COINTELPRO vs OCCUPY?

At the risk of sending the ATS masses careening into each other in an effort to secure the most tinfoil, I've decided to post this article. An adbusters blog asks, "Are authorities preparing to suppress May uprisings?".

adbusters.org

The earliest evidence that federal authorities in the United States were aware of Occupy Wall Street and preparing to squash it comes from a September 1 Department of Homeland Security briefing.

If you follow the link for the security briefing it reads like a thread written by a paranoid conspiracy theorist.

(U//FOUO) Occupy Wall Street (OWS): DHS/NCCIC assesses that it is likely peaceful protests will occur on Wall Street on 17 September 2011. These protests may be accompanied by malicious cyber activity conducted by Anonymous

It's no secret that Occupy and SOME anons share a lot of ideologies but to link them so intimately seems rather paranoid to me and an illogical leap. The difference is Occupy, largely, does not break the law, Anonymous does.

The police and FBI are never ever going to catch an Anonymous hacker by cracking down on protesters. Creating more laws or changing old laws is never going to put a noose around the neck of hactivism. The laws already exist and the way to catch and prove guilt of Anonymous hacker is to catch them in the act (ie improve your skills). Hacking does not manifest hundreds of people onto the street with invisible cables leading back to the hacker.

Even if many of us secretly cheer inwardly or even openly, does not mean that when not protesting in the streets we're hacking behind our computers. Many occupiers still to this day don't understand what Anonymous even is. Logic fail DHS.

On to May..

Now, as the international movement gears up for a major escalation in May with myriad big bangs – a May Day General Strike, anarchic swarms in #OCCUPYCHICAGO, an international blast on May 12 and an effort to retake the squares on May 15, a #LAUGHRIOT on May 18, #OCCUPYCAMPDAVID the next day along with major protests against NATO on May 20 and 21- stories of aggressive intimidation tactics are beginning to emerge from New York City. In a recent article in the New York Times, occupiers described frequent harassment and interrogation by NYPD intelligence and FBI: “police officers or detectives have been posted outside buildings where private meetings were taking place, have visited the homes of organizers and have questioned protesters arrested on minor charges … one protester says he was questioned by a police detective and an agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” Meanwhile, authorities are demanding access to the Twitter accounts of prominent occupiers like Jeff Rae and logs of occupy websites. And in Florida, Occupy Miami was raided without cause by paramilitary police on March 13.

This is exactly the kind thing that happened during the Civil Rights movement. ATS member Rising Against (thanks, RA) outlines some instances very nicely in his thread about J. Edgar Hoover.

For those of you who are too paranoid to click on the Adbusters article for the links, I'll describe them, I think it might violate T&C's to post some of the links.

May Day General Strike- On May Day, take a day off. Don't go to work. Don't go to school. Don't shop. Basically asking for the 99% (worldwide) to show what a day like without them will feel like.

#OCCUPYCHICAGO will be the focal point of this global spiritual insurrection… 50,000 of us will converge on the windy city and confront the G8 and NATO leaders with an ultimatum. We will set up impromptu encampments throughout the city and wage a full-spectrum memewar backed up by new tactics of anarchic swarming. Our militant in-your-face nonviolence will inspire thousands of towns, cities and campuses around the world to rise up in solidarity just like they did last October.

adbusters.org
The G8 summit has since been moved to Camp David.

International Blast, May 12/Take Back the Squares May, 15

From DRY International (Real Democracy Now), We are the 99%. The current distribution of economic resources is such that only the scarce minority escapes from poverty or daily uncertainty. Future generations are condemned to receive a poisoned heritage due to the enrionmental risks undertaken for the very few who profiteer. We demand social justice, we will not stand down in the defense of our rights. Our representatives have the obligation to be guided by our needs; they have to listen to us. Let’s turn the streets into the biggest loudspeaker on earth on May 12th. Because we are the 99%, because we are not goods controlled by politicians and bankers. Let’s take the streets on May 12th.

#LAUGHRIOT This one isn't even action just a notion and a twitter hash tag. The rest of the actions are pretty self explanatory.

So, anything there worth the scrutiny, undermining or threatening behavior of the three merged law enforcement agencies (COINTELPRO)? Not in my opinion, as you could have guessed. Preemptive linking to serious crimes or even terrorism, we were worried they would do it, it's sad to see they lived up to our fears but...scary or not, Occupy isn't backing down or going away. Their tactics keep failing, how far will they go to stop us?

Great thread, S & F, and I hope people of all ideological beliefs and backgrounds "get it."

Opposed to OWS? Not the point. Do you really think any viewpoint (other than the one the government dictates you have) is your right to express freely if this kind of activity is tolerated? If you disagree with OWS, fine. Look the other way because you do? Your group, your viewpoints may be next in line. What then?

I think you've been rescued by Captain Obvious here, Kali. Especially given what we've been seeing recently, we can only expect that Uncle Sam is going to engage in all out war with Occupy. It's not rocket science.

Whether the government chooses to engage in hostilities is not the issue; the truly interesting question is its' choice of tactics. The effective use of police brutality relies on the public either being apathetic, and/or said public being willing to make excuses for the police. Generally speaking, that is a safe bet; but the real question is whether it will remain one indefinitely. The government also cannot risk engaging in brutality on too large a scale, or too visibly; if they do so, they risk losing plausible deniability, and at that point, the game is over.

My guess is that the FBI are exceptionally hard at work as we speak, infiltrating Occupy as much as they can, and sowing dissent and otherwise compromising the group in whatever manner possible. The Bureau have been earning their pay, recently; they've launched a propaganda campaign branding the sovereignty movement in particular as domestic terrorists, and I have a feeling that said campaign is going to be quite successful. I suspect that the spirit of J. Edgar Hoover would be smiling with satisfaction and approval.

Those are the sorts of shenanigans that Occupy can primarily look forward to; soft, quiet espionage, and infiltration. It plays to the government's strengths, and Occupy's vulnerabilities. Occupy's biggest weakness as far as the government is concerned, is the fact that they are willing to accept anyone; and anyone in this case can quite easily include plainclothes men with badges, who once let in, can gather reconnaisance and engage in any number of other forms of mischief.

If the gummint is smart, that is how it will proceed. There is a far greater degree of governmental advantage in attacking Occupy's internal social cohesion, than there is in forcibly engaging the movement in the streets with police in riot gear.

SWAT teams are great at winning battles, but long term, if used repeatedly, they are guaranteed to cause loss of the war. The reason why is because the main prize here is the moral high ground. Occupy win if they are able to make the government publically look bad, as a result of the government resorting to overwhelming thuggery against them. The government, on the other hand, wins if it can do the opposite; not only keep people like seabag thinking that Occupy are nothing but a group of filthy Communist subversives, but even more if they are able to get enough of their own people quietly into Occupy's ranks, and start turning Occupiers against each other.

Well before the train from Trollville arrives let me try to get this post in here. I am sure there will be those who read this who will try to make this into a pro or con Occupy issue and it clearly..at least to me.. is not.

What this is, after reading the linked articles and OP, is a well presented and thought out thread about what happens when expression of dissent to what the Government wants you to believe and think becomes action. There is a direct correlation to what is happening with the Occupy movement and the actions of our Government during the Civil Rights movement. Specifically, the incident that comes to mind is, the Fred Hampton tragedy and how COINTELPRO was used to bring about the extermination of a well educated community based leader.

I have thought about this scenario many times and to be honest I was afraid this was going to be the eventual outcome. The next thing we may see is the leaders of various Occupy camps being "disappeared" or just out right murdered on trumped up charges by our Government.

Like 'em, love 'em, hate 'em or indifferent to 'em Occupy has become a source of annoyance to our Government as proven by our Government's actions to try to quell the movements voice. If Occupy was not on some level causing our Government (read Corporate overlords) some level of discomfort they would be left alone. The fact that our Government has started with these Civil Rights era, J Edgar Hoover-esque tactics tells me that they are more concerned than they would like us all to believe.

reply to post by petrus4


What may be obvious to some of us won't be to others, I'll never understand the pathological need to dive down rabbit holes when something truly conspiritorial is right in our faces. Oh well.

Originally posted by Kali74
reply to post by petrus4

 

What may be obvious to some of us won't be to others, I'll never understand the pathological need to dive down rabbit holes when something truly conspiritorial is right in our faces. Oh well.

This is true; but I wanted to comment on something else from your earlier post, as well.

#OCCUPYCHICAGO will be the focal point of this global spiritual insurrection… 50,000 of us will converge on the windy city and confront the G8 and NATO leaders with an ultimatum. We will set up impromptu encampments throughout the city and wage a full-spectrum memewar backed up by new tactics of anarchic swarming. Our militant in-your-face nonviolence will inspire thousands of towns, cities and campuses around the world to rise up in solidarity just like they did last October.

The anarchic swarming tactic might work during isolated incidents, one offs every now and then, but not on a sustained basis. The government has public apathy on its' side, and such is a force to be reckoned with. The government also has conservative hatred of Occupy working for it as well; we've been able to witness that on this forum. There is an almost pathological earnestness in the desire to believe MSM propaganda about Occupy, including the rationales that psychopathic city officials use in order to justify excessive force.

If Occupy keep pushing, people are eventually going to start to die, and I don't believe that the movement has the stamina to be able to survive that. The Millenials are not warriors. They might have a lot of positive characteristics, but courage and personal initiative generally aren't among them.

Occupy also desperately need to relinquish their desire to use centralised tactics. If they push the government too hard with the swarming tactic, the government will respond with gradually escalating levels of force. The only reason why Occupy are not being openly shot in the street already, is because the government are still at a point where they need to care, to a certain minimal extent about public opinion.

There is too much belligerence and rage within Occupy; the use of the phrase "militant nonviolence," there is a case in point. Militancy is not an attitude that is consistent with genuine Satyagraha, and if that is their attitude, it will present a weakness which the government can and will be able to exploit.

Their massive amount of collective fail is what occupy and anon have in common.

Originally posted by DavidWillts
Their massive amount of collective fail is what occupy and anon have in common.

I'm curious, David. Does your own internal thought process consist exclusively of terse statements that are made up primarily of regurgitated cliches, ignorance, and hate; or is that only the case with what we see you expressing on this forum?

I hope this is not seen as an attempt to derail this good thread but I just ran across an article on Gawker that points out the actions of FBI investigations in 'grass roots' organizations and I think has some relevance for this particular thread.

The article states that:

What makes Seizing Thunder interesting, however, is how easily the agents slipped beyond investigating actual federal crimes and devoted considerable resources to tracking political activists with no apparent criminal intent.

Gawker article

I also found the last section of the linked article entitled "A History of Political Surveillance" interesting and relevant to this discussion.

reply to post by MyMindIsMyOwn


Great point and thank-you for contributing that and your thoughts to this thread. It's enough to make you want to forget or turn a blind eye to, but we can't can we? So much is at stake now...I'm not saying that everyone should take to the streets ( even if I think so) but in the very least, don't make it okay to squash activism. Never make it okay to subvert the Constitution. Never make it okay for the government to be the terrorists (yep, I went there).

reply to post by petrus4


Public apathy and smearing at this point is the only thing the government has. If we were looking at a chessboard this could result in checkmate. On one hand if Occupy is left alone to advance on the king, the message is spread...on the other the opponent is spooked by multi-prong strategies, into acting recklessly and exposing itself. Public apathy can only last so long by the current tactics against Occupy. The first death blow would be a torch to tinder. Not that I want that, but, the government knows this...I don't think they will kill anyone. The danger to Occupiers lies in new laws or new interpretations of old laws to charge them with more serious crimes and terrorist tactics like we saw in Miami the other day.

The article states that:

What makes Seizing Thunder interesting, however, is how easily the agents slipped beyond investigating actual federal crimes and devoted considerable resources to tracking political activists with no apparent criminal intent.

Gawker article

There's nothing really surprising about it at all, to my mind. All of the three letter agencies exist for a single purpose; to assist the American government in controlling anyone and everyone else, and then to assist the government in defending itself from the inevitable resistance and reaction (blowback, in CIA terms) to that control. The FBI in domestic terms, serve the same role as the CIA does internationally.

The NSA are the Praetorian Guard, in intelligence terms; the proverbial Keyser Soze. They do things which the other two can't afford to get caught for. They're the bogeymen that some whisper about projecting voices into their heads, or otherwise using post-hypnotic techniques in order to coerce ordinary people into performing targeted assassinations, and things like the Columbine Massacre. "You behave, or the NSA will get you!" is something that could be told to disobedient children.

Originally posted by Kali74
The first death blow would be a torch to tinder.

The first one wouldn't be. The government can probably get away with killing anywhere up to 100 people at any one time, before the bonds of plausible deniability and doublethink begin to break.

Do not underestimate the need of conservatives to believe that the government is still on their side. They must believe that, because the alternative means acknowledging that their parent has gone rogue, and they thus need to begin taking responsibility for themselves. They will go to virtually any lengths necessary, psychologically, in order to avoid that.

This is the true manifestation of theHegelian Dialectic of Leftist anarchist vs the Rightist Authoritarian police action to restore order happening in front of our eyes. The Synthesis is the Totalitarian NWO.

reply to post by petrus4


Why is it that liberals attack the Tea Party conservatives when Tea Partiers oppose Big Govt but now insist that they love their govt Masters???? I think you have real conservatives mixed up with RINO's and NeoCons.

Originally posted by ThirdEyeofHorus
reply to post by petrus4

 

Why is it that liberals attack the Tea Party conservatives when Tea Partiers oppose Big Govt but now insist that they love their govt Masters???? I think you have real conservatives mixed up with RINO's and NeoCons.

I don't oppose big government. I'm probably about the most rabid supporter of the Sherman Act (the single law which, by itself, is usually the conservative definition of "big government,") that you're likely to find.

The single reason why I refuse to seek employment, even literally to the point of starving, is because I've never been able to trust myself to refrain from killing an abusive employer. There is literally nothing and nobody on this planet who I feel a more black, toxic, cancerous hatred towards, than the suits. The brown personalities. The managers. The executives. The accountants. The bankers. The soulless, demonic bean counters in all of their guises.

Wall Street is not to be reasoned with. It is not to be co-existed or negotiated with. It is simply to be completely and unsparingly exterminated, in the name of human survival. As long as the corporation exists, as a very concept, the survival of literally any and all carbon based life on this planet is not secure. I am quite happy to use government as a means of achieving that end.

reply to post by Kali74


There's an article I read earlier before I saw your post and you both are on the same track ... so, I figure I should give you this link. www.globalresearch.ca...

reply to post by petrus4


You are correct, there is nothing at all surprising about it. I merely found it interesting and thought folks might find it interesting also if they were not all that familiar with some of the tactics of the alphabet agencies as it pertains to any 'grass roots' organization. Having lived through the civil rights era and in my adulthood reading more about it as well, I am rather well aquainted with their nonsense.

It is important for those wishing to go in support of any protest, Occupy or otherwise, that these tactics of harassment by the alphabet agencies is meant to undermine support of these groups who show dissent to Government ideals. It is meant to be used as a way to make otherwise law abiding citizens afraid to go and do what they feel is a good thing by implying they may be targeted and have an FBI file opened on them potentially.