Big Brother is Watching… Jobs with Justice?

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.jwjblog.org/2010/10/big-brother-is-watching-jobs-with-justice/

By Allison Fletcher Acosta, on October 14th, 2010

The Pennsylvania Department of Homeland Security is paying a private American-Israeli firm, the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response (ITRR) to monitor the activities of groups like Jobs with Justice, MoveON.org, the Ruckus Society, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the Brandywine Peace Coalition, Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, Rainforest Action Network, immigration activists opposing Arizona’s SB1070, and many more.


Security Threat? This Philadelphia JwJ rally was the subject of a Homeland Security bulletin.


Bill Quigley and Rachel Meeropol reported the story last week in Counterpunch:

For almost a year, ITTR provided bi-weekly intelligence briefings to Pennsylvania Homeland Security which focused in equal part on “jihadist” communications and trainings throughout the world, and also social justice organizing and protests across the country.

Pennsylvania Homeland Security, in turn, distributed this information to 800 federal, local and state law enforcement agencies, along with “relevant stakeholders” like local businesses. Information provided included the political views and movement building strategies of hundreds of law-abiding groups and individuals…

…The extent of the “monitoring” here is far from clear. Much of ITRR’s information clearly comes from organizations’ own websites and press materials, but the bulletins are laced with more sinister references to “intercepted internal communications.”

Paying ITTR for “intelligence” that is not a secret is clearly a waste of taxpayer money, but the practice of monitoring progressive groups has wider implications for our First Amendment protected rights to assembly and freedom of speech. As Quigley & Meeropol point out, “There is a direct negative effect of consistently teaching law enforcement that protesters pose national security risks… Since 9-11 we have seen increased hurdles to dissent in the US. Every protest now not only brings out local cops but also is a potential terrorist event monitored by Joint Terrorism Task Force personnel.” This monitoring is even more chilling in light of the recent FBI raids on anti-war activists.

FULL story at link.

[DCKit]

1. These groups should form and umbrella organization and name it "Blackwater"

I hear it's available and the cache it used to hold should get the fascists off their back.

[glitch]

2. Not only that, they could pick up a few no-bid contracts as clerical errors. nt