DHS reached three years back into progressive groups’ financial records, well before the Minnesota protests at issue. That matters because the investigation was not confined to the events that supposedly triggered it; it reached backward into the organizations themselves.
Undercover officers entered political meetings and Signal chats and recorded the license plates of people who attended. That matters because the government was not just investigating alleged unlawful acts; it was identifying who was associating with whom and what they were discussing.
At one infiltrated Sunrise Movement meeting, DHS’s own officer reported that organizers were discussing peaceful protest, de-escalation, a police liaison and safety marshals. That matters because the surveillance continued into activity the government’s own agent described as peaceful.
Prosecutors then presented 18 organizations to a grand jury as part of an alleged conspiracy.
None of the 18 organizations has been criminally charged.
That matters because the government had already mapped their finances, associations and political organizing before establishing in court that any of those organizations had committed a crime.
Taken together, this is not just a story about protest arrests.
It is a story about the federal government using its investigative power to map the political opposition.
The Guardian, being a left wing govt institution, plays defense. And of all things going on in the failed state of England, this is what concerns them?
The Guardian is funded by crowd sourcing and is not owned or controlled by any government. It is far freer from corporate and state capture than most western media outlets. It could be seen as left leaning or progressive but is certainly not a government institution. Just as the US commentariat may look across the Atlantic and comment on the state of Europe, so might those in the Europe look back at the US under TACO Trump- arguably the most authoritarian, divisive, corrupt and militaristic US leader in modern times. The truth is out there...if you look for it.
This is worth focusing on:
DHS reached three years back into progressive groups’ financial records, well before the Minnesota protests at issue. That matters because the investigation was not confined to the events that supposedly triggered it; it reached backward into the organizations themselves.
Undercover officers entered political meetings and Signal chats and recorded the license plates of people who attended. That matters because the government was not just investigating alleged unlawful acts; it was identifying who was associating with whom and what they were discussing.
At one infiltrated Sunrise Movement meeting, DHS’s own officer reported that organizers were discussing peaceful protest, de-escalation, a police liaison and safety marshals. That matters because the surveillance continued into activity the government’s own agent described as peaceful.
Prosecutors then presented 18 organizations to a grand jury as part of an alleged conspiracy.
None of the 18 organizations has been criminally charged.
That matters because the government had already mapped their finances, associations and political organizing before establishing in court that any of those organizations had committed a crime.
Taken together, this is not just a story about protest arrests.
It is a story about the federal government using its investigative power to map the political opposition.
The Guardian, being a left wing govt institution, plays defense. And of all things going on in the failed state of England, this is what concerns them?
The Guardian is funded by crowd sourcing and is not owned or controlled by any government.
It is far freer from corporate and state capture than most western media outlets.
It could be seen as left leaning or progressive but is certainly not a government institution.
Just as the US commentariat may look across the Atlantic and comment on the state of Europe, so might those in the Europe look back at the US under TACO Trump- arguably the most authoritarian, divisive, corrupt and militaristic US leader in modern times.
The truth is out there...if you look for it.