General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDHS spying on pipeline opponents and forwarding info to Transcanada.
The infiltration of the Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance action camp and pre-emption of the Cushing protest is part of a larger pattern of government surveillance of tar sands protesters. According to other documents obtained by Earth Island Journal under an Open Records Act request, Department of Homeland Security staff has been keeping close tabs on pipeline opponents — and routinely sharing that information with TransCanada, and vice versa.
In March TransCanada gave a briefing on corporate security to a Criminal Intelligence Analyst with the Oklahoma Information Fusion Center, the state level branch of Homeland Security. The conversation took place just as the action camp was getting underway. The following day, Diane Hogue, the Center’s Intelligence Analyst, asked TransCanada to review and comment on the agency’s classified situational awareness bulletin. Michael Nagina, Corporate Security Advisor for TransCanada, made two small suggestions and wrote, “With the above changes I am comfortable with the content.”
Then, in an email to TransCanada on March 19 (the second day of the action camp) Hogue seems to refer to the undercover investigation taking place. “Our folks in the area say there are between 120-150 participants,” Hogue wrote in an email to Nagina. (The Oklahoma Information Fusion Center declined to comment for this story.)
It is unclear if the information gathered at the training camp was shared directly with TransCanada. However, the company was given access to the Fusion Center’s situational awareness bulletin just a few days before the Cushing action was scheduled to take place.
In an emailed statement, TransCanada spokesperson Shawn Howard did not directly address the Tar Sands Resistance training camp. Howard described law enforcement as being interested in what the company has done to prepare for activities designed to “slow approval or construction” of the pipeline project. “When we are asked to share what we have learned or are prepared for, we are there to share our experience – not direct law enforcement,” he wrote.
http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/eListRead/undercover_agents_infiltrated_tar_sands_resistance_camp_to_break_up_planned/
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)Gets to where you can't even keep track of it all anymore.
This one seems to be a clear case of government & private industry in collusion.
Not that such a thing is a surprise.
postulater
(5,075 posts)
Deny and Shred
(1,061 posts)Dismantle organized protest. It is a noose that has been closing slowly. They push the 4th Ammendment envelope, and blatantly profile. Of all the "criminals" to target, they focus on Occupy, medical MJ and environmental activists, yet no stories of the infiltration of brazenly militant right wing militias who make specific threats and carry weapons to most get-togethers. Disturbing.
Great article, thanks.
kenny blankenship
(15,689 posts)It only acts against troublemakers. isn't that just what it keeps trying to tell you? Don't protest anything. Don't sign anything (except petitions wishing our President a Happy Birthday!) Keep your head down and you will have nothing to fear! Unless they make a mistake and come to the wrong house.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)Sure fits that definition to a tee.
Divernan
(15,480 posts)Alex: So, Nuclear Dem, which category would you like?
ND: I'll take "Former governors making hundreds of thousands per year serving as corporate board members", for $1,000, Alex.
Alex: Very good. Name the soon-to-be-one-term, former Pennsylvania governor popularly referred to by his constituents as the Frack Ho.
ND: That would be Tom Corbett of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania!
Alex: Correctamundo!
Downwinder
(12,869 posts)Last edited Tue Aug 13, 2013, 01:35 AM - Edit history (1)
G_j
(40,569 posts)that is unless you plan to protest or resist...
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Post their pictures in a facebook group and ask if anybody has ever seen these people work for law enforcement...
historylovr
(1,557 posts)This just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Not.
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)in the Tar Sands Resistance movement, who could then be targeted by other law enforcement action.
I'm sure Occupy was similarly monitored and targeted. Thus is the usefulness of the NSA surveillance program demonstrated.
The question is: useful to whom? Not us.
grilled onions
(1,957 posts)An Indian looks at the "sacred" land and water only to see it polluted and a tear runs down his face. Here we are decades later with pollutions not even dreamt of then with people still trying to save this land yet they are looked upon as the enemy,the ones who are stalling progress.
JEB
(4,748 posts)WillyT
(72,631 posts)
Swede Atlanta
(3,596 posts)Our government which is owned by monied interests is using technology and their immense power to monitor everything we do. It wouldn't surprise me if they wouldn't track how many bowel movements I have every day if there was a way for their corporate pay masters to benefit from that information.
We live in a fascist state whether it is DHS spying on those opposed to the pipeline from hell to listening in on our e-mails, phone calls, etc. without any PROBABLE CAUSE.
The concept of probable cause was added to our Constitution by our Founding Fathers because they feared a runaway government that used its powers to benefit itself.
Well now that government and corporate interests are joined (the classic definition of fascism), our government uses its powers to benefit "us".
They could care less about the people of this country. This is all about making money and holding onto and exercising power to beat down the people.
Unfortunately Obama seems to believe in this form of government. He has been at the helm for nearly 5 years and it continues. I understand there are entrenched interests that may be very difficult to dislodge but he doesn't even seem to care.
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)Swede Atlanta
(3,596 posts)These cretins have no integrity. They would sell their mothers for a dime if they could.
Why is it that in this country everything is about money and power? It is a sickness that is called UNBRIDLED CAPITALISM....
DevonRex
(22,541 posts)Texas & OK from what I could see, FBI & DEA. Mayne Federal DHS was in there bit i skipped over it. It was an undercover operation into protesters. They shared the information they got, I guess.
dkf
(37,305 posts)DevonRex
(22,541 posts)Using NSA for that? Seriously?
So, you've talked to me quite a bit over the years, right? You know I was with ATF and before that I was with military intelligence in SIGINT. Long time ago.
What you're looking at there with those protesters is an ordinary operation. The only thing that makes it different is that Texas and OK Homeland Security are involved. Because it's oil. Those departments have a lot of money, believe me. And their own intelligence setups. Sure, they might have tried to use them. But it would have been massive overkill. Boys playing with their toys.
My take is there was much less Fed involvement than the author knows, just because of the location and because I've worked those states as a Fed myself. You have to be real careful not to overstep. They don't like the Feds. But they do like the pipeline.
dkf
(37,305 posts)If that is eventually deemed unconstitutional when they finally let it be reviewed how does it affect every domestic case where it has been used?
Data is data and it swims together with all other data collected.
DevonRex
(22,541 posts)Pretending to be activists infiltrated the camp. The camp is a couple of tents.
We aren't talking NSA material here. If they could get a cell phone signal out there the protesters were lucky.
dkf
(37,305 posts)I would bet you they ran queries on participants through the databases. Do you think that is more or less likely? Do you think it is impossible the federal government has dossiers on participants?
DevonRex
(22,541 posts)This is a law enforcement operation with 2 undercover cops on the inside of a group of nice protesters. Law enforcement ran the standard background checks on their regular databases just like they do for any other investigation.
This one just can't be made into something it's not. Because the protesters are a small group of nice people just doing what they can. Which isn't much.
Law enforcement was probably hoping to make more of it. They always do. Especially in bumfuck OK and TX. They get bored. They also want promotions, something to put on their resumes. This investigation wasn't it.
No disrespect to OK and TX meant there. It's the unpopulated nature of the area I was talking about, not exactly being a hotbed of criminal activity for a young officer wanting to prove him/herself. It's the nature of LE. They like investigations that are complicated where nobody gets hurt.
dkf
(37,305 posts)
muriel_volestrangler
(106,212 posts)The undated documents show that federal agents are trained to "recreate" the investigative trail to effectively cover up where the information originated, a practice that some experts say violates a defendant's Constitutional right to a fair trial. If defendants don't know how an investigation began, they cannot know to ask to review potential sources of exculpatory evidence - information that could reveal entrapment, mistakes or biased witnesses.
...
The unit of the DEA that distributes the information is called the Special Operations Division, or SOD. Two dozen partner agencies comprise the unit, including the FBI, CIA, NSA, Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Homeland Security. It was created in 1994 to combat Latin American drug cartels and has grown from several dozen employees to several hundred.
...
"Remember that the utilization of SOD cannot be revealed or discussed in any investigative function," a document presented to agents reads. The document specifically directs agents to omit the SOD's involvement from investigative reports, affidavits, discussions with prosecutors and courtroom testimony. Agents are instructed to then use "normal investigative techniques to recreate the information provided by SOD."
...
After an arrest was made, agents then pretended that their investigation began with the traffic stop, not with the SOD tip, the former agent said. The training document reviewed by Reuters refers to this process as "parallel construction."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/us-dea-sod-idUSBRE97409R20130805
The point is we know the government agencies lie to criminal courts and defense lawyers about their sources, so we can assume they lie in freedom of information requests too.
DevonRex
(22,541 posts)doing it so badly they got kicked out.
2. The title of this article is deliberately misleading. This is the story of state homeland security agencies being courted by TransCanada. In Texas and OK oil is a big deal, so law enforcement kisses their ass and Anadarko's ass.
3. There was NO Federal involvement in this situation whatsoever, even though the author of the piece tried very hard to imply it. As in talking about supposedly "close ties" even though the FBI agents declined this meeting:
"For example, in an exchange with FBI agents in South Dakota, TransCanada’s Corporate Security Advisor, Michael Nagina, jokes that, “I can be the cure for insomnia so sure hope you can still attend!” Although they were unable to make the Nebraska meeting, one of the agents responded, “Assuming approval of the pipeline, we would like to get together to discuss a timeline for installation through our territory.”
http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/eListRead/undercover_agents_infiltrated_tar_sands_resistance_camp_to_break_up_planned/
The agent in question was obviously thinking ahead to possible security concerns, which is a normal FBI concern over politically sensitive events.
In addition, the author apparently finds something dark and insidious in the fact that former law enforcement officials are in charge of security, making sure to throw in that one was with DEA. I have news for her. Agents who retire after only twenty years on the job often go on to security positions.
In short, there is no there there. PowerPoint presentations by TransCanada? That's what corporate security does. Bungling OK Sheriff's deputies getting kicked out of protester training camp? Priceless.
Divernan
(15,480 posts)And by the by, despite desperately spinning claims to the contrary, elsewhere on DU, presidents don't "give up" executive power - they delegate it, or they ignore their sworn duty to exercise it. Re for any activity by any federal administrative agency, the buck still stops in the Oval Office.
(I don't know how to do the sarcasm thingy)
GiaGiovanni
(1,247 posts)I thought they were protecting us from terrorism.
Divernan
(15,480 posts)GiaGiovanni
(1,247 posts)Then, can I get my taxpayer dollars back?
Divernan
(15,480 posts)As comedian John Oliver commented:
"I think the best analogy for where we are right now is that America is Elvis Presley - the most beautiful, talented, rebellious nation in the history of the Earth. And now, we're in our Vegas years. We've squeezed ourself into a white jumpsuit, we're wheezing our way through 'Love Me Tender' and we may be about to pass away bloated on the toilet. But we're still the King!"
U$A! U$A!, U$A!
Maybe Made In America means the government our corporations manufacture and then sell to us.
(barring a few friends that jumped off and ran away from the assembly line...)
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)And everyone that any of these people has ever called or contacted. All must be monitored and tracked and databased. Every call, every email, every website, every TV show watched and porn site visited.
It's the only way to keep us safe.
Response to dkf (Original post)
Post removed
leveymg
(36,418 posts)Fact is, most of the harm infiltrators do is provocation and instigation of actions that provide a pretext to bust up the group and arrest members. Don't do their job for them. Nothing is more frustrating for a police agent provocateur than for incitement to violence to be met with disciplined nonviolent resistance.
There is some pleasure in contemplating the alternative, granted. 
leveymg
(36,418 posts)They had their mitts on the membership records. Infiltration, disruption and coordination with industry and conservative groups have been SOP against "radicals" in America going back to 1880s.
leftstreet
(40,681 posts)Marr
(20,317 posts)sway me. Our government seems to operate as an enforcement arm for big business far too often.
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)These fusion centers. Betcha when we Pipeline protesters get assigned to a spot inside one of those, there will be spas, and day treatments like facials, massages, etc.
I'll finally see a return on my taxes!
Taitertots
(7,745 posts)Strangely enough the armed mob (tea baggers) doesn't seem to be held to the same scrutiny as other groups.