5 Examples of How the Government Pressures Poor and Mentally Ill People into Becoming Faux Terrorist

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http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/5-examples-how-government-pressures-poor-and-mentally-ill-people-becoming-faux



1. Informants are the bread and butter of law enforcement efforts on terrorism. The FBI employs at least 15,000 informants nationwide in its fight against terrorism, a number that rivals the informant operation J. Edgar Hoover put in place at the height of the Cold War and hysteria over communism. But rather than keeping the U.S. safe from terrorism, many of the informants end up egging on plots that never would have arisen without the FBI’s prodding. The informants do the work to curry favor with law enforcement over their own legal troubles.

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2. The FBI targets the mentally ill and poor. The people most susceptible to pressure are the most alienated, disenfranchised members of society. People with mental illness, or those who need money to make ends meet, are tantalizing targets for an FBI endlessly looking for people who might want to talk about jihad, even if they have no plans to carry out violence.

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3. The government uses the broad charge of “material support” to ensnare Muslims. When Americans think of terrorism, their mind turns to images of blown-up buildings and maimed bodies. But the U.S. government has labeled people terrorists for violating the “material support” statutes.

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4. Trials for terrorism suspects are deeply unfair. Suspects accused of terrorist activity have the deck stacked against them. When Americans hear the word terrorism, they’re predisposed to want to lock the accused away. And that’s just the beginning of the ways trials are unfair.