Cleveland Occupy arrests are the latest in FBI's pattern of manipulation [View all]

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Cleveland Occupy arrests are the latest in FBI's pattern of manipulation
The FBI says the five arrested before May Day are terrorists, but friends in Cleveland say they were goaded on by informant

Arun Gupta
guardian.co.uk, Monday 28 May 2012


Like real-life Avengers, the FBI and 23 separate police agencies joined forces and pounced on a band of villains hell-bent on sowing chaos in a sleepy Midwest suburb earlier this month. The FBI reassured the world that thanks to the "swift collaborative action" of law enforcement, it had rounded up five "self-proclaimed anarchists … intent on using violence to express their ideological views" by attempting to blow up a bridge near Cleveland on May Day.

Now, the Cleveland Five look more like bedraggled punks than diabolical geniuses, but surely doom was averted in the nick of time. In fact, the G-Men admit the exact opposite: "At no time during the course of the investigation was the public ever in danger."

So if there was no threat, what really happened? This case was a familiar set-up in which the FBI fishes for dupes it can manipulate with informants and agents who stroke their marks, plant ideas, suggest the plans, provide money, weapons, vehicles and then heroically foil a terrorist act of the FBI's own design. Since September 11, scores of these entrapment cases have been sprung on Muslims in America. It appears the Occupy Wall Street movement is now worthy of the same treatment.

And why not? The FBI's top priority is counter-terrorism, and it has an $8bn budget to justify, which is close to Taiwan's annual military expenditures. Springing terrorism traps makes it appear that if not for the FBI, America would descend into Middle East-style mayhem. For informants, there is the lure of cash and leniency for felonies. For agents, it means career advancement. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/may/28/cleveland-occupy-arrests-fbi-manipulation