Looking Over Our Shoulders – Liberal Street Fighter

Given the unpopularity of the Iraq War in poll after poll, some voice suprise that the numbers protesting it remain fairly low:

Even though polls say a majority of Americans think President Bush has bungled the war in Iraq and now oppose it, anti-war organizers are struggling to get new converts to tell someone besides pollsters that the country needs to change course.

Activists say the fear of being labeled unpatriotic or unsupportive of the nation’s troops will keep many anti-war newcomers away from today’s 11 a.m. demonstration in San Francisco and the hundreds of others around the country marking the third anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Of course, one might point out the large crowds that turned out before the war, as well as the tendency for the media to ignore protests. However, one can’t help but wonder if one of the reasons more people don’t turn out isn’t just fear of being labeled “unpatriotic”, but rather making one’s way into a government database, or finding yourself under attack or surveilance from increasingly aggressive and abusive police departments.

Police Files Say Arrest Tactics Calmed Protest

In five internal reports made public yesterday as part of a lawsuit, New York City police commanders candidly discuss how they had successfully used “proactive arrests,” covert surveillance and psychological tactics at political demonstrations in 2002, and recommend that those approaches be employed at future gatherings.

Among the most effective strategies, one police captain wrote, was the seizure of demonstrators on Fifth Avenue who were described as “obviously potential rioters.”

The reports provide a rare glimpse of internal police evaluations and strategies on security and free speech issues that have provoked sharp debate between city officials and political demonstrators since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The reports also made clear what the police have yet to discuss publicly: that the department uses undercover officers to infiltrate political gatherings and monitor behavior.

Indeed, one of the documents – a draft report from the department’s Disorder Control Unit – proposed in blunt terms the resumption of a covert tactic that had been disavowed by the city and the federal government 30 years earlier. Under the heading of recommendations, the draft suggested, “Utilize undercover officers to distribute misinformation within the crowds.” Asked about the proposal, Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the Police Department, said yesterday: “The N.Y.P.D. does not use police officers in any capacity to distribute misinformation.”

Mr. Browne also said that the “proactive” arrests referred to in the report – numbering about 30 – involved protesters with pipes and masks who he said presented an obvious threat.

In another report, a police inspector praised the “staging of massive amounts” of armored vehicles, prisoner wagons and jail buses in the view of the demonstrators, writing that the sight “would cause them to be alarmed.”

You’ve got a family, a job … a mountain of debt and you’re hanging on by your fingertips: maybe getting your face photographed by uniformed goons seems like a bad idea right now. Given the long history of retribution and abuse of power displayed by the Administration in power, it’s no wonder that people who might otherwise turnout for a peaceful protest would have second thoughts.

That is, of course, the point.

Mr. Perez said the show of force sent a deliberate warning to people expressing their opinions. “The message is, if you turn out, be prepared to be arrested, be prepared to be sent away for a long time,” he said. “It sounds like something from a battle zone.”

Demonstrators arrested during the economic forum were held by the police for up to 40 hours without seeing a judge – twice as long as people accused of murder, rape and robbery arrested on those same days, Mr. Perez said.

Mr. Browne of the Police Department said that the arrests were processed as quickly as possible, and that protesters were not singled out for longer detention.

The reports, which were heavily edited at the request of the city, also discuss the use of undercover officers at the protests. Captain Hardiman wrote that “the use of under covers from narcotics provided useful information.” And on Inspector Shortell’s list of positive aspects of the strategy, he listed “the use of undercover personnel in the ranks of the protesters.”

The power of the police to secretly monitor political gatherings was tightly controlled by a federal court between 1985 and early 2003, the result of a lawsuit by political activists from the 1960’s who charged that police undercover officers had disrupted their ability to express their opinions. Many of the restrictions from that case, known as Handschu, were eased at the request of the city in 2003.

The proposal to use undercover officers to spread misinformation – which the Police Department says was not adopted – recalled the origins of the Handschu lawsuit, which was based in part on the actions of undercover agents and officers who instigated trouble and spread lies among a group of military veterans who opposed the Vietnam War.

So, maybe you think going out to protest isn’t a good idea. Too dangerous, but you still feel the need to do something, so you join a local group, help them plan protests, maybe write letters to the editor or put together flyers. Well …

Amy Goodman: Newly released files show the FBI has been monitoring and possibly infiltrating a Pittsburgh peace group because of its opposition to the war in Iraq.

On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union released a series of once secret FBI files that show the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force conducted a secret investigation into the activities of the Thomas Merton Center beginning as early as November 2002, and continuing up until at least last March.

According to the ACLU these documents are the first to show conclusively that the rationale for FBI targeting is the group’s opposition to the war.

One memo describes the Merton Center as a “left-wing organization advocating, among many political causes, pacifism.” It notes that the center hands out leaflets on a daily basis opposing the war in Iraq.

The FBI files also notes that one of the peace activists monitored handling out fliers “appeared to be of Middle Easter descent.”

Another file on the peace center is titled “International Terrorism Matters” and it includes information on a series of anti-war rallies taking place in Pittsburgh and around the country.

Brick by brick, the structures of fascism are being rebuilt, and at a frightening speed.

However, despite this, many Americans still raise their voices, whether it be through blogging or letter writing or joining groups or turning out to protest:

United for Peace and Justice joins our partners in the global antiwar movement in calling for a massive outpouring of opposition to the war in Iraq. We are urging opponents of the war to organize a wide array of events in their hometowns for the entire week surrounding this anniversary. As important as our periodic large national gatherings are, we believe it is vital that we bring antiwar sentiment out into the streets of every community around the country.

You can find events near you by going here.

This is an ongoing struggle, a struggle that has played out over and over throughout our history. Law enforcement is heavily armed and under a great deal of pressure from business, a sizable portion of the populace and greedy and unprincipled politicians to squelch dissent. The potential for disaster, for new Kent States, is growing and disturbing, yet still people turn out to say no.

In that simple fact there is some hope.