Catholic Worker Movement Subject of Unjustifiable FBI Anti-terrorism Surveillance
international |
anti-war / imperialism |
press release 
Tuesday September 21, 2010 08:18
by C.W.
U.S. Department of Justice Report
FBI domestic terrorism investigations of Catholic Worker-led protests
in Ithaca, New York; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Norfolk, Virigina; and
Omaha, Nebraska were opened without cause and extended with weak or
nonexistent factual evidence, according to a wide-ranging critical
report released Monday by the Department of Justice´s Investigator
General.
http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s1009r.pdf
In the case of protests at Offut´s Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska
led by the Des Moines and Omaha Catholic Worker communities, the FBI
¨violated its own policies¨ and put nonviolent pacifists on domestic
terrorism watch lists.
According to CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/09/20/national/main...shtml):
The Catholic Worker: Beginning in 2003 domestic terrorism
investigations were opened against members of the religious group
following vandalism and trespass incidents at military recruiting
offices in Milwaukee; Ithaca, N.Y.; Norfolk, Va.; and Offutt Air Force
Base.
FBI agents also monitored rallies, or in advance of FBI-designated
"special events" where protests or acts of civil disobedience might be
expected; and recorded and retained data about Catholic Worker members
obtained from other agencies.
The FBI classified "peaceful trespass on a military facility" and acts
of vandalism, including the spilling of purported human blood, as
potential acts of terrorism.
According to the Atlantic Magazine
(http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/09/oig...3276/)
¨In a case of domestic surveillance of individuals associated with The
Catholic Worker http://www.catholicworker.org/, a group which states
it is committed to "nonviolence, voluntary poverty, prayer and
hospitality for the homeless, the OIG report concluded that the FBI
inappropriately characterized" certain "nonviolent civil disobedience"
as terrorism-related. "The information the FBI collected in one case,"
the OIG report indicates, "had no relationship to any 'violent
activities' much less to terrorism."
According to ABC News
(http://abcnews.go.com/News/Blotter/fbi-spied-peta-green...82844):
¨The IG found there was ¨little or no basis¨ for the terror
investigations, and that they were ¨unreasonable and inconsistent with
FBI policy.¨ At least two of the investigations resulted in innocent
people being placed on the domestic terror watch list for years, and
one resulted in FBI Director Robert Mueller providing Congress with
¨inaccurate and misleading information,¨ according to the report.¨
Comments (10 of 10)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Goodner, 29, of Des Moines, who participated in the St. Paul protests
and who is named in the documents, said the records show the federal
investigation was a waste of time and taxpayer money."There's no
evidence presented in hundreds of pages that anybody with either the
University of Iowa Antiwar Committee or the Wild Rose collective had
any plans for anything other than a nonviolent, if confrontational,
direct action street protest at the 2008 Republican National
Convention," Goodner said. Most of the Iowa City activists did not
attend the Democratic convention in Denver.... Goodner said he
obtained and released the FBI records because he thought the public
had a right to know about the extent to which the government was
spying on its own citizens. He described the surveillance in Iowa City
as overly broad, unnecessary and expensive.
An excerpt from the below article. David Goodner is a member of the
DMCW community.
------------------
September 20, 2010
Des Moine Register
Iowa activists drew extensive FBI scrutiny
By WILLIAM PETROSKI bpetroski@dmreg.com
The FBI's surveillance of a protest group in Iowa City prior to the
Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., two years ago was
far more extensive than initially reported, newly obtained FBI
documents show.
Agents staked out the homes of political activists, secretly
photographed and shot video of them, pored through their garbage, and
studied their cell phone and motor vehicle records, according to
records detailing the FBI's counterterrorism investigation.
Federal agents and other law enforcement officers also watched and
documented the protesters' comings and goings at such places as the
Iowa City Public Library; the New Pioneer Co-op natural foods store;
the Red Avocado restaurant and the Deadwood Tavern; and the Wesley
Center campus ministry of the United Methodist Church.
Continued on this link.....
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100920/NEWS/...utiny
LINK - to the U.S. Justice Dept. Report
http://www.privacylives.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/...0.pdf
The New American
Feds Slammed for Spying on Anti-war Groups, Lying
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/crime/46...lying
Boston Globe
Reedbaiting 2002-06
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/crime/46...lying
U.S. Catholic
Catholic Worker groups subject if faulty FBI probe, says new report
http://www.uscatholic.org/news/2010/09/catholic-worker-...eport
Huffington Post
Inspector General Criticism Doesn't Faze F.B.I. Raids on Midwestern Anti-War Activists
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/coleen-rowley/inspector-g....html
The Obama Boomerang
Pro-Obama lefties get slapped down – by the FBI
by Justin Raimondo, September 27, 2010
FBI raids on six houses in Minneapolis and Chicago, including the office of the Minneapolis Antiwar Committee, have the antiwar movement – and the left in general – in an uproar. Agents came barging into homes guns drawn, kicking down doors and smashing furniture, armed with search warrants. The warrants described, in suitably vague terms, allegations of “material support for terrorism.” No arrests were made, although a number of individual activists were served with subpoenas demanding their appearance before a grand jury. Computers, documents, phones, and other materials were carted away by burly FBI agents, who appeared at 7 a.m. sharp, locked and loaded.
Let the frame-ups begin!
Article contnued.......
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2010/09/26/the-obama...rang/
There has been much press lately with new revelations on FBI
surveillance of people in the peace community in Iowa and beyond. Des
Moines Catholic Worker, David Goodner, speaks out about his experience
with FBI surveillance as a student peace activist at the University of
Iowa. The constitutional issues here are huge, and citizens need to
pay attention. Start by checking out what David has to say. Then speak
out.
Socialists comment on last week's FBI raids and responses to it
http://blackagendareport.com/?q=content%2Fpresident-bar...broad
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowa peace activists held a rally in downtown Des Moines on Thursday to protest the Federal Bureau of Investigation's surveillance of Iowans.
New FBI documents released last week showed extensive surveillance of Iowa City protest groups before the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minnesota. The documents showed political activists were secretly photographed and FBI agents staked out their homes. FBI counter terrorism records also show agents went through activists' garbage, cell phone and motor vehicle records.
Article continued......
http://www.kcci.com/r/25230690/detail.html
Iowa CWers & fellow Iowa peace activists attempted to deliver letter
to WDM FBI Offices. They were turned away and The FBI refused to take
letter. The activists were turned away at the door by Home Land
Security Guards.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5glj1oLeMs
Hundreds Protest F.B.I.Raids on Anti-War Activists
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gqOR0...JSSO0
Cindy Sheehan has an opinion piece in today's al jazeera giving a fair overview.Not pretty.She coins(or maybe borrows) a nice phrase with her 'Hopium of Obama'.
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