Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
White Noise: On Suspicious Activities Like Speaking Excitedly, Taking Pictures of Malls or Buying La
http://www.commondreams.org/further/2013/09/20-2White Noise: On Suspicious Activities Like Speaking Excitedly, Taking Pictures of Malls or Buying Large Amounts of Water While Brown-Skinned
by Abby Zimet
09.20.13 - 5:02 PM
Sorry, but it's not just electronic. A newly disclosed trove of "suspicious activity reports" filed by police at surveillance hubs, or fusion centers, under the post 9/11 "if you see something, say something" rubric - aka: be afraid, be very afraid - shows that domestic intelligence agencies spend much of their time and our money on racial profiling, privacy violations and dumb tips about people who may or may not be of Middle Eastern descent taking pictures of bridges or other things considered "not typical" by law enforcement officers who'd probably do us all a big favor if they got a real job. The ACLU published scores of summaries of real Suspicious Activity Reports from two California fusion centers, and they are doozies: "Suspicious ME (Middle Eastern) males buy several large pallets of water," a "Middle Eastern male adult physician who is very unfriendly," a "male artist (who) enjoys photographing buildings in industrial areas," a "suspicious upside down American flag seen on big rig," a "suspicious gathering" of individuals "of what appear to be Muslim faith," a neighbor, one of 4 young clean cut Middle Eastern males, speaking excitedly in a foreign language," etc. Your tax dollars at work. The ACLU and 26 other organizations have called on the Justice Department, FBI and other agencies to set reasonable standards for "suspicious" activity so that innocent people who happen to like taking pictures of dams or shopping centers won't land in anti-terrorism databases for the rest of their lives. And so that our increasingly frayed Constitution might survive.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
4 replies, 1412 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (19)
ReplyReply to this post
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
White Noise: On Suspicious Activities Like Speaking Excitedly, Taking Pictures of Malls or Buying La (Original Post)
unhappycamper
Sep 2013
OP
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)1. "Speaking excitedly?"
I've wondered about the mobile SWAT team that's been following me 24/7. Thanks for clearing it up.
sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)2. Fair is fair.
If you get to snoop on me I should get to snoop back.
Response to unhappycamper (Original post)
allan01 This message was self-deleted by its author.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,032 posts)4. Permanent Doufus Employment Act. nt