Featured

MADISON, WI — DBA Press and the Center for Media and Democracy today released the results of a year-long investigation: “Dissent or Terror: How the Nation’s Counter Terrorism Apparatus, In Partnership With Corporate America, Turned on Occupy Wall Street.” PRwatch.org

The report, a distillation of thousands of pages of records obtained from counter terrorism/law enforcement agencies, details how state/regional “fusion center” personnel monitored the Occupy Wall Street movement over the course of 2011 and 2012. Personnel engaged in this activity at fusion centers include employees of municipal, county and federal counter terrorism/homeland security entities. Such entities include local police departments, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (including U.S. DHS components such as the Transportation Security Administration).

The report also examines how fusion centers and other counter terrorism entities that have emerged since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 have worked to benefit numerous corporations engaged in public-private intelligence sharing partnerships.

While the report examines many instances of fusion center monitoring of Occupy Wall Street activists nationwide, the bulk of the report details how counter terrorism personnel engaged in the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (ACTIC, commonly known as the “Arizona fusion center”) monitored and otherwise surveilled citizens active in Occupy Phoenix, and how this surveillance benefited a number of corporations and banks that were subjects of Occupy Phoenix protest activity.

While small glimpses into the governmental monitoring of the Occupy Wall Street movement have emerged in the past, there has not been any reporting– until now– that details the breadth and depth of the degree to which the nation’s post-September 11, 2001 counter terrorism apparatus has been applied to politically engaged citizens exercising their Constitutionally-protected First Amendment rights.

The report reveals for the first time:

• How law enforcement agencies active in the Arizona fusion center dispatched an undercover officer to infiltrate activist groups organizing both protests of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the launch of Occupy Phoenix– and how the work of this undercover officer benefited ALEC and the private corporations that were the subjects of these demonstrations.
• How fusion centers, funded in large part by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, expended countless hours and tax dollars in the monitoring of Occupy Wall Street and other activist groups.
• How the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has financed social media “data mining” programs at local law enforcement agencies engaged in fusion centers.
• How counter terrorism government employees applied facial recognition technology, drawing from a state database of driver’s license photos, to photographs found on Facebook in an effort to profile citizens believed to be associated with activist groups.
• How corporations have become part of the homeland security “information sharing environment” with law enforcement/intelligence agencies through various public-private intelligence sharing partnerships. The report examines multiple instances in which the counter terrorism/homeland security apparatus was used to gather intelligence relating to activists for the benefit of corporate interests that were the subject of protests.
• How private groups and individuals, such as Charles Koch, Chase Koch (Charles’ son and a Koch Industries executive), Koch Industries, and the Koch-funded American Legislative Exchange Council have hired off-duty police officers– sometimes still armed and in police uniforms — to perform the private security functions of keeping undesirables (reporters and activists) at bay.
• How counter terrorism personnel monitored the protest activities of citizens opposed to the indefinite detention language contained in National Defense Authorization Act of 2012.
• How the FBI applied “Operation Tripwire,” an initiative originally intended to apprehend domestic terrorists through the use of private sector informants, in their monitoring of Occupy Wall Street groups. [Note: this issue was reported on exclusively by DBA/CMD in December, 2012.]
• The report is authored by Beau Hodai, DBA Press publisher and Center for Media and Democracy contributor.

Read the full report and Appendix Sourcewatch.org.

Read the full report on DBA Press at http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=qvMlTLYYCrNA%2F%2FAj7w65rWFLLjZzKq07 and view the document archive on DBA Press at http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=tawrnjNZDzstcL5sQs%2FPSGFLLjZzKq07.

In addition to the report, PR Watch will be publishing articles extracted from the report throughout the week at PRwatch.org.

Commentary

Glenn Greenwald is a columnist for The Guardian, a former constitutional lawyer and the author of four books, most recently “With Liberty and Justice for Some.”

May 21, 2013 www.nytimes.com

President Obama has repeatedly hailed himself for presiding over “the most transparent administration ever.” At the same time, he has waged a sustained and unprecedented war on whistleblowers, press freedoms and the basic mechanisms of the newsgathering process.

But it is the administration of Barack Obama that has prosecuted more accused leakers under “espionage” statutes than all prior administrations combined — in fact, double the number of all prior such prosecutions.

This is the vital context in which the Obama Justice Department’s conduct regarding both The A.P. and Fox News’ James Rosen must be understood. Time and again, this administration has proven that it has little other than contempt for time-honored protections to safeguard whistleblowing and transparency.

It tried to impose a lengthy prison term on Thomas Drake, a former National Security Agency official who exposed serious agency corruption and wrongdoing, only for its case to fall apart shortly before trial. A formal United Nations investigation found that its detention treatment of Bradley Manning, who exposed multiple acts of serious government deceit and wrongdoing, was so abusive that it amounted to “cruel and inhuman” treatment.

While President Obama aggressively protected Bush officials from any liability for the creation of a worldwide torture regime, his Justice Department prosecuted and imprisoned a former C.I.A. official, John Kiriakou, who publicly condemned torture. It has convened a grand jury to criminally investigate WikiLeaks for doing what media outlets do every day — publishing classified information that it received a from a government source — and to do so, embraced a theory of criminality pioneered by Richard Nixon when he sought to prosecute a New York Times reporter for publishing the Pentagon Papers.

In The A.P. case, the Obama Justice Department flagrantly violated long-standing procedures, and its own internal guidelines, by obtaining weeks of office and home telephone records of multiple A.P. journalists without notifying the media organization in advance, thus depriving them of the opportunity to obtain a court ruling on the propriety of the government’s actions. And now, in the most disturbing episode yet, it has formally accused another journalist, Fox’s Rosen, of being a “conspirator” in a serious felony for doing nothing more than what investigative journalists do every day: work with their government sources to receive classified information that they can then publish for their readers.

This now-lengthy pattern has two primary effects. First, it creates a serious climate of fear in which investigative journalists are finding it increasingly difficult to do their job — informing citizens about the secret actions of political leaders — because everyone involved in that process is petrified of government persecution. As The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer put it in a New Republic article detailing the harm done to journalism: “It’s a huge impediment to reporting, and so chilling isn’t quite strong enough, it’s more like freezing the whole process into a standstill.”

Second, it establishes a standard where the only information the public can learn is what the U.S. government wants it to know, which is another way of saying that a classic propaganda model has been created.

The 2008 version of Candidate Obama was absolutely right when he decreed that government whistleblowers are engaged in “acts of courage and patriotism” that “should be encouraged rather than stifled.” The presidential version of Obama is wrong — dangerously so — in his still escalating assault on the sources and journalists who make that possible.

Local

SANTA FE, NM – The City of Santa Fe Fire Department announces fire restrictions and says it will strictly enforce them. Fire restrictions include: fireworks in the dangerous category, open burning, smoking, and motorized ATVs/motorcycles on city owned open space, parks, trails, or other recreational areas due to severe drought conditions and progressively worsening wildland fire conditions. The fire restrictions will remain in effect until further notice. City fire officials will continue to monitor the risks and reassess as conditions change.

“I implore all city residents to abide by these fire restrictions,” said Reynaldo Gonzales, Fire Marshal for the City of Santa Fe. “It only takes a spark to ignite a fire in these dry conditions. These restrictions are in place to protect people, property and our city.”

In order to preserve lives and property during these emergency conditions, the City of Santa Fe Fire Department shall prohibit the following activities until further notice:

• Open Burning – All open burning, including camp fires, bonfires, pit barbecues, and the burning of weeds, trash, or other vegetation is prohibited.
• All burn permit requests are being rejected until weather conditions improve and the fire danger has been reduced significantly.
• Smoking – No smoking in public parks, recreation areas, or on any public trail.
• Motorized ATV’s or Motorcycles –The use of any motorized ATV’s or motorcycles on City owned open space, parks, trails, or other recreational areas is prohibited.
• Barbecue Grills – The use of charcoal barbecue grills in public parks and recreation areas is prohibited.

Charcoal barbecuing at home will be permitted providing the fire is closely monitored and fire-extinguishing equipment, such as a garden hose or fire extinguisher, is readily available.
All fireworks that fall in the dangerous firework category are prohibited:
Dangerous fireworks means any firecracker, roman candle, skyrocket, torpedo, bomb, blank cartridge, cone-shape fountain, bottle rocket and flyer or any other type or form of explosive; any item that is self-propelling or the effect of which extends above fifteen feet (15′) in height from the ground; or any article which produces a report by combustion, explosion or detonation.

Fireworks that fall in the safe and sane fireworks firework category are permitted for sale and use.
Safe and sane fireworks means all fireworks that have no report, that are not self-propelling and the effect of which does not extend above fifteen feet (15′) in height from the ground, including the following:

• Snakes, total pyrotechnic composition not to exceed twenty (20) grams each in weight;
• Smoke devices and spray balls, total pyrotechnic composition not to exceed twenty-five (25) grams each in weight;
• Wheels, total pyrotechnic composition not to exceed sixty (60) grams in weight per driver unit, but any number of drivers may be on any one wheel. The inside bore of driver tubes shall not be over one-half inch (1/2″);
• Illuminating torches and colored fire in any form, total pyrotechnic composition of illuminating torches not to exceed one hundred (100) grams each in weight;
• Sparklers and dipped sticks, total pyrotechnic composition not to exceed one hundred (100) gains in weight. Pyrotechnic composition containing any chlorate or perchlorate shall not exceed five (5) grams;
• Cylindrical fountains, total pyrotechnic composition not to exceed seventy-five (75) grams each in weight. ‘Me inside tube diameter shall not exceed three-fourths inch (3/4″);
• Railway fuses, fuses, truck flares, hardship distress signals, smoke candles, smoke signals and smoke pots; and
• All other fireworks similar to the above provided they are tested and approved by the chief of the fire department.

The City of Santa Fe Fire Department has the authority to impose additional fire restrictions as per the International Fire Code® as adopted by § 12-2.1 of the Santa Fe City Code (SFCC). Penalties for violating these restrictions may include fines up to $500 and/or up to 90 days in jail as specified in SFCC 1-3.1(A).

Border

Environment

Restoring the Rio Grande: an update on SWEC’s efforts to restore native fishes to an (often) dry river

Our La Mancha Project near Mesilla that will restore year-round habitat for fish, frogs and other wildlife has been on hold for the past two years (!) while we wait for the State Engineer to process an application submitted May 17, 2011 by the City of Las Cruces that would provide the project with groundwater rights. However, we hear the State Engineer has hired new staff and that the application is finally being reviewed, so hopefully we can resume work soon and complete the project in 2013.

Meanwhile, we are investigating the feasibility of doing a similar project along the river in Sunland Park in partnership with the International Boundary and Water Commission. A site visit with Dr. Michael Hatch (co-author, Fishes of New Mexico) confirmed the potential of the site for creating another year-round refugium for native fish species, taking advantage of perennial flows in that 3-mile reach of the river that result from the combined discharge of an agricultural drain and the Sunland Park wastewater treatment plant. See photos here: http://www.wildmesquite.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=10834&qid=356155.

SWEC is always looking for water rights to support our restoration projects. If you have EBID water rights that you would like to donate permanently or on a year-to-year basis, please contact Kevin Bixby at kevin@wildmesquite.org or (575) 522-5552. Please contact us if you would like to volunteer for these projects as well.

Good News for Mexican Wolves

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently released two pairs of Mexican wolves into the wild, one in Arizona and the other in New Mexico. This is great news for lobos. It will provide a much-needed infusion of genes into the wild population and we commend the agency for doing it. However, considering the small size of the population (now about 79) and that only one wolf had been released previously in more than 4 years, it is not nearly enough, which is why SWEC and other conservation groups will continue to press FWS to release more wolves from the captive population as quickly as possible, especially into unoccupied wolf habitat in New Mexico.  Read more and see photos here: http://www.wildmesquite.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=10828&qid=356155.

Last Back by Noon Outing of Spring—Birding along the Rio Grande, 5/11

Join professional photographer and expert birder (and SWEC board member!) Ken Stinnett on the final Back by Noon outing of the spring to the Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, one of Southern New Mexico’s best birding spots. Spring migration will be in full swing, so we have a good chance of spotting a variety of spring warblers. Bring binoculars if you’ve got them! RATING: Easy. Call (575) 522-5552 to register. More info here: http://www.wildmesquite.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=10829&qid=356155.

Our Friends in the Desert: Living With Snakes—May 14th, 7 pm

Snakes are becoming active–no need for panic! Herpetologist Frank Bryce will talk about the reptiles we share the desert with, how to identify the most common species of rattlesnakes, and what to do if you find one on your porch. He’ll bring in live specimens (in cages!) to help with identification. Read more here: http://www.wildmesquite.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=10826&qid=353884.

Raft the Rio is coming!

The 16th annual Raft the Rio will be held on Saturday, June 15th. Save the date, and start building your boats! We are looking for volunteers to help run this great event, as well as sponsors to make it happen! Call (575) 522-5552 for information.

Southwest Environmental Center
275 N. Downtown Mall
Las Cruces, NM 88001
United States
www.wildmesquite.org