Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007

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I thought this odious bill was dead (as reported last January). Apparently, it was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs where it sits in the hands of John McCain's buddy Joe Lieberman (committee chairman) and Barak Obama among others. I'm guessing none of the major party presidential candidates (who are all senators) want to vote for this bill before the election, so this bill won't surface until after November.

[DSieve]

Looks like Senator Lieberman is upping the rhetoric to shore up support for this bill:

Washington, DC – After Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced a report on Islamic homegrown terrorism today, the American Civil Liberties Union strongly urged Congress to use caution when moving forward on related legislation, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 (S. 1959). The report, "Violent Islamist Extremism, the Internet, and the Homegrown Terrorism Threat," is based on findings from hearings held by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The ACLU and nearly twenty other groups sent a memo to the committee outlining concerns with the report, most notably the free speech implications of labeling the internet as a "weapon" and the unfair singling out of one religious group as possible "extremists."

"Once we begin trying to regulate belief systems, we have veered perilously far from the Constitution," said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "Though the need to prevent criminal acts of violence is unquestionable, targeting communities based on religious beliefs is unacceptable and unproductive. We will only end up stigmatizing the Islamic community and creating a nation of Islamophobes. We should not be legislating against thought and we should certainly not be regulating religious or unpopular thought. A dynamic debate can only make this country stronger and safer."

The ACLU raised similar concerns regarding legislation passed by the House last year. The framework established by that measure could possibly lead to unconstitutional restrictions on speech and belief – in addition to more appropriate restrictions on actions.

Experience has demonstrated that in the event of a terrorist attack, the results of this report will likely be used to recommend the use of racial, ethnic and religious profiling. This will only heighten, rather than decrease, the spread of extremist violence. As an organization dedicated to the principles of freedom of speech, we cannot in good conscience support this report or any measure that might lead to censorship and persecution based solely on one’s personal beliefs.

The ACLU is concerned that identifying the Internet as a tool for terrorists will lead to censorship and regulated speech – especially since the Internet has become an essential communications and research tool for everyone. Indeed, some policy makers have advocated shutting down objectionable websites in violation of the First Amendment. It is an unworkable solution.

"Unfortunately, terror comes in all shapes and sizes, and from all colors and religious backgrounds," said Timothy Sparapani, ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel. "Focusing on people with specific religious beliefs or backgrounds will not protect against the Timothy McVeigh's of the world. This narrow focus could cost us dearly in the future."

To read the coalition memo about homegrown terrorism, go to:
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general...g20080507.html

ACLU Skeptical of Senate Report on “Homegrown” Terrorism

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Imagine if this bill were law today:

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What they were looking for, Carroll says, was an informant—someone to show up at “vegan potlucks” throughout the Twin Cities and rub shoulders with RNC protestors, schmoozing his way into their inner circles, then reporting back to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, a partnership between multiple federal agencies and state and local law enforcement. The effort’s primary mission, according to the Minneapolis division’s website, is to “investigate terrorist acts carried out by groups or organizations which fall within the definition of terrorist groups as set forth in the current United States Attorney General Guidelines.”
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Carroll’s story echoes a familiar theme. During the lead-up the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City, the NYPD’s Intelligence Division infiltrated and spied on protest groups across the country, as well as in Canada and Europe. The program’s scope extended to explicitly nonviolent groups, including street theater troupes and church organizations.

There were also two reported instances of police officers, dressed as protestors, purposefully instigating clashes. At the 2004 Republican National Convention, the NYPD orchestrated a fake arrest to incite protestors. When a blond man was “arrested,” nearby protestors began shouting, “Let him go!” The helmeted police proceeded to push back against the crowd with batons and arrested at least two. In a similar instance, during an April 29, 2005, Critical Mass bike ride in New York, video footage captured a “protestor”—in reality an undercover cop—telling his captor, “I’m on the job,” and being subsequently let go.

Minneapolis’s own recent Critical Mass skirmish was allegedly initiated by two unidentified stragglers in hoods—one wearing a handkerchief over his or her face—who “began to make aggressive moves” near the back of the pack. During that humid August 31 evening, officers went on to arrest 19 cyclists while unleashing pepper spray into the faces of bystanders. The hooded duo was never apprehended.

In the scuffle’s wake, conspiracy theories swirled that the unprecedented surveillance—squad cars from multiple agencies and a helicopter hovering overhead—was due to the presence of RNC protesters in the ride. The MPD publicly denied this. But during the trial of cyclist Gus Ganley, MPD Sgt. David Stichter testified that a task force had been created to monitor the August 31 ride and that the department knew that members of an RNC protest group would be along for the ride.

“This is all part of a larger government effort to quell political dissent,” says Jordan Kushner, an attorney who represented Ganley and other Critical Mass arrestees. “The Joint Terrorism Task Force is another example of using the buzzword ‘terrorism’ as a basis to clamp down on people’s freedoms and push forward a more authoritarian government.”

Moles Wanted

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[DSieve]

The Maryland State Police classified 53 nonviolent activists as terrorists and entered their names and personal information into state and federal databases that track terrorism suspects, the state police chief acknowledged yesterday.

Police Superintendent Terrence B. Sheridan revealed at a legislative hearing that the surveillance operation, which targeted opponents of the death penalty and the Iraq war, was far more extensive than was known when its existence was disclosed in July.

The department started sending letters of notification Saturday to the activists, inviting them to review their files before they are purged from the databases, Sheridan said.

"The names don't belong in there," he told the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. "It's as simple as that."

The surveillance took place over 14 months in 2005 and 2006, under the administration of former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R). The former state police superintendent who authorized the operation, Thomas E. Hutchins, defended the program in testimony yesterday. Hutchins said the program was a bulwark against potential violence and called the activists "fringe people."

Sheridan said protest groups were also entered as terrorist organizations in the databases, but his staff has not identified which ones.

Stunned senators pressed Sheridan to apologize to the activists for the spying, assailed in an independent review last week as "overreaching" by law enforcement officials who were oblivious to their violation of the activists' rights of free expression and association. The letter, obtained by The Washington Post, does not apologize but admits that the state police have "no evidence whatsoever of any involvement in violent crime" by those classified as terrorists.

Hutchins told the committee it was not accurate to describe the program as spying. "I doubt anyone who has used that term has ever met a spy," he told the committee.

"What John Walker did is spying," Hutchins said, referring to John Walker Jr., a communications specialist for the U.S. Navy convicted of selling secrets to the Soviet Union. Hutchins said the intelligence agents, whose logs were obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland as part of a lawsuit, were monitoring "open public meetings." His officers sought a "situational awareness" of the potential for disruption as death penalty opponents prepared to protest the executions of two men on death row, Hutchins said.

"I don't believe the First Amendment is any guarantee to those who wish to disrupt the government," he said. Hutchins said he did not notify Ehrlich about the surveillance. Ehrlich spokesman Henry Fawell said the governor had no comment.

Hutchins did not name the commander in the Division of Homeland Security and Intelligence who informed him in March 2005 that the surveillance had begun. More than a year later, after "they said, 'We're not getting much here,' " Hutchins said he cut off what he called a "low-level operation."

But Sen. James Brochin (D-Baltimore County) noted that undercover troopers used aliases to infiltrate organizational meetings, rallies and group e-mail lists. He called the spying a "deliberate infiltration to find out every piece of information necessary" on groups such as the Maryland Campaign to End the Death Penalty and the Baltimore Pledge of Resistance. When Hutchins called their members "fringe people," the audience of activists who filled the seats in the hearing room in Annapolis sighed.

Some activists said yesterday that they have received letters; others said they were waiting with anticipation to see whether they were on the state police watch list.

Laura Lising of Catonsville, a member of the Baltimore Coalition Against the Death Penalty, received her notification yesterday. She said she wants a hard copy of her file, because she does not trust the police to purge it. "We need as much protection as possible," she said.

Both Hutchins and Sheridan said the activists' names were entered into the state police database as terrorists partly because the software offered limited options for classifying entries.

The police also entered the activists' names into the federal Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area database, which tracks suspected terrorists. One well-known antiwar activist from Baltimore, Max Obuszewski, was singled out in the intelligence logs released by the ACLU, which described a "primary crime" of "terrorism-anti-government" and a "secondary crime" of "terrorism-anti-war protesters."

Sheridan said that he did not think the names were circulated to other agencies in the federal system and that they are not on the federal government's terrorist watch list. Hutchins said some names might have been shared with the National Security Agency.

Although the independent report on the surveillance released last week said that it was part of a broad effort by the state police to gather information on protest groups across the state, Sheridan said the department is not aware of any surveillance as "intrusive" as the spying on death penalty and war opponents.

The police notified the protesters at the recommendation of former U.S. attorney and state attorney general Stephen H. Sachs, who was appointed by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) to review the covert monitoring. In a report last week, Sachs also recommended regulations that forbid such spying on protest groups unless the state police chief believes it is justified.

"I can't imagine getting a letter that says, 'You've been classified as a terrorist; come in and we'll tell about it,'" said Sen. Bryan W. Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel). Two senators noted that they had been arrested years ago for civil disobedience. Sen. Jennie Forehand (D-Montgomery) asked Sheridan, "Do you have any legislators on your list?" The answer was no.

Md. Police Put Activists' Names On Terror Lists

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Do any of the following describe you:

* You are angry at the Federal Reserve

* You feel anger about forms of tax collection

* You fear President Obama will confiscate firearms

* You are angry about legislation to register firearm ammunition

* You fear that there could be an economic collapse

* You are concerned about the governments efforts to enable tracking of all citizens with RFID chips (Real ID or forced implants)

* You use short wave radios

* You support third party political groups such as the Constitution Party, Libertarian Party, Campaign for Liberty or recent Presidential candidates Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin or Bob Barr


If any of the above apply to you, you would be profiled/considered an extremist (domestic terrorist) in the State of Missouri. The MAIC appears to be a lovely experiment in community thought policing.

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Fallout from the MAIC shennanigans:



Transcript:

GLENN BECK, HOST: I have been covering the government's new way to help authorities identify domestic terrorists. A new report put together by the Missouri Information Analysis Center warns that militia members most commonly associate with third-party political groups.

There's been an update today. The Missouri Department of Public Safety has issued a letter just moments ago before we went on air, saying the report should have, quote, "made no reference to supporters of Ron Paul, Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin or any other third party, political organization or any other candidate."

They're going to edit the report, you know, deleting these references. But I don't think it's going to be — I don't think it's going to make a difference at this point.

We have Ron Paul on with us now, a dangerous, dangerous man. Hello, Congressman Paul. How are you?
...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510325,00.html

[DSieve]

Good morning

Thank you for joining us here today.

Late last week, media outlets across this state broke the astonishing news about a report from the Missouri Information Analysis Center, or MIAC as it is called, entitled, “The Modern Militia Movement.”

By title alone, one’s imagination springs to life with images of commando renegades building outposts in secluded wooded areas tucked away in mountainous terrain.

And, while this “Modern Militia” report did touch on such radical ideologies, it did so in foot-note fashion as it painted out Christians, anti-abortionists, advocates for protecting our borders and supporters of certain political candidates as potential “threats” to the public.

Now, let’s be clear. There are extremists in every group mentioned above… but NOT JUST in these groups.

For instance; there is a growing problem of environmental extremism in our country, often resulting in corporate sabotage. Yet no mention of this “real” crime appears in this report.

Over the past few years there have been increasing reports of terror contacts within our state, most notably at a trucking school in South Central Missouri. There was no mention of this in the MIAC report.

Are we to believe that the people who advocate for strong conservative causes in our state are the greatest threat to public safety?

Department of Public Safety Director John Britt has sent what is being called an “apology letter”, but it appears to be no more than a notice of redaction.

While the Director does say he will remove references to political supporters of Ron Paul and Bob Barr, he does not address references to Christians, supporters of border security pro-lifers. You CANNOT un-ring the bell.

Conservatives are the backbone of our nation’s fabric… we ARE NOT the threat. And that is why we are ONE nation, Under God.

Yesterday, Gov. Nixon and Director Britt said they stand by the report.

I want to be very clear here. I have the utmost admiration and respect for our law enforcement officers. We all rely on public safety officials to keep us safe from those who would do us harm. I admire their devotion to service and their dedication to our state.

But under the guidance of the present director, who must think it is Nixon's Secret Service, the Department of Public Safety has taken on a new and sinister role of political profiling in the vain of making terrorists out of citizens who want nothing more than to freely voice their opinion as guaranteed by our Constitution.

What other infringements on our personal freedoms has the director overseen? What other documents similar documents have been created, but not leaked to the media?

Right now we can only wonder.

This morning, I am calling for Director Britt to immediately be put on administrative leave pending an investigation into this, and other reports done by MIAC which may profile or demean specific political, religious or social groups.

There is no reason why Republicans, Libertarians, Democrats, Conservatives, Liberals, Atheists, Christians, Pro-Life or Abortion Advocates to be targeted because of certain beliefs which many hold very close to heart.

We also read this morning that Director Britt had not read the report in question before it was distributed to Missouri law enforcement. The Director’s negligence to even read this report compounds the severity of these wide-sweeping generalizations about many conservatives.

It is my hope that Director Britt will be put on immediate leave until these allegations of profiling can be fully investigated.

Missourian’s MUST KNOW that we are keeping their state a safe place to live. But they must also know that they are protected by the freedoms that so many have fought to protect across generations.

Thank you all.

Lt. Gov Kinder calls out Gov Nixon over MIAC scandal

bipartisan coalition of Missouri House members is planning to sign on to a budget amendment that would prohibit the Department of Public Safety from using any state or federal money for "political profiling."

Springfield Rep. Bob Dixon tells KY3 News that the proposed amendment will be offered on the floor Wednesday in response to the political firestorm over the MIAC security report. The security report targets specific groups as potential security threats. Those on the watch-list include members of Christian Identity, Anti-Abortionists, Tax Resistors, Anti-Immigration advocates and supporters of third party candidates like Ron Paul. On Monday, the state's head of Public Safety apologized for the reference to the third party candidates --- but had no comment on the other characteristics used in the report that some conservatives have found offensive.

Dixon said several meetings were held at the state Capitol on Tuesday to discuss how best to respond to lawmakers problems with the language included. "It's just outrageous. The report is so sloppy. When you begin going into specific political candidates, it's really on the edge. Like Big Brother. It's got a lot of people upset," Dixon said in an interview.

Dixon said that there's strong bipartisan support for the amendment. "It will be a unified response," Dixon said.
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House plans budget amendment to restrict "profiling" in security report

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More details on what police were instructed (and who was behind the MAIC document):

(MMD Newswire) March 26, 2009 -- ALIPAC is issuing a national advisory to all local, state, and Federal law enforcement agencies and officers, along with all DHS Fusion Centers, a warning against any reliance upon faulty and politicized research issued by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and Anti Defamation League (ADL).

A national scandal emerged in Missouri, after their MIAC Fusion Center issued an eight page document which made many false claims. The documents attempted to politicize police and cast suspicion on millions of Americans. The 'Missouri Documents', as they came to be called, listed over 32 characteristics police should watch for as signs or links to domestic terrorists, which could threaten police officers, court officials, and infrastructure targets.

Police were instructed to look for Americans who were concerned about unemployment, taxes, illegal immigration, gangs, border security, abortion, high costs of living, gun restrictions, FEMA, the IRS, The Federal Reserve, and the North American Union/SPP/North American Community. The 'Missouri Documents' also said potential domestic terrorists might like gun shows, short wave radios, combat movies, movies with white male heroes, Tom Clancey Novels, and Presidential Candidates Ron Paul, Bob Barr, and Chuck Baldwin!

The Southern Poverty Law Center was cited as a research source for the 'Missouri Documents'. Furthermore, the attempt of these documents to cast suspicion of violent and life threatening behavior on millions of Americans who are concerned about these issues is consistent with the regularly released political materials of both the SPLC and ADL.

Since the SPLC was listed as a source in the MIAC Missouri Documents, ALIPAC sent a letter of inquiry to the Missouri Governor Jay Nixon on March 20, 2009 asking for more specific sourcing information.

"When many of us read these Missouri Documents we felt that the false connections, pseudo research, and political attacks found in these documents could have been penned by the SPLC and ADL," said William Gheen of ALIPAC. "We were shocked to see credible law enforcement agencies disseminating the same kind of over the top political propaganda distributed by these groups."

Colonel James F. Keathley, Superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol issued a letter of response to ALIPAC and other sources on March 25-26, which states that the Missouri militia documents are being withdrawn, more oversight will be applied to future releases, the Missouri Documents do not meet the high quality standards expected from the MIAC, and that "certain subsets of Missourians will not be singled out inappropriately in these reports for particular associations".

FOX Radio Network is reporting that Missouri Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder (R-MO) has asked that Missouri Public Safety Director John Britt be placed on administrative leave. The report also says Kinder has issued a public apology to Presidential candidates Ron Paul, Bob Barr, and Chuck Baldwin.

ALIPAC would like to advise all media sources, law enforcement officers and agencies, that the ADL and SPLC are political organizations, with stated political goals and agendas which are contrary to the candidates, political parties, and millions of Americans besmirched by the MIAC documents.

While both the ADL and SPLC actively market themselves and seek roles as advisers to law enforcement and the media, both groups regularly engage in political tactics like those observed in the now withdrawn Missouri Documents. Materials from one or both organizations contributed to this scandal.

"In the past, these groups have served a helpful role in America by providing information about racist and potentially violent groups like the KKK and Neo Nazis," said William Gheen. "Unfortunately, their mission has drifted into political efforts to paint almost any American or group who opposes their broader political agendas as being associated with racist or potentially violent groups just like what we saw in these scandalous MIAC documents in Missouri."

ALIPAC hopes that future scandals can be avoided by issuing this advisory and promoting awareness of the faulty information distributed to police and media in America by the Anti Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center to prevent future scandals of this nature.

http://www.mmdnewswire.com/missouri-miac-4829.html

In response to a controversial report profiling political beliefs of militia members, the Missouri House of Representatives has barred the Department of Public Safety from spending any "state or federal funds for political profiling."
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Rep. Jim Guest, R-King City, introduced the amendment.

Rep. Shane Schoeller, R-Willard, spoke on the House floor in favor the amendment. The northern Greene County representative said he's field numerous calls from constituents in the past week who are outraged by the report and its generalizations.

Schoeller compared the report's profiling of conservative political thought to the tyranny the nation's Founding Fathers fought against.

The authors of the MIAC militia report remain unknown.
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The amendment passed on a partisan voice vote, with Republicans voting "yes" and Democrats in the chamber voting "no."

http://www.news-leader.com/article/2...25059/-1/RSS13

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The Department of Homeland Security marches on with monitoring thought crimes:

Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.

Rightwing Extremism:
Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment (.PDF)

Basically, the DHS views any organized political dissent as a potential terrorist threat.

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Homeland Security spokeswoman Sara Kuban, meanwhile, told the paper that the report is part of a series designed to "facilitate a greater understanding of the phenomenon of violent radicalization in the U.S."
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DHS Report Warns Of Right Wing Extremists