Remember that time Occupy was examined by The Government & No One Gave A Shit?

[kpete]

Hundreds of pages of documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests show that the Department of Homeland Security monitored, investigated and possibly infiltrated various Occupy movements across the country since the first Occupy Wall Street protests began.

http://www.naderlibrary.com/occupy.fbidocsrevealsecretmon.htm
http://www.alternet.org/occupy-wall-street/government-waste-dhs-documents-reveal-widespread-surveillance-occupy-movement
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/05/fbi-occupy-wall-street_n_2410783.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/02/homeland-security-occupy-wall-street_n_3002445.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/29/fbi-coordinated-crackdown-occupy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/20/uc-davis-pepper-spray-video
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/occupy-wall-street-pepper-spray-video-sparks-outrage-151466

THU MAY 16, 2013 AT 09:50 AM PDT
Remember that time Occupy was examined by the IRS?
by Kuntawpwnsyou

Oh wait... that was the FBI who infiltrated Occupy. Wasn't it DHS who was coordinating local police for maximum supression of peaceful protest?

Occupy groups throughout the nation were actively infiltrated by the FBI in direct coordination with JPMorgan Chase and no one gave a shit. Phones were tapped. People were monitored. Local law enforcement was actively used and coordinated through DHS to suppress peaceful protest. One of these issues is clearly FAR more important than the other in terms of constitutionality. This leads me to believe all of the people on the far right beating the drum over this are not doing so for reasons of legality but for reasons of politics. Ergo, I'm failing to get excited in the face of a clear lack of principals. Can you imagine the reaction from the corporate right if the above happened to to the corporately sponsored tea party?

Just Sayin.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/16/1209559/-Remember-that-time-Occupy-was-examined-by-the-IRS

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Yes,and Janet Napolitano was as guilty as they come for this shit.

[geek tragedy]

18. I'll bet $100 donation to DU you're talking our

of your ass and have zero proof of your deranged slur against Napolitano.

[sabrina 1]

43. No, we know for a fact that the attempt to destroy this Social Justice movement was coordinated at a

federal level.

We also know that the abuses against peaceful protesters, the near murder of military veterans by robo cops in disguise, eg, not to mention the beating of elderly women etc, got the attention of the world and prompted the UN to issue a request to the Obama administration to intervene to stop the brutality against those peaceful protesters.

That request came only after the expected intervention of any government when they see their own citizens being so abused by law enforcement, not only did NOT come as it should have, but it was discovered that it was being encouraged by politicians, many of them Democrats.

The UN request based on human rights laws, were ignored by this administration. That in itself told the story.

[geek tragedy]

44. "we know for a fact . . . was coordinated at the federal level"

just like some people 'know for a fact' that Obama was born in Kenya.

There are many claims of federal coordination, but no evidence supporting those claims.

None.

Not a single piece of evidence--not one--that would hold up in court as proof of federal involvement.

It's all speculation.

[sabrina 1]

47. Tell it to the government. I haven't seen them deny it since the FOIA requests were finally obtained

Not much point in denying the obvious.

Btw, where do you get your info? You seem to spend a lot of time reading garbage from morons like Orley Tate, who even knew she was still around? You should start looking for more credible sources to get your information.

[geek tragedy]

50. The government's already denied it.

http://gothamist.com/2012/03/21/homeland_security_monitored_ows_den.php

http://www.salon.com/2011/11/17/dhs_denies_ows_eviction_role/

But hey, you have the Ron Paul fans backing you up:

http://www.dailypaul.com/187673/obama-dhs-rings-occupy-wall-street-reporter-confirms-many-ron-paul-supporters

[Zorra]

59. True. Governments deny lots of things. Iran-Contra comes to mind immediately.

The FBI has denied coordinating the crackdown, but admit to collaborating with Homeland Security, Naval Investigative Services, and other federal agencies to monitor the Occupy movement.

It is my understanding that the FBI has so far refused to release some documents related to their monitoring and policing of Occupy, citing national security concerns.

I suppose we won't learn the whole truth for many years, and maybe never will.

[geek tragedy]

60. In individual instances, yes there was some monitoring

though it was discouraged by the national DHS since OWS was a nonviolent expression of 1st amendment rights.

In cases where there was talk of closing down ports, one would be surprised if they weren't paying attention.

Here's where common sense would come in:

1) Huge national conspiracy involving multiple federal agencies as well as dozens of local ones, with zero testimony or documents showing that conspiracy? Human experience tells us no conspiracy can be that big and remain a secret--someone will blab, someone will whistleblow, etc.

2) Obama had nothing to gain from violently suppressing OWS. Doing so would have risked destroying his presidency. So long as Obama is the milquetoast centrist he's generally perceived as, and not the comic book villain some on the extreme left and right view him as, it's utterly nonsensical to think he'd have done so.

[Fire Walk With Me]

37. If you search DU it's easy to find my own post regarding Napolitano, LAPD, and DHS coming together

to fight "terrorists":

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022154200

And LAPD attacks upon OccupyLA, including Federal agents monitoring us for participating in the Rose Bowl parade (which the year before was sponsored by Wells Fargo, go freaking figure).

Lots of information and facts there including highly negative, aggressive statements by a government representative discussing how Occupy must be stopped. Yes, this government representative was and likely still is a high-level member of DHS, who were shown to have directly participated and perhaps even precipitated attacks upon Occupy. I've seen DHS vehicles and personnel at LA events. FUCK THEM ALL. Asshats did nothing to stop the Boston bombing but have a trillion taxpayer dollars to monitor and attack people attempting to stop the banksters who nearly destroyed the country.

[sabrina 1]

48. Thanks, seems someone is very far behind on actual information that has confirmed the suspicions

of millions of people from the start. It was obvious, and not just here, the similarities of the 'tactics' were world wide.

[G_j]

2. K&R

[kyeshinka]

3. Iconic

By the way, whatever happened to that human skidmark John Pike? Hopefully fired, blacklisted, and living on his brother's couch watching My Name is Earl reruns, working on a coronary, but I'm guessing not.

[Fire Walk With Me]

13. Lost his $100K+ job not long thereafter, home was later foreclosed upon.

Tony Bologna and another NYPD whiteshirt guilty of abject violence against Occupiers are not being prosecuted by NYC (go figure). Chancellor Katehi of UC Davis (Pike fame) somehow survived massive, righteous unrest against her. Outrage!

Not that anyone is keeping track.

[sabrina 1]

49. And do you have any updates on the 'internal' police investigation into the attempted murder by

one of the robo cops against two Iraq veterans? Sure takes them a long time to find perps when they come from among their own ranks.

[Fire Walk With Me]

61. Scott Olsen's attorney has named the cop believed responsible for the near-fatal volley.

I'm not aware of updates in the second case, although it has moved forward an extent. Victory to both of them. (I believe OPD has since come under Federal control due to doing nothing recommended after similar antics years ago.)

[silvershadow]

4. Big K&R. Just Sayin'. nt

[GeorgeGist]

5. But they're not Republicans.

[Half-Century Man]

6. These were demonstrations by not wealthy people, so not popular now.

So any violations of human rights, wasn't a violation of human rights, just maintaining control over an unruly element of society: apparently this was the attitude of a large portion of the media. I base that opinion on growing up during the civil rights movement and the efforts to end the war in Viet Nam. The behavior of the protesters was far more...lively, yet with the media supporting them the movements escalated and gained far more grassroot type support.
I didn't really see that during the Occupy movements. The media spouted a lot of hype about themselves, but seemed to lack any real conviction.

Now, when they find themselves treated as they watched others treated, they complain and demand action........why not, you obviously need help, in many different ways.

[zeemike]

7. K&R

We can remember all we want, but the media has forgotten it all.

[redqueen]

8. Yeah but they're not so popular and widespread and truly grassroots like the tea party!

Wait...

[KoKo]

9. Yes...not a peep more about it....

Where was the outrage that's being exhibited now?

[RoccoR5955]

10. Damn right I do...

And Greenpeace, and War Resister's League, and the NAACP, and Acorn....

To them, its okay if they do it to you, but if you give them a dose of their own medicine, it's bloody murder!

[cui bono]

19. Yeah, but unfortunately Dems weren't being very vocal about it either.

They don't want Occupy to succeed since they're beholden to corporate America as well.

[RoccoR5955]

29. They are all beholden to corporations...

and mark my words, it will be the death of civilization, and our environment.

[xchrom]

11. Du rec. Nt

[Teamster Jeff]

12. K&R

[hay rick]

14. Obviously, the IRS should have used pepper spray.

Those Tea Party do-gooders are almost like Occupiers- promoting "social welfare." Main difference is they're doing it for the 1%.

[Initech]

15. Because the other side is so fucking drunk with power that it doesn't matter what we do.

[geek tragedy]

16. No proof DHS coordinated anything--a loony-tunes conspiracy theory

on par with Birtherism.

Just the regular public service announcement from Planet Sanity.

[Dragonfli]

22. It appears that you have several links of FOIA information above to refute.

There was proof provided, you have to refute it, labeling it as "loony toons conspiracy" is not proof your superior, godlike powers of proclamation make your uninformed opinion true.

Your omnipotence, sir , forgive me for my importunity, but if you have such power that what you say becomes true because you say it, refuting the reality you can change by proclamation should be quite easy for you.

[geek tragedy]

23. I've read all of those FOIA documents, and not a single damn page has

evidence of the DHS coordinating a local crackdown, let alone a national one.

Just because some fringe types with a blog claim the FOIA documents prove something doesn't mean they prove anything.

There are many instances of documents from DHS stressing that the OWS protests were peaceful and first-amendment protected.

There's a reason no one but the usual paranoid ranters on the Internet think anything of this. It's a classic echo-chamber myth that people believe because thy want to believe it.

Glenn Greenwald hasn't criticized the Obama administration over this. Which means there ain't shit there.

If there were a single page of evidence, there would have been civil lawsuits filed against Obama, Napolitano etc, and Fox News yes Fox News would have trumpeted "Obama is a dictator."

This is the same grade of junk pushed by the Alex Jones crowd.

[Dragonfli]

25. I am disappointed, I thought it would be easy for you, you didn't address a single thing.

lots of ad hominem name calling and comparisons, "fringe types", "paranoid ranters", "Alex Jones" crowd, and strange beliefs like - if Glenn Greenwald didn't say it it isn't true and Fox would defend occupy (yes, fox hates the 1% thieves ).

And civil liberties aren't rights, oh yeah, that was in another thread something you "proved" by the proclamation "the basic thrust of civil libertarians is to make it more difficult to arrest and put people in jail. That's an inherent conflict with people whose job it is to arrest people and put them in jail."

I learned in school, civil liberties are basic rights and freedoms guaranteed, either identified in the bill of rights or in the constitution. These are; freedom of speech, right to privacy, marry and vote. For more please click: http://public.findlaw.com/civil-rights/civil-rights-basics/civil-rights-vs-liberties.html.

I also learned these rights are law and LE has a duty to enforce law not be "in conflict" with such laws because "they arrest people and put them in jail."

Professors are idiot "fringe types" I suppose and you know better. As always your omnipotent proof has humbled us all, I submit to your superior understanding of all things and will not ask for you to do things beneath you like refute an op by disproving the ops links. I know when I meet a superior being.. I will stop wasting your time and accept your extensive proofs from now on without so much as a whimper.

[geek tragedy]

27. The fact of the matter stands that no one

outside the leftwing analogs to the Tea Party believe this fairy tale of a DHS conspiracy. Not a single credible journalist or commentator. Not even the most outdpoken civil liberties critic of Obama--Glenn Greenwald.

Alan Grayson? Bernie Sanders? Bill Moyers?

Nope, nope, and nope.

Any civil suits filed for CLEARLY ILLEGAL activities, if true?

Nope.


NOT A SINGLE BIT OF PROOF IS CONTAINED IN THOSE LINKS.

Ergo, nothing to prove as the links do not support the paranoid fantasy,

This theory fits squarely in the annals of conspiracy kookdom between Trutherism, Birtherism, and FEMA camps.

Because no one has offered anything approaching proof.

Every single person who believes this theory has refused to think critically about it or shown the tiniest bit of skepticism.

So, yeah, talk like Lyndon LaRouche, get perceived in a similar manner.

[Dragonfli]

28. Start with these, I can produce ten times as many, finish what's on your plate here first.

As early as August 19, 2011, the FBI in New York was meeting with the New York Stock Exchange to discuss the Occupy Wall Street protests that wouldn’t start for another month. By September, prior to the start of the OWS, the FBI was notifying businesses that they might be the focus of an OWS protest.
The FBI’s Indianapolis division released a “Potential Criminal Activity Alert” on September 15, 2011, even though they acknowledged that no specific protest date had been scheduled in Indiana. The documents show that the Indianapolis division of the FBI was coordinating with “All Indiana State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies,” as well as the “Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center,” the FBI “Directorate of Intelligence” and other national FBI coordinating mechanisms.
Documents show the spying abuses of the FBI’s “Campus Liaison Program” in which the FBI in Albany and the Syracuse Joint Terrorism Task Force disseminated information to “sixteen (16) different campus police officials,” and then “six (6) additional campus police officials.” Campus officials were in contact with the FBI for information on OWS. A representative of the State University of New York at Oswego contacted the FBI for information on the OWS protests and reported to the FBI on the SUNY-Oswego Occupy encampment made up of students and professors.
Documents released show coordination between the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and corporate America. They include a report by the Domestic Security Alliance Council (DSAC), described by the federal government as “a strategic partnership between the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the private sector,” discussing the OWS protests at the West Coast ports to “raise awareness concerning this type of criminal activity.” The DSAC report shows the nature of secret collaboration between American intelligence agencies and their corporate clients - the document contains a “handling notice” that the information is “meant for use primarily within the corporate security community. Such messages shall not be released in either written or oral form to the media, the general public or other personnel…” (The DSAC document was also obtained by the Northern California ACLU which has sought local FBI surveillance files.)
Naval Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS) reported to the DSAC on the relationship between OWS and organized labor for the port actions. The NCIS describes itself as “an elite worldwide federal law enforcement organization” whose “mission is to investigate and defeat criminal, terrorist, and foreign intelligence threats to the United States Navy and Marine Corps ashore, afloat and in cyberspace.” The NCIS also assists with the transport of Guantanamo prisoners.
DSAC issued several tips to its corporate clients on “civil unrest” which it defines as ranging from “small, organized rallies to large-scale demonstrations and rioting.” It advised to dress conservatively, avoid political discussions and “avoid all large gatherings related to civil issues. Even seemingly peaceful rallies can spur violent activity or be met with resistance by security forces. Bystanders may be arrested or harmed by security forces using water cannons, tear gas or other measures to control crowds.”
The FBI in Anchorage reported from a Joint Terrorism Task Force meeting of November 3, 2011, about Occupy activities in Anchorage.
A port Facility Security Officer in Anchorage coordinated with the FBI to attend the meeting of protestors and gain intelligence on the planning of the port actions. He was advised to request the presence of an Anchorage Police Department official to also attend the event. The FBI Special Agent told the undercover private operative that he would notify the Joint Terrorism Task Force and that he would provide a point of contact at the Anchorage Police Department.
The Jacksonville, Florida FBI prepared a Domestic Terrorism briefing on the “spread of the Occupy Wall Street Movement” in October 2011. The intelligence meeting discussed Occupy venues identifying “Daytona, Gainesville and Ocala Resident Agency territories as portions …where some of the highest unemployment rates in Florida continue to exist.”
The Tampa, Florida FBI “Domestic Terrorism” liaison participated with the Tampa Police Department’s monthly intelligence meeting in which Occupy Lakeland, Occupy Polk County and Occupy St. Petersburg were discussed. They reported on an individual “leading the Occupy Tampa” and plans for travel to Gainesville for a protest planning meeting, as well as on Veterans for Peace plans to protest at MacDill Air Force Base.
The Federal Reserve in Richmond appears to have had personnel surveilling OWS planning. They were in contact with the FBI in Richmond to “pass on information regarding the movement known as occupy Wall Street.” There were repeated communications “to pass on updates of the events and decisions made during the small rallies and the following information received from the Capital Police Intelligence Unit through JTTF (Joint Terrorism Task Force).”
The Virginia FBI was collecting intelligence on the OWS movement for dissemination to the Virginia Fusion Center and other Intelligence divisions.
The Milwaukee division of the FBI was coordinating with the Ashwaubenon Public Safety division in Green Bay Wisconsin regarding Occupy.
The Memphis FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force met to discuss “domestic terrorism” threats, including, “Aryan Nations, Occupy Wall Street, and Anonymous.”
The Birmingham, AL division of the FBI sent communications to HAZMAT teams regarding the Occupy Wall Street movement.
The Jackson, Mississippi division of the FBI attended a meeting of the Bank Security Group in Biloxi, MS with multiple private banks and the Biloxi Police Department, in which they discussed an announced protest for “National Bad Bank Sit-In-Day” on December 7, 2011.
The Denver, CO FBI and its Bank Fraud Working Group met and were briefed on Occupy Wall Street in November 2011. Members of the Working Group include private financial institutions and local area law enforcement.
Jackson, MS Joint Terrorism Task Force issued a “Counterterrorism Preparedness” alert. This heavily redacted document includes the description, “To document…the Occupy Wall Street Movement.”

Any arrests for CLEARLY ILLEGAL activities, if true? No, I think Bush, Cheney, and CIA torture specialists clearly were above reproach and did nothing illegal.

Any arrests for for CLEARLY ILLEGAL activities, if true? No, I believe Iran/Contra Never had anything to do with Reagan, an angel of a man that only sold weapons because it was a legal and innocent hobby.

You refuted nothing, you just keep making proclamations That anyone that knows about this are "Lyndon LaRouche" because you refuse to look at the truth. Ad hominems are not proof, nor is lack of prosecution, How many Bankers have gone to jail for crashing an economy and then getting huge bonuses on our dime? Too big to prosecute you say? They were angels, every one of them.

If you have nothing but name calling and denial because your love of authority is beyond obsessive, you got nothing kid. Post where attacks are proof and people at the top of law enforcement never abuse authority, because that is a dream world in your head,
not the reality you proclaim it to be with such authority.

Also civil liberties are not just excuses to thwart law enforcement as they try to arrest those dirty hippies and black rights activists as you believe and have implied. They are law.

[LiberalLovinLug]

41. Slam

and Dunk!

[geek tragedy]

45. Amazingly enough, your word salad didn't include

a single piece of evidence showing federal coordination of the crackdowns.


Note that you're not quoting the documents, you're just parroting what someone else wrote. And even those characterizations don't come close to showing a coordinated crackdown,

Very Jonathan Karl of you. Your stenography skills are impressive.

Which is fitting, since your determination to see a conspiracy where none exists is very much like the Republicans desperation to twist the facts into a Benghazi cover up.

You start with what you want to believe and then distort the facts so that they prove your myth.

As I said, there's a reason why the only people who believe your superstitious fairy tale are those who are emotionally invested in it being true.

As a final note--you all do not really believe it, deep down inside, you know it is not true. If it were true, you would be calling for Obama's impeachment, at the very least Napolitano's.

It would be the worst civil liberties violation in American history. But, amazingly, no one has seized on this high crime and misdemeanor of the century except for some conspiracy theory peddlers.

[cui bono]

33. A simple google search of "FBI Occupy movement" shows NYT, Guardian, CNN,

and many other news sources with articles saying they investigated/suspected them for terrorism.

You really seem to think that our current government is all good and benevolent and would never, ever, do anything wrong. And not only that, you attempt to smear anyone who criticizes our govt by calling them "leftwing analogs to the Tea Party", "those with a prosecution fetish", "fringe"...

It's pretty clear what your agenda is since I have not seen you back up what you claim yet.

[geek tragedy]

46. No, I'm saying there's no evidence of a federally orchestrated

crackdown.

It started off as a nutjob conspiracy theory based on pure speculation--that Obama was a Mubarak type of figure crushing dissent with violence.

And then the FOIA documents lack a single page of evidence of federal coordination of a crackdown on any local level, let alone the national level.

But, because people are so emotionally invested in their paranoid fantasy, every page that says "Occupy Wall Street" on government letterhead becomes proof of an evil conspiracy theory.

The government is capable of doing all kinds of horrible things and has done so throughout history.

But, before you go accusing Obama of engaging in the worst mass violation of civil liberties in American history, you really should get evidence.

Until then, shrill barking into an idiot wind.

[geek tragedy]

53. No, just because you all claim something is proof

does not make it proof.

I know this is hard for you to process, but your assertions--and assertions from people who share your general outlook--are not proof.

Proof is proof.

There is a reason that everyone from Glenn Greenwald to Darrel Issa have found no evidence of the DHS abusing its authority in the OWS protests. And that is not because Glenn Greenwald and Darrel Issa are too stupid or too in love with Obama to see the truth.

They are not the ones with the problem.

[geek tragedy]

57. In case you want proof, read this:

n October 2011, the documents show, the Los Angeles Fusion Center (one of dozens of surveillance centers that coordinate state, local, and federal intelligence) sent a query to DHS's intelligence division seeking information on "any DHS products identifying and/or describing criminal activities and/or potential civil disobedience associated with the Occupy Wall Street protests nationwide" and the number of "arrests...made, type and number of weapons confiscated, communication used to plan these crimes, etc." The intended recipient of the intelligence, the request said, was "a federal partner of the Fusion Center at LA."

The intelligence division flatly denied the request: "

The information being requested does not fall within the scope of I&A's authorities. Arrests being made at these protests are a criminal matter and the protesters are engaged in constitutionally protected activity.... DHS should not report on activities where the basis for reporting is political speech

."

http://gawker.com/5895202/internal-documents-show-the-department-of-homeland-security-tried-pretty-hard-not-to-monitor-occupy-wall-street

I'm going to bet you've never read that article or those emails.

Why?

Epistemic closure.

[sabrina 1]

51. Anything to say to refute the documentation supplied directly to you above by Fire? I didn't see

links or anything backing up your contention to refute his sources yet. I'll check back later, and do stay away from those crazy teabagger sites, we don't need to revive that garbage here being it was thoroughly refuted, unlike the coordination against OWS which has been confirmed.

[geek tragedy]

52. Nothing she posted is evidence of a federal crackdown.

The 'proof' is in your imaginations.

the coordination against OWS is only believed by a very tiny segment of the population.

It has been confirmed in the same manner that the virgin birth and burning bush have been confirmed.

[sabrina 1]

54. Lol, I didn't think you would even try to refute HIS comment.

But I just wanted to be fair and give you a chance.

The OWS attacks were coordinated at a Federal level and no one even tries anymore to dispute that. Your posts are way outdated, from the time when we only suspected it, but were waiting for verification. Now that the verification has been provided, reluctantly as expected, there is no point in even trying to deny it anymore.

Naomi Wolf was correct after she was arrested and wrote about her own findings, I don't see anyone attacking her either anymore.

[geek tragedy]

56. You really need to stop outside your echo chamber.

It's only been 'proven' to a very small group of people in the US.

You all couldn't even persuade Glenn Greenwald that your fantasy has a shred of factual support.

I guess he's part of the conspiracy too.

http://gawker.com/5895202/internal-documents-show-the-department-of-homeland-security-tried-pretty-hard-not-to-monitor-occupy-wall-street

The Department of Homeland Security struggled to avoid monitoring or suppressing the Occupy Wall Street movement last year, despite being bombarded with requests from various federal agencies for intelligence on the protests, according to documents released via the Freedom of Information Act.
The documents show that officials in DHS's offices of Intelligence Analysis and Civil Rights and Civil Liberties were keenly aware of the legal and constitutional issues raised by federal agencies monitoring political protesters, and sought to tamp down the appetite for intelligence on the Occupy protesters from their colleagues in DHS and other federal agencies that rely on DHS bulletins and intelligence.
The records also show that the efforts weren't always successful—there are several instances of DHS gathering and distributing intelligence on Occupy protesters without much justification. DHS released 340 redacted pages in response to a Freedom of Information Request we filed for records concerning the Occupy movement; it characterized them as an "interim release," suggesting that more records will be forthcoming

[Rex]

17. It convinced me we indeed live in a plutocracy.

But now I am shifting my belief to Idiocracy more and more.

[Dragonfli]

21. I think you were correct with both assessments, we live in a plutocratic Idiocracy /nt

[n2doc]

35. Thats because the 1%ers are idiots

they know how to make money. But everything else is just a fantasy.

[Dragonfli]

20. Often CR groups are formed to protect the civil liberties of specific targeted groups,

such have typically been minorities, semitic people, women, disabled, LGBT as well as other targets; a new target of anti civil liberties proponents are those involved in occupy or 99% movements, the principle is the same and the occupy movement may need a "letter group" to specifically try to protect their rights (which are being stomped on by LE).

NAACP, Anti-Defamation League, NCLR, AAPD and NARAL are just some examples of pro civil liberties groups.

Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that protect an individual from the state. Civil liberties set limits on government so that its members cannot abuse their power and interfere unduly with the lives of private citizens.

Freedoms and rights provided to individuals by the laws governing a country are called civil liberties. They may include the right to life, right to free and fair trial, freedom of expression and association, protection from torture, freedom from slavery, freedom of conscience, religion among others. Civil liberties form the basis for democracy in most states and have given rise to many civil activist movements.

In another thread I had to try to explain what civil liberties are to what is either a LEO or an extreme authoritarian. He actually made the argument "the basic thrust of civil libertarians is to make it more difficult to arrest and put people in jail. That's an inherent conflict with people whose job it is to arrest people and put them in jail." He apparently thinks that it is the job of cops to simply put people in jail and their civil liberties somehow seek only to keep these cops from doing their job.

One can see that most of his peers hold a similar delusion that it is the job of LE to oppose civil liberties, your post brings that point home.

[MattBaggins]

24. Remember when they destroyed ACORN and Congress was a part of it?

Even the Democrats were stumbling over themselves to shake their fists in righteous fury.

[Dragonfli]

26. As I recall a few Democrats threw themselves on swords trying to protect ACORN!

Such commitment and dedication, I wept during the entire display.

[East Coast Pirate]

34. They threw it overboard without checking to see if there was any truth to the allegations.

[blkmusclmachine]

30. .

.

[dotymed]

31. Oh, "the govt. gave a shit."

They (not "us" for a long time) beat the hit out of as many peaceful Americans as possible. They added this information to their "permanent files" as I feel sure that we all have our very own file. Big Brother needs those to stop peaceful protest, with force.
We "live" in one of the most secretive, violent countries in the world. If you peacefully protest against this government, you will be (at least) severely hurt.
Peaceful college students protesting on tee vee are maced directly in their eyes to the delight of the oligarchs, their minions and, of course, the tee vee hosts. Yet, these college students are indentured by J.P. Morgan Chase just as anyone is who receives a college loan, "food stamp card" or any govt. supplied money card. Chase has that racket sewn up too. (Trillions a year to disburse funds that the govt. could do for a fraction of the cost and actually employ some Americans).
What glorious masters TPTB are and they have chosen the very best in suppressive tactics to ensure that their way will continue.
IT is time for another, nation-wide, organized protest. We must learn from our mistakes. This govt. must go, along with their oligarch masters.
But hey. Taylor Swift bought another mansion, 17 million cash for this one.
A country where entertainers and athletes are paid huge salaries to play, compared to regular people who can't afford health care, food and medicine within the same month(s).
Of course this is "chicken feed" compared to what the oligarchs and their politicians pay themselves.
That is why, even though most of Occupy was scared off and not well publicized, we have to keep trying.
IF the millions of Americans who are kept subservient, would actually get off their asses (it would help if they actually educated themselves about their plight), take to the streets until things improved, we would all stand a chance. We have one life (positively) and people are ready to settle for scraps?

[RandiFan1290]

32. DU's trolls trashed OWS right away

By saying that they failed for starting on a Saturday.

They are still here trashing OWS and are now defending the teabaggers.

[Zorra]

55. +1

[treestar]

36. People gave a shit at least on DU

However, there was nothing about FBI infiltration. Now suddenly it comes up.

[WillyT]

38. K & R !!!

[ctsnowman]

39. K & R

[G_j]

40. Occupiers Prevail Over Infiltrators, Unconstitutional Ordinances, Vindictive DAs

(there is a lot more at the link)

Occupiers Prevail Over Infiltrators, Unconstitutional Ordinances, Vindictive DAs

http://www.nlg.org/news/blog/occupiers-prevail-over-infiltrators-unconstitutional-ordinances-vindictive-das

March 19, 2013

On the second Friday in February, Boston prosecutors announced that they were dropping all charges against 26 people who had been swept up in two late night raids of Occupy Boston almost a year and a half earlier. The move came as a surprise to the arrestees and their NLG defense team who were deep in preparation for a trial the following Monday. While it would be welcome news to any criminal defendant, the evaporation of the charges was a strange end to a long and grueling saga, especially because of what came with the announcement:

“There’s now parity with prior cases arising from the protests,” Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Jake Wark told the Boston Globe. “They’ve served essentially the same sentences.”

Occupy Boston activists, though glad to see their charges dropped, were outraged that the D.A.’s office could confirm their harshest critiques—which held that the criminal justice process is itself a punishment enacted by the state to deter continued activism—and keep a straight face.

Despite the mixed emotions they evoked, the dismissals are undoubtedly a victory for Occupy Boston and for the Massachusetts NLG chapter, which provided legal support to the protest camp from the beginning. The win is only the latest in a string of NLG victories as the saga of the Occupy movement continues to play out in courthouses across the country.

Texas

Greg Gladden, a Texas Guild lawyer and newly elected Mass Defense Committee co-chair scored a major win in helping to secure the dismissal of felony charges facing seven Occupy Austin protesters charged with felonies after participating in a port facility lockdown. The charges, felony possession of a criminal instrument, stemmed from the activists’ use of a lockbox which Gladden showed through an aggressive discovery strategy to have been hand-built and delivered by three Austin police officers posing as protesters.

The revelation of police involvement led to the dismissals which were actually the second time a judge tossed out the charges—after the first, a prosecutor had them reinstated through a federal grand jury. Gladden represented Ronnie Garza, one of seven Occupy Austin protesters charged for blocking an entrance to the Port of Houston with a sleeping dragon as part of the December 2011 Occupy port shutdown. In addition to the three infiltrators named for their direct involvement in the criminal case, the discovery points to the presence of at least three more undercover agents working within the Occupy camp in coordination with a local fusion center.

Also in Austin, Guild member Jim Harrington in his capacity as Director of the Texas Civil Rights Project prevailed in a federal lawsuit challenging the City’s practice of banning people from City Hall Plaza, which had been used to deter 37 Occupy Austin protesters from returning to the encampment site. Federal Judge Lee Yeakel ruled that the city’s use of criminal trespass notices violated the First Amendment and due process and banned the practice.

Chicago

Lawyers and legal workers from the NLG’s Chicago chapter coordinated the defense of nearly all of the several hundred activists arrested during Occupy Chicago demonstrations. In September, the 92 arrestees whose curfew violation cases were still open saw their charges dismissed by a Cook County Court judge. In his written ruling, Judge Thomas Donnelly upheld Guild lawyers’ motion to dismiss, finding that the park curfew ordinance was unconstitutional on its face and as applied.

The ruling states:

While the City arrested everyone remaining in Grant Park during the Occupy Chicago rally, the City arrested no one at the Obama 2008 presidential election victory rally, even though the Obama rally was equally in violation of the Curfew. That violates Defendants’ right to equal protection because it treats similarly situated citizens differently.


...MUCH MORE...

[Fantastic Anarchist]

42. Thank you! nt

[Egalitarian Thug]

58. Yes, I do as well.

And looking through this thread I also remember the names of the people that have busied themselves, for years now, trying to discount or dismiss both the crimes committed against them as well as the movement in general.

Nothing scares an authoritarian as much as the thought that someone, somewhere is doing something without their permission, and if that something risks exposing the inherent injustice of their failed world-view and/or proposes ideas that work to make life better for the rest of us, it must be blocked, ridiculed, or lied about lest its success spread.