According to an official assessment obtained by Foreign Policy Magazine, the US government has declared “black identity extremists” like the "Black Lives Matter" movement a violent threat to the country. This assessment was made by the FBI’s counter-terrorism division.
The finding, which carries with it the authority of a major counterterrorism arm of the United States, authorizes agencies of the Federal Government to use extraordinary means to protect the country from this erroneously declared threat. This might include spying on, rounding up, or forcibly detaining BLM activists and their supporters.
History has shown what this means. COINTELPRO, "a series of covert, and often illegal, projects, starting in 1956 and conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting American political organizations."
FBI records show that COINTELPRO resources targeted groups and individuals that the FBI deemed subversive, including..activists of the Civil Rights Movement or Black Power movement (e.g., Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Black Panther Party).."
One does not need to go back to 1956 to find a violation of Black first amendment rights by law enforcement organizations: in 2014 and 2015 "undercover officers in the New York police department infiltrated small groups of Black Lives Matter activists and gained access to their text messages.."
Given the fact that the FBI and other police departments have "downplayed the threat posed by white supremacist groups" this new declaration should be viewed with alarm.
We strongly encourage members of the Congressional Black Caucus to hold an emergency town hall conference call on this matter, using all available technologies and with all deliberate speed.
The finding, which carries with it the authority of a major counterterrorism arm of the United States, authorizes agencies of the Federal Government to use extraordinary means to protect the country from this erroneously declared threat. This might include spying on, rounding up, or forcibly detaining BLM activists and their supporters. History has shown what this means. COINTELPRO, "a series of covert, and often illegal, projects, starting in 1956 and conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting American political organizations."
FBI records show that COINTELPRO resources targeted groups and individuals that the FBI deemed subversive, including..activists of the Civil Rights Movement or Black Power movement (e.g., Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Black Panther Party).."
One does not need to go back to 1956 to find a violation of Black first amendment rights by law enforcement organizations: in 2014 and 2015 "undercover officers in the New York police department infiltrated small groups of Black Lives Matter activists and gained access to their text messages.."
Given the fact that the FBI and other police departments have "downplayed the threat posed by white supremacist groups" this new declaration should be viewed with alarm.
We strongly encourage members of the Congressional Black Caucus to hold an emergency town hall conference call on this matter, using all available technologies and with all deliberate speed.