Anarcho Punks Monitored

John Cook found it interesting when he requested information on the ALF (Animal Liberation Front) through the Freedom of Information Act that the FBI were investigating Anarchy and environmental groups. The file was called Seizing Thunder, opened in 2002 to investigate the ALF, Earth Liberation Front (ELF), and the Red Cloud Thunder. All three groups worked together and mentioned they had committed arson according to the files.

Surprisingly they started investigating any activist who claimed to be associated with anarchism or if an informant told the FBI they were an anarchist. Most of these investigated people did not have any criminal intent nor priors. Most of them were peace activists, who would normally sit on a tree.

On the file it shows the FBI intelligent agencies in Oregon were tracking an anarchist march. The march was to protest the war and foreign policy. The file makes it come out as if it was this terrorist act, but the associated press clearly stated that it was a peaceful protest of 700 people against U.S. support of Israel in the Middle East crisis and no arrests were made.

They also kept tabs on the Los Angeles anarchist group, Alternate Gathering Collective. The file mentioned that this group organizes concerts and fundraisers for "extremist groups."While in Oregon memos were passed saying that female in these groups were in charge. They are apparently militant and feminists.

To add more humor to the mix. The FBI also snooped around nature hikes, camps, and information on keying cars.

Being monitored over nothing is horrendous. You would think the agency would find actual threats in real extremist groups to occupy their time. Instead they waste their time with peaceful activists that have no prior criminal activity.

Article paraphrased from : Gawker

Detainment

An immigration enforcement program, Secure Communities immigration enforcement program, caused an American citizen to be illegally detained. Secure Communities has been around since 2008. The purpose of the program is to share fingerprints from state and local police forces with immigration authorities to identify and deport thousands of people. The ideology was to be able to identify convicts and deport them back. Thus far, all they've gotten are immigrants with petty crimes or no crimes at all.

This problem does not just involve immigrants, but also American citizens. The American Civil Liberties and other groups have found four American citizens who have been kept under detainment through the fingerprint-sharing program. People have been arrested,  then once they are "released," they are kept in detainment due to the immigration authorities.

Antonio Montejano, 40, was arrested for a diminutive and petty crime. He pleaded guilty and a judge had released him. However, he was detained for two days in a prison cell with no bed or mattress. He reported that he would tell the officers that he was an American citizen and no one would believe him.

Story is taken from LA Times

Any form of detainment is horrible. In our own backyards we are keeping our own American citizens locked up. This is not right, it's violating their own freedoms and rights. We can not be repeating history; remember when we detained the Japanese?