Jul 28th, 2008
Posted by Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 4:52pm	National Security

FBI Celebrates 100 Years of "Absolutely Not" Spying on Americans

As we know, the FBI is celebrating its 100th year this year. In honor of the anniversary, the agency recently released "Top Ten Myths in FBI History." Threat Level found "Myth #10) The FBI has Nikola Tesla’s plans for a 'death ray'" the most entertaining of the 10. But our favorite has to be #4: "The Bureau routinely spies on the American people." The FBI claims:

Absolutely not…It’s always been a delicate balance between harnessing the tools at our disposal to solve crimes and prevent attacks and upholding the civil liberties of all Americans. Over the course of a century, we’ve made some mistakes, but they’ve been few and far between compared to the vast amount of work we do every day… After all, we live and work in our communities and cherish our country’s rights and freedoms like everyone else!

Huh? It's been widely reported and proven that the FBI has been routinely spying on Americans since the 1970's. It started with J. Edgar Hoover's infamous COINTELPRO, a program established to spy on suspected Communists, anti-war groups, and other rabble-rousers like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Eleanor Roosevelt, and ramped up after 9/11, through its Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), a collaboration between the FBI and local law enforcement around the country. In fact, in May 2002, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft rewrote the guidelines for the FBI's national security investigations to enable spying on Americans. The new guidelines read:

For the purpose of detecting or preventing terrorist activities, the FBI is authorized to visit any place and attend any event that is open to the public, on the same terms and conditions as members of the public generally.

Sounds like a green-light to spy on Americans to us.

Are we being too hard on the FBI? Perhaps the FBI's myth-debunker missed the Department of Justice Inspector General's report (PDF) released in March of this year that found that the FBI has been abusing National Security Letters (NSL) — those nasty, warrantless demands for information that have been found unconstitutional by the courts — to the tune of almost 200,000 NSLs issued between 2003 and 2006.

And while they can't held directly responsible, the FBI is the Big Brother of another agency committed to keeping tabs on Americans' private affairs, whether it's legal or not: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which also celebrates a big birthday this year.

"We've made some mistakes?"  A bit of an understatement.  Maybe they should think about working better, not harder.

Permalink |	National Security

1. Bob Says:
   Jul 28th, 2008 at 4:55pm

   For the purpose of detecting or preventing terrorist activities, the FBI is authorized to visit any place and attend any event that is open to the public, on the same terms and conditions as members of the public indirturka.com

2. Kit Burns Says:
   Jul 28th, 2008 at 8:55pm

   In 1964-66 I was aware that the FBI was spying on Martin Luther King. In our scout troop one of the troop leaders was in the FBI. I was current on what he knew about MLK. By the way, checkout the DVD and website of the "Camden 28". It is very well done. Inspiring. And the FBI does spy on Americans. They are trying to re-write history.

3. all this info for what? Says:
   Jul 30th, 2008 at 1:41pm

   Just what is all this information being used for?

   I fully abide by the law, don't drink, don't smoke and don't have other 'bad' habits - which is all relative anyway.

   Still.. I feel uncomfortable about giving all this info. about me and everyone else in my bloodline (dna fingerprinting) to one concentrated power....One can tell a lot about a person's psychology, likes, dislikes, tendencies, perhaps past and future, etc. with biometrics.

   What are they gonna do with all the info?

4. flowerchiild763@yahoo.com Says:
   Aug 16th, 2008 at 1:11pm

   After years of being a targeted person,I am so thankful,That the facts have surfaced,So many could include my examples,of endless Constitutional rights violations.I do have facts,Since the mail,internet,phone,will not allow my voice to get out, about what this means to innocent peoples lives.I give permission,to get the data,documented,It will not happen since the law breakers,where the editors of the documentation.In Illinois

5. anonymous Says:
   Jun 12th, 2009 at 11:40am

   Good, law-abiding Americans have been targeted and are being harassed. It continues, in spite of the attempts of many to reveal these continuing abuses. If other good Americans were made aware of what's taking place, they would demand that these activites cease. What is taking place is not consistent with the rule of law or the Constitution.

   We need a whistleblower, but the CIA, NSA, FBI, and possibly other tax-payer supported agencies are not even included in current legislation which would give whistleblowers the protection which they deserve, under the law.

6. anon Says:
   Jun 13th, 2009 at 6:24pm

   Why isn't the ACLU calling for COINTELPRO hearings? For the life of me, I can't understand it. Given the abuses of the past eight years, wouldn't it seem likely that individual Americans have been targeted (by the thousands or tens of thousands), especially given what we know about the proliferation of fusion centers, warrantless surveillance and the like, coupled the history of COINTELPRO?

   When is someone going to wake up to the terrible things that continue to be done to average, law-abiding American citizens. Ever think that it might happen to one of your children or grandchildren? Well, it could, because it's happening all across this country, as I write. It's happening to law-abiding, patriotic people and no one seems to give a damn. Rather, when good folks complain, they're written off as "delusional."

   Well, during the Nixon years, Martha Mitchell was dubbed "delusional" by those who wanted her to be silenced. Perhaps someone should have listened but, hey, Americans only seem to react when challenged with a crisis. This will most certainly become one, if no one moves forward and attempts to figure out what our most secretive agencies are doing.

7. Seana Sperling Says:
   Aug 1st, 2009 at 4:29pm

   Un-America

   Under the tentacles of the punitive and judgmental Bush regime, our tolerance for cruelty and selfishness grew exponentially. Our Constitution has been turned into a puree of abandoned quotes with a crucifix on top; cliff-noted to suit the needs of the Religious Right. This distortion of our rights has enabled us to become very un-American; the manifestation of the bully nations we used to criticize. Unfortunately today’s technology has made this easier to perpetuate and there is no crisis of conscience when the “righteous” are prescribing punishment via their laptops and cell phones.

   Under the topic “Mobbing,” there are a variety of stories on the Internet about cowardly group behavior, bullying behavior, where mobs of people verbally attack public figures or even private citizens. They went after poor Michael Jackson even after his death. Their callous jokes and glib remarks showed a terrible disregard for a talented and innovative artist.

   Mobbing is nothing new and throughout history there have been self-righteous mobs that go after individuals. Couple our current judgmental populace with today’s technology and you get hoards of people, from all walks of life, even the so-called pious, vilifying and passing judgment on complete strangers in Internet chat rooms. Oddly in the land of liberty, this has become very popular and entire communities are constructed around mobbing. Nothing brings people together like a good old-fashioned witch-hunt.

   Like the KKK’s penchant for disguise, the mobber’s identities remain cloaked in anonymity as they destroy their victims from the privacy of their PCs or cell phones. How easy to slander and threaten others when there is little chance of getting caught. They think up cutesy monikers, such as Frank Sinatra’s Reanimated Corpse or Nonymouse and flatter themselves that they are writers, exercising Freedom of Speech or vigilantes punishing an evil person.

   Not only do the Blog Mobs rip the victim to shreds on the Internet, some will post all of the victim’s personal information online and then try to rally the other bloggers to track/stalk, and report the victim’s every move to the group. (Organized stalking/tracking—Google: Texas Fred and see what he instigates against supposed sex offenders.)

   Stalking and especially group stalking is a horrendous civil rights abuse—it violates a citizen’s right to privacy as laid out in the constitution. Also, slander and inciting hatred towards a citizen violates even more constitutional rights. Oddly some former military and so-called Christians are involved in this animal behavior.

   Some of these bully groups try to damage every facet of the person’s life by contacting their employer, neighbors and family with false reports that the person is crazy, a racist, pedophile, thief, sexual deviant, under investigation, etc. The accusations the Blog Mobs use to rally the masses are generally so reprehensible and embarrassing to discuss that the accused may never even hear what they are being accused of. Also, if you ask one of the bloggers if they have actually asked the accused if it is true, they just say, “Oh, they’ll just deny it anyway.” Ah, due process of law in action.

   Some blog mobs have even used set-ups, complete with photo shoots to make the victim seem like an undesirable. This is later posted on You Tube or My Space or any number of sites. The slander creates conflicts where the victim constantly has to defend themselves and thus create more enemies. I know from personal experience about the set ups. In 2006, I would walk through the park on my way home from work. On two occasions, I saw a middle-aged African American man running ahead in the distance and looking back at me occasionally with a look of fear on his face. Then I’d see some twenty-something with their little camera phone, filming the scene. Scenes like this happened a variety of times and I had no idea what was going on until I came across other articles, that shed light on the set ups, which are referred to as “street theater.” There would also be set ups in the workplace where one coworker would try to manipulate trouble between myself and another colleague. I stopped taking the bait, finally in 2007, but the attempts are still made anyway. (This is a facet of Workplace Mobbing.)

   This cowardly behavior of Mobbing has been popularized and encouraged by mainstream media. In 2007 on Channel Five News, I heard Jean Enerson rally the troops, by saying, “Bloggers tracking pedophiles,” after a story about Jack McClellan, a person who was suspected of being a possible pedophile. Every week the reporters would proudly claim that this man had been driven out of another community. (America—Home of the brave.) I have no idea why this person was appearing almost weekly on the news and why he was perceived as such a threat as he hadn’t been convicted of anything. I do know that Texas Fred (who appeared on FOX news for his vigilante work) was encouraging blog mobs to stalk this man and run him out of various towns. I have little sympathy for real pedophiles, however as one that has been falsely accused of this egregious act on a site called www.rottenneighbor.com I say get some real evidence before you begin to stalk and torture people. Also, do some fact checking Reporters and let the accused defend himself. Don’t just take sound bytes from this guy that make him look bonkers.

   Since anyone can be accused of being a pedophile and the community reacts with absolutely no proof, innocent Teachers and other’s lives are being destroyed every day. I see these pumped up reports on the news almost weekly. Where is our Due Process? Where are the true Journalists that know that News needs to be fact-based and fact checked and not have a lead sentence such as, “A Harper Valley Gymnastics Teacher is being accused of Child Rape.” Then they show the person’s house and neighborhood. Of course the person’s neighbors will recognize the house and this person is instantly stigmatized.

   A 2006 International Times article, illustrates the frenzy of an online mob and the damage they can do to an innocent person. According to the article, the victim was first accused of being responsible for his ex-girlfriend’s suicide. Then the stories began to build. The bloggers alleged she was pregnant and he was trying to force her to abort his child. The mob went crazy, posting all of his personal information on the internet, calling his workplace with demands that the company fire him, forcing him out of his college where he had night classes. Next the mob was reporting his every move--even what he was wearing on specific days. None of the gossip had any basis in fact, but Vigilante Bloggers don’t need any facts. From: The International Herald Times, In Seoul Korea, Online Rumors Can Hit Hard. By Sang-Hun Choe (This type of mob behavior is called Organized Stalking.)

   As mentioned above, I have had my own experience with internet smears and organized stalking. In December 2007, I found my full name on a website named www.rottenneighbor.com, which is supposedly a site designed to identify desirable or undesirable neighbors and neighborhoods. These anonymous posts claimed that I was everything from a redneck prostitute to a child molester. They ranged from character assassination to the ridiculous, “She will steal your husband.” I contacted the Webmaster from the site and by the next day all the posts were removed, but the webmaster never responded to my emails. (I began contacting State legal agencies and Human Rights Commissions, but they offered no help.)

   In May 2008, I put up a few flyers in my neighborhood offering a reward for information about the Internet smears. A few days later, I received a call from Channel Five Reporter Chris Daniels asking for a comment about the reward and new slander posted on The Stranger Newspaper’s SLOG. I had no idea about this new twist and was shocked when I found 48 postings accusing me of being crazy and a crack whore among other things. (These blogs had been posted shortly after I had hung my flyers and even a photo of one of my flyers was on the site.) I emailed Dan Savage, since I’d met him when I interviewed for a job there in 2002. Tim Keck the Publisher (or is that just Unseen Hand Productions that controls this media) responded instead and said that he didn’t see anything wrong with the posts. When I checked the SLOG again, the more serious postings, that I was a crack whore and the one suggesting that I be “put down,” had been removed and replaced with the statement, “way too mean.” I had printed the originals however.

   Next I discovered I was on a Watch List when I was detained at the U.S./Canadian border in 2007. Why? I don’t know exactly and every FOIA request I submit is denied or dismissed. John C. Inglis from the NSA went so far as to write, “While your appeal clearly states your concern of not knowing whether or not NSA maintains intelligence information on you, I must emphasize that NSA can neither confirm nor deny alleged intelligence activities or targets due to the classified nature of this agency’s signals intelligence mission.“ If my name can appear on a Watch List and since I have done nothing to deserve such a thing, then anyone can be vilified and harassed in this manner.

   The CIA has always used slander campaigns against individuals they consider a threat—Activists, writers—so-called Enemy Combatants—Google: Abby Hoffman and Cointelpro. General Motors did the same thing to Ralph Nader—Watch: Ralph Nader: An Unreasonable Man. Now it appears they can even do it to nobodys like me. I guess anyone that stands up or stands out could be a target. Am I just an example to scare the other nobodys?

   When anonymous bloggers (who could be NSA or LEIU) can so easily manipulate the public into going after innocent people, then that public can also be manipulated into a totalitarian system--A system where they do not question authority for fear of reprisal. If the government vilifies and isolates all the activists, then the weak will follow the crowd.

   Sadly it’s not just the Religious Right that is involved in this (although these are the people pulling the strings.). Since self-righteousness has replaced common sense, Democrats will vilify other Democrats (Just look how divided the party was in 2004.). Scholars go after each other (Look at the high percentage of Workplace Mobbing in Academia). Feminists attack other feminists and the rightwing fascists just sit back and laugh at all the mayhem they have caused. They create chaos to implement the destruction of our constitution, our unions and especially our unity. The 1960’s battles were won by many groups pulling together and we are currently very divided. This type of isolation only endangers us. We need to put aside our differences and search for our commonalities.

   Throughout the ages Jewish and Roma people, activists, scholars, etc. have been vilified so terribly that entire communities turned on them. Some were driven out of cities, placed into camps and millions were murdered. During the Spanish Inquisition, Village Healers were burned as witches. During the Cultural Revolution, students were manipulated into going after the Scholars because of Mao’s wish to purge any intellectual threat. Stalin did much the same. During WWII, American citizens of Japanese descent were vilified and placed into camps; their homes and goods confiscated. Currently, in the “land of the Free,” liberal Teachers, Writers, Activists and Whistleblowers are treated as the new threat and can be placed on Watch Lists and harassed by their communities. Read: The End of America, By Naomi Wolf and You Have No Rights By Matthew Rothschild.

   As a child I began to stand up early on. I was restricted by a very oppressive religious group and not by my own choosing. I even had to attend their school, which was poorly staffed and Math and Science were almost completely ignored as there was an emphasis on Religious themes. My self-esteem was constantly being attacked by my mother, stepfather and his two older boys, yet I stood up as much as a little child could. This so enraged my mother that she would actually try to beat me into submission. She broke a hairbrush on me once and our small, Dachshund/Chihuahua-mix went after her. Then she turned on the dog. I was very proud of our dog that day. The smallest member of the family had stood up to the big bully.

Name

E-mail

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Homepage

• Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
• Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

More information about formatting options

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

What code is in the image? *

Enter the characters shown in the image. Ignore spaces and be careful about upper and lower case.