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.
So the main targets of a protest were warned in advance that the protest was going to take place. On top of that, the organisers had advertised in many places their intent to hold this event. I am not seeing what is wrong with this, if the occupy movement had intended to protest the super bowl, then the FBI would have warned the stadium that was going to hold it, but as they were targeting wall street, they warned wall street.
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.
-There was the potential for criminal activity, as there is anywhere larger groups of angry people gather
-Why is the federal and state law enforcement cooperating on a national matter a bad thing? Wasn't the lack of just this one of the primary complaints in the wake of 9/11?
-Why is their not knowing the specific date a bad thing? How is it even relevant?
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.
-Author does not know what spying is
-Author does not state the nature of the information disseminated (ie it could be simply whether there were signs that the protest was becoming violent or dates on which it was likely to occur, you know, shit that campus police ought to be aware of.
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.)
-DSAC, from what I understand, is a body created to ensure the economic security of the US, that is, to prevent attacks that would have a detrimental economic effect, so of course that would include the major players in the economic field. As a comparison, the EPA collaborates and confers with environmental groups.
-DSAC is not secret, essentially all of the information in the quoted page can be found by googling 'DSAC' (it is the first result)
-All government documents contain some sort of notice along side the lines of 'for office use only' 'for official use only' etc etc.
-If it was actually secret it would be exempted under section 552b of the FOI act and the author would not have it.
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
-So the naval police reported on a connection between a naval group and a potential criminal element? And?
-What does Guantanamo have to do with this? The author is starting to sound like Alec Baldwin at the end of team America
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.?
- So it told the targets of Occupy to stay out of their way and not to provoke them? How is that a bad thing? How is that, in any way, anything other than responsible advice?
The FBI in Anchorage reported from a Joint Terrorism Task Force meeting of November 3, 2011, about Occupy activities in Anchorage.
-Again, author does not provide enough info re: the nature of the information reported to make a value judgment
-Occupy and movements like it are a magnet for 'black block' and similar entities, as a comparison, while a pro-Palestine march is most likely peaceful and law abiding, it would warrant increased law enforcement and counter terror attention due to the fact that it is more likely to attract extremist elements.
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.
-Take a step back and look at the situation non-politically, there was a large group of people with motive and possible intent to do harm to the place that this security guard was protecting, so of course he contacted police and law enforcement and went to have a look for himself.
-Author seems to not understand what undercover is, it is not simply failing to identify oneself as a security/law enforcement officer, it is the creation and use of a new identity and the conscious deception of those around you. Plain clothes does not equal under cover and the connotations of the terms are very different.
-The author is putting too much weight on the idea that there was a 'private operative' (again 'operative' has very different connotations to 'security guard') but if we look at it in a non-idiotic fashion, it is no different to police collaborating with mall cops when there are suspected shoplifters about.
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 occupy movement has/had the potential to spawn outlying extremist elements and as such warranted a place in a terrorism briefing. In no way does this mean that occupy was regarded as a terrorist group.
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.
-see above comment re:validity of occupy as a topic in anti-terror briefs.
-Again collaboration between local and federal law enforcement is not a sinister or bad thing, and in no way restricted to the reaction to the occupy movement.
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).?
-closer reading of the page in question reveals only that the federal reserve policing unit was advised to pass on anything it knew about occupy by other elements within the federal reserve a sort of 'hey mate, who are these guys'
-Author shows no indication of surveillance and seems to fail to understand that all of the information in the relevant pages seems to be taken from public releases from the organisations in question
-That same page actually states that occupy is recognised as a peaceful movement and the concern is of its being hijacked by outlying extremist elements. I know the author read that page as they used it to create the above, misleading and misinformed post and as such I can only conclude that they omitted that information with the express intent of giving the wrong impression of the law enforcement entities involved.
The Virginia FBI was collecting intelligence on the OWS movement for dissemination to the Virginia Fusion Center and other Intelligence divisions.
-Again, an actual reading of the page in question shows that said information was provided for situational awareness purposes, in other terms, just so law enforcement entities were aware that, you know, there are hundreds of angry people in this area but (and again, this is explicitly stated) they are non violent.
-Author's tone seems to be deliberately misleading in that it seems to be trying to convince the reader that things like personal files and phone records were being compiled when in actuality it was only numbers and location, very reasonable things for the police to be concerned about.
The Milwaukee division of the FBI was coordinating with the Ashwaubenon Public Safety division in Green Bay Wisconsin regarding Occupy.
-Any large gathering is a potential risk to public safety, be it occupy, an ANZAC day parade or the fourth of July, all of the above would have merited the above coordination.
The Memphis FBI?s Joint Terrorism Task Force met to discuss ?domestic terrorism? threats, including, ?Aryan Nations, Occupy Wall Street, and Anonymous.?
-see above as to why they were a valid topic for the briefing and why this does not equate to being labelled a terrorist group.
-Their name came up in a briefing, whoop-de-fucking-do
The Birmingham, AL division of the FBI sent communications to HAZMAT teams regarding the Occupy Wall Street movement.
-A large group of people with little to no access to proper facilities and sanitation camping out in public in a part of the US known for being hot and humid, maybe there was a fucking reason that HAZMAT would be relevant, maybe something to do with the heightened potential for disease, maybe biological waste being improperly disposed of.
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.
-again, occupy was targeting banks, therefore banks were briefed on proper security measures for protestors, if they had been targeting mosques, the FBI would more than likely have met with Imams.
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.
-See above RE:coordination is neither bad nor sinister and why banks were briefed
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.?
-The document is too redacted to get a clear read off of, it could for example say "to document the potential for black bloc cooption of the occupy wall st movement" or anything along those lines and so no value judgement, positive or negative should be made from the source document that the above quote is commenting on.
-See above re: occupy's potential for being coopted by actual terrorist organistations and therefore its validity as a topic for discussion by counter terror organisations.
