FBI 'Deputizing' Businesses and granting them 'shoot to kill' rights!

FBI 'Deputizing' Businesses and granting them 'shoot to kill' rights!

www.progressive.org

Today, more than 23,000 representatives of private industry are working quietly with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The members of this rapidly growing group, called InfraGard, receive secret warnings of terrorist threats before the public does—and, at least on one occasion, before elected officials. In return, they provide information to the government, which alarms the ACLU. But there may be more to it than that. One business executive, who showed me his InfraGard card, told me they have permission to “shoot to kill” in the event of martial law.
InfraGard is “a child of the FBI,” says Michael Hershman, the chairman of the advisory board of the InfraGard National Members Alliance and CEO of the Fairfax Group, an international consulting firm.

InfraGard started in Cleveland back in 1996, when the private sector there cooperated with the FBI to investigate cyber threats.

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 7-2-2008 by DimensionalDetective]

This is highly disturbing IMO. Businesses getting kudos and free reign to carry out shoot to kill rights for working hand in hand with the gov...

ww.progressive.org
(visit the link for the full news article)

Your link didn't work, tracked it down:

TheProgressive | Exclusive! The FBI Deputizes Business

Welcome to the beginnings of The Surveillance-Industrial Complex.

Here's a couple of scary quotes from the article:

InfraGard is not readily accessible to the general public. Its communications with the FBI and Homeland Security are beyond the reach of the Freedom of Information Act under the “trade secrets” exemption, its website says. And any conversation with the public or the media is supposed to be carefully rehearsed.

And:

“The meeting started off innocuously enough, with the speakers talking about corporate espionage,” he says. “From there, it just progressed. All of a sudden we were knee deep in what was expected of us when martial law is declared. We were expected to share all our resources, but in return we’d be given specific benefits.” These included, he says, the ability to travel in restricted areas and to get people out.
But that’s not all.

“Then they said when—not if—martial law is declared, it was our responsibility to protect our portion of the infrastructure, and if we had to use deadly force to protect it, we couldn’t be prosecuted,” he says.

Here's the link to the ACLU's take on this emerging threat to our liberties:

ACLU | Emerging "Surveillance-Industrial Complex" Is Turbo-Charging Government Monitoring, ACLU Warns in New Report





[edit on 7-2-2008 by goosdawg]

This is some scary crap. Are we still living in America? It sure doesn't seem like it anymore.

Now the corporations are going to be after us, spying on us, and feeding all their data into the federal databases. Nothing like 24/7 surveillance to make you feel all free and everything. /sarcasm

reply to post by goosdawg



Thanks for the HU goosdawg-Link is fixed.

It just goes to show you who is numero uno to our government. But most of us all ready knew that. This just takes it one step further.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


No problem, my friend.

Check out the edit to my last post...

smh, this is truly disheartening to read about. First Blackwater and the like and now this ?

They have 86 chapters already up and running
This does not bode well if you happen to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time ... and don't look right.

I can see the headlines now.

From the ACLU link:

The government is rapidly increasing its ability to monitor average Americans by tapping into the growing amount of consumer data being collected by the private sector, according to a major report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union.

"The U.S. security establishment is reaching deeper and deeper into our private lives by forcing the corporate sector to inform on the activities of individuals," said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. "The government has always recruited informers to help convict criminals, but today that recruitment is being computerized, automated, and used against innocent individuals on a massive scale that is unprecedented in the history of our nation."

ACLU | Emerging "Surveillance-Industrial Complex" Is Turbo-Charging Government Monitoring, ACLU Warns in New Report

Here's the link to the full pdf report:

The Surveillance- Industrial Complex: How the American Government Is Conscripting Businesses and Individuals in the Construction of a Surveillance Society

Sounds suspiciously as if this may be a re-named, US-version (or affiliated with at least) of Common Purpose, doesn't it ?

aftermathnews.wordpress.com...

www.commonpurpose.org...

[common purpose] rhetoric of the quisling
You are the Chosen, the voice of the New Age, the Leader of the Future. The Rules are not for such as you...

[Update: 20:50, London time - Common Purpose seem to be interested in the post, having made a visit we tracked back.]


Though not directly concerning our North American and Antipodaean friends, this actually does concern them very much because they are very much part of the thrust for:

Common Purpose

And what exactly is this common purpose? They state it themselves:

'Leading beyond Authority'

nourishingobscurity.blogspot.com...

bfbwwiii.blogspot.com...

www.eutruth.org.uk...

You can read about Common Purpose online .. few links above.
May seem this is confined to UK.

Not so.

The bigger question is what are they doing this FOR?

It sounds as if they're recruiting troops to help keep the peace in the midst of martial law. That gives me the creeps.

What is the government's end game in all this? I doubt it's about terrorism since the spying goes way beyond what's needed to fight terrorism.

reply to post by AWingAndASigh


Maybe not if you read the original article. These are reps from business and industry that have been deemed "critical infrastructure".

Water, power, agriculture, transportation...

I saw no language that claimed they were "deputized" or granted "shoot to kill" rights.

Any business or individual has the right to use force to protect itself if it feels threatened whether martial law is in force or not.

Would you not report illegal activity or use force to protect yourself or your assets?

Originally posted by kerontehe
reply to post by AWingAndASigh

 

Maybe not if you read the original article. These are reps from business and industry that have been deemed "critical infrastructure".

Water, power, agriculture, transportation...

I saw no language that claimed they were "deputized" or granted "shoot to kill" rights.

Any business or individual has the right to use force to protect itself if it feels threatened whether martial law is in force or not.

Would you not report illegal activity or use force to protect yourself or your assets?

Evidently YOU didn't read the story. It says:

www.progressive.org...

"Christine Moerke is a business continuity consultant for Alliant Energy in Madison, Wisconsin. She says she’s an InfraGard member, and she confirms that she has attended InfraGard meetings that went into the details about what kind of civil patrol function—including engaging in lethal force—that InfraGard members may be called upon to perform."

(I couldn't figure out how to do that news source text box thingie.)

Note that the business persons in the story were shaken up by their briefings. That tells me something is up because business types are generally in bed with government.

What I have a problem with is the idea the FBI is telling them to go out there and patrol during martial law. What the heck is going on? That isn't exactly a "normal" type conversation. All those untrained but armed people out there jumped up by FBI scare stories are going to be shooting anything that moves.

If you don't get that, then you need to wake the heck up!

Another disturbing point raised by the OP article:

“The FBI should not be creating a privileged class of Americans who get special treatment,” says Jay Stanley, public education director of the ACLU’s technology and liberty program. “There’s no ‘business class’ in law enforcement. If there’s information the FBI can share with 22,000 corporate bigwigs, why don’t they just share it with the public? That’s who their real ‘special relationship’ is supposed to be with. Secrecy is not a party favor to be given out to friends. . . . This bears a disturbing resemblance to the FBI’s handing out ‘goodies’ to corporations in return for folding them into its domestic surveillance machinery.”

Source | TheProgressive | Exclusive! The FBI Deputizes Business

Indeed!

I don't think this is limited to just those involved in critical infrastructure.

reply to post by AWingAndASigh


Where does it say "deputize" or "shoot to kill" authority?

Here is a link to Infraguard website:

www.infragard.net...

Here is their description of what they do:

InfraGard is an information sharing and analysis effort serving the interests and combining the knowledge base of a wide range of members. At its most basic level, InfraGard is a partnership between the FBI and the private sector. InfraGard is an association of businesses, academic institutions, state and local law enforcement agencies, and other participants dedicated to sharing information and intelligence to prevent hostile acts against the United States. InfraGard Chapters are geographically linked with FBI Field Office territories. Each InfraGard Chapter has an FBI Special Agent Coordinator assigned to it, and the FBI Coordinator works closely with Supervisory Special Agent Program Managers in the Cyber Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

While under the direction of NIPC, the focus of InfraGard was cyber infrastructure protection. After September 11, 2001 NIPC expanded its efforts to include physical as well as cyber threats to critical infrastructures. InfraGard’s mission expanded accordingly.

In March 2003, NIPC was transferred to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which now has responsibility for Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) matters. The FBI retained InfraGard as an FBI sponsored program, and will work with DHS in support of its CIP mission, facilitate InfraGard’s continuing role in CIP activities, and further develop InfraGard’s ability to support the FBI’s investigative mission, especially as it pertains to counterterrorism and cyber crimes.

If you are truly an "innocent", how can this hurt you.

I'm a member of InfraGuard. This is not as whacked out as the link might lead you to believe. This is about government by the people.

Of course I want law enforcement in the hands of the people. Otherwise, what else is there? Power hungry LEOs?

reply to post by goosdawg

InfraGard is an organization dedicated to the protection of the United States and the American people. In order to maintain a level of trust within the membership, all applicants undergo a background check performed by the FBI (for this reason InfraGard membership is currently limited to United States citizens). Applications are then screened according to a defined criteria and then passed to the local chapter for final acceptance (individual chapters may have more strict criteria).

Along with your InfraGard membership comes great responsibility. We value active members who are willing to devote their time, effort and talent to help build this organization and achieve our goals of protecting the American people. You will be a representative of the nation's largest volunteer organization dedicated to critical infrastructure protection.

]

www.infragard.net...

Acceptance requires a background and at least an equivalent to a Confidential level security clearance.

reply to post by kerontehe


And the fact that this organization is exempt from oversight under the FOIA doesn't in the least worry you to some degree?

Doesn't that open this enterprise up to abuse by those members that may be able to pass the background checks but, nevertheless, may possess ulterior motives?

Keep in mind, our "elected" representatives, and our law enforcement officers are subject to being vetted and, in view of the rampant corruption in government and the repeated reports of unrestrained thuggery under the color of law, look how well that's worked out for us.

Sorry, I don't have that much confidence in any 3-letter crew to look out for my interests over their corporate master's.





[edit on 7-2-2008 by goosdawg]

Originally posted by goosdawg
And the fact that this organization is exempt from oversight under the FOIA doesn't in the least worry you to some degree?

This is a very disturbing organization. What is happening here is the division of the people before the martial law hits. Not only is government continually trying to put into law self immunity, but now they are designating the organizations that are going to be exempt as well. Case in point: the telecomm industries Bush is seeking immunity for. Note that that immunity is for organizations that are participating.

Note that anyone accepting this is complicit as well. For if you as a citizen or corporation or government official, would blatantly seek or accept self immunity from exposure or from the law (and I'm talking about reasonable law, not the law as written by those in the NWO plan), then you have got some serious moral issues. Or no morals at all.

The FBI has been working, by proxy, for these corporations for a long time anyway. Now the corporations are going to arm-up and the FBI will go the way of the Brownshirts.

reply to post by goosdawg


I think everyone has some ulterior motive for an important and difficult time consuming action; such as responding to ATS threads.

FOIA access would apply like any other - after someone can be persuaded to declassify the data.

Since 1982, I have held intermittently both secret and top secret clearances. You not only have to pass initially, but if your personal situation changes, such as divorce or credit issues, you have to resubstantiate clearance.

My ulterior motive was to provide the best living I could find for my family.

By the definitions of some ATS members. I guess that makes me a cog in the NWO.

Good thing I am now retired/disabled or I might lose my ATS membership.