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FBI's New Generation of Cointelpro
By Hank Hoffman
Is the FBI back in the business of trying to squelch political
dissent? An obscure paragraph in congressional testimony this past
spring by departing FBI Director Louis Freeh has fanned fears that
the agency is planning a surveillance and disruption effort against
anti-globalization groups similar to Cointelpro, which focused on the
anti-war and Black Power movements in the '60s and '70s.
Freeh delivered his testimony on the "Threat of Terrorism to the
United States" before the Senate Appropriations committee on May 10.
In the section on "domestic terrorism," Freeh identified "right-wing
extremist groups," such as the World Church of the Creator and Aryan
Nation, as "representing a continuing terrorism threat." One of the
two paragraphs dealing with "special-interest extremists" focused on
the eco-sabotage of the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation
Front. In contrast, extreme anti-abortion groups, with their record
of murder and clinic bombings, merited only a passing mention.
But it was the final paragraph in Freeh's assessment of "left-wing
extremist groups" that raised eyebrows among anti-globalization
activists: "Anarchist and extremist socialist groups – many of which,
such as the Workers World Party, Reclaim the Streets and Carnival
Against Capitalism – have an international presence and, at times,
also represent a potential threat in the United States," Freeh
said. "For example, anarchists, operating individually and in groups,
caused much of the damage during the 1999 World Trade Organization
ministerial meeting in Seattle."
"These are extremely dangerous and inappropriate comments," says Mara
Verheyden-Hilliard, co-founder of the Washington-based Partnership
for Civil Justice. Verheyden-Hilliard is the lead attorney on a
lawsuit against the FBI and other police agencies for civil rights
violations during the April 2000 protests at the Washington meeting
of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Noting that
Freeh's remarks were made in the context of an appropriations
hearing, she says that he "may be trying to legitimate funding for a
government-sponsored war against the social justice movement."
Freeh's comments do provoke serious concerns. No justification is
offered for the naming of Workers World Party, a Marxist group, and
Reclaim the Streets, a network founded in London in 1995 that merges
protests and raves, as representing potential threats. Freeh
seemingly criminalizes all anarchists based on vandalism during the
Seattle WTO protests. "By demonizing this movement and suggesting
these folks pose a threat," says Verheyden-Hilliard, "they justify
declaring some form of martial law [during large demonstrations]."
Verheyden-Hilliard notes that protests in Philadelphia, Los Angeles
and Washington have been met with excessive police response: illegal
arrests, intrusive surveillance, pepper spray and the employment of
agents provocateur. Washington police traveled to Philadelphia,
Quebec and Genoa to observe protests, while local and state police
are cooperating with the FBI on "joint anti-terrorism task forces."
She adds: "It appears there's been substantial funding, sending
people all around the country."
According to Jon Weiss of New York Reclaim the Streets, activists'
initial response to Freeh's testimony was fear "because the
phrase 'domestic terrorism' is usually just a packaging tool for the
mass suspension of civil liberties."
Weiss suspects the FBI cribbed the terrorist tag from Scotland Yard,
based on actions that devolved into riots. Reclaim the Streets'
actions in Britain had been nonviolent since the network's founding
in 1995, but that changed on June 18, 1999. As part of an
international "global street party" to protest the G8 meeting in
Cologne, Germany, 10,000 gathered in London's financial district.
What started as a street party ended in the trashing of several
businesses, including a McDonald's and a bank.
Chuck Munson, an anarchist and co-editor of Alternative Press Review,
says the feds are grasping at "broad terms to tar and feather" the
movement and dismisses as "demonization" the "insinuation that all
anarchists are violent." The real violence, Munson argues, is
perpetrated by the police. "They're the ones who bring guns, bullets,
gas, dogs and water cannons to protests," he says, "and they use
them."
FBI spokesman Steven Berry would not elaborate on Freeh's reasons for
targeting anarchists, Workers World and Reclaim the Streets beyond
drawing attention to Seattle. But their inclusion wasn't
random. "There are a lot of groups in the anti-globalization movement
who have exhibited some potential to commit a terrorist incident,"
Berry insists.
Asked whether these groups or others are under investigation or
subject to counterintelligence operations, Berry says, "We don't
comment on specific investigations." Berry denies that Freeh's
comments were a politically motivated smear. "We recognize that every
group has the right to assemble, the right to meet, has the right to
exist no matter how abhorrent their message is," Berry says. "The FBI
only gets involved when there is a violation of federal law."
Says Weiss, "If blocking a road or having a party constitutes a
terrorist act these days, I suppose we're guilty. The FBI is trying
to get their mind around the concept that there is a global democracy
movement, and they don't quite understand it yet."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Read other stories by Hank Hoffman
Related Stories
Bureau of Intimidation
Aug 14, 2001
FBI's Anti- Nazi Training is Hypocritical
Aug 28, 2000
FBI to Monitor European Activists
Aug 8, 2000
By Hank Hoffman
Is the FBI back in the business of trying to squelch political
dissent? An obscure paragraph in congressional testimony this past
spring by departing FBI Director Louis Freeh has fanned fears that
the agency is planning a surveillance and disruption effort against
anti-globalization groups similar to Cointelpro, which focused on the
anti-war and Black Power movements in the '60s and '70s.
Freeh delivered his testimony on the "Threat of Terrorism to the
United States" before the Senate Appropriations committee on May 10.
In the section on "domestic terrorism," Freeh identified "right-wing
extremist groups," such as the World Church of the Creator and Aryan
Nation, as "representing a continuing terrorism threat." One of the
two paragraphs dealing with "special-interest extremists" focused on
the eco-sabotage of the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation
Front. In contrast, extreme anti-abortion groups, with their record
of murder and clinic bombings, merited only a passing mention.
But it was the final paragraph in Freeh's assessment of "left-wing
extremist groups" that raised eyebrows among anti-globalization
activists: "Anarchist and extremist socialist groups – many of which,
such as the Workers World Party, Reclaim the Streets and Carnival
Against Capitalism – have an international presence and, at times,
also represent a potential threat in the United States," Freeh
said. "For example, anarchists, operating individually and in groups,
caused much of the damage during the 1999 World Trade Organization
ministerial meeting in Seattle."
"These are extremely dangerous and inappropriate comments," says Mara
Verheyden-Hilliard, co-founder of the Washington-based Partnership
for Civil Justice. Verheyden-Hilliard is the lead attorney on a
lawsuit against the FBI and other police agencies for civil rights
violations during the April 2000 protests at the Washington meeting
of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Noting that
Freeh's remarks were made in the context of an appropriations
hearing, she says that he "may be trying to legitimate funding for a
government-sponsored war against the social justice movement."
Freeh's comments do provoke serious concerns. No justification is
offered for the naming of Workers World Party, a Marxist group, and
Reclaim the Streets, a network founded in London in 1995 that merges
protests and raves, as representing potential threats. Freeh
seemingly criminalizes all anarchists based on vandalism during the
Seattle WTO protests. "By demonizing this movement and suggesting
these folks pose a threat," says Verheyden-Hilliard, "they justify
declaring some form of martial law [during large demonstrations]."
Verheyden-Hilliard notes that protests in Philadelphia, Los Angeles
and Washington have been met with excessive police response: illegal
arrests, intrusive surveillance, pepper spray and the employment of
agents provocateur. Washington police traveled to Philadelphia,
Quebec and Genoa to observe protests, while local and state police
are cooperating with the FBI on "joint anti-terrorism task forces."
She adds: "It appears there's been substantial funding, sending
people all around the country."
According to Jon Weiss of New York Reclaim the Streets, activists'
initial response to Freeh's testimony was fear "because the
phrase 'domestic terrorism' is usually just a packaging tool for the
mass suspension of civil liberties."
Weiss suspects the FBI cribbed the terrorist tag from Scotland Yard,
based on actions that devolved into riots. Reclaim the Streets'
actions in Britain had been nonviolent since the network's founding
in 1995, but that changed on June 18, 1999. As part of an
international "global street party" to protest the G8 meeting in
Cologne, Germany, 10,000 gathered in London's financial district.
What started as a street party ended in the trashing of several
businesses, including a McDonald's and a bank.
Chuck Munson, an anarchist and co-editor of Alternative Press Review,
says the feds are grasping at "broad terms to tar and feather" the
movement and dismisses as "demonization" the "insinuation that all
anarchists are violent." The real violence, Munson argues, is
perpetrated by the police. "They're the ones who bring guns, bullets,
gas, dogs and water cannons to protests," he says, "and they use
them."
FBI spokesman Steven Berry would not elaborate on Freeh's reasons for
targeting anarchists, Workers World and Reclaim the Streets beyond
drawing attention to Seattle. But their inclusion wasn't
random. "There are a lot of groups in the anti-globalization movement
who have exhibited some potential to commit a terrorist incident,"
Berry insists.
Asked whether these groups or others are under investigation or
subject to counterintelligence operations, Berry says, "We don't
comment on specific investigations." Berry denies that Freeh's
comments were a politically motivated smear. "We recognize that every
group has the right to assemble, the right to meet, has the right to
exist no matter how abhorrent their message is," Berry says. "The FBI
only gets involved when there is a violation of federal law."
Says Weiss, "If blocking a road or having a party constitutes a
terrorist act these days, I suppose we're guilty. The FBI is trying
to get their mind around the concept that there is a global democracy
movement, and they don't quite understand it yet."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Read other stories by Hank Hoffman
Related Stories
Bureau of Intimidation
Aug 14, 2001
FBI's Anti- Nazi Training is Hypocritical
Aug 28, 2000
FBI to Monitor European Activists
Aug 8, 2000
