In February, 2009, members of the Islamic Center of Irvine learned that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had hired Craig Monteilh, a 46-year-old fitness instructor and convicted con man, to infiltrate their mosque and keep it under surveillance. Members had wondered about Monteilh for a while. Back in 2007, the local chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), alarmed by his talk of jihad and plans for a terrorist attack, reported him to Irvine police and secured a three-year restraining order against him.
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Police tactics are increasingly suppressing free speech.
(Christopher Bernard/iStockphoto) |
From Movements to Mosques, Informants Endanger Democracy
by Thomas Cincotta
The Public Eye Magazine, Summer 2009
In February, 2009, members of the Islamic Center of Irvine learned that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had hired Craig Monteilh, a 46-year-old fitness instructor and convicted con man, to infiltrate their mosque and keep it under surveillance. Members had wondered about Monteilh for a while. Back in 2007, the local chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), alarmed by his talk of jihad and plans for a terrorist attack, reported him to Irvine police and secured a three-year restraining order against him. Read more...
First Amendment Blues
Police Tactics Suppress Free Speech
by Heidi Boghosian and Abby Scher
The Public Eye magazine, Winter 2007
Miles Swanson was a legal observer at the 2003 protests in Miami against the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas when he became victim of a "snatch squad," a new police tactic where officers drag protestors off, having singled them out based on their perceived political ideology. It is unconstitutional to target someone for arrest based on their political views, but snatch squads are only one of many new government tactics that are chilling Americans' free speech rights. These measures are rarely passed by Congress or a state legislature, but are devised and adopted informally through expanding networks of police agencies. Now lawyers are learning from past abuses to try to protect protestors attending the Republican and Democratic conventions next summer. Read more…
The New Witch Hunt Islamophobia and Muslim bashing are having civil liberties implications.
Leaderless Counterterrorism Strategy
Beyond the Sageman-Hoffman dispute are
questions of public policy and civil liberties. Read more...
Conventional Dissent
Free Speech in the Streets
In NYC, during the 2004 Republican National Convention, police violated the rights of thousands of protestors. We talk with people who exposed the abuses, and lawyers in the cities where the Democratic and Republican conventions will be held this summer, as they fight to prevent similar tactics. Abby Scher, Editor of Public Eye, presents this half-hour report for the nationally syndicated radio show Making Contact. Read more...
COINTELPRO Archive
A collection of documents detailing FBI surveillance and disruption projects in various cities. Read more...
On Civil Liberties
The current erosion of civil liberties in the United States began well before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001; and extends far beyond the draconian provisions of the Patriot Act. Looking back into this nation's history, we see deep trends in political repression; the tendency of government agencies to over-react in times of crisis; and its use of demonization, scapegoating and other ideological frameworks to mobilize public opinion in support of measures that undermine or erase basic Constitutional rights, such as freedom of speech, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, and the right to a fair trial.
Political Research Associates produces and archives materials that help those defending civil liberties understand this recent history as well as theories of political repression. Our collection includes extensive archived material on COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program), the FBI's postwar spying program on the black power, student, anti-war, socialist and other movements, and analysis of how the government and its allies use the rubric of "terrorism" as a scare tactic to justify its repressive techniques and policies.
Concerns about repression can hamper effective organizing, For basic security precautions, Security for Activists offers useful advice.
Flashback
COINTELPRO
What the (Deleted) Was It?
by Mark Ryter
The Public Eye, Vol. I No. 2, 1978
