The ACLU of Georgia released copies of government files on Wednesday that illustrate the extent to which the FBI, the DeKalb County Division of Homeland Security and other government agencies have gone to compile information on Georgians suspected of being threats simply for expressing controversial opinions.
Two documents relating to anti-war and anti-government protests, and a vegan rally, prove the agencies have been "spying" on Georgia residents unconstitutionally, the ACLU said. (Related: ACLU Complaint -- PDF file)
For example, more than two dozen government surveillance photographs show 22-year-old Caitlin Childs of Atlanta, a strict vegetarian, and other vegans picketing against meat eating, in December 2003. They staged their protest outside a HoneyBaked Ham store on Buford Highway in DeKalb County.
An undercover DeKalb County Homeland Security detective was assigned to conduct surveillance of the protest and the protestors, and take the photographs. The detective arrested Childs and another protester after he saw Childs approach him and write down, on a piece of paper, the license plate number of his unmarked government car.
"They told me if I didn't give over the piece of paper I would go to jail and I refused and I went to jail, and the piece of paper was taken away from me at the jail and the officer who transferred me said that was why I was arrested," Childs said on Wednesday.
The government file lists anti-war protesters in Atlanta as threats, the ACLU said. The ACLU of Georgia accuses the Bush administration of labeling those who disagree with its policy as disloyal Americans. http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=75151
I guess they got allot of time on their hands.Maybe it's time to start down sizeing? Ridiculous. LMAO
Remember that the FBIplaced domestic eco-terrorism at the top of its priority list several years ago. Liberal groups work together sharing information and material resources, and it's no secret that many in the anti-war crowd have been cozying up to the animal rights folks for some years now.
This article doesn't contain very much detail (what a surprise!), so I can't pass judgement at the moment. I doubt it highly, though, that the FBI has nothing better to do than harrass PETA freaks. There's definitely more than meets the eye.
For example, more than two dozen government surveillance photographs show 22-year-old Caitlin Childs of Atlanta, a strict vegetarian, and other vegans picketing against meat eating, in December 2003. They staged their protest outside a HoneyBaked Ham store on Buford Highway in DeKalb County.
An undercover DeKalb County Homeland Security detective was assigned to conduct surveillance of the protest and the protestors, and take the photographs.
The ACLU is wrong again as usual. Key point is these protesters were protesting "outside a HoneyBaked Ham store on Buford Highway." When you are standing outside in public view, it is not considered spying when somebody looks at you or watches what you are doing. And when you are conducting a protest whose obvious goal is to draw attention to yourself, it definitely isn't "spying." Whether the detective is "undercover" or more likely simply in plain clothes (non-uniform for ACLU challenged people) has nothing to do with the legality of observing, monitoring or even taking pictures of some public activity in public view on public property.
Quote:
The detective arrested Childs and another protester after he saw Childs approach him and write down, on a piece of paper, the license plate number of his unmarked government car.
"They told me if I didn't give over the piece of paper I would go to jail and I refused and I went to jail, and the piece of paper was taken away from me at the jail and the officer who transferred me said that was why I was arrested," Childs said on Wednesday.
wow, what a concept. Actually telling somebody how to avoid being arrested and the person foolishly chooses to be arrested by not making a wiser decision. Stupid choices have undesirable consequences. This Childs person obviously got what she wanted which was to be arrested.
Quote:
"We believe that spying on American citizens for no good reason is fundamentally un-American, that it's not the place of the goverment or the best use of resources to spy on its own citizens and we want it to stop. We want the spies in our government to pack their bags, close up their notebooks, take their cameras home and not engage in the spying anymore," Gerald Weber of the ACLU of Georgia said during a news conference.
And from johnnybgoodes article link;
"We have heard of not a single, government surveillance of a pro-war group," Weber said. "And I doubt we will ever hear of a single surveillance of a pro-war group."
The ACLU wants Congress and the courts to order government agencies, including the FBI, to stop unconstitutional surveillance.
Weber said the ACLU of Georgia may sue the government, in order to define, once and for all, what unconstitutional surveillance is in a post-911 America.
If you read Weber's statement, it sounds like the ACLU would be okay with this monitoring or observation if the same thing was done to "pro-war" groups although I don't see an obvious nexus between a vegan protest and pro-war groups. And for their piece de resistance, the ACLU is contemplating "suing" the government so the ACLU can define what type of security America needs instead of our elected leaders. Of course, the ACLU is not going to represent the interests of the child molest victim whose molest suspect only got sentenced to 60 days in jail or any other real victims in this country. Oh no, the ACLU only wants to represent the kooks and losers who have no respect for anybody else. Maybe the ACLU ought to change their mnission statement so at least that part of their organization is honest.
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It started wrong when you mentioned the ACLU... you can tell they are lying when you see their lips move. They are in bed with the like of moveon.org all the other left wing wackos that out there. I think I would trust Castro more than the ACLU...And Castro needs to be six feet under.
The detective arrested Childs and another protester after he saw Childs approach him and write down, on a piece of paper, the license plate number of his unmarked government car.
What law was broken?
I watched a video it was shot during the Republican National convention. They threaten to arrest this individual for asking for badge numbers of the police because they had their badges covered,why?
What is wrong with peacefully protesting a war? Why should the goverment send agents to a peaceful protest?
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It's not just vegatarians they are worried about. Yes I know this is old news,but many proably have never seen it.
KeepAndBearArms.com -- The Phoenix Federal Bureau of Investigation created a flyer some time back during Clinton's Presidency, asking the recipients to help them fight domestic terrorism. I received one of these flyers this past weekend at the Arizona "Freedom in the 21st Century" gathering. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (Greater Phoenix, Arizona) and the Maricopa County Attorney were placed on the flyer, as well -- before they saw the actual wording of the flyer -- in an effort by the FBI to "work jointly with local law enforcement."
Called the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the program was created, presumably, to help preserve the American way of life. This flyer was created -- by the feds -- to disseminate information about who the bad guys might be. However, its wording made it look like a disinformation campaign to paint at least a few groups of Real Americans as domestic terrorists. Among other things, the FBI was asking people: "If you encounter any of the following, Call the Joint Terrorism Task Force":
[blockquote] "defenders of the US Constitution against federal government and the UN"
[That describes many civil liberties groups and most gun rights and American Sovereignty groups in existence -- and, by extension, their members.] "Groups of individuals engaging in para-military training"
[Such as, perhaps, shooting your semi-automatic "assault weapon" with some friends out in the desert?"]
[/blockquote]
Also being sought are "Common Law Movement Proponents" who
[blockquote] "Request authority for a stop"
[That's illegal now?] "Make numerous references to the US Constitution"
[That's illegal now?] "Attempt to 'police the police'"
[That's illegal now?]
[/blockquote]
And let's not forget the other potential "domestic terrorists" being sought. We really need to watch out for these people:
[blockquote] "Lone Individuals"
[Do you meet that description?] "Rebels"
[Know any gun rights activist who doesn't have at least a touch of rebel pumping through the old bloodstream?]
[/blockquote]
Be sure and notice the following two things on the flyer, as well:
[blockquote]
1) There is NOT ONE MENTION of "Islamic Fundamentalists" anywhere.
2) Defenders of the US Constitution and the common law from which it grew are being classified on the same level as the bottom-feeding Skinheads, Nazis and the KKK.
[/blockquote] READ THE FLYER FOR YOURSELF
The flyer is a tri-fold, so you'll have to turn your head sideways to read one of the sections.
[blockquote] Front Page Back Page
[/blockquote]
NOTE: The far right side of the above "Front Page" is the actual front of the tri-fold flyer. The far left side of the above "Back Page" -- the part that mentions the 'defenders of the US Constitution' -- is the inside flap... the first thing you see when you open the flyer.
HISTORY OF THE FLYER
According to Terry Chapman of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office -- whose name is on the flyer as the MCSO contact -- the FBI created the flyer and printed the MCSO and Attorney's Office before the text was approved. He said it was created as a full color brochure to hand out to officers, not for the general public -- and that as soon as he saw it, he urged them not to use it, knowing it had some problems.
"The flyer never got off the ground," said Officer Chapman, "but it did manage to make it's way out -- and maybe it's right that it did." He genuinely didn't like this piece of junk, and he showed true concern about my issues with the flyer, too. "We were not happy with it. It was formulated, I think, for legitimate purposes, but it fell on stony ground because of the way it was worded -- the unfortunate profiles that were put in there outraged a number of people who received it."
"It's dead in the water as far as I know," said Chapman. "I just can't imagine the FBI putting it out there again. It wasn't for the public. The fact that it's circulating again has gotta be by unofficial sources."
Mr. Chapman couldn't name the FBI agent who created the flyer, saying the individual who created it was no longer with the FBI's Phoenix branch, which he described as having "revolving doors." Sheriff's officers didn't like the flyer, either. Said Chapman, "I had a Lieutenant from our own office call me and ask 'Am I on your list?' Am I a threat?' for supporting the constitution?'" Chapman was embarrassed by the seeming targeting of "decent, honorable segments of the community" by the flyer -- he hoped it would never be handed out or go anywhere at all.
According to Chapman, the FBI approached the Sheriff's Office saying they wanted to put a flyer together to help local law enforcement raise officer awareness about who to watch out for. They asked for a local contact name and number for use of a flyer they wanted to produce, and because Terry Chapman heads up MCSO Intelligence, he was the likely candidate. Possible lesson for Chapman: don't let yourself get used by misguided federal agents again.
The big question: Why the hell does the FBI have someone running around promoting that Defenders of the Constitution (and the common law from which the Constitution was born) are domestic terrorists?
The FBI has not returned phone calls on this matter. But suffice it to say that there has been at least one unAmerican weasel running around their camp urging people to turn against We The Real American People. We'd sure like to know this fool's name and location within the Bureau. If you track that information down, please contact me personally; we've got a bone to pick with him and his boss, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft
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Cal Hunter if the allegations in the suit prove to be correct, I am not so sure of a simple dismissal like "wow, what a concept. Actually telling somebody how to avoid being arrested and the person foolishly chooses to be arrested by not making a wiser decision".
"At least one officer from the Dekalb County Police Department was present at all times during the protest. The protesters were instructed by police not to speak with any customers, even if they were spoken to first, chilling and restricting their speech."
"Officer Moffit approached the car and asked Ms. Brown for her driver"s license and registration. Ms. Brown, Ms. Childs, and Mr. Freemen repeatedly asked the officer why they were being pulled over and the officer refused to answer, stating that "it was the law" and asking them "do you want to make this easy or do you want to go to jail?" "
"Homeland security Detective Gorman approached the car and attempted to open the door where Ms. Childs was sitting. He did not identify himself as a detective.
He instructed Ms. Childs and Mr. Freeman to get out of the car and stand by the trunk."
"Homeland Security Detective Gorman asked for Ms. Childs" identification, which she gave to him. He demanded then the piece of paper on which Ms. Childs had copied the license tag number. Homeland Security Detective Gorman had identified himself as a detective. Ms. Childs refused to hand the note over to Gorman, because she was had no legal obligation to do so."
"Mr. Freeman asked to see Homeland Security Detective Gorman"s identification.
Instead of identifying himself, Homeland Security Detective Gorman asked Mr. Freeman for his identification. Mr. Freeman told Homeland Security Detective Gorman his ID was in his back pocket, but when he reached for it, Homeland Security Detective Gorman and the uniformed officer grabbed both of his arms and slammed him down on the trunk of the car. The stop, search, seizure, arrest, and force applied were grossly excessive and without probable cause or reasonable suspicion."
"Ms. Childs and Mr. Freeman were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct. When Ms. Childs was being booked, an officer confiscated the piece of paper and told the booking officer that "this is what she got arrested for". "
"Upon Ms. Childs" release, the piece of paper and her house keys were not returned and they were not in the Dekalb County Police Department"s property division"
Thanks
Mr-Pirk
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Bush and HMS spying on vegetarians
