<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<div class="container content-width3" style="--font-size:20px;">
<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/FBI-Ranks-Black-Activists-A-Bigger-Threat-Than-Al-Qaeda-20190815-0022.html">https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/FBI-Ranks-Black-Activists-A-Bigger-Threat-Than-Al-Qaeda-20190815-0022.html</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">FBI Ranks Black, Environmental
Activists A Bigger Threat Than Al Qaeda</h1>
August 15, 2019</div>
<hr>
<div class="content">
<div class="moz-reader-content line-height4 reader-show-element">
<div id="readability-page-1" class="page">
<div>
<p>Leaked <a
href="https://www.scribd.com/document/421166393/FBI-Strategy-Guide-FY2018-20-and-Threat-Guidance-for-Racial-Extremists"
target="_blank">documents</a> 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.</p>
<p>The leaked 2018-19 "Threat Guidance" FBI documents
obtained exclusively by <a
href="https://tyt.com/stories/4vZLCHuQrYE4uKagy0oyMA/mnzAKMpdtiZ7AcYLd5cRR"
target="_blank">The Young Turks</a>, 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.</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>Every year the FBI updates its Consolidated Strategy
Guide, which lists the agency’s priorities in numerous
domains such as counterterrorism, counterintelligence,
and cybercrime. </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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. </p>
<div>
<div>
<blockquote data-conversation="none">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
<p>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.</p>
<p> We must honor Michael Brown’s memory by
committing to the real work it will require to
be better.</p>
</div>
— ACLU (@ACLU) <a
href="https://twitter.com/ACLU/status/1159868537906880513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August
9, 2019</a> </blockquote>
</div>
</div>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://freedomarchives.org/">https://freedomarchives.org/</a>
</div>
</body>
</html>