"If an Agent Knocks"

[H2O Man]

“Federal law enforcement agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have a dark history of targeting radical and progressive movements. Some of the dirty tricks they use against these movements include: infiltration of organizations to discredit and disrupt their operations; campaigns of misinformation and false stories in the media; forging correspondence; and the use of grand jury subpoenas to intimidate activists. Today's activist must know and understand the threat posed by federal law enforcement agents and their tactics as well as several key security practices that offer the best protection.”
--Center for Constitutional Rights; If an Agent Knocks.

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) was founded in 1966, by a group of attorneys who represented people involved in promoting the civil rights movement in the southern United States. It is dedicated to using the laws of our land as a positive force to bring about progressive social change. The CCR focuses on protecting and advancing those rights defined and guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The CCR also is involved in public education. In 1989, it published the first edition of “If an Agent Knocks,” a booklet that advises grass roots activists on their best protections if targeted and approached by federal and/or other police agencies. In 2009, the CCR released another updated edition of IAAK. I strongly recommend it to members of this internet forum.

While some basic truths still hold true since 1966 (and 1989), others have changed. The most obvious example would be that the internet allows for a level of communications that activists could only have dreamed of enjoying in decades past. Likewise, the same internet allows for a new level of surveillance, infiltration, and disruption than in those past decades.

IAAK includes sections on visits and searches; infiltration and human surveillance; electronic surveillance (telephone, internet, and electronic security); grand juries; and special considerations for non-citizens. More, the booklet provides information that explains that activists today are not simply of interest to federal, state and local police agencies, but also from corporate-owned and private intelligence agencies employed by corporations. This, of course, is simply evidence that what goes around comes around, as many federal agencies were formed in the WW2 era from private, corporate services. An example of this is the CIA, which began as a collection of intelligence operatives employed by the oil industries.

One of the most basic messages that IAAK states repeatedly is that the US Constitution provides you with the right not to talk to police, without having an attorney present to advise you. There is a reason for this: to protect you. Those involved in surveillance, etc, will as a rule lie to you – for they are allowed and indeed encouraged and trained to lie to you – and say that the best thing that you can do to protect yourself is to speak openly with investigators. Often, they will try to trick you with statements such as, “Well, if you really have nothing to hide ….” And, other times, they will take that lie even further, and pretend that their experience has been that those who actually exercise their Constitutional rights are more “at risk” than those who do not.

Besides having decades of experience as a social activist, I also have the advantage of having been raised in an extended family that includes state and federal law enforcement agents. I can say, without any chance of being wrong, that the CCR is correct in their advice, and is looking out for law-abiding citizens' rights to protections provided by the US Constitution. And anyone who tells you otherwise is either an idiot, a purposeful liar, or a combination of the two. But, they are not your friend, and they sure as heck aren't interested in promoting either your welfare, or the Constitution.

As I've mentioned before, friends Rob Warden and Steven Drizin, of the Northeastern University's School of Law and the Center on Wrongful Convictions, published a book titled “True Stories of False Confessions” earlier this year. It documents a number of shocking cases where innocent individuals, believing that it was in their best interests to talk openly with investigators, ended up convicted of crimes that they did not commit. I strongly recommend this book.

For those interested in a copy of IAAK, and/or other CCR information, here is contact information:

http://ccrjustice.org/ifanagentknocks

[e-mail]

Center for Constitutional Rights
666 Broadway; 7th Floor
New York, NY 10012

212-614-6464