[News] FBI Ranks Black, Environmental Activists A Bigger Threat Than Al Qaeda

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/FBI-Ranks-Black-Activists-A-Bigger-Threat-Than-Al-Qaeda-20190815-0022.html 



  FBI Ranks Black, Environmental Activists A Bigger Threat Than Al Qaeda

August 15, 2019
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leaked documents 
<https://www.scribd.com/document/421166393/FBI-Strategy-Guide-FY2018-20-and-Threat-Guidance-for-Racial-Extremists> 
from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation show that 
so-called "black identity extremists,” animal right, environmental and 
anti-authority activists are ranked at the top of the agency’s 
counterterrorism priorities under President Donald Trump.

The leaked 2018-19 "Threat Guidance" FBI documents obtained exclusively 
by The Young Turks 
<https://tyt.com/stories/4vZLCHuQrYE4uKagy0oyMA/mnzAKMpdtiZ7AcYLd5cRR>, 
many of which are marked “Law Enforcement Sensitive” and “For Official 
Use Only,” label these activists a bigger threat than terror groups such 
as Al Qaeda o white supremacists, despite not citing any single specific 
attack.

“These documents show the FBI wasted resources to target Black people 
because of protected First Amendment activities,” Deputy Director of the 
ACLU’s racial justice program, Nusrat Choudhury,  said.

Every year the FBI updates its Consolidated Strategy Guide, which lists 
the agency’s priorities in numerous domains such as counterterrorism, 
counterintelligence, and cybercrime.

In 2017’s guide, the term “Black Identity Extremists” was introduced as 
a designation to single out Black people who are protesting police 
brutality and campaigning for racial justice.

Two years later, the FBI had replaced the label with the designation 
“Racially Motivated Extremism,” according to the Bureau’s FY2018-20 
counterterrorism strategy guides obtained by The Young Turks.

    Today in the United States, Black men and boys have a 1 in 1,000
    chance of being killed by police over the course of their lives.

    We must honor Michael Brown’s memory by committing to the real work
    it will require to be better.

    — ACLU (@ACLU) August 9, 2019
    <https://twitter.com/ACLU/status/1159868537906880513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>


“Black Identity Extremists label is baseless, and earlier this year, 
bureau director Wray testified that the label is no longer in use.  But, 
based on these documents, it appears that the FBI simply renamed the 
label,” ACLU’s Choudhury added.

The leaked documents also go on to detail a strategy against these 
“threats” under the codename “Iron Fist.” They suggest the Bureau uses 
undercover agents and other surveillance techniques to "mitigate" the 
groups and people in them, including exploiting the felony status of 
some members.

“There is no indication that Iron Fist or any other programs used to 
target Black people for surveillance have been dismantled. Instead, 
these documents suggest that the FBI under Trump continues to prioritize 
criminalizing Black dissent while minimizing the threat of white 
supremacy,” said Steven Renderos, co-director of MediaJustice.

According to the Young Turks, the 2018 threat guidance strongly suggests 
that the “Black Identity Extremist” term emerged from the Black Lives 
Matter movement, the 2014 shooting of black teen Michael Brown in 
Ferguson, Missouri, and its aftermath.

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20190815/026a6f59/attachment.htm>