Reply #14: A New Federal War on Dissent? Some scary articles... [View All]

[Angry Girl]

And just remember, in the back of your mind, the fact that Halliburton was just given a multimillion dollar contract to build detention centers throughout the U.S.:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2085433

A New Federal War on Dissent?

The FBI catalogued some of the new threats to public safety: "Several effective and innovative strategies are commonly used by protesters prior to, during, and after demonstrations.... Protesters often use the internet to recruit, raise funds, and coordinate their activities prior to demonstrations. Activists may also make use of training camps to rehearse tactics and counter-strategies for dealing with the police."

Saying that dissenters are attending a “training camp” is intended to suggest that they are akin to the killers who attended Afghan terrorist training camps. And the fact that protesters use the Internet is as irrelevant as that earlier generations of protesters used the U.S. mail. Since FBI computers are far behind the technology curve, FBI analysts may be unaware that Internet use is pervasive among Americans of all political stripes.

After warning about the danger that “extremist elements” could engage in “vandalism,” “trespassing,” and “the formation of human chains,” the FBI cast suspicion on almost anyone attending a protest: "Even the more peaceful techniques can create a climate of disorder, block access to a site, draw large numbers of police officers to a specific location in order to weaken security at other locations, obstruct traffic, and possibly intimidate people from attending the events being protested."