[governance] Anti-War News Site Sues FBI For Spying On – and Targeting – It for Political Reasons
Riaz K Tayob
riaz.tayob at gmail.com
Wed May 22 02:14:00 EDT 2013
[Only question is does the FBI have jurisdiction over ICANN, etc... it
seems like waging an illegal war (after 'collateral damage' killed half
a million Iraqi children!) is OK, but simply mobilising peacefully
against it is a problem... what use rights if they are not there when
Americans specifically need them? At least ACLU and other institutions
safeguard the constitution as best they can... ]
Anti-War News Site Sues FBI For Spying On – and Targeting – It for
Political Reasons
Posted on May 22, 2013
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/05/anti-war-site-sues-fbi-for-spying-and-targeting-it-without-cause.html>
by WashingtonsBlog <http://www.washingtonsblog.com/author/washingtonsblog>
Antiwar v. FBI
We’ve pointed out that there’s a much bigger story behind the AP and Fox
spying scandal
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/05/the-bigger-story-behind-the-ap-spying-scandal.html>.
As we’ve reported for years, the government treats folks who speak out
against war as potential terrorists
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/11/in-modern-america-liking-peace-is-considered-terrorism.html>.
We noted
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/11/in-modern-america-liking-peace-is-considered-terrorism.html>
in 2011:
Anti-war websites like AntiWar.com are listed on various terrorist
watchlists
<http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2011/08/21/antiwar-com-vs-the-fbi/>:
see number 16 here
<http://wearechangeoklahoma.org/images/Extremisim.jpg>, and number
37 here
<http://web.archive.org/web/20020916055305/http://www.adl.org/mwd/m1.asp>.
AntiWar’s sin? It is (according to the watchlists):
An unusual site, essentially an isolationist
right-wing/libertarian site consciously designed to appeal to
anti-war activists from the left as well.
The irony, of course
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/11/a-majority-of-americans-including-both-ows-and-the-tea-party-agree-on-the-most-important-issues-we-just-dont-realize-it.html>,
is [that] Americans want to put a stop to perpetual warfare …
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/09/polls-americans-want-our-liberties-restored-our-troops-brought-home-and-the-federal-reserve-reined-in.html>
Today, Antiwar.com – with the help of the ACLU – filed suit
<http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2013/05/21/antiwar-com-sues-fbi-after-secret-surveillance/>
against the FBI:
Antiwar.com is taking the FBI to court.
The website’s founder and managing editor Eric Garris, along with
longtime editorial director Justin Raimondo, filed a lawsuit in
federal court today, demanding the release of records they believe
the FBI is keeping on them and the 17-year-old online magazine.
Antiwar.com says this is one more example of post-9/11 government
overreach, and a stark reminder that the First Amendment has been
treated as little more than a speed bump on the road to a government
surveillance state. The lawsuit is particularly timely, considering
recent scandals in which the Department of Justice secretly seized
months of journalists’ phone records
<http://antiwar.com/blog/2013/05/14/doj-snooping-on-journalists-a-witch-hunt-to-enforce-obama-demand-for-total-secrecy/>
at the Associated Press, and did the same and more to a FOX News
reporter
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-rare-peek-into-a-justice-department-leak-probe/2013/05/19/0bc473de-be5e-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_print.html>,
while the IRS is acknowledging it singled out conservative groups
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/05/12/irs-targeted-groups-that-criticized-the-government-ig-report-says/>
that criticize the government for extra scrutiny.
Suddenly, the press is more aware than ever
<http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/associated-press-phone-records-spying-journalists>
that the state has the ability to secretly monitor its activities,
heretofore thought of as constitutionally protected from government
interference and intimidation.
“*Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of our democracy, whether
it’s AP or Antiwar.com*,” said Julia Harumi Mass, staff attorney for
the *American Civil Liberties Union* of Northern California, which
is representing Antiwar.com in the case. “*FBI surveillance of news
organizations interferes with journalists’ ability to do their jobs
as watchdogs that hold the government accountable*.”
The suit was filed on Tuesday at the United States District Court,
Northern District of California, San Francisco Division. Both Garris
and Raimondo live and work in the San Francisco Bay area.
According to the suit, the ACLU has made several futile attempts to
obtain the FBI files since a reader alerted Garris and Raimondo to
this lengthy FBI memo
<http://www.scribd.com/doc/62394765/Related-article-at-http-tinyurl-com-FBI-Dancing-Israelis-Dancing-Israelis-FBI-document-Section-6-1138796-001-303A-NK-105536-Section-6>
in 2011. The details in question begin at page 62 of the heavily
redacted 94-page document. It’s clear from these documents, the suit
alleges, that the FBI has files on Garris and Raimondo, and at one
point the FBI agent writing the April 30, 2004 memo on Antiwar.com
recommends further monitoring of the website in the form of opening
a “preliminary investigation …to determine if [redaction] are
engaging in, or have engaged in, activities which constitute a
threat to national security.”
“On one hand *it seemed almost funny that we would be considered a
threat to national security, but it’s very scary, because what we
are engaging in is free speech, and free speech by ordinary citizens
and journalists is now being considered a threat to national
security and they don’t have to prove it because the government has
the ability to suppress information and not disclose any of their
activities* – as witnessed with what is going on now at the AP and
other things,” said Garris.
“*The government’s attitude is they want to know all, but they want
the public to know as little as possible*.”
*In response, the ACLU began filing requests in December 2011 under
the Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for any
records the FBI was currently holding on Antiwar.com*, which
describes itself <http://www.antiwar.com/who.php> as a
Libertarian-inspired project of the Randolph Bourne Institute. It
was clear from reading the memo that Antiwar.com came under the
radar in part for its mission, which is characterized as publishing
a *non-interventionist* “online magazine and research tool designed
to keep the American people and the world informed about the
overseas plans of the American government.” [Full disclosure, this
writer is a regular contributor].
While openly acknowledging that we have an agenda, the editors
take seriously our purely journalistic mission, which is to get
past the media filters and reveal the truth about America’s
foreign policy. Citing a wide variety of sources without fear or
favor, and presenting our own views in the regular columns of
various contributors, we clearly differentiate between fact and
opinion, and let our readers know which is which.
The website was also targeted, according to the FBI memo, for links
it published to counter-terrorism watch lists (which were already in
the public domain), and for the people who were visiting Antiwar.com
and/or talking it up at rallies. The FBI noted at least two of
Raimondo’s columns and wondered openly, “who are (Antiwar.com’s)
contributors and what are the funds utilized for?” This, after
acknowledging there was *no evidence of any crime being plotted or
committed*.
“*This illustrates the troubling, continuing efforts of the federal
government to monitor protected speech activity without evidence or
even allegation of criminal activity*,” said Mass, who explained
that there are specific prohibitions against such surveillance and
record-keeping in the 1974 Privacy Act [5 U.S.C 552a(e)(7)]
<https://www.eff.org/sites/default/files/filenode/FBI_guidelines/domestic_investigations_and_operations_guide_part5.pdf>.
After Raimondo wrote about the FBI memo in August 2011
<http://www.emptywheel.net/2011/08/22/fbi-conducts-threat-assessment-on-antiwar-com-journalists-for-linking-to-publicly-available-document/>,
which at the time, independent journalist Marcy Wheeler at
EmptyWheel.net deemed a “troubling story,”
<http://www.emptywheel.net/2011/08/22/fbi-conducts-threat-assessment-on-antiwar-com-journalists-for-linking-to-publicly-available-document/>
Antiwar.com started losing donors, and according to the lawsuit, it
was big time.
In October 2011, *one of Antiwar.com’s major donors withdrew his
financial support from Antiwar.com out of concern that the FBI
would monitor him* if he continued to provide, as he wished to
do, financial support to Antiwar.com. Since then, three
significant donors have also withdrawn financial support, citing
their fear that FBI interest in Antiwar.com would lead to
surveillance of the donors as a reason for withdrawing financial
support. As a result, Antiwar.com has lost about $75,000 per
year since 2011 in otherwise expected contributions.
Reached over the weekend, Wheeler, who routinely investigates and
reports on the impact of post-9/11 government surveillance on civil
liberties for EmptyWheel.net <http://www.emptywheel.net>, voiced her
concern about the apparent FBI surveillance of Antiwar.com and its
far-reaching implications.
“It’s likely (the) FBI is hiding one or another things: Bush era
*investigations into the peace community* that were improper to
start with, and/or the degree to which First Amendment activities
have become one reason to investigate completely innocent activity,”
she said.
After a series of FOIA requests, amended requests and empty
responses, Garris and Raimondo have “received no agency
determination setting forth whether Defendant FBI intends to produce
records or any basis for withholding them,” since the last request
dated May 24, 2012. Taking it to court, Mass said, is the next step.
“Our clients are entitled to obtain records the FBI has gathered
about them and their online magazine,” she said. “This is especially
important because the FBI’s surveillance has impacted our clients’
ability to maintain support for their website and has impacted their
editorial choices– exactly the type of harm the First Amendment is
supposed to protect against.”
***
[One of the reasons that the FBI was investigating the
non-interventionist website is because] an article that listed
Antiwar.com as a reference was handed out in 2002 at a “peaceful
protest” at a British air base in the U.K.
***
“There are several unanswered questions regarding www.antiwar.com,”
<http://www.antiwar.com,%E2%80%9D> reads the FBI memo. “It describes
itself as a non-profit group that survives on generous contributions
from its readers. Who are these contributors and what are the funds
used for?”
***
The unidentified agent writing the memo concludes, “it is
recommended that ECAU (Electronic Communications Analysis Unit)
further monitor the postings on the website … it is recommended that
a PI (preliminary investigation) is opened to determine if [line
redacted] have engaged in, or are engaging in, activities which
constitute a threat to national security on behalf of a foreign power.”
This is the decisive point of the memo as it pertains to
Antiwar.com: that Garris and Raimondo and Antiwar.com, for writing
about a particularly sensitive subject and for linking to
information that is already circulating around the Internet, may be
a “threat to national security on behalf of a foreign power,” and
therefore subject to secret surveillance. *That would make any
journalist, who say, linked a story to documents published by
Wikileaks, which is currently under federal investigation
<http://leaksource.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/department-of-justice-spokesman-for-eastern-district-of-virginia-confirms-grand-jury-investigation-into-wikileaks-ongoing/>,
suspect too, surmised the plaintiffs*.
“*This sort of government activity is so chilling because it puts
the fear of government at a higher level, and among the news
media*,” said Garris, noting the negative effect that federal leak
investigations are already having on the free press. “*Once the
people aren’t able to get information, the government can,
potentially, have unlimited power*.”
According to Mass, the ACLU is filing a separate, administrative
request to the FBI to find and further expunge any files it may have
on Garris and Raimondo.
“The government,” concluded Mass, “cannot keep records about
people’s exercise of free speech unless it is related to a criminal
investigation.”
The government is spying
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/12/americans-the-most-spied-on-people-in-world-history.html>
on
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/12/top-nsa-spying-chief-if-you-ever-get-on-their-enemies-list-like-petraeus-did-then-you-can-be-drawn-into-that-surveillance.html>
every
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/03/all-u-s-intelligence-agencies-including-cia-and-nsa-to-spy-on-americans-finances.html>
American
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/05/irs-will-spy-on-our-shopping-records-travel-social-interactions-health-records-and-files-from-other-government-investigators.html>
… and treating peaceful protesters as potential terrorists
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/12/peaceful-protest-treated-as-terrorism-by-the-fbi.html>.
As we noted in March, the Constitution is on the ropes
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/02/constitution.html>:
The threat of being labeled a terrorist for exercising our First
Amendment rights
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/12/the-fbi-drowning-in-counter-terrorism-money-power-and-other-resources-will-apply-the-term-terrorism-to-any-group-it-dislikes-and-wants-to-control-and-suppress.html>
certainly violates the First Amendment. The government is using laws
to crush dissent
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/government-uses-anti-terror-laws-to-crush-dissent-and-help-big-business.html>,
and it’s gotten so bad that even U.S. Supreme Court justices are
saying
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/09/2-u-s-supreme-court-justices-and-numerous-other-top-government-officials-warn-of-dictatorship.html>that
we are descending into tyranny.
For example, the following actions may get an American citizen
living on U.S. soil labeled as a “suspected terrorist” today:
* Being young
<http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/insider-threat/> (if
you live near a battle zone, you are fair game
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/06/u-s-labels-all-young-men-in-battle-zones-as-militants-and-american-soil-is-now-considered-a-battle-zone.html>;
and see this
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/12/no-child-left-behind.html>)
* Using social media
<http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/insider-threat/>
* Reporting or doing journalism
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/09/in-america-journalists-are-considered-terrorists.html>
* Speaking out against government policies
<http://www.counterpunch.org/cohn09302006.html>
* Protesting anything
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/11/in-modern-america-liking-peace-is-considered-terrorism.html>
(such as participating in the “Occupy” movement
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/25/nyregion/occupy-movement-was-investigated-by-fbi-counterterrorism-agents-records-show.html?_r=0>)
* Questioning war
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/11/in-modern-america-liking-peace-is-considered-terrorism.html>
(even though war reduces our national security
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/04/four-stories-this-week-prove-that-the-war-on-terror-is-a-farce.html>;
and see this
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/11/nobel-prize-winning-economist-war-is-widely-thought-to-be-linked-to-economic-good-times-nonsense.html>)
* Criticizing the government’s targeting of innocent civilians
with drones
<http://www.salon.com/2012/02/06/top_official_drone_critics_are_al_qaeda_enablers/singleton/>
(although killing innocent civilians with drones is one of the
main things which increases terrorism
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/01/nice-work-creating-new-terrorists-you.html>.
And see this
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/10/why-were-losing-the-war-on-terror.html>)
* Asking questions about pollution
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/11/in-modern-america-liking-peace-is-considered-terrorism.html>
(even at a public Congressional hearing
<http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/02/02/documentary-filmmaker-josh-fox-arrested-at-fracking-hearing>?)
* Paying cash at an Internet cafe
<http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2012/02/06/fbi-enlists-internet-cafe-owners-to-spy-on-customers-2/>
* Asking questions about Wall Street shenanigans
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/11/in-modern-america-liking-peace-is-considered-terrorism.html>
* Holding gold
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/11/in-modern-america-liking-peace-is-considered-terrorism.html>
* Creating alternative currencies
<http://www.nysun.com/editorials/a-unique-form-of-terrorism/87269/>
* Stocking up on more than 7 days of food
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXKfEsgLLRU&feature=related>
(even though all Mormons are taught to stockpile food
<http://jenny-evans.suite101.com/why-do-mormons-store-food-a284336>,
and most Hawaiians store up on extra food
<http://whatreallyhappened.com/node/156535>)
* Having bumper stickers saying things like “Know Your Rights Or
Lose Them”
<http://www.infowars.com/doj-funded-training-manual-lists-bumper-stickers-as-terrorism/>
* Investigating factory farming
<http://www.latimes.com/news/local/environment/la-me-gs-fbi-tracking-animal-videotapers-as-terrorists-20111229,0,5919114.story>
* Infringing a copyright
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/ter%C2%B7ror%C2%B7ist-noun-anyone-who-disagrees-with-the-government-2.html>
* Taking pictures or videos
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2008/09/in-a-fascist-state-cameras-equal-terrorism.html>
* Talking to police officers
<http://www.infowars.com/dhs-video-characterizes-white-americans-as-most-likely-terrorists/>
* Wearing a hoodie
<http://www.infowars.com/dhs-video-characterizes-white-americans-as-most-likely-terrorists/>
* Driving a van
<http://www.infowars.com/dhs-video-characterizes-white-americans-as-most-likely-terrorists/>
* Writing on a piece of paper
<http://www.infowars.com/dhs-video-characterizes-white-americans-as-most-likely-terrorists/>
* (Not having a Facebook account
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2184658/Is-joining-Facebook-sign-youre-psychopath-Some-employers-psychologists-say-suspicious.html>
may soon be added)
And holding the following beliefs may also be considered grounds for
suspected terrorism:
* Being frustrated with “mainstream ideologies”
<http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/insider-threat/>
* Valuing online privacy
<http://publicintelligence.net/do-you-like-online-privacy-you-may-be-a-terrorist/>
* Supporting Ron Paul or being a libertarian
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/11/in-modern-america-liking-peace-is-considered-terrorism.html>
* Liking the Founding Fathers
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oP1Ke70Mi8>
* Being a Christian <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oP1Ke70Mi8>
* Being anti-tax, anti-regulation or for the gold standard
<http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/07/us-usa-fbi-extremists-idUSTRE81600V20120207>
* Being “reverent of individual liberty”
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/government-uses-anti-terror-laws-to-crush-dissent-and-help-big-business.html>
* Being “anti-nuclear”
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/government-uses-anti-terror-laws-to-crush-dissent-and-help-big-business.html>
* “Believe in conspiracy theories”
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/government-uses-anti-terror-laws-to-crush-dissent-and-help-big-business.html>
* “A belief that one’s personal and/or national “way of life” is
under attack”
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/government-uses-anti-terror-laws-to-crush-dissent-and-help-big-business.html>
* “Impose strict religious tenets or laws on society
(fundamentalists)”
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/government-uses-anti-terror-laws-to-crush-dissent-and-help-big-business.html>
* “Insert religion into the political sphere”
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/government-uses-anti-terror-laws-to-crush-dissent-and-help-big-business.html>
* “Those who seek to politicize religion”
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/government-uses-anti-terror-laws-to-crush-dissent-and-help-big-business.html>
* “Supported political movements for autonomy”
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/government-uses-anti-terror-laws-to-crush-dissent-and-help-big-business.html>
* Being “anti-abortion”
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/government-uses-anti-terror-laws-to-crush-dissent-and-help-big-business.html>
* Being “anti-Catholic”
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/government-uses-anti-terror-laws-to-crush-dissent-and-help-big-business.html>
* Being “anti-global”
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/government-uses-anti-terror-laws-to-crush-dissent-and-help-big-business.html>
* “Suspicious of centralized federal authority”
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/government-uses-anti-terror-laws-to-crush-dissent-and-help-big-business.html>
* “Fiercely nationalistic (as opposed to universal and
international in orientation)”
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/government-uses-anti-terror-laws-to-crush-dissent-and-help-big-business.html>
* “A belief in the need to be prepared for an attack either by
participating in … survivalism”
<http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/government-uses-anti-terror-laws-to-crush-dissent-and-help-big-business.html>
* Opposing genetically engineered food
<http://www.infowars.com/doj-funded-training-manual-lists-bumper-stickers-as-terrorism/>
* Opposing surveillance
<http://www.infowars.com/dhs-video-characterizes-white-americans-as-most-likely-terrorists/>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.igcaucus.org/pipermail/governance/attachments/20130522/2eec7467/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
governance at lists.igcaucus.org
To be removed from the list, visit:
http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing
For all other list information and functions, see:
http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance
To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
http://www.igcaucus.org/
Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t
More information about the Governance
mailing list