deems a potential threat to federal assets, such as Dave Ridley and the New Hampshire Underground.
An FPS officer cited Ridley for distributing handbills at an Internal Revenue Service office in Nashua, N.H., in September, after he wrote about the experience in the Keene Free Press, an alternative newspaper published in Keene, N.H. Ridley had entered the IRS office holding a sign saying “Is it right to work 4 IRS?” and handed out flyers urging IRS agents to quit their “immoral” jobs.
Last week he and 16 other people protested at the federal building in Concord just prior to his November 13 court appearance.
“The feds admitted in court that they read this website,” said Kat Kanning, publisher of the Keene Free Press and owner of the New Hampshire Underground Web site. Members of the site advocate smaller government and individual liberty and regularly hold peaceful protests throughout the state.
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Q
Nov 22, 2006
misinterpreted their mandate?? oh really! how about slander? how about wasting tax dollars on watching the wrong people, and then trying to get other agencies to watch the wrong people, wait, this sounds like fraud.
fraud
slander
abuse of power
pure stupidity
need i say more?
Brock
Nov 22, 2006
“I don’t want it, we shouldn’t have had it, not interested in it,†said Daniel J. Baur, the acting director of the counterintelligence field activity unit, which runs the Talon program at the Defense Department. “I don’t want to deal with it.â€
I’ve never seen this quote before, but it denotes an admirable loss control attitude that’s rarely seen in intell. If all bureaucrats were trained in loss control, this blog wouldn’t have much to talk about.
Douglas Willinger
Nov 22, 2006
I suspect they may be reading my blog:
wwwfreespeechbeneathUSHS.blogspot.com
and the blog that got me targeted initially:
wwwsouthcapitolstreet.blogspot.com
Save the DC South Capitol Mall and Free Speech from the Roman Catholic Church!
Jeff Hoppe
Nov 23, 2006
IANAL and I am making no allegations whatsoever, but can
anyone explain to this poor ignorant (me) why this kind
of thing doesn’t fall within the definition of malfeasance?
Or perhaps it only applies to elected officials or something.
Does anybody know?
Michael Hampton
Nov 23, 2006
It’s the Department of Homeland Security.
Their job is to protect Americans from potential threats to the nation, such as myself.
Michael Fisher
Nov 23, 2006
Well, we ARE a danger to the government, moreso than any terrorist, because we are nonviolent and non-secretive.
We’re trying to figure out how to eliminate the government peacefully and openly, and that scares them.
Good. Liberty SHOULD scare them. They are the illegitimate monopoly of force, after all.
Scott
Nov 25, 2006
We were always supposed to be a threat to the government. It was always intended that the government fear it’s people, not the people fear their government. I’m just glad that we still make them nervous. :c)
Dec 19, 2006
Front page news - Homeland Stupidity
Jan 19, 2007
ACLU criticizes wrong federal agency again - Homeland Stupidity
7734
Jan 19, 2007
180 reports out of 13,000? And those were deleted. There are hundreds of TALONS generated each month and only 13,000 were in the database. And only 180 were adjudicated to contain data on US persons or organizations that should not have been placed in the database. People, get a life. Sometimes information is placed in databases simply in error or a simple failure to correctly identify or, unfortunately, because it was not read and determined to be unsuitable or in violation of regulations, guidelines, or laws. I’d be, and am, more concerned with databases that contain my personal information, i.e. ssn, bank acct info, drivers license, etc. At last count fully 1/3 of the population of the US has had it’s identity stolen or misappropriated at some time or another. Do you think any of those identity thefts might be used to do you harm? What a bunch of idiots. NOT one of those reports contained the NAME of a US Person. Just an allegation of activity that might, just might, adversely affect a US Government building or facility or the lives of ANY PERSON. The US Gov is afraid of it’s citizens. That is why there are laws that protect you and also allow you redress if your rights are violated. That is why we have watchdog organziations that are allowed to exist within this country. You think this holds true in most countries in the rest of the world? What security blanket have you been sucking your thumb under?
Storms
Feb 17, 2007
Willinger – You think the US Government is reading your website or blog?? Judging by the limited number of hits you site actually receives, you probably should be thanking them! Note also that you receive little or no comments to your posts? Its not even interesting enough for the conspiracy theorists! LOL!
Apr 02, 2007
Too busy to be April fooled - Homeland Stupidity
Douglas Willinger
Jun 17, 2007
Storm- Are you a Jesuit?
Jul 10, 2007
The news just keeps breaking - Homeland Stupidity