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FBI Targeting Peaceful Protesters in Colorado as Potential Terrorists

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by wnes, Aug 4, 2005.

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  1. wnes

    wnes Contributing Member

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    New Documents Show FBI Targeting Peaceful Protesters in Colorado as Potential Terrorists

    http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=18862&c=206

    DENVER -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado today released new documents that it says confirm that the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) is inappropriately treating people who engage in peaceful protest as potential terrorists.

    The ACLU obtained the documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed last December on behalf of 16 organizations and ten individuals. The files released today contain information on the Colorado American Indian Movement and the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center.

    "These documents underscore the ACLU's concern that the JTTF inappropriately regards public protest as potential 'domestic terrorism,' and investigates and builds files on the political activities of peaceful dissenters because of the mere possibility that their activities will attract participants who may violate the law," said Mark Silverstein, ACLU of Colorado Legal Director. "By casting its net so unjustifiably wide, the FBI wastes taxpayers' money and threatens to chill legitimate dissent."

    Silverstein said that the new files show that JTTF agents opened "domestic terrorism" investigations after they read notices on Web sites announcing an antiwar protest in Colorado Springs in 2003 and a protest against Columbus Day in Denver in 2002. They also reveal that the JTTF monitored the peaceful protest activities of law-abiding groups that formed the Coalition to Stop Vail Expansion in the late 1990s and that it investigated the Boulder-based Activist Media Project for videotaping a Lockheed Martin facility from a public street.

    The ACLU said that these documents should raise particular concern from state officials because the Denver Police Department contributes the services of two full-time detectives to the JTTF. In May, the ACLU asked Denver to withdraw from the FBI task force, stating that a settlement agreement that resolved the "Spy Files" case forbids Denver detectives to target individuals or organizations for investigation because of their First Amendment activities.

    The Colorado FOIA is part of a nationwide ACLU effort to expose and prevent FBI spying on people and groups simply for speaking out or practicing their faith. Last month, the FBI released the contents of a report on United for Peace and Justice, a national peace organization that coordinates non-violent protests. The document, sections of which are redacted, is addressed to FBI "Counterterrorism" personnel and quotes from the organization's Web site calling for a public demonstration prior to the 2004 Republican National Convention.

    The ACLU expects to receive additional responses from the FBI in the next few months.
     
    #1 wnes, Aug 4, 2005
  2. tigermission1

    tigermission1 Member

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    Is this honestly surprising to anyone? Who was asking about proof of whether or not the government has "abused" its expanded powers under the PATRIOT Act? Well here you go.

    Anyways, it's sad but what can you do? I guess they "hate us for our freedoms" and therefore we must curtail them, it's time of war so everyone (including peaceful anti-war protestors) must sacrifice their civil rights.

    This was going on plenty during the Vietnam war as well, so it's an old tool the FBI has used in the past.
     
    #2 tigermission1, Aug 4, 2005
  3. Svpernaut

    Svpernaut Member

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    Yeah, the ACLU website is an amazingly fair and balanced source.... lol, give me a break.
     
    #3 Svpernaut, Aug 4, 2005
  4. ima_drummer2k

    ima_drummer2k Member

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    On one hand you say this proves the government abuses expanded powers under the PATRIOT act but on the other hand you say they've been doing it for 40 years.

    Which is it? :confused:
     
    #4 ima_drummer2k, Aug 4, 2005
  5. wnes

    wnes Contributing Member

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    Umm, let's see. ACLU supported KKK's First Amendment rights on more than one occasion. ACLU sided with Rush Limbaugh against Florida investigator's seizing of the conservative talk show host's medical records. ACLU supported Paula Jones' right in her civil law trial vs Bill Clinton. And last but not least, ACLU defended every horny dude's right to view p*rnography.

    Balanced? Probably not. Fair? Absolutely.

    When was the last time you saw a right wing/conservative organization openly stood up for liberals' cause on grounds of constitutional rights, regardless of the day-and-night differences in their ideologies?
     
    #5 wnes, Aug 4, 2005
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2005
  6. tigermission1

    tigermission1 Member

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    What's confusing about it? The PATRIOT Act makes it EASIER for the government to spy on us, it's a simple truth. The FBI did the same thing during the Vietnam war era without the PATRIOT Act, they used to also spy on civil rights leaders and their groups, as well as harass them. I am not saying that the PATRIOT Act was responsible for that too, since the government usually does what it wants regardless of any legal "limitations" on its power.

    The PATRIOT Act just made these actions lawful, but the government really didn't need the PATRIOT Act to spy on its citizens, anyways.
     
    #6 tigermission1, Aug 4, 2005
  7. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Atomic Playboy
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    None of this ever happened before the Patriot act...
     
    #7 KingCheetah, Aug 4, 2005
  8. StupidMoniker

    StupidMoniker I lost a bet

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    Just to be clear, the FBI didn't actually do anything to these groups, it was just monitoring them, correct? No one was telling them that they could not peacefully protest, were they?
     
    #8 StupidMoniker, Aug 5, 2005
  9. giddyup

    giddyup Member

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    J. Edgar Hoover took all his fashion cues from Martin Luther King's lovers...
     
    #9 giddyup, Aug 5, 2005
  10. FranchiseBlade

    FranchiseBlade Member
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    If peaceful protestors have the privacy violated, and are put on terrorists watch lists, their rights are being infringed upon, whether they were told not to protest or not.
     
    #10 FranchiseBlade, Aug 5, 2005
  11. pirc1

    pirc1 Member

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    Does that mean people on this site who are against this administration and the Iraq war should be put on terror watch list, treated differently at the airports?
     
    #11 pirc1, Aug 5, 2005
  12. losttexan

    losttexan Member

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    First off, THIS IS NOT A REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRATIC ISSUE!

    Does your Rep. ID card make you hate the constitution? Freedom of speech is one of the foundations of our constitution. Since the Patriot Act the FBI as well as other security agencies have been going overboard, and while doing so, violating Americans civil liberties. Many many instances of this are out there, but one of the worst is the detaining of hundreds of protesters in NY during the Republican national convention, for 3 days without charges. This is HUGE, and would have been unheard of before the Patriot Act. The law states you can only hold someone for 24 hrs without charging them. The administration had hundreds of people held for up to 3 days for a POLITICAL purpose.

    How can any American who doesn't want to live in police state be ok with this?

    BTW, the ACLU would defend any group of protesters regardless of their political views, please no more ignorant posts claiming otherwise
     
    #12 losttexan, Aug 5, 2005
  13. RocketMan Tex

    RocketMan Tex Member

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    He was never that fashionable. J. Edgar took his fashion cues from whatever housecoats were on sale at JC Penney that week.
     
    #13 RocketMan Tex, Aug 5, 2005
  14. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Atomic Playboy
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    How did we know they were peaceful until we snuck in a studied their meetings? ;)
     
    #14 KingCheetah, Aug 5, 2005
  15. HayesStreet

    HayesStreet Member

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    You don't have an expectation of privacy at a public protest, for crying out loud.
     
    #15 HayesStreet, Aug 5, 2005
  16. wnes

    wnes Contributing Member

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    For crying out loud, does one have a right to privacy when not at public protest?
     
    #16 wnes, Aug 5, 2005
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