FBI DOCUMENTS REVEAL SECRET NATIONWIDE OCCUPY MONITORING

FBI DOCUMENTS REVEAL SECRET NATIONWIDE OCCUPY MONITORING

Postby admin » Wed Jan 13, 2016 7:45 am

FBI DOCUMENTS REVEAL SECRET NATIONWIDE OCCUPY MONITORING
by The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund
December 22, 2012

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.




Occupy Crackdown FOIA Requests

FBI documents just obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) pursuant to the PCJF’s Freedom of Information Act demands reveal that from its inception, the FBI treated the Occupy movement as a potential criminal and terrorist threat even though the agency acknowledges in documents that organizers explicitly called for peaceful protest and did “not condone the use of violence” at occupy protests.

The PCJF has obtained heavily redacted documents showing that FBI offices and agents around the country were in high gear conducting surveillance against the movement even as early as August 2011, a month prior to the establishment of the OWS encampment in Zuccotti Park and other Occupy actions around the country.

“This production, which we believe is just the tip of the iceberg, is a window into the nationwide scope of the FBI’s surveillance, monitoring, and reporting on peaceful protestors organizing with the Occupy movement,” stated Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Executive Director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF). “These documents show that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are treating protests against the corporate and banking structure of America as potential criminal and terrorist activity. These documents also show these federal agencies functioning as a de facto intelligence arm of Wall Street and Corporate America.”

“The documents are heavily redacted, and it is clear from the production that the FBI is withholding far more material. We are filing an appeal challenging this response and demanding full disclosure to the public of the records of this operation,” stated Heather Benno, staff attorney with the PCJF.

• As early as August 19, 2011, the FBI in New York was meeting with the New York Stock Exchange to discuss the Occupy Wall Street protests that wouldn’t start for another month. By September, prior to the start of the OWS, the FBI was notifying businesses that they might be the focus of an OWS protest.

• The FBI’s Indianapolis division released a “Potential Criminal Activity Alert” on September 15, 2011, even though they acknowledged that no specific protest date had been scheduled in Indiana. The documents show that the Indianapolis division of the FBI was coordinating with “All Indiana State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies,” as well as the “Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center,” the FBI “Directorate of Intelligence” and other national FBI coordinating mechanisms.

• Documents show the spying abuses of the FBI’s “Campus Liaison Program” in which the FBI in Albany and the Syracuse Joint Terrorism Task Force disseminated information to “sixteen (16) different campus police officials,” and then “six (6) additional campus police officials.” Campus officials were in contact with the FBI for information on OWS. A representative of the State University of New York at Oswego contacted the FBI for information on the OWS protests and reported to the FBI on the SUNY-Oswego Occupy encampment made up of students and professors.

• Documents released show coordination between the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and corporate America. They include a report by the Domestic Security Alliance Council (DSAC), described by the federal government as “a strategic partnership between the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the private sector,” discussing the OWS protests at the West Coast ports to “raise awareness concerning this type of criminal activity.” The DSAC report shows the nature of secret collaboration between American intelligence agencies and their corporate clients -- the document contains a “handling notice” that the information is “meant for use primarily within the corporate security community. Such messages shall not be released in either written or oral form to the media, the general public or other personnel…” (The DSAC document was also obtained by the Northern California ACLU which has sought local FBI surveillance files.)

• Naval Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS) reported to the DSAC on the relationship between OWS and organized labor for the port actions. The NCIS describes itself as “an elite worldwide federal law enforcement organization” whose “mission is to investigate and defeat criminal, terrorist, and foreign intelligence threats to the United States Navy and Marine Corps ashore, afloat and in cyberspace.” The NCIS also assists with the transport of Guantanamo prisoners.

• DSAC issued several tips to its corporate clients on “civil unrest” which it defines as ranging from “small, organized rallies to large-scale demonstrations and rioting.” It advised to dress conservatively, avoid political discussions and “avoid all large gatherings related to civil issues. Even seemingly peaceful rallies can spur violent activity or be met with resistance by security forces. Bystanders may be arrested or harmed by security forces using water cannons, tear gas or other measures to control crowds.”

• The FBI in Anchorage reported from a Joint Terrorism Task Force meeting of November 3, 2011, about Occupy activities in Anchorage.

• A port Facility Security Officer in Anchorage coordinated with the FBI to attend the meeting of protestors and gain intelligence on the planning of the port actions. He was advised to request the presence of an Anchorage Police Department official to also attend the event. The FBI Special Agent told the undercover private operative that he would notify the Joint Terrorism Task Force and that he would provide a point of contact at the Anchorage Police Department.

• The Jacksonville, Florida FBI prepared a Domestic Terrorism briefing on the “spread of the Occupy Wall Street Movement” in October 2011. The intelligence meeting discussed Occupy venues identifying “Daytona, Gainesville and Ocala Resident Agency territories as portions …where some of the highest unemployment rates in Florida continue to exist.”

• The Tampa, Florida FBI “Domestic Terrorism” liaison participated with the Tampa Police Department’s monthly intelligence meeting in which Occupy Lakeland, Occupy Polk County and Occupy St. Petersburg were discussed. They reported on an individual “leading the Occupy Tampa” and plans for travel to Gainesville for a protest planning meeting, as well as on Veterans for Peace plans to protest at MacDill Air Force Base.

• The Federal Reserve in Richmond appears to have had personnel surveilling OWS planning. They were in contact with the FBI in Richmond to “pass on information regarding the movement known as occupy Wall Street.” There were repeated communications “to pass on updates of the events and decisions made during the small rallies and the following information received from the Capital Police Intelligence Unit through JTTF (Joint Terrorism Task Force).”

• The Virginia FBI was collecting intelligence on the OWS movement for dissemination to the Virginia Fusion Center and other Intelligence divisions.

• The Milwaukee division of the FBI was coordinating with the Ashwaubenon Public Safety division in Green Bay Wisconsin regarding Occupy.

• The Memphis FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force met to discuss “domestic terrorism” threats, including, “Aryan Nations, Occupy Wall Street, and Anonymous.”

• The Birmingham, AL division of the FBI sent communications to HAZMAT teams regarding the Occupy Wall Street movement.

• The Jackson, Mississippi division of the FBI attended a meeting of the Bank Security Group in Biloxi, MS with multiple private banks and the Biloxi Police Department, in which they discussed an announced protest for “National Bad Bank Sit-In-Day” on December 7, 2011.

• The Denver, CO FBI and its Bank Fraud Working Group met and were briefed on Occupy Wall Street in November 2011. Members of the Working Group include private financial institutions and local area law enforcement.

• Jackson, MS Joint Terrorism Task Force issued a “Counterterrorism Preparedness” alert. This heavily redacted document includes the description, “To document…the Occupy Wall Street Movement.”

You can read the FBI - OWS documents here:

The PCJF filed Freedom of Information Act demands with multiple federal law enforcement agencies in the fall of 2011 as the Occupy crackdown began. The FBI initially attempted to limit its search to only one limited record keeping index. Recognizing this as a common tactic used by the FBI to conduct an inadequate search, the PCJF pressed forward demanding searches be performed of the FBI headquarters as well as FBI field offices nationwide.

The PCJF will continue to push for public disclosure of the government’s spy files and will release documents as they are obtained.
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Re: FBI DOCUMENTS REVEAL SECRET NATIONWIDE OCCUPY MONITORING

Postby admin » Wed Jan 13, 2016 7:47 am

Part 1 of 2

TRANSCRIPTION OF 1178231-000/Occupy Wall Street -- FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FOIA RELEASE
[transcribed from the original documents by Tara Carreon]

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.


UNCLASSIFIED/ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
SITUATIONAL INFORMATION REPORT
Potential Criminal Activity Alert
Indianapolis Division

15 September 2011

"Day of Rage" Activities Planned Nationwide on 17 September 2011

Various online communities and groups have dubbed 17 September 2011 as the Day of Rage and are planning organized protests and assemblies throughout the United States.

[Delete]

Referencing the demonstrations of the 2011 Arab Spring events, the 'US Day of Rage' desires to mimic the revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests which have occurred in the Arab world. The overall goal of the 'US Day of Rage' protests is to conduct unorganized protests in major metropolitan areas with special attention on banking and financial institutions.

Two prominent communities, 'US Day of Rage' and 'Occupy Wall Street', are at the forefront of organizing the events.

The group 'US Day of Rage' (http://www.usdayofrage.org) is calling for "state and national non-violent protests and assemblies of people to demand that integrity be brought back to our [American] elections". While 'US Day of Rage' does not condone the use of violence during the events, their website provides activists with information and training on "direct action, civil disobedience, how to deal with violence, and jailhouse solidarity", suggesting that violence and/or illegal activity is expected by event organizers.'

(U) Law Enforcement Sensitive: This information is the property of the FBI and may be distributed to state, tribal, or local government law enforcement officials with a need-to-know. Further distribution without FBI authorization is prohibited. Precautions should be taken to ensure this information is-stored and/or destroyed in a manner that precludes unauthorized access.

(U) Warning: This is an information report, not finally evaluated intelligence. It is being shared for informational purposes but has not been fully evaluated, integrated with other information, interpreted, or analyzed. Receiving agencies are cautioned not to take actions based solely on this raw reporting unless the information is independently verified. A presumption of innocence still exists for any person being reported on in this report.

(U) Note: This product reflects the views of Indianapolis and has not been vetted by FBI Headquarters.

UNCLASSIFIED/ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE

In July 2011, Adbusters, a self-identified American revolutionary anarchist group, advocated a "take over" of Wall Street in New York City on 17 September 2011. The group 'Occupy Wall Street' (https://occupywallstreet.org) is an online social networking offshoot of the declaration by Adbusters. 'Occupy Wall Street' is calling for "20,000 people to flood into Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, and barricades to occupy Wall Street for a few months." [2] Their primary motivation is to demonstrate against the perceived "greed and corruption" of the US banking and financial sector. [3] In their July 2011 declaration, Adbusters initially intended for the event to occur in New York City only; however, as the movement escalated in popularity over the summer months, unorganized direct action demonstrations are being planned for locations throughout the United States on 17 September 2011. Like 'US Day of Rage,' the group 'Occupy Wall Street' does not openly condone violence or illegal activities; however, their website offers information on "dealing with first responders, chaotic protesting" and suggested that protesters bring "billy clubs and taser guns." [4]

'US Day of Rage' has events planned on 17 September 2011 in multiple US cities, including protests in New York City; Austin, and Charlotte, however, specific details of these protests are currently unknown. While 'US Day of Rage' does not condone the use of violence during the events, their website provides activists with information and training on "direct action, civil disobedience, how to deal with violence, and jailhouse solidarity," suggesting that violence and/or illegal activity is expected by event organizers. [6]

It should be noted that the 'US Day of Rage' website indicates a protest may occur at the Indiana State Capital building; however, no date is associated with the protest. Furthermore, according to their website, 'US Day of Rage' has planned additional protests for 1 October 2011, 6 October 2011, and 15 October 2011 in cities throughout the United States. Again, no date is associated with the Indiana protest.

[Delete]

Law enforcement and public safety officials should remain alert to possible security and public safety issues that may arise as a result of the 17 September 2011 'US Day of Rage' protests and demonstrations. [Delete]

(U) This report has been prepared by the Indianapolis Division of the FBI. Comments and queries may be addressed to the Indianapolis Field Intelligence Group at 317-595-4000.

Distribution

Production Services Unit, Directorate of Intelligence LEO FIG SIG

All Indiana State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies

FBI Intranet

Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center

Endnotes:

1. [Delete]

2. [Delete]

3. [Delete]

4. [Delete]

5. [Delete]

6. [Delete]

7. [Delete]

FBI Customer Satisfaction Survey

Please take a moment to complete this survey and help evaluate the quality, value, and relevance of our product. Your response will help us serve you more effectively and efficiently in the future. Thank you for your cooperation and assistance.

Return to:

Federal Bureau of Investigation
8825 Nelson B. Klein Pkwy
Indianapolis, IN 46250

Customer and Product Information

Title: "Day of Rage" Activities Planned Nationwide on 17 September 2011

Dated: 15 September 2011

Customer Agency: _________________

Relevance to Your Needs

1. The product increased my knowledge of an issue or topic. (Check one)

5. Strongly Agree
4. Somewhat Agree
3. Neither Agree or Disagree
2. Somewhat Disagree
1 Strongly Disagree

Actionable Value

2. The product helped me decide on a course of action. (Check one)

5 Strongly Agree
4. Somewhat Agree
3. Neither Agree or Disagree
2. Somewhat Disagree
1. Strongly Disagree

Timeliness Value

3. The product was timely to my needs. (Check one)

5. Strongly Agree
4. Somewhat Agree
3 Neither Agree or Disagree
2. Somewhat Disagree

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
ASSISTANCE/DISSEMINATION/LIAISON PROVIDED TO OTHER AGENCIES

Type of Contact:
Record of Dissemination of Information to other Agencies

Date:
11/02/2011

Dissemination To:
Domestic Agency

Check LEC: Office of Law Enforcement Coordination
or Select a Division/Field Office (Show Legats?)

Select the Responsible Division/Field Office:
Milwaukee

Program:
Criminal

DOMESTIC AGENCY RECEIVING DISSEMINATION
Agency/Organization Type:
Local Agency
[Delete] First, Middle)
Title/Rank:
Lieutenant
Agency/Organization Name:
Ashwaubenon Public Safety
Agency/Organization Address:
2155 Holmgren way, Green Bay, WI 54304
Work Phone:
[Delete]
Cell Phone:
[Delete]
E-Mail Address:
[Delete]
Type of Contact
Email
Date of Interaction:
11/02/2011

DETAILS OF DISSEMINATION
Examples: "Prosecution of a local case.", "Requested by Sheriff's Office..", "Relates to another agency matter."

Dissemination Specifics: Officer Safety Information 11/02/2011

Ongoing Dissemination/One
Time Dissemination:
One-time Date: 11/02/2011
One-time
Written

Short Description of Information Disseminated: For example: Interview 302s, Case Files, etc.

Officer safety Bulletin regarding threat to shoot police officers by the Occupy wall Street protestors

List All Associated Case Files. If the dissemination is ongoing and information is disseminated from case files other than these, a new FD-999 should be completed. If information was disseminated from more than one serial in the same case file, all serial numbers may be listed in one Associated Serial Number field. (i.e. 5, 11, 35") If dissemination is ongoing, list all serials which have been disseminated as of the date of this report and end the entry with "and future serials".

Associated Case ID:
[Delete]
Associated Serial Number:
[Delete]

ADMINISTRATIVE
FBI Employee Reporting the Dissemination
Name:
[Delete]
Email:
[Delete]

Disseminated By:

Same as FBI Employee Reporting the Dissemination

Name:
[Delete]
Email:
[Delete]

Squad/Unit/RA:
Squad 6, Green Bay RA

Classification:
Unclassified

Dissemination controls:
[Delete]

mhtml:https://sentinel.fbi/sentinelweb/cases/documentDownload.action?caseId=319... 2/22/2012

Approved By:
[Delete]
Email:
[Delete]

Second Level of Approval:
(Optional, except when a request for assistance has come directly from a Foreign Agency)

Name:
Last Name, First Name
Email:
(Enter the Last Name, First Name and click the Find button.)

ACS UPLOAD INFORMATION
Decision:
Approve Request

Uploading Decision:
Upload to existing case File(s)

Comments:
before hitting the reject button, fill in this field with information on why the form was rejected)

Case ID:
If the case to which you want to upload is already listed in the Associated Case ID field, above, then you do not need to reenter it. If there are duplicate case IDs, you will get an error when uploading to ACS

Case ID:
[Delete]

Uploaded:


[Delete]

Serial:
[Delete]

Author:
[Delete]

ATTACHMENTS
Upload to ACS
Description:
Attachment:
Case ID:
Serial Num:
This information was disseminate...
File Attachment

GRANT ACCESS TO
Name:
Email:
Last Name, First Name
(Enter the Last Name, First Name and click the Find button.)

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
FOIPA
DELETED PAGE INFORMATION SHEET

Ne Duplicatieo Fees are charged for Deleted Page Information Sheet(s).

Total Deleted Page(s) - 81
Page 7 - b5, b7A, b7C, b7D, b7E
Page 8 - b6, b7A, b7C, b7E
See original for rest of list

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE

Date: 11/03/2011

To: Anchorage

From: Anchorage
[Delete]

Contact: SA [Delete]

Approved By: [Delete]

Drafted By: [Delete]

Case ID # [Delete]

Title: [Delete]

Synopsis: To report Joint Terrorisms Task Force (JTTF) meeting on 11/03/2011.

Details: On 11/03/2011, a JTTF meeting was held at the Anchorage Field Office. The following individuals attended the meeting:

1-20 [All deleted]

To: Anchorage

From: Anchorage

Re: [Delete] 11/03/2011

21-25. [All Deleted]

The following items were discussed:

1. [Delete] regarding Occupy Wall Street and [Delete

2. [Delete]

3. [Delete]

4. SA [Delete] requested information from members of JTTF regarding incidents with [Delete] APD Lt. [Delete] information regarding [Delete]

5. [Delete] trial scheduled, will need to coordinate with other law enforcement agencie;

6. [Delete] subject of [Delete] is [Delete] Sa [Delete] and SA [Delete] will coordinate interviews with [Delete]

7. SA [Delete]

8. [Delete][Delete] mentioned there was discussion on the internet regarding the Occupy Wall Street movement about when is it okay to shoot a police officer.

9. [Delete] [Delete] will be transferring to Toronto. [Delete] will be the point of contact for [Delete]

The next meeting will be 12/08/2011, FBIHQ SSA [Delete][Delete] will speak about [Delete]

Attached is the current JTTF Roster.

To: Anchorage

From: Anchorage

Re: [Delete] 11/03/2011

Accomplishment Information:

Number 15
Type: POSITIVE INTELLIGENCE (DISSEMINATED OUTSIDE FBI)
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By: [Delete]
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete]

Number 15
Type: POSITIVE INTELLIGENCE (DISSEMINATED OUTSIDE FBI)
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By: [Delete]
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete]

Number 15
Type: POSITIVE INTELLIGENCE (DISSEMINATED OUTSIDE FBI)
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By: [Delete]
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete]

Number 15
Type: POSITIVE INTELLIGENCE (DISSEMINATED OUTSIDE FBI)
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By: [Delete]
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete]

Number 15
Type: POSITIVE INTELLIGENCE (DISSEMINATED OUTSIDE FBI)
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By: [Delete]
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete]

To: Anchorage

From: Anchorage

Re: [Delete] 11/03/2011

Number 15
Type: POSITIVE INTELLIGENCE (DISSEMINATED OUTSIDE FBI)
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By: [Delete]
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete] 11/03/2011

Number 15
Type: POSITIVE INTELLIGENCE (DISSEMINATED OUTSIDE FBI)
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By: [Delete]
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete]

Number 15
Type: POSITIVE INTELLIGENCE (DISSEMINATED OUTSIDE FBI)
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By: [Delete]
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete]

Number 15
Type: POSITIVE INTELLIGENCE (DISSEMINATED OUTSIDE FBI)
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By: [Delete]
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete]

To: Anchorage

From: Anchorage

Re: [Delete] 11/03/2011

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE

Date: 11/07/11

To: Birmingham

From: Birmingham
[Delete]

Contact: [Delete]

Approved By: [Delete]

Drafted By: [Delete]

Case ID# [Delete] (Pending)

Title: HAZMAT INITIATIVE;
EMAIL DISSEMINATION TO HAZMAT TEAMS

Synopsis: To capture statistical accomplishment for dissemination of information to HAZMAT teams.

Details: On 11/03/2011, SA [Delete][Delete][Delete] via email, to approximately [Delete] HAZMAT Team members across the Northern District of Alabama. [Delete] was concerning the "Occupy Wall Street movement: [Delete]

The copy of the email and [Delete] are attached to this communication.

To: Birmingham
From: Birmingham
Re: [Delete] 11/07/11

Accomplishment Information:

Number: 30
Type: [Delete] CONTRIBUTE/DISSEMINATE INFO-OTHR INTEL PROD
ITU: [Delete]
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete]

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 12/02/2011
To: Charlotte
From: Charlotte
[Delete] Raleigh Resident Agency
Contact: SA [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete] jjp
Case ID # [Delete] (Pending)
Title: CT PREPAREDNESS
[Delete] PREPAREDNESS

Synopsis: To document dissemination of [Delete] and claim statistical accomplishment.

Details: On December 1, 2011, Charlotte Division [Delete] Coordinator, SA [Delete] [Delete] that had been cleared to be shared with liaison partners.

[Delete] advised about occupy Wall Street [Delete]

[Delete]

To: Charlotte
From: Charlotte
Re: [Delete] 12/02/2011

Accomplishment Information:

Number: 1
Type: [Delete] CONTRIBUTE/DISSEMINATE INFO-OTHR INTEL PROD
ITU: [Delete]
Claimed By: [Delete]
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete]

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 11/10/2011
To: Denver
From: Denver
Squad [Delete]
Contact: SA [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete]
Case ID # [Delete] 227 (Pending)
[Delete] 33 (Pending)

Title: Bank Fraud Working Group (BFWG)

Synopsis: BFWG meeting held.

Enclosure(s): (1) List of attendees and (2) [Delete] [Delete]

Details: The regular November meeting of the BFWG was held at [Delete] Littleton, Colorado. [Delete] was provided and discussed. Attendees also introduced themselves and noted issues of concern at their respective offices.

SA [Delete] provided information about "Occupy Wall Street" [Delete]

SA [Delete] provided information concerning cyber threats in the financial industry, including what banks and their customers can do to thwart such threats and effective reporting of cyber threat incidents. SA [Delete] is [Delete] [Delete]

The next BFWG meeting will be held 1/12/2012.

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 11/15/2011
To: CIRG
Attn: Hazardous Devices Ops Section
HDOC [Delete]
SSABT [Delete]
From: Denver
Squad: [Delete]
Contact: SABT[Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete] jmg
Case ID # [Delete] 407 (Pending)
[Delete] 646 (Pending)
Title: SABT ACTIVITY
Denver Division

Synopsis: Denver SABT attends Metro Area Bank Fraud Working Group meeting to discuss [Delete]

Details: On 11/10/20ll Denver SABT [Delete] attended the regularly scheduled meeting of the Metro Area Bank Fraud Working Group (BFWG) to discuss [Delete] [Delete] the "Occupy Wall Street"
movement.

SABT [Delete] [Delete] "Occupy Wall Street" (OWS) protest movement [Delete]

It was brought to the attention of the BFWG that OWS [Delete]

Members of the BFWG, which includes local area financial institution employees involved in fraud and security

TO: CIRG
From: Denver
Re: [Delete] 11/15/2011

investigations, as well as area law enforcement officers engaged in bank fraud investigations, [Delete]

This liaison meeting lasted two (2) hours.

To: CIRG
From: Denver
Re: [Delete] 1/15/2011

Accomplishment Information:

Number: 1
Type: SABT-ASSISTING ANOTHER AGENCY/LIAISON
ITU: CIRG/ASTOS (SABT/SOG USE ONLY)
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete]

To: CIRG
From: Denver
Re: [Delete] 11/15/2011

LEAD(s):
Set Lead 1: (Action)

CIRG

AT QUANTICO, VA
Assign appropriate SABT activity points.

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 11/08/2011
To: Jackson
From: Jackson
[Delete] Mississippi JTTF
Contact: SA [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete]
Case ID # [Delete] (Pending) - 1063
(Pending) - 190
(Pending) - 112
Title: COUNTERTERRORISM PREPAREDNESS:
[Delete]
JACKSON DIVISION

COUNTERTERRORISM PREPAREDNESS:
[Delete]
LIAISON/OUTREACH;
JACKSON DIVISION

COUNTERTERRORISM PREPAREDNESS;
[Delete]
DISSEMINATIONS;
JACKSON DIVISION

Synopsis: To document [Delete] [Delete] the occupy Wall Street Movement| [Delete] [Delete]

Details: On 11/04/2011, [Delete] Coordinator SA [Delete] [Delete]

To: Jackson
From: Jackson
Re: [Delete] 22/08/2011

On 11/04/2011, the [Delete] [Delete] to the following [Delete] liaison contacts:

[Delete]

The above information was also disseminated to the appropriate personnel within the Jackson Division.

The above individuals were instructed that further dissemination was not authorized without the consent of [Delete] Coordinator SA [Delete]. The product is attached to this

To: Jackson
From: Jackson
Re: [Delete] 11/08/2011

communication.

Any questions regarding this matter should be directed to [Delete] Coordinator SA [Delete]

To: Jackson
From: Jackson
Re: [Delete] 11/08/2011

Accomplishment Information:

Number: 1
Type: [Delete] CONTRIBUTE/DISSEMINATE INFO-OTHR INTEL PROD
ITU: [Delete]
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete]
Number: 5
Type: [Delete]
ITU: [Delete]
Claimed by:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete]

Number: 5
Type: [Delete]
ITU: [Delete]
Claimed by:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete]

Number: 6
Type: [Delete]
ITU: [Delete]
Claimed by:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete]

Number: 2
Type: [Delete]
ITU: [Delete]
Claimed by:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete]

Number: 1
Type: [Delete]
ITU: [Delete]
Claimed by:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete]

To: Jackson
From: Jackson
Re: [Delete] 11/08/2011

SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: [Delete]

FEDERAL BUREAU CIF INVESTIGATION
FOIPA
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DOMESTIC SECURITY ALLIANCE COUNCIL

DSAC Liaison Information Report (LIR)

DSAC LIRs are issued to convey timely, actionable information that has undergone some vetting, but is not a completely refined product. DSAC LIRs are prepared by FBI and DHS and are intended for corporate security officers.

The purpose of this DSAC LIR is to raise awareness concerning this type of criminal activity. Recipients should immediately report any suspicious or criminal activities potentially related to these events to their local FBI field or law enforcement office.

9 December 2011

Protesters Plan to Shut Down Ports on West Coast

Occupy Wall Street (OWS) groups are advocating a collaborative effort to shutdown major ports on the west coast on 12 December 2011. Occupy groups that plan to participate in the coordinated shutdown include OWS groups located in Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston, Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, Oakland, and Vancouver. According to an OWS spokesperson, smaller cities plan to direct their supporters to these ports. The potential impacts of the port shutdowns include transit delays, blocked roads, commercial disruptions, and possible violence.

In November 2011, the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) Movement targeted the ports in Oakland. During this protest, it was reported that thousands of Occupy supporters gathered at the Port of Oakland disrupting evening operations at the port. Protesters used metal chains and human body chains in an attempt to prevent longshoremen and truckers from entering and exiting the port. A few incidents of violence were reported by the Oakland Police Department; however, reported violence was not between the protesters and the drivers or longshoremen. Despite their large numbers, protestors were only able to partially shut down the port by delaying the arrival and/or departure of a handful of ships.

The Port of Anchorage has determined the following: The International Longshore Workers Union and the Anchorage Independent Longshore Union have advised the OWS Movement that they will not support any disruption to the Port. According to information on the OWS Movement website, the plan is to meet for a lunch time BBQ on 12 December 2011 and then march at 1300 from around 6th and C heading to the Port. Representatives of the OWS Movement have stated that they want a peaceful protest of the Port. Additionally, representatives of the Port of Anchorage stated there is no pedestrian access to the Port and sidewalk access ends just after the A Street Bridge.

Handling Notice: Recipients are reminded that DSAC LIRs contain sensitive information meant for use primarily within the corporate security community. Such messages shall not be released in either written or oral form to the media, the general public, or other personnel who do not have a valid need-to-know without prior approval from an authorized FBI official.

Comments and queries may be addressed to DSAC at dsac@ic.fbi. gov.

The Anchorage Police Department (APD) added that there will be no uniformed APD presence unless the situation escalates.

In regards to the 12 December 2011 planned protest, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) has stated that the actions of the OWS Movement may or may not be coordinated with organized labor actions at the affected ports and presently, there are no indications that protesters plan to use violence against people entering or leaving ports, but advise personnel reporting for duty there to remain alert to the possibility of civil disturbances that might lead to conflict between protesters and law enforcement, and to avoid becoming involved in such conflicts.

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has responded to the pending port shutdowns in their areas of responsibilities as follows: ICE San Diego is coordinating with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). They do not plan to assist with any law enforcement operations unless requested. ICE Seattle is in contact with the U.S. Coast Guard and has a Port of Seattle police officer assigned to the Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) in Seattle. They will continue to monitor the situation but do not have an active role at this time.

ICE San Francisco has undertaken the following proactive measures: They are coordinating with CBP and the U.S. Coast Guard to ensure security, safety and the continuity of operations. They are also partnering with local law enforcement agencies. It is important to note that local law enforcement agencies have limited cooperation with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) due to sanctuary policies enacted by local governments. Finally, ICE San Francisco will ensure that the San Francisco (BEST) and all local agents are alerted to the possibility of a shutdown. Assistance from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is available if requested.

Basic security for the Port of Oakland remains the responsibility of local law enforcement agencies and not however, is prepared to respond and offer assistance to local law enforcement, consistent with their training and authorities.

Tips for reducing vulnerability in the event of civil unrest. [1]

Civil unrest can range in form from small, organized rallies to large-scale demonstrations and rioting. People may be harmed by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Following are suggested safety tips.

Avoid all large gatherings related to civil issues. Even seemingly peaceful rallies can spur violent activity or be met with resistance by security forces. Bystanders may be arrested or harmed by security forces using water cannons, tear gas or other measures to control crowds.

Maintain a low profile by avoiding demonstration areas and discussions of the issues at hand, and by dressing conservatively.

If violence erupts or is imminent, leave the area as quickly as possible. If you cannot leave the area, seek shelter in large, public buildings such as hotels, churches, hospitals and museums. Wait until the crowds have dissipated before going back outside.

If you know of an event ahead of time, plan pedestrian and vehicular routes that avoid the affected areas. Road closures and traffic delays are possible. Give yourself extra time to travel.

If curfews are imposed, strictly observe regulations and monitor the media for immediate updates to the situation.

Severe civil unrest can significantly disrupt businesses, industries and services. If you must travel during unrest ensure that hotels and businesses will be open, services will be available and transportation will be running. Confirm all meetings and reservations.

Basic security for the Port of Oakland remains the responsibility of local law enforcement agencies and not ICE/HSI. However, the SAC San Francisco is prepared to respond and offer assistance to local law enforcement consistent with our training and authorities.

DSAC members with further information regarding this or similar incidents should contact their local field office or the DSAC Program Office at dsac@ic.fbi.gov.

_______________

1. https://worldcue.ijet.com/tic/DisplayIo ... ?oId-31212

Handling Notice: Recipients are reminded that DSAC LIRs contain sensitive information meant for use primarily within the corporate security community. Such messages shall not be released in either written or oral form to the media, the general public, or other personnel who do not have a valid need-to-know without prior approval from an authorized FBI official.

Comments and queries may be addressed to DSAC at dsac@ic.fbi. gov.

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
FOIPA
DELETED PAGE INFORMATION SHEET

No Duplication Fees are charged for Deleted Page Information Sheet(s).

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FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: Routine
Date:. 8/22/2011
To: New York
Attn: CT-25
SSA [Delete]

From: New York
CT25
Contact: TFO [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete]
Case ID # [Delete]
Title: [Delete]
AOT-DT

Synopsis: Document meeting and report statistical accomplishments.

Details: On 8/19/2011 TFO [Delete] met with [Delete] [Delete] |New York Stock Exchange/Euronext (NYSE).

Discussed was the planned Anarchist protest titled "Occupy Wall Street", scheduled for September 17, 2011. The protest appears on Anarchist website's and social network pages on the internet.

Numerous incidents have occurred in the past which show attempts by Anarchist groups to disrupt, influence, and or shut down normal business operations of financial districts.


To: New York
From: New York
Re: [Delete] 8/22/2011

Accomplishment Information:

Number: 3
Type: DI-LIAISON-CONTACT (PRIVATE/COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION)
ITU: LIAISON WITHIN FBI
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
ITU: INDIVIDUAL/NON-INFORMANT
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: CT25

To: New York
From: New York
Re: [Delete] 8/22/2011

LEAD(s):

Set Lead 1: (Info)

NEW YORK

AT NEW YORK

Read and clear.

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Date of transcription 9/14/2011

On 9/14/2011 the following businesses were notified that their building was identified as a point of interest for the Occupy Wall Street: Federal Hall and Museum of American Finance.

JTTF TFO [Delete] was notified about Federal Hall.

[Delete] telephone number [Delete] was notified for Museum of American Finance.

Investigation on 9/ 19/2011 at New York, New York (telephonically)

File [Delete]
Date dictated
by SA [Delete]

This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It is the property of the FBI and is loaned to your agency; it and its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency.

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
FOIPA
DELETED PAGE INFORMATION SHEET

No Duplication Fees are charged for Deleted Page Information Sheet(s).

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FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Electronic Communication

Primary Case Number: [Delete]
Serial:
Drafted By: [Delete]
Date Drafted: 10/06/2011
Approved By: [Delete]
Date Approved: 10/ 12/ 2011

Document Details

Topic: Liaison Contact with Zions Bank IS Security

Synopsis: To document liaison contact with [Delete] Security for Zions Bank, regarding possible threat posed by the hacktivist Anonymous.

Details:

On 10/6/2011 [Delete] telephonically contacted [Delete] Security for Zions Bank, telephone number [Delete] cellular number [Delete] IA [Delete] informed [Delete] that the FBI had no intelligence indicating a specific threat to Zions Bank; however, the FBI wanted to make sure in light of the upcoming Occupy Salt Lake City protest that Zions Bank information security personnel were aware of the recent hacking incidents perpetrated by Anonymous hacktivists in support of the Occupy Wall Street protest.

IA [Delete] informed [Delete] that the CEOs of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase had been "doxed" by an actor claiming Anonymous affiliation. IA [Delete] explained that doxing is Internet slang for maliciously releasing public information regarding an individual on the Internet [Delete] was [Delete]

IA [Delete] explained that Anonymous actors typically get information| [Delete] [Delete]

Signatures

[Delete] [Delete]

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
FOIPA
DELETED PAGE INFORMATION SHEET

No Duplication Fees are charged for Deleted Page Information Sheet(s).

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[Delete]

Outside the Scope per Coast Guard

C. PROTESTORS TEMPORARILY SHUT DOWN PORT OF OAKLAND, CA. THOUSANDS OF PROTESTORS FLOODED DOWNTOWN OAKLAND, CA, ON 2 NOVEMBER 2011 TO PARTICIPATE IN A GENERAL STRIKE CALLED BY THE OCCUPY OAKLAND MOVEMENT TO PROTEST ECONOMIC INEQUALITY AND CORPORATE GREED. THE PROTESTORS MARCHED IN FORCE TO THE PORT OF OAKLAND, THE FIFTH-BUSIEST SHIPPING PORT, WITH THE INTENTION OF DISRUPTING PORT OPERATIONS. POLICE ESTIMATED NEARLY 7,000 PEOPLE CLOGGED THE MAIN PORT ENTRANCE ON MIDDLE HARBOR ROAD AND AT SEVEN OTHER GATES, CHANTING SLOGANS AND HALTING ALL TRUCK TRAFFIC IN AND OUT OF THE PORT. RUMORS HAD SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE CROWD THAT MANY PORT WORKERS FAILED TO ARRIVE FOR THEIR MORNING SHIFTS.

ABOUT 40 OUT OF 325 PORT WORKERS DID NOT REPORT FOR THE DAY SHIFT ON 2 NOVEMBER, ACCORDING TO THE UNION REPRESENTING THE PORT WORKERS, WHICH DID NOT AUTHORIZE A STRIKE. PORT OFFICIALS STRESSED

PAGE 07 RUCOWCA0519 UNCLAS FOUQ

THAT ALL SEVEN MARITIME TERMINALS WERE CONDUCTING NORMAL OPERATIONS DURING THE DAY. DOZENS OF PROTESTORS CLIMBED UP ON IDLED TRUCKS WAVING SIGNS AND YELLING SLOGANS. THE FEW POLICE WHO MONITORED THE SITUATION KEPT A CONSIDERABLE DISTANCE. THE PORT OF OAKLAND SHUT DOWN AT 1815 WHEN THE PORT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DECIDED THE LARGE NUMBER OF PROTESTERS POSED A DANGER TO THE SEVERAL HUNDRED WORKERS STILL INSIDE THE PORT. (SFGATE, 03 NOV 11), (NEW YORK TIMES, 03 NOV 11), OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 02 NOV 11).

ANALYST COMMENT: THE PROTESTORS, ACTIONS SHUT DOWN THE PORT OF OAKLAND FOR MORE THAN 14 HOURS. IF THIS MOVEMENT WERE TO SPREAD TO THE PORT OF LONG BEACH, THE SECOND BUSIEST PORT IN THE UNITED STATES, THE DISRUPTION OF PORT OPERATIONS RESULTING IN CARGO REACHING THEIR REQUIRED DESTINATIONS LATE COULD HAVE MUCH MORE SERIOUS EFFECTS ON THE SUPPLY CHAIN NETWORK IN THE UNITED STATES.

[Delete]

[Delete]

Outside the Scope per Coast Guard

COUNTRY: (U) United States (USA).

PAGE 3 RUZDHTR3114 CONFIDENTIAL
IPSP: (U) SRCC; INFR; HSEC; IFC0000

THIS IS A COMBINED MESSAGE

SUBJ: IIR 4 129 0426 OF OCCUPY WALL STREET IN PORT OF
OAKLAND

WARNING: (U) THIS IS AN INFORMATION REPORT, NOT FINALLY EVALUATED INTELLIGENCE. REPORT CLASSIFIED
CONFIDENTIAL

DOI: (U) 20111102.

REQS: (U) 3872.1.6.1.12; 1000.1.1.1.1 [Delete]
(04 NOV 2011)

SOURCE:
SOURCE A
1. SOURCE IDENTIFIER -- MEMBER(S) USCG
2. SOURCE DESCRIPTION -- MEMBER(S) OF THE USCG.
3. CONTEXT STATEMENT -- MEMBER OBSERVED ACTIVITY DURING THE COURSE OF OFFICIAL DUTIES. SOURCE IS RELIABLE AND CREDIBLE.

PAGE 4 RUZDHTR3114 CONFIDENTIAL

SUMMARY: (U) SEE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, TEXT PARAGRAPH 1, BELOW.

TEXT: 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. ON 02 NOV 11, OCCUPY OAKLAND, AN OFF-SHOOT OF THE OCCUPY WALL STREET MOVEMENT, CALLED FOR A GENERAL STRIKE AND FOR THE SHUTDOWN OF THE PORT OF OAKLAND. THIS WAS A RESPONSE TO THE POLICE ACTION TAKEN AGAINST OCCUPY OAKLAND PROTESTERS IN DOWNTOWN OAKLAND ON 25 OCT 11.

2. ON 02 NOV 11, OCCUPY OAKLAND, AN OFF-SHOOT OF THE OCCUPY WALL STREET MOVEMENT, CALLED FOR A GENERAL STRIKE AND FOR THE SHUTDOWN OF THE PORT OF OAKLAND. THIS WAS A RESPONSE TO THE POLICE ACTION TAKEN AGAINST OCCUPY OAKLAND PROTESTERS IN DOWNTOWN OAKLAND ON 26 OCT 11.

3. OCCUPY OAKLAND PLANNED TO LIBERATE OAKLAND THROUGH A GENERAL STRIKE AND MASS DAY OF ACTION ON 02 NOV 11. PEOPLE WERE ENCOURAGED NOT TO GO TO WORK AND TO GATHER IN THE STREETS OF DOWNTOWN OAKLAND. PEOPLE WERE ALSO ASKED TO JOIN IN ON MARCHES TO SHUT DOWN BIG BANKS AS WELL AS IN RALLIES TO BUILD SUPPORT AND SOLIDARITY FOR THE OCCUPY WALL STREET MOVEMENT. THE FINAL PLANNED EVENT WAS TO SHUTDOWN THE PORT OF OAKLAND. OCCUPY OAKLAND MADE SEVERAL REFERENCES TO HISTORY OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AND MANY OF THE POSTERS AND POSTINGS FOR THE GENERAL STRIKE AND A MASS DAY OF ACTION SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED THE LAST GENERAL STRIKE IN THE UNITED STATES, WHICH WAS HELD IN OAKLAND IN 1946.

4. AT APPROXIMATELY 1700 LOCAL, 3,000 PEOPLE GATHERED IN DOWNTOWN OAKLAND AND BEGAN TOWARD THE PORT OF OAKLAND. THERE WERE OTHER REPORTS THE PARTICIPANTS RANGED BETWEEN 7,000 TO OVER 10,000 PEOPLE. BY APPROXIMATELY 1900 LOCAL, THE PORT OF OAKLAND CALLED OFF THE EVENING SHIFT OF LONGSHOREMEN AND OCCUPY OAKLAND DECLARED VICTORY. AFTER SEVERAL HOURS OF BLOCKING THE ENTRANCES INTO THE PORT OF OAKLAND TERMINALS, PREVENTING LONGSHOREMEN AND TRUCKS FROM ENTERING OR EXITING, CROWDS BEGAN TO LEAVE AND RETURN TO DOWNTOWN OAKLAND. ENTRANCES WERE BLOCKED USING A COMBINATION OF CHAIN LINK FENCING AND HUMAN LINKS AS WELL AS OTHER TACTICS SUCH AS SITTING OR LYING DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF ROADS AND SIDEWALKS.

5. ON 03 NOV 11 AT 0300 LOCAL, LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL SUPPRESSED VIOLENCE PERPETRATED BY A SMALL GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS. THE MAJORITY OF THESE INDIVIDUALS WERE MEMBERS OF THE "BLACK BLOC" WHO ARE BELIEVED TO BE BLACK-MASKED ANARCHISTS WHOSE ACTIONS INCLUDED: VANDALISM OF SMALL BUSINESSES, SETTING FIRES IN DOWNTOWN OAKLAND, AND PHYSICAL CLASHES WITH THE OAKLAND POLICE. THESE ACTIONS LED TO THE ARREST OF THIRTY INDIVIDUALS. NINE OF THE INDIVIDUALS WERE OAKLAND RESIDENTS AND IT WAS UNKNOWN WHERE THE OTHERS RESIDED. OCCUPY OAKLAND SPOKESMEN MADE STATEMENTS DENOUNCING THIS VIOLENCE, CLAIMING THOSE WHO COMMITTED VIOLENT ACTS WERE NOT A PART OF OCCUPY OAKLAND OR THE OCCUPY WALL STREET MOVEMENT, AND RESTATED VIOLENCE WAS NOT THEIR INTENDED PURPOSE. THE PORT OF OAKLAND FULLY REOPENED AND RESUMED NORMAL OPERATIONS BY 0700 LOCAL ON 03 NOV 11

Outside the Scope per Coast Guard

COMMENTS: (Headquarters Comments) 1. [Delete] [Delete] [Delete]

(Field Comments) 1. OCCUPY OAKLAND WAS SUCCESSFUL IN THE DISRUPTION, BUT NOT THE SHUTDOWN, OF THE PORT OF OAKLAND. THE PROTESTERS DELAYED SOME SHIPPING TRAFFIC, WHILE OTHER SHIPPING TRAFFIC WAS ABLE TO DEPART AND ARRIVE ON TIME. THREE SHIPS WERE DELAYED IN THEIR DEPARTURE AND FOUR SHIPS WERE DELAYED IN THEIR ARRIVAL AND SENT TO ANCHORAGE T0 AWAIT PIER SPACE. AS THE PROTESTERS BEGAN TO LEAVE FROM THE PORT OF OAKLAND TERMINALS, A LIMITED NUMBER OF LONGSHOREMEN AND TRUCKS WERE ABLE TO ENTER AND EXIT. THE MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE PORT OF OAKLAND WAS THE LAST ENTRANCE TO REOPEN, BUT REOPENED SHORTLY AFTER 0700 LOCAL. THERE WERE NO PHYSICAL CLASHES BETWEEN THE PROTESTERS, THE LONGSHOREMEN, OR THE TRUCK DRIVERS. THE LONGSHOREMEN AND TRUCK DRIVERS WERE SYMPATHETIC TOWARDS THE OCCUPY WALL STREET MOVEMENT. THERE WERE NO SECURITY BREACHES AT ANY OF THE TERMINALS. OCCUPY OAKLAND HAD NO PLANS TO SHUT DOWN THE PORT OF OAKLAND AGAIN.

2. (U) CITE: COMCOGARD [Delete] b7E per Coast Guard

3. [Delete]

4. (U) ANALYST EVALUATIONS AND COMMENTS ARE ENCOURAGED.

START OF SECTION 2

5. POC Information: THE POC FOR THIS REPORT IS THE COAST GUARD REPORTS OFFICER TEAM LEAD; [Delete] [Delete]

6. (U) Source A is available for recontact.

COLL: (U) XA.

INSTR: (U) U.S. NO.

PREP: (U) 434401; 471111.

ACQ: (U) PORT OF OAKLAND, CA (20111102).

WARNING: (U) REPORT CLASSIFIED
CONFIDENTIAL

CLASSIFIED BY: 47-0004.

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 10/25/2011
To: Albany
From: Albany
Squad 6 - Syracuse JTTF
Contact: [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete]
Case ID # [Delete] (Pending)
Title: CAMPUS LIAISON PROGRAM;
Liaison Matters

Synopsis: To document dissemination and claim appropriate statistical accomplishments.

Details: On 10/24/2011 writer disseminated two intelligence products from the Campus Liaison Program to sixteen (16) different campus police officials. The information described the animal rights extremist website NEGOTIATION IS OVER and the call therein for violent action against undergraduate and graduate students studying the life sciences.

[Delete] SUNY-Oswego contacted writer to request information regarding the OCCUPY WALL STREET protests. [Delete] advised that a small group of OCCUPY WALL STREET protesters ad established an encampment on the grounds of SUNY-Oswego. That group is primarily comprised of students, but also occasionally includes professors. The group has been camping in tents and demonstrating peacefully. [Delete] asked whether any other campuses were experiencing the same encampments, and wanted to know whether the FBI knew when these protests were scheduled to end. Writer contacted FBIHQ CLI IA [Delete] to pass along the request for information. [Delete] has a scheduled meeting with the OCCUPY WALL STREET protestors on Thursday, October 27, 2011. Writer advised [Delete] that no further information was currently available regarding OCCUPY WALL STREET and there were no visible trends of such activities on college campuses.

To: Albany
From: Albany
Re: [Delete] 10/25/2011

[Delete] also advised that another unrelated group appeared on campus, apparently trying to 'latch on' to the existing OCCUPY WALL STREET protesters. The unrelated group was from a religions/evangelistic group known as LIVING WATERS. They had an anti-abortion campaign entitled "180" and demonstrated on campus. Members of the LIVING WATERS protest group were not cooperative with campus public safety officials and repeatedly disregarded the stated rules for protesting. Accordingly, because they were unruly and causing problems with the operation of the school, members of the LIVING WATERS protest were escorted off of the SUNY-Oswego property by public safety officers.

On 10/26/2011 writer disseminated the intelligence products to six (6) additional campus police officials.

Several campus law enforcement officials contacted writer to discuss the information and to arrange for later meetings.

To: Albanv
From: Albany
Re: [Delete] 10/25/2011

Accomplishment Information:

Number: 22
Type: CTD CLI INTELLIGENCE DISSEMINATED
ITU: CAMPUS LIAISON INITIATIVE
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: 6 Syracuse

Number: 22
Type: CTD CLI LIAISON
ITU: CAMPUS LIAISON INITIATIVE
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: 6 Syracuse

Number: 1
Type: CTD CLI REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
ITU: CAMPUS LIAISON INITIATIVE
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: 6 Syracuse

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 11/28/2011
To: Anchorage
From: Anchorage
NS-2
Contact: SA [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete]
Case ID # [Delete] (Pending) [Delete]
Title: [Delete]
TYPE 3 ASSESSMENT BEGIN: 03/06/2009

Synopsis: Meeting with Port Facility Security Officer regarding his concerns for the Occupy the Port movement scheduled for 12/12/2011.

Classified By: D39B31S35
Derived From: FBI NSISCG-20090615
Declassify On: 20361128

Enclosure(s): Enclosed are the following documents provided by the Facility Security Officer:

1) Email from [Delete] Subject: Occupy the Port
2) LinkedIn profile for [Delete]
3) Facebook printout concerning the Occupy the Port movement

Details: On 11/28/2011, SA [Delete] and SA [Delete] met with [Delete] (liaison contact AN-180), Port of Anchorage, [Delete] [Delete] regarding his concerns for the Occupy Anchorage movement specifically the Occupy the Port movement scheduled for 12/12/2011.

SECRET//NOFORN

TO: Anchorage
From: Anchorage
Re: [Delete] 11/28/2011

On 11/27/2011, [Delete] received an email from [Delete] [Delete] regarding the Occupy the Port movement on 12/12/2011. [Delete] wrote that he came across the following while perusing various internet sites and the below are excerpts from his email (the actual email and other documents provided by [Delete] have been attached as enclosures to this EC):

"Occupy the Port: December 12th. Today our General Assembly approved a proposal to begin working on standing in solidarity with Occupy Oakland's call to shut down all ports on the west coast on December 12th, in response to the nationwide coordinated crackdown on the Occupy movement, and attacks on workers and worker's rights everywhere. We need to hit the 1% where it hurts: their wallets. The economy is run by the 99%, yet benefits mainly the 1%. We need to send a message: we are willing to risk our personal well-being for social justice, and the system ignores us at its own peril.
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 36125
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am

Re: FBI DOCUMENTS REVEAL SECRET NATIONWIDE OCCUPY MONITORING

Postby admin » Wed Jan 13, 2016 7:48 am

Part 2 of 2

The Anchorage port is an especially powerful symbol of corrupt politics. Having spent billions of dollars on our port, former Governor Sheffield has been unable to deliver corresponding value, and yet we continue to pour money into what has become a black hole of corruption and incompetence."

[Delete] main concern is the safety of the personnel at the Port and the amount of disruption a movement such as this one could have on the Port's daily operations. [Delete] stated the movement being scheduled for the 12th is somewhat of a positive for the Port because the 12th is a Monday and it is between normal ship days which are Sunday and Tuesday. Therefore, the movement should have a minimal impact on the Port's operations.

[Delete] previously consulted with the Anchorage Municipal Manager and obtained his approval to attend a meeting scheduled for 11/30/2011 to plan the Occupy the Port movement. [Delete] stated he intended to go and be a fly on the wall and not disclose his affiliation with the Port, in hopes of identifying how significant of a threat this movement may be to the safety and operations at the Port.

[Delete] asked the agents if they thought it would be okay for him to attend this meeting. [Delete] was informed that as long as he felt comfortable and there was no threat of harm to him, the agents did not see any concerns with him attending. [Delete] was informed that his attendance would be on behalf of the Port and at the direction of his leadership because the FBI could not direct or ask him to attend this meeting. [Delete] stated that he understood this and his attendance would be on behalf of the Port.

[Delete] was advised that it would be a good idea to reach out to the Anchorage Police Department (APD) and make them aware of his concerns. [Delete] was informed that he may also want to request the presence of an APD officer during the event to help deter any potential issues. [Delete] was made aware and understood that due to the first amendment rights the FBI could not make an attempt to identify who made the initial facebook posting organizing the Occupy the Port movement. [Delete] was informed that if any specific threats were made, he should definitely notify the FBI because this would go beyond someone exercising their rights of freedom of speech.

SA [Delete] told [Delete] that he would notify the JTTF of the movement for their situational awareness and he would provide [Delete] with a point of contact at APD who may better be able to assist [Delete] with any civil disturbance concerns.

cc: SSA [Delete] NS-1
cc: SA [Delete] NS-1

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 11/17/2011
To: Boston
From: Boston
Portland RA
Contact: SA [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete]
Case ID #: [Delete] (Pending)
[Delete] (Pending)

Title: DOMESTIC TERRORISM MATTERS;
OO: BOSTON

Synopsis: To report incident.

Details: During the early morning hours of October 23, 2011 officers from the Portland Police Department responded to a "chemical bomb" call at Lincoln Park, 79 Pearl Street, Portland, ME which is home to the Occupy Maine movement. (Note: occupy Maine is an off-shoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement started in September 2011). Several witnesses at the scene described this incident as leading up to the event; on 10/23/2011, approximately 2am a four door sedan was observed driving northbound on Pearl Street and sounded its horn excessively. A few minutes later the same vehicle was observed driving past the encampment with its passenger yelling "Get a job". A few individuals observed the vehicle drive by the encampment several more times. No one was able to observe the license plate.

At approximately 4am, possibly the same vehicle was observed driving by the encampment, however, this time several individuals heard a can or bottle hit the ground in close proximity to where they were seated. It sounded like a shot gun going off. After the explosion a large amount of smoke was observed coming from the area. No individuals were harmed. The smoke had irritated the throats of a few individuals. The crime scene was processed and the device found was determined to be a "chemical bomb", which refers to a homemade device contained in a plastic bottle holding Drano and tinfoil, pressure builds in the bottle which causes the bottle to explode.

To date, no suspects have been developed and no other incidents have been reported. This information is being provided for informational purposes.

Document Details

Classification:
Authority:
SCI Flag:
IRS Tax:
FD 501:
Duration:
Rule(6e):
Handling Caveats:
Secure Doc:
Case ID: [Delete]
Serial Number: [Delete]
Download Document
Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 12/02/2011
To: Charlotte
From: Charlotte
CT-2/Raleigh Resident Agency
Contact: SA [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted by: [Delete]
Case ID # [Delete] (Pending)
Title: CT PREPAREDNESS
WMD PREPAREDNESS

Synopsis: To document dissemination of WMD information and claim statistical accomplishment.

Details: On December 1, 2011, Charlotte Division WMD Coordinator, SA [Delete] disseminated an unclassified/Law Enforcement Sensitive WMDOU Bulletin, that had been cleared to be shared with liaison partners.

The bulletin advised about Occupy Wall Street Mailings that have become a part of the Occupy Wall Street groups strategy to notify individuals of the perceived injustices of our capitalistic society.

Several of the mailings have been found to have powder in them, and this bulletin was disseminated to provide an awareness to our local and state law enforcement counterparts.

Accomplishment Information:

Number: 1
Type: WMD-PRODUCE/CONTRIBUTE/DISSEMINATE INFO-OTHER INTEL PROD
ITU: WMD/CP PROGRAM
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: CT2

Originating
Office: CE
Document Date: 12'02/2011
Document Type: FD542
To: CHARLOTTE
Author: [Delete]
Topic: TO DOCUMENT DISSEMINATION OF WMD INFORMATION AND CLAIM
Responses: 0
Text: Y
FIF:
From: CHARLOTTE
Approver: [Delete]

[Delete]

[Delete]

[Delete]

[Delete]

5. [Delete] visiting CV Federal Reserve 9/28-29/11 (no reported threats); protests continue in NYC "Occupy Wall Street" after 10 days of continuous presence (several hundred camping in nearby park) and arrests are gaining increasing media attention; NYPD officer pepper sprayed five persons in holding area was broadcast by Anonymous (conducting live web feed of protests) and they have posted personal descriptive/contact data that reportedly relates to NYPD officer that conducted the pepper spray.

SECRET//NOFORN

1. An identified [Delete] as of October planned to engage in sniper attacks against protestors in Houston, Texas, if deemed necessary. An indentified [Delete] had received intelligence that indicated the protesters in New York and Seattle planned similar protests in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin, Texas. [Delete] planned to gather intelligence against the leaders of the protest groups and obtain photographs, then formulate a plan to kill the leadership via suppressed sniper rifles. (Note: protests continued throughout the weekend with approximately 6000 persons in NYC. "Occupy Wall Street" protests have spread to about half of all states in the US, over a dozen European and Asian cities, including protests in Cleveland 10/6-8/11 at Willard Park which was initially attended by hundreds of protestors).

[Delete]

[Delete]

[Delete]

[Delete]

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 11/23/2011
To: Jackson
From: Jackson Division
Squad 10 / FIG
Contact: [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete]
Case ID # [Delete] (Pending)
[Delete] (Pending)

Title: STATISTICAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Synopsis: To document a Bank Security Group meeting and to claim
statistical accomplishments on the White Collar Crime Program.

Details: On November 16, 2011, IA [Delete] and FA [Delete] attended a Bank Security Group meeting located at the Peoples Bank in Biloxi, Mississippi. The meeting consists of approximately 25 individuals representing other financial institutions and other law enforcement agencies, such as Bancorp South Bank, Hancock Bank, Peoples Bank, Regions Bank, Keesler Federal Credit Union, Mississippi State Auditors Office, and Biloxi Police Department.

Topics pertaining to financial schemes were discussed during the meeting and information was shared within the banking community on numerous individuals involved in fraudulent financial activities. A fraud alert was revealed by Hancock Bank Security [Delete] regarding an "Occupy Wall Street" type protest to lock down banks. The group announced that December 7, 2011 will be known as "National Bad Bank Sit-In-Day". The group has few followers on their Facebook page; however, they or attempting to organize a group to utilized either a "sit-in method" or "u- locks" to lock the bank doors from the outside.

IA [Delete] also briefed the working group of an ongoing counterfeit check scheme operating on the Gulf Coast. IA [Delete] referenced the on going Pascagoula Police investigation regarding [Delete] Any questions regarding this matter should be directed to IA [Delete]

Accomplishment Information:

Number: 2
Type: DI-LIAISON-CONTACT (STATE/LOCAL)
ITU: INTEL PROGRAM
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: Squad 10

Number: 3
Type: DI-LIAISON-CONTACT (PRIVATE/COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION)
ITU: INTEL PROGRAM
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: Squad 10

Number: 1
Type: OPERATIONALLY CONTROLLED MEETING
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: Squad 10

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
COMPLAINT/ASSESSMENT FORM
FD-71

ADMINISTRATION

UNCLASSIFIED

Restrict Document Permissions

Restricting the document permissions means that only the users listed on this form as the Supervisor, the Investigator, or those added through the SIM or Disseminate To features will be able to open and read this FD-71. Additional users may be granted access as appropriate by using the form's Disseminate to Others field, though they may not be notified automatically.

Unrestricted

RECEIVED BY

Name [Delete] (JK) (FBI)
Enter the last name, first name, and click the Search button.
Email: [Delete]
Status: Pending
Priority: Routine
Counterterrorism, Domestic Terrorism, Cyber Terrorism, and WMD

Incident Types must be reported through Guardian, and not this form.

Incident Type: Criminal Activity
Receipt Method: Telephone
Received On: 10/10/2011
Last Updated: 10/10/2011
Originator Type: Complainant
Originating Agency:
Originator Telephone: [Delete]
Responsible Office (Show Legats? Jacksonville
RA: DBRA
Responsible Squad (ACS Designation): 9

Is this Assessment a spinoff from a Type 3 - 6 Assessment, or an existing predicated investigation? No

RESPONSIBLE INVESTIGATOR
Name: [Delete] (JK) (OG)...
Enter the last name, first name, and click the Search button.
Email: [Delete]
RESPONSIBLE SUPERVISOR
Name [Delete] (JK) (FBI)

Enter the last name, first name, and Click the Search button.
Email [Delete]

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Complaint:
Alleged threats to upcoming protest (October 15, 2011).

SENSITIVE INVESTIGATIVE MATTER

A "Sensitive Investigative Matter" (SIM) relates to investigative activities where the nature of the person or
group being assessed should be brought to the attention of FBI Headquarters and other DOJ officials. CDC
review and SAC approval is required for all SIMs. Use the checkbox below to signify that this assessment is a
SIM. Once the box is checked, follow the prompts on the form to provide additional details regarding the SIM.

Sensitive Investigative Matter

Details of the Complaint:

Complainant is planning a peaceful protest with a group of people with similar issues of the Occupy Wall Street protests. One of the members of the group found a website (http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_8_10/46517 ... s_want_to_
occupy_daytona_beach.html) that they find threatening to their protest. Complainant is concerned for the safety of the protestors. The group plans on holding the peaceful protest on October 15th, 2011 in Daytona Beach but is not sure of the exact location.

Complainant is concerned about reporting the matter to the local police as well due to their reputation. Complainant does not want them to interfere with the protest.

JK - [Delete] [Delete] 2/22/2012

Complaint Received by: [Delete]
Date of Complaint: 10/10/2011
Time of Complaint: 2:35:00 PM
Name: [Delete]
Protect Identity
Gender: Female (F)
Date of Birth: [Delete]
Telephone: [Delete]
US Person: Unknown
Description (dress, mannerisms, or statements made): [Delete]
Other Addresses: Scar(s)/Tattoo(s)

INVESTIGATIVE METHODS

If an Investigator has been assigned to conduct an assessment, all investigative methods used during this assessment must be reported on the form. The Add Method button can be used to create additional Method sections as needed. The Method Explanation field should be used to describe the results of each individual method employed. Once the assessment has been completed, the Findings section can be used to report overall results and recommendations to the Supervisor

Method options: use online services and resources

Method Explanation:
Viewed forum in question.
No overt threats, but appeared to be verbal "grandstanding." Appear to be several police officers on the forum, though not identifiable to a specific department.

When two of the forum posters exchanged verbal insults, a moderator stepped in.

Method Options: Interview or request information from members of the public and private entities

Selected Method:

Method Explanation: TFO [Delete] met with [Delete] after the Occupy Daytona planning meeting on 10/10/11. TFO [Delete] put [Delete] in touch with Daytona Beach Police resources for questions and legal issues. Captain [Delete] also attended Occupy's second meeting on 10/11/11.

Method Options: Physical Surveillance other than SOG/SSG or Aviation

Selected Method:

Method Explanation:
TFO [Delete] attended Occupy's meeting on 10/10/11 to gauge crowd size and ascertain location and times for protests. Group appeared to be peaceful in nature.

FINDINGS

Recommended Action:
Close Assessment, Upload to Case File

Date: 10/ 16/2011

Assessment Findings:

Group appears to be peaceful, and investigator sees no Federal violations. Local police well aware of the protests, and are meeting with Occupy's core group to alleviate miscues and allow dialogue.

Federal Violation: none

AUTHORIZED PURPOSE(S) AND OBJECTIVE(S)
none

SUPERVISOR REVIEW

Responsible Supervisor:
[Delete] (JK) (FBI)

REVIEWS

Period Start Date: 10/11/2011
Period End Date: 11/10/2011
Days: 30
Supervisor Decision: Start or Continue Assessment
Add Comments
TFO Alex

[Delete]

Office (show Legats? D): Jacksonville
Classification: [Delete]
Alpha: [Delete]
Case ID: [Delete]
Uploaded: [Delete]
Author:
[Delete]
[Delete]

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 10/19/2011
To: Jacksonville
From: Jacksonville
Squad 10/FIG/CSCC
Contact: DMC [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete]
Case ID # [Delete] [Delete]
Title: DOMAIN PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
DOMESTIC TERRORISM

Synopsis: To document a briefing provided to Jacksonville Executive Management (EM) on 11 October 2011 regarding the spread of Occupy Wall Street.

Details: This electronic communication (EC) documents a briefing regarding the spread of the occupy Wall Street Movement. On 10 October 2011, writer provided an email via UNET identifying past and upcoming meetings in the Jacksonville Area of Responsibility regarding the emergence of Occupy chapters in and around the North Florida area to SSA [Delete] the Counterterrorism Program Coordinator. Writer recommended SSA [Delete] consider establishing tripwires with the Occupy event coordinators regarding their observance of actions or comments indicating violent tendencies by attendees.

During the 11 October 2011 intelligence meeting, writer advised EM of the occupy venues and further advised they may provide an outlet for a lone offender exploiting the movement for reasons associated with general government dissatisfaction. Particularly, in the Daytona, Gainesville, and Ocala Resident Agency territories as portions of these territories were considered Central Florida where some of the highest unemployment rates in Florida continue to exist. Writer also informed EM this movement was spreading throughout Florida and there were several Facebook pages dedicated to specific chapters based on geographical areas.

On 13 October 2011, writer sent via email an excerpt from the daily [Delete] regarding FBI Houston's [Delete] to all IAs, SSRAs and SSA [Delete]. This [Delete] identified the exploitation of the Occupy Movement by [Delete] interested in developing a long-term plan to kill local Occupy leaders via sniper fire.

292l1kah05ec.wpd

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 12/05/2011
To: Jacksonville
Attn: Squad 10
IA [Delete]
From: Jacksonville
Squad 7/GVRA
Contact: [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete]
Case ID #: [Delete] (Pending)
[Delete] (Pending)
[Delete]

Title: TRIP WIRE INITIATIVE
INTEL BRIEFING/SQUAD 7
GAINESVILLE RESIDENT AGENCY

Synopsis: To document contact with a representative from security for the Oaks Mall, Gainesville, Florida.

Details: On 11/10/2011, the writer telephonically contacted [Delete]. The Oaks Mall, at telephone number [Delete]. The purpose of the contact was to advise her of the pending "Occupy Wall Street" protest which was scheduled to shut-down various banks on 1/17/2011. [Delete] advised that the initial occupy Gainesville protest was a minor distraction for the Mall and she would be ready for the pending protest. [Delete] advised that she would contact the writer if there were any anomalies.

To: Jacksonville
From: Jacksonville
Re: [Delete] 12/05/2011

LEAD(s):

Set Lead 1: (Info)

JACKSONVILLE

AT JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA

Read and clear.

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 10/20/2011
To: Los Angeles
From: Los Angeles
I-1
Contact: SA [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete]
Case ID # [Delete] (Pending)
[Delete] (Pending)
[Delete]

Title: INTELLIGENCE BRIEFINGS OR LIAISON
SQUAD I-1
MASS TRANSPORTATION (SURFACE)

Synopsis: To document liaison contact and claim statistical accomplishment.

Details: On 10-19-2011, SA [Delete] met with Los Angeles County Sheriffs (LASD) Lieutenant [Delete] is part of the LASD Transit Security Bureau (TSB.) [Delete] office is located in the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) headquarters, One Gateway Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

[Delete] stated transit related crime in Los Angeles County has gone up recently. Most of the crime involves minor theft and vandalism, but the number of robberies, assaults and other violent crimes have also risen.

[Delete] blames the rising crime rate on mostly economic factors. In tough economic times, many shelters and care facilities for mentally ill individuals and drug users either close or have to turn people away. The aforementioned people account for a large percentage of the transit crime in the County of Los Angeles.

[Delete] also mentioned the number of assaults on Transit Securit bureau Deputies has gone up to around five or six a month. According to [Delete] the reasons for this are the above mentioned factors and recent news stories regarding the mistreatment of inmates in the LASD jails. [Delete] stated many individuals stopped by Deputies are "verbal abusive" often screaming at Deputies about "beatings" in the jails. This type of behavior from an uncooperative (and possibly unstable) individual can often lead to a use of force.

On 10-19-2011 a peaceful protest by the "Occupy Wall Street" movement occurred on a Blue Line train. [Delete] stated the protestors had all purchased tickets and were all cooperative. [Delete] is concerned however about what may happen if the "Occupy Wall Street" protesters mix with the more violent individuals upset about the alleged mistreatment of prisoners in the LASD jails.

The aforementioned information was submitted to [Delete] on
10-20-2011, [Delete]

To: Los Angeles
From: Los Angeles
Re: [Delete] 10/20/2011

Accomplishment Information:

Number: 1
Type: DI-LIAISON-CONTACT (STATE/LOCAL)
ITU: INTEL PROGRAM
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: 1-1

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 11/02/2011
To: Pittsburgh
Attn: JTTF
From: Memphis
Squad 7/Nashville RA
Contact: TFO [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete]
Case ID # [Delete] (Pending)

Title: SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY
THREAT FAXED TO TN GOVERNORS OFFICE

Synopsis: To provide information on a threat faxed to the Tennessee Governors Office over the occupy Wall Street Arrests.

Enclosure(s): Attached to this EC is a copy of the faxed letter sent to the Tennessee Governors Office.

Details: (U) On 11/01/2011 TFO [Delete] was given a copy of a fax that had been received at the Tennessee Governors office on 10/3112011. In the fax a [Delete] DOB [Delete] address: [Delete], Bellevue, PA 15202, stated that "it is wrong or the American government to aid the very wealthy by taking arms against the American people". [Delete] went on to say that "law enforcement had drawn first blood and to continue this will lead to violent revolution".

(U) Database checks were conducted and a [Delete] on [Delete]had been done by the Pittsburgh JTTF in January of 2011. The [Delete] stated that [Delete] [Delete]

(U) The information from the previous [Delete] and a copy of the fax sent to the TN Governors Office was presented to [Delete] at the US Attorneys Office. AUSA [Delete] advised that since the subject was not a Tennessee resident he declined prosecution on the matter. Due to a lack of specific threats aimed at TN law enforcement or government officials no further investigation will take place by Memphis/Nashville JTTF at this time. A Follow up will be conducted if any new information is received.

(U) An e-mail was sent on 11/01/2011 to TFO [Delete] with the Pittsburg, JTTF. The e-mail was to advise him of the fax and to make him aware of the threats made by [Delete]

To: Pittsburgh
From: Memphis
Re: [Delete] 11/02/2011

LEAD(s):

Set Lead 1: (Info)

PITTSBURGH

AT PITTSBURGH, PA

For information only and whatever action deemed necessary.

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 12/09/2011
To: Memphis
From: Memphis
Squad 13/ FIG
Contact: [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete] ddr [Delete]
Case ID # [Delete] (Pending)
[Delete] (Pending)
[Delete]

Title: Intelligence Briefing and Liaison
Memphis Division Joint Terrorism Task Force

Synopsis: To provide documentation of creating and presenting a Field Intelligence Group (FIG) brief to the part-time and full-time members of the JTTF.

Derived From: FBI NSISCG-20080301
Declassify On: 20361209

Details:
Liaison Meeting
Date: 7 December 2011
Attendees (Approximately 34 total):
Memphis full-time JTTF members
Local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies

Location: SAC's conference room

Details: Prior to 7 December 2011, IA [Delete] and IA [Delete] created a Memphis FIG PowerPoint presentation to be presented at the Part--time JTTF Meeting on 7 December 2011. On 7 December 2011, the Memphis FIG presented the
unclassified threat briefing to the part-time and full-time
members of the JTTF. IA [Delete] briefed International Terrorism
intelligence related to Seventh Issue of Inspire magazine,
the death of Anwar Aulaqi and Samir Khan, and the arrest of a
Homegrown Violent Extremist in New York who viewed Inspire's
article titled, Make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom. IA [Delete] briefed Domestic Terrorism intelligence related to Aryan Nations, Occupy Wall Street, and Anonymous. Additionally, IA [Delete] discussed the Holiday Threat. Both IA [Delete] and IA [Delete] presented the briefing to a group of approximately 34 individuals in the SAC's conference room.

Liaison Meeting
Date: 8 December 2011
Attendees (Approximately 38 total):
three Memphis FIG members
Local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies

Location: Shelby County Sheriff's Office (SCSO), Homeland Security Division

Details: On 8 December 2011, IA [Delete] and IA [Delete] attended the Monthly Shelby County Sheriff's Office Intelligence meeting. Per the request of LT [Delete] of SCSO, IA [Delete] briefly explained the impact of the Inspire magazine and the type of articles included such as Make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom, or Training with the AK. IA [Delete] then passed around the Seventh Issue of Inspire magazine and offered to email all seven editions of Inspire. IA [Delete] also briefly discussed the death of Anwar Aulaqi and Samir Khan, and the arrest of a Homegrown Violent Extremist in New York who viewed Inspire's article titled, Make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom. IA [Delete] briefed Domestic Terrorism intelligence related to Aryan Nations, Occupy Wall Street, and Anonymous. Additionally, IA [Delete] discussed the recent white powder letters. Both IA [Delete] and IA [Delete] presented the briefing to a group of approximately 38 individuals at the SCSO, Homeland Security Division. At the end of the meeting, LT [Delete] of the U.S. Coast Guard and LT [Delete] requested copies of the Inspire magazine; therefore, IA [Delete] emailed both LT [Delete] and LT [Delete] all seven editions of Inspire so they could share with their agencies and attendees of the SCSO Intelligence meeting.

To: Memphis
From: Memphis
Re: [Delete] 12/09/2011

Accomplishment Information:

Number: 2
Type: DI-R&P-INTELL BRIEFING/PRESENTATION (DHS-STATE/LOCAL)
ITU: INTEL PROGRAM
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: 013A

Number: 2
Type: SPEC EVENTS-BRIEFING ATTENDED/CONDUCTED
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: 013A

Number: 2
Type: SPEC EVENTS-PARTICIPATE WORKING GROUP/TASK FORCE MEETING
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: 013a

Number: 2
Type: DI-R&p-INTELL BRIEFING/PRESENTATION (DHS-STATE/LOCAL)
ITU: INTEL PROGRAM
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: 013a

Number: 2
Type: SPEC EVENTS-BRIEFING ATTENDED/CONDUCTED
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: 013a

Number: 2
Type: SPEC EVENTS-PARTICIPATE WORKING GROUP/TASK FORCE MEETING
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By:

To: Memphis
From: Memphis
Re: [Delete] 12/09/2011

SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: 013a

s:\shared\FIG\FIGMembers\IAs\[Delete]\FD 542\343ddr03.542.wpd

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 1/4/2012
TO: Miami
Attn: SCTOC [Delete]
OSS [Delete]
From: Miami
Command Post
Contact: CTOC [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete]
Case ID # [Delete] [Delete] (Pending)

Title: QUARTERLY ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
OCTOBER, NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2011

Synopsis: Fourth Quarterly Administrative Report for October, November and December 2011.

Details: In accordance with quarterly reporting requirement by SCTOC [Delete] the following list documents the Miami Division Command and Tactical Operations Center (CTOC) accomplishments, achievements, investigational/operational support for the months of October, November and December 2011.

1. CTOC personnel completed over 40 duplicating, scanning, distributing and data base projects, including Grand Jury material, for:

a. AO [Delete]
b. SAS [Delete]
c. SCTOC [Delete]
d. SIOA [Delete]
e. A/SSA [Delete]
f. SA [Delete]
g. SA [Delete]
h. SA [Delete]
i. SA [Delete]
j. SA [Delete]
k. SA [Delete]
l. SA [Delete]
m. SA [Delete]
n. SA [Delete]
o. SA [Delete]
p. COS [Delete]
q. FA [Delete]
r. FA [Delete]
s. FA [Delete]
t. IA [Delete]
u. ITS [Delete]
v. SST [Delete]
w. SST [Delete]
x. SOS [Delete]

2. CTOC provided operational assistance for 43 scheduled arrests, search warrants and operations for the following squads:

a. C-1 (2).
b. C-2 (7).
c. C-3 (5).
d. C-4 (6).
e. C-5 (2).
f. C-8 (1).
g. C-9 (1).
h. C-10 (1).
i. C-12 (7).
j. C-15 (3).
k. C-16 (1).
1. Palm Beach (3)
m. T-3 (3).
n. T-8 (1).

3. CTOC provided operational assistance for 27 Bank robberies.

4. CTOC provided operational assistance during continual, T-3 operation, 11/23/2011 through 12/10/2011.

5. CTOC provided operational assistance during "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrations in Miami, FL.

6. CTOC personnel participated in "Complaint Duty Training" hosted by AS [Delete]

7. CTOC personnel completed mandatory Virtual Academy training "FBI Travel Card 2011."

8. CTOC personnel briefed on upcoming Bureau "Complaint Duty Centralization" study.

9. CTOC entered 32 Subject warrants into NCIC.

10. CTOC cleared 29 Subject warrants from NCIC.

11. CTOC personnel submitted 22 FD-7ls based on telephonic complaints.

12. CTOC personnel made [Delete] [Delete]

13. CTOC personnel received and handled 4 NCIC Hit Confirmations.

14. Continuing assistance is provided for duplicating and scanning project for A/SSA [Delete]

15. Continuing assistance is provided for entry of financial records for [Delete] and FA [Delete]

16. Continuing assistance is provided for telephone subscriber and data base entry project for SOS [Delete] [Delete]

17. CTOC [Delete] continues communication with MPA [Delete] [Delete] HRD, regarding Specialist Career Initiative" study.

18. CTOC successfully conducted testing of Florida Interoperability Network (FIN) for October, November and December.

19. CTOC Orol completed NCIC Validations for October, November and December.

20. CTOC Orol attended TAC meeting at FDLE on 11/2/2011.

21. CTOC [Delete] completed DAVID application reviews and audits for October, November and December.

22. Office & Perimeter Intrusion Alarms tested for October, November and December with 100% operation.

23. CTOC updated the "Miami Offsite Facility Alarm Monitoring Log" to reflect all alarm point changes.

24. CTOC [Delete] traveled to HQ/SIOC to attend CTOC Conference.

25. Regular meetings with SCTOC [Delete] and OSS [Delete] [Delete]
to discuss CTOC operations continue.

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 11/16/2011
To: Omaha
Attn: [Delete] [Delete]
From: Omaha
Squad 7/Des Moines RA
Contact: TFO [Delete] [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete]
Case ID # [Delete] [Delete] (None)

Title: Intelligence Briefing and Liaison

Synopsis: Occupy Iowa protestor requested a meeting with local law enforcement and Des Moines F.B.I.

Details: On 10/08/2011 [Delete] (protect identity) met with investigators at the Des Moines Resident Agency Office. Investigators in attendance were, TFO [Delete] TFO [Delete] Des Moines Police Sgt. [Delete] and Iowa State Patrol Lt. [Delete]

Investigators met with [Delete] at her request to discuss her concerns about the Occupy Iowa protest group in Des Moines, Iowa. [Delete] stated she wanted to meet because she was concerned about recent comments made in the Occupy Iowa group. [Delete] stated that the comments made mentioned property damage and future protest behavior. [Delete] stated that some of the Occupy Iowa organizers and leaders are not in agreement with regards to their plan forward as the Caucuses approach.

[Delete] stated she is also concerned that some of the people performing in leadership roles are having suspicious closed confidential meetings. [Delete] stated group business is usually discussed in general assembly meetings. [Delete] offered to supply information on the Occupy Iowa group.

To: Omaha
From: Omaha
Re: [Delete] 11/16/2011

[Delete] asked if she had any specific concerns related to public safety, officer safety, or criminal activity. [Delete] stated she had no knowledge or specific concerns in regards to public safety, officer safety, and criminal activity.

[Delete] offered her email and Facebook account information and passwords. [Delete] advised that law enforcement would not and could not acknowledge her consent to access her social sites. [Delete] was advised to contact the Des Moines Police Department if information was found in regards to any public safety, officer safety, or criminal activity.

To: Omaha
From: Omaha
Re: [Delete] 11/16/2011

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 11/17/2011
To: Omaha
Attn: ASAC Edward Reinhold
From: Omaha
Squad 7, DMRA
Contact: [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete] bef
Drafted By: [Delete] bef
Case ID # [Delete] (Pending)

Title: RELATIONS WITH THE DES MOINES POLICE DEPARTMENT (DMPD)

Synopsis: To document liaison meeting at the DMPD on instant date.

Details: Because of information received by the DMPD that there may potentially be an attempt to stop the Iowa Caucuses by people involved in occupy Iowa, which may involve criminal activity, the DMPD called a meeting to which they invited various Federal, State and local police agencies to attend. The meeting was chaired by Sergeant [Delete] DMPD.

Sgt. [Delete] emphasized the need to respect protesters' first amendment rights. He distributed a Department of Homeland Security publication, entitled, "Law Enforcement Guidelines for First Amendment-Protected Events," which is hereafter attached. Sgt. [Delete] stressed that if local agencies learned that protesters would be demonstrating in their respective towns, that the DMPD's experience had been that it was helpful to ensure that the protesters had a designated area where they could protest and that they supply enough officers on the scene to ensure the protesters' safety. Sgt. [Delete] advised that any intelligence received regarding criminal behavior that could be a threat to public safety should be reported to the Iowa Fusion Center.

The writer and SA [Delete] were present to ensure that no Federal nexus existed. As none was articulated, SSRA [Delete] and SA [Delete] did not offer any commentary.

SENTINEL-EXT TEMPLATE

On 21 November received a UNet email at 19:28 hrs regarding a white powder incident at the US Courthouse in Des Moines, IA. US Postal inspectors and FBI are conducting the investigation. Initial tests have identified the substance as a prescription medication.

The letter threatens that "Occupy Des Moines" will be conducting a gas attack (mustard-sulfur) on the Des Moines airport and other "religious centers of corporate greed" during the "Nationalist" holiday season. The letter is signed "An,Rrch'ee" (using an usual anarchy "A" symbol for the "A").

Actions Taken:

1. Log entry created. / RCS
11/21/2011 2350 ACTIVE SHOOTER/ARMED SUSPECT COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
Classification: Unclassified
Caveat For Official Use Only
(O)Conus: CONUS 5
[Delete]
Tier: Routhe CTW action required
Threat Matrix Item? No
Disposition: For informational purposes only
Request For Info? No
UPDATE
CT Watch received a final update regarding the captioned incident via FBINET from SIOC (21 NOV 2011 at 2333 hrs). Per referenced email, the situation has been resolved without incident. See FBINET email for additional details. No further CT Watch action is necessary as this incident is being handled as a criminal matter.

Actions Taken: log updated / JHC

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 10/21/2011
To: Richmond
From: Richmond
Squad: 5/JTTF
Contact: [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete]
Case ID # [Delete] [Delete]
Title: FEDERAL RESERVE BANK
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

Synopsis: To claim statistical accomplishment.

Details: On 10/04/11, TFO [Delete] was contacted by the Assistant Vice President Law Enforcement Unit, [Delete] of the Federal Reserve Law Enforcement unit, to pass on information regarding the movement known as occupy Wall Street. This movement has been known to be peaceful but demonstrations across the United States show that other groups have joined in such as Day Of Rage and the October 2011 Movement.

Contact with [Delete] continued on October 05, 07, 14, and 15 to pass on updates of the events and decisions made during the small rallies and the following information received from the Capital Police Intelligence Unit through JTTF, TFO [Delete]

The October2011 Movement is planning an occupation and nonviolent resistance actions in Washington, DC starting on October 6, 2011. This date marks the 10-year anniversary of the U.S. war in Afghanistan and the first week of the new federal budget which provides unlimited funding for war, tax breaks for the wealthy and austerity for human services.

Thousands of people have pledged to gather in Freedom Plaza beginning on that day to non violently disrupt the disloyal, incompetent, and corrupt special interests which have usurped our nation's civil and military power, spawning a host of threats to our liberty, lives and national security.

To: Richmond
From: Richmond
Re: [Delete] 10/21/2011

The October2011 Movement protests corporatism and militarism because they prevent solutions to our current crises which would create a more peaceful, just, and sustainable world from being implemented. Instead concentrated corporate interests rule our elections and political process so that wealth continues to be funneled to the top 1%.

US Day of Rage is calling for free and fair elections, not elections manipulated by the economic elite, special interests, or corporate media, where choices are limited to bought candidates and two corrupt parties. US Day of Rage is organizing with OccupyWallStreet to create a tent city in the financial district of New York beginning on September 17. October2011 and OccupyWallStreet have endorsed each others' actions.

Legitimate government is born of the people expressed by its citizens in free and fair elections. It does not spring from a tyranny of special interests, crony capitalism, or a system or ideology that runs counter to the aims of life.

Free and fair elections inspire good citizenship and public service, because they engage the intelligence and genuine good will of the American people. They produce the kind of stewardship our nation desperately needs, because they ensure that citizens can influence their destiny, and make genuine contributions to society unlike our present system where the government moves in directions the majority of Americans oppose putting the profits of campaign donors ahead of the wishes of the American people.

Free and fair elections are steps towards re-mediating the myriad ills and abuses of a corrupt and illegitimate government, which preys on the resources and spirits of citizens, and violates rights of the other peoples and nations.

The October2011 Movement and US Day of Rage know that abuses of the people and planet will end when we take unified and persistent action. We stand in solidarity with each other and with the growing nonviolent movements around the nation and world to call for democratization of our society.

They are also trying to mobilize at every Federal institution in each State. At this moment the group seems very minimal for Virginia, and my friends in Florida.

Contact continued until after the set date of 10/15/11. Occupy Richmond is still camped peacefully at Kanawa Plaza, across from the Federal Reserve.

To: Richmond
From: Richmond
Re: [Delete] 10/21/2011

Accomplishment Information:

Number: 5
Type: POSITIVE INTELLIGENCE (DISSEMINATED OUTSIDE FBI)
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: 5

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
SITUATIONAL INFORMATION REPORT

Potential Criminal Activity Alert
Richmond Division

13 October 2011

Occupy Richmond: Potential for Cyber Criminal Activity Surrounding 15 October 2011 Rally

(U) FBI Richmond is releasing this Situational Information Report to raise law enforcement and public safety officials' awareness of possible cyber criminal activity surrounding the 'Occupy Richmond' demonstration to be held on 15 October 2011 in and around Kanawha Plaza (located at the intersection of S. 8th St. E. Cary St.) Richmond, Virginia.

(U) Open sources report that Occupy Richmond is a grass-roots movement that is a spin-off from the 'Occupy Wall Street' protests that began in New York City last month. As of 12 October 2011, the Occupy Richmond Facebook group had over 4,500 'likes' [1] and the Occupy Richmond Twitter feed had over 1,500 followers. [2] The wider Occupy Wall Street or 'Occupy Together' protests are somewhat disorganized and primarily composed of college students. Rallies and protests have been held across the nation. Within Virginia, open sources indicate associated groups of varying levels of organization exist in Charlottesville, Staunton, Fredericksburg, Roanoke, Norfolk, and the northern Virginia area.

(U) Law Enforcement Sensitive: This information is the property of the FBI and may be distributed to state, tribal, or local government law enforcement officials with a need-to-know. Further distribution without FBI authorization is prohibited. Precautions should be taken to ensure this information is stored and/or destroyed in a manner that precludes unauthorized access.
(U) Warning: This is an information report, not finally evaluated intelligence. It is being shared for informational purposes but has not been fully evaluated, integrated with other information, interpreted, or analyzed. Receiving agencies are cautioned not to take actions based solely on this raw reporting unless the information is independently verified. A presumption of innocence still exists for any person being reported on in this report.

(U) Note: This product reflects the views of Richmond Division and has not been vetted by FBI Headquarters.

On 23 August 2011, the hacktivist collective group 'Anonymous' released a video pledging support for the Occupy Wall Street protests and encouraged members to participate. In the past, Anonymous has planned cyber intrusion activities or distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks to coincide with other physical protests. This could indicate an intention to conduct cyber attacks in conjunction with the various Occupy Wall Street protests, to include the Occupy Richmond protest. According to open source reporting, Anonymous planned to release a new tool to the public called RefRef in September 2011. Anonymous successfully tested this tool by performing attacks on WikiLeaks, Pastebin, and 4chan.org. Since the current protests are focused on the financial sector, if a cyber attack were to occur, financial institutions could be targeted.

(U) The city of Richmond has a historically strong finance and insurance sector with a multitude of brokerage firms, investment banking firms, and venture and equity firms located in the area. The city of Richmond is home to the main corporate offices of six Fortune 500 companies and 14 Fortune 1000 companies. Additionally, many banks and Fortune 500 companies have a large presence in the wider Richmond area. These entities could be considered high value targets for financial, cyber related attacks.

(U) According to reporting, there are no known planned acts of violence for the 15 October 2011 rally in Richmond, Virginia. Although the Occupy Wall Street protests are largely peaceful, there have been reports of violence and arrests in various rallies across the nation. On 2 October 2011, more than 700 Occupy Wall Street protestors were arrested during a march on the Brooklyn Bridge. [4] On 11 October 2011, approximately 100 Occupy Boston protestors were arrested for moving into an area outside the designated space. [5]

(U) This information is being provided for situational awareness. It is requested that any positive intelligence related to similar or emerging trends, tactics or schemes occurring in Virginia be forwarded to FBI Richmond and the Virginia Fusion Center (VFC).

(U) This report has been prepared by the Richmond Division of the FBI. Comments and queries may be addressed to the Richmond Field Intelligence Group at 804-261-1044.

Endnotes

1. Internet website; http:www.facebook.com/occupy.richmond.

2. Internet website: http://twitter.com/#!/OccupyRichmond

3. [Delete]

4 Intemet Article; "700 Arrested at Brooklyn Bridge Protest": http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/ ... 436.shtml; 10/02/2011

5. Intermet Article; "100 Arrested at Occupy Boston protest; 1 arrest in Chicago"; http://www.abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlin ... -protest/; 10/11/2011

Distribution

Deputy Assistant Director, Directorate of Intelligence
Deputy Assistant Director, Criminal Investigative Division
Deputy Assistant Director, Cyber Division
Editorial Review Unit, Directorate of Intelligence
FBI Intranet
LEO (Unclassified/Law Enforcement Sensitive Products Only)
Virginia Fusion Center (VFC)
Infragard

FBI Customer Satisfaction Survey

Please take a moment to complete this survey and help evaluate the quality, value, and relevance of our product. Your response will help us serve you more effectively and efficiently in the future. Thank you for your cooperation and assistance.

Return to:

FBI Richmond
1970 East Parham Road
Richmond, VA 23228

Customer and Product Information

Product:
Title: Occupy Richmond: Potential for Cyber Criminal Activity Surrounding 15 October 2011 Rally
Dated: 13 October 2011
Customer Agency: _____________________

Relevance to Your Needs

1. The product increased my knowledge of an issue or topic. (Check one)

5 Strongly Agree
4. Somewhat Agree
3. Neither Agree or Disagree
2. Somewhat Disagree
1 Strongly Disagree

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Comments (if any):

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 11/02/2011
To: Sacramento
From: Sacramento
Modesto RA
Contact: SA [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete] mel 306me101.542
Case ID # [Delete] (Pending) [Delete]

Title: MARITIME SECURITY
DOMAIN AWARENESS

Synopsis: Liaison with Stockton Port Police.

Details: Writer contacted Chief George Lerner of Port of Stockton Police Department to share intelligence about "Occupy" protesters targeting the Port of Oakland. On 11/2/2011 news sources indicate the Occupy Oakland protestors plan to shut down the Oakland port beginning at 9am. Port of Stockton Police are aware of the pending protests and are prepared for any of the same activity in Stockton.

To: Sacramento
From: Sacramento
Re: [Delete] 11/02/2011

Accomplishment Information:

Number: 1
Type: CTD MARITIME INTELLIGENCE DISSEMINATED
ITU: 300J-MARITIME SECURITY PROGRAM
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: STRA

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 11/04/2011
To: Tampa
From: Tampa
Sq 5/JTTF-DT
Contact: [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete]
Case ID # [Delete] (Pending)
[Delete](Pending)

Title: DOMESTIC TERRORISM CONTROL FILE
LIAISON

FIELD INTELLIGENCE GROUP
LIAISON MATTER

Synopsis: Claim statistical accomplishment.

Details: On 3 November 2011, writer participated in the Tampa Bay Area Intelligence Unit (TBAIU). TBAIU is held at the Tampa Police Department on the first Thursday of each month. Approximately 45 persons are in attendance at each meeting.

Detective [Delete] Lakeland PD, advised that Occupy Lakeland took place on Saturday, 29 October with approximately 78 persons at the Bank of America and Wells Fargo Banks. Occupy Polk County has also been planned. Detective [Delete] also advised that approximately 50-units at a public storage center were burglarized.

Tampa Police Department advised of several local robberies.

St. Petersburg Police Department advised of Occupy St. Petersburg had approx 150 participants and that the protests will continue every Saturday at 2:00 PM at Straub Park.

Pasco County SO advised that Pagan MC members are allegedly buying guns in Pinellas County.

To: Tampa
From: Tampa
Re: ??, 11/04/2011

Hillsborough County SO advised that [Delete] is leading the Occupy Tampa and that they will be traveling to Gainesville, FL for an anarchist planning meeting at the Civic Media Center on 5 November.


[Delete] AFOSI has advised that the Veterans for Peace are planning to protest at MacDill AFB during the Air Fest on 5-6 November and that the Veterans for Peace have invited persons participating in the occupy Tampa and St. Petersburg events to join them at the Dale Mabry Gate of MacDill AFB.

To: Tampa
From: Tampa
Re: ?? 11/04/2011

Accomplishment Information:

Number: 45
Type: DI-LIAISON-CONTACT (STATE/LOCAL)
ITU: INTEL PROGRAM
Claimed B:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: 5

Number: 2
Type: DI-LIAISON-CONTACT (PRIVATE/COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION)
ITU: INTEL PROGRAM
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: 5

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 10/31/2011
To: Tampa
From: Tampa
Squad 19/FIG [Delete]
Contact: SOS [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete]
Case ID # [Delete] (Pending)

Title: DOMESTIC TERRORISM CONTROL FILE
AOT -- DT

Synopsis: Document statistical accomplishment

Details: On October 28, 2011, Attorney General Eric Holder was in the Tampa Division to visit the US Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida, and attend a press conference with the Drug Enforcement Agency, in honor of their Operation Pill Nation takedown. In preparation of the AG's visit, SOS [Delete] along with assistance from IA prepared a threat assessment.

The visit coincided with several protests that were taking place due to the occupy Tampa movement. Though there was the possibility of having protestors at the events featuring the Attorney General, the threat to the Attorney General was low. The threat assessment and accompanying EC were uploaded to [Delete] [Delete]

To: Tampa
From: Tampa
Re: [Delete] 10/31/2011

Accomplishment Information:

Number: 1
Type: CTD CLI INTELLIGENCE DISSEMINATED.
ITU: LIAISON WITHIN FBI
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: 16

SENTINEL -- EXT TEMPLATE

Precedence: ROUTINE
Date: 01/18/2012
To: Washington Field
From: Washington Field
CT-10/INCRS
Contact: SA [Delete]
Approved By: [Delete]
Drafted By: [Delete]
Case ID # [Delete] (Pending) [Delete]
[Delete] (Pending)

Title: OPERATIONAL MEDICINE-LIASON
NCRS STAT FILE

Synopsis: Document statistical accomplishment

Details: On January 17, 2012, at approximately 09:40hrs. Special Agent/Paramedic [Delete] responded to the White House, NW perimeter for a reported device that was thrown over the White House Fence. The Occupy DC protesters were in the area protesting next to the fence, when someone in the group threw over a device that was smoking. United States Secret Service (USSS), Metropolitan Police Department (MDP) and DC Fire Department (DCFD) were all on scene.

EOD and Hazmat technicians retrieved the item which was examined to be a road flare. There were also two (2) bottles lying next to the fence that were left unattended. DCFD Hazmat cleared the bottles and found water and other neutral substanoes in the bottles. No other hazards or devices were located. USSS was continuing the investigation. No FBI resources were needed on scene.

Accomplishment Information:

Number: 1
Type: PARTICIPATE IN COMMAND POST/MAJOR CASE/ SPECIAL EVENT
ITU: LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCY
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: CT 10

Number: 1
Type: WMD-PARTICIPATE IN UNIFIED COMMAND/COMMAND POST
ITU: WMD/CP PROGRAM
Claimed by:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: CT10

Number 1
Type: WMD-RESPONSE TO WMD INCIDENT-PHYSICAL-OTHER
ITU: WMD/CP PROGRAM
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: CT 10

Number: 1
Type: WMD-LIAISON-)FEDERAL AGENCY
ITU: WMD/CP PROGRAM
Claimed By:
SSN: [Delete]
Name: [Delete]
Squad: CT 10

Originating Office: WF
Responses: 0
Document Date: 01/18/2012
Text: Y
Document Type: FD542
FIF:
To: WASHINGTON FIELD
From: WASHINGTON FIELD
Author: [Delete]
Approver: [Delete]
Topic: DOCUMENT STATISTICAL ACCOMPLISHMENT

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
FOIPA
DELETED PAGE INFORMATION SHEET

No Duplication Fees are charged for Deleted Page Information Sheet(s).

Total Deleted Page(s) - 60
Page 1 - Outside the Scope

See original for rest of list

U.S. Department of Justice

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Washington, D. C. 20535

December 18. 2012

Ms. Mara Verheyden-Hilliard. Esq.
Partnership for Civil Justice Fund
617 Florida Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

Subject: Occupy Wall Street
FOIPA No. 1178231-000

Dear Ms. Verheyden-Hilliard:

The enclosed documents were reviewed under the Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts (FOIPA), Title 5, United States Code. Section 552/552a. Deletions have been made to protect information which is exempt from disclosure, with the appropriate exemptions noted on the page next to the excision. In addition, a deleted page information sheet was inserted in the file to indicate where pages were withheld entirely. The exemptions used to withhold information are marked below and explained on the enclosed Explanation of Exemptions:

See original for rest of list

387 pages were reviewed and 99 pages are being released.

Document(s) were located which originated with or contained information concerning other Government agency(ies) This information has been:

referred to the OGA for consultation. The documents have been reviewed by the OGA and are included with this release.

For your information, Congress excluded three discrete categories of law enforcement and national security records from the requirements of the FOIA. See 5 U.S.C. Section 552(c) (2006 & Supp. IV (2010). This response is limited to those records that are subject to the requirements of the FOIA. This is a standard notification that is given to all our requesters and should not be taken as an indication that excluded records

EXPLANATION OF EXEMPTIONS
SUBSECTIONS OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, SECTION 552

(b)(1) (A) specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and (B) are in fact properly classified to such Executive order;

(b)(2) related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency;

(b)(3) specifically exempted from disclosure by statute (other than section 552b of this title), provided that such statute(A) requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on issue, or (B) establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld;

(b)(4) trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential;

(b)(5) inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters which would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency;

(b)(6) personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;

(b)(7) records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that the production of such law enforcement records or information A could be reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings, would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication, could be reasonably expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of confidential source, including a State, local, or foreign agency or authority or any private institution which furnished information on a confidential basis, and, in the case of record or information compiled by a criminal law enforcement authority in the course of a criminal investigation, or by an agency conducting a lawful national security intelligence investigation, information furnished by a confidential source, would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions if such disclosure could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law, or could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual;

(b)(8) contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions; or

(b)(9) geological and geophysical information and data, including maps, concerning wells.

SUBSECTIONS OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, SECTION 552a

(d)(5) information compiled in reasonable anticipation of a civil action proceeding;

(j)(2) material reporting investigative efforts pertaining to the enforcement of criminal law including efforts to prevent, control, or reduce crime or apprehend criminals;

(k)(1) information which is currently and properly classified pursuant to an Executive order in the interest of the national defense or foreign policy, for example, information involving intelligence sources or methods;

(k)(2) investigatory material compiled for law enforcement purposes, other than criminal, which did not result in loss of a right, benefit or privilege under Federal programs, or which would identify a source who furnished information pursuant to a promise that his/her identity would be held in confidence;

(k)(3) material maintained in connection with providing protective services to the President of the United States or any other individual pursuant to the authority of Title 18, United States Code, Section 3056;

(k)(4) required by statute to be maintained and used solely as statistical records;

(k)(5) investigatory material compiled solely for the purpose of determining suitability, eligibility, or qualifications for Federal civilian employment or for access to classified information, the disclosure of which would reveal the identity of the person who furnished information pursuant to a promise that his/her identity would be held in confidence;

(k)(6) testing or examination material used to determine individual qualifications for appointment or promotion in Federal Government service the release of which would compromise the testing or examination process;

(k)(7) material used to determine potential for promotion in the armed services, the disclosure of which would reveal the identity of the person who furnished the material pursuant to a promise that his/her identity would be held in confidence.

U.S. Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation
170 Marcel Drive
Winchester, VA 22602

Ms. Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Esq.
Partnership for Civil Justice Fund
617 Florida Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

CAUTION
Do not bend or fold
Avoid exposure to all magnetic fields

1178231 -000/Occupy Wall Street

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
FOIA RELEASE

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Re: FBI DOCUMENTS REVEAL SECRET NATIONWIDE OCCUPY MONITORING

Postby admin » Wed Jan 13, 2016 7:58 am

FBI Surveillance Of Occupy Wall Street Detailed
by Huffington Post
01/05/2013

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.


WASHINGTON -- Was Tim Franzen stockpiling weapons? What was Tim Franzen's philosophy? What was his political affiliation? Did Tim Franzen ever talk about violent revolution?

The Federal Bureau of Investigation wanted to know. In late 2011, an agent or agents -- Franzen still isn't quite sure -- began trying to find out. It was during this time that Franzen became a well-known and central presence in Occupy Atlanta. He helped start the Occupy Wall Street offshoot, and had been arrested when police razed their encampment in a downtown Atlanta park.

After the first police sweep of the park, Franzen told The Huffington Post that the FBI began interviewing his fellow Occupy Atlanta activists about whether Franzen might have a cache of weapons for a future violent revolution. He said the feds interviewed three different activists at their homes about his activities and beliefs.

"It definitely rattled my cage to have these kids getting knocks on their door," Franzen said.

Here's what the feds would have found out in the course of a background check on the activist: Franzen had a criminal record related to teenage drug use and robberies that supported his habit. But he last spent time in prison when he was 19. Franzen, now 35, went on to found a chain of halfway houses to help people make the transition from addiction to recovery. He later became a community organizer with the Quaker social justice organization American Friends Service Committee, a position he continues to hold while working within Occupy Atlanta.

During one interview, an FBI agent gave one of Franzen's fellow activists a business card, which was handed over to Franzen, who decided to call the agent and have a little fun.

"I have an expert on all things Tim Franzen," Franzen remembers telling the agent over the phone. "I said, 'I'm Tim Franzen.' ... He was sort of dumbfounded. He didn't know what to say."

Franzen chastised the federal agent for scaring his younger activist friends. "At first he started denying it," he said. "He tried to write it off as not a big deal, as sort of protocol."

At the end of December, the FBI released internal documents that revealed a coordinated -- if quixotic -- surveillance of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Just about every law enforcement agency gets a cameo in the correspondence: Homeland Security, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, an entity known as the Domestic Security Alliance Council -- and even the Federal Reserve. But the extremely limited disclosure makes it difficult to assess exactly with whom the government agencies were coordinating, or why. Was the FBI attempting to infiltrate and undermine the Occupy movement, or simply trying to keep tabs on protesters who were hoping to spark political change?

Of the 110 pages released -- first obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund through a Freedom of Information Act request -- dozens are heavily redacted. The documents state that 287 additional pages on the FBI's Occupy activities were "deleted" from the release by the agency for various reasons, including nine labeled "outside the scope" and 14 tagged "duplicate."

At times, the documents are contradictory and show FBI agents spreading false information. The earliest memo erroneously describes Adbusters, the Canadian magazine that came up with the idea behind Occupy, as a "self-identified American revolutionary anarchist group." In another, OWS is lumped in with the "Aryan Nations (sic)" and hacker-activists Anonymous as "domestic terrorists."

In response to a request for comment, FBI spokesperson Christopher Allen replied via email, "The FBI cautions against drawing conclusions from redacted FOIA documents." He continued, "While the FBI is obligated to thoroughly investigate any serious allegations involving threats of violence, we do not open investigations based solely on 1st Amendment activity. In fact, DOJ and the FBI's own internal guidelines on domestic operations strictly forbid that."

If there was a unified mission behind the Occupy surveillance, it appears the purpose was to pass information about activists' plans to the finance industry. In one memo from August 2011, the FBI discusses informing officials at the New York Stock Exchange about "the planned Anarchist protest titled 'occupy Wall Street', scheduled for September 17, 2011.[sic] Numerous incidents have occurred in the past which show attempts by Anarchist groups to disrupt, influence, and or shut down normal business operations of financial districts."

The documents reveal that the FBI met with officials from four banks and one credit union, and spoke over the phone with a representative from a fifth bank. The FBI also talked with officials from the Richmond Federal Reserve, a branch of the central bank that covers much of the American South. If the FBI communicated with any of the trillion-dollar banks that were the primary subject of Occupy Wall Street's economic critique, however, those discussions have been redacted from the documents.

Citigroup, for example, is not mentioned anywhere the documents, while Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are each mentioned once in passing. No documents show coordination between the FBI and any of those banks -- although it would be conspicuous for the FBI to have communicated with smaller banks that were not a major focus of the Occupy movement while ignoring the much larger institutions that were recipients of the 2008-2009 bailouts.

The few direct communications with banks that are detailed in the documents reveal little evidence of improper behavior. On Oct. 6, 2011, the FBI called Zions Bank to inform the bankers that "Anonymous hactivists" had distributed the personal phone numbers of "the CEOs of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase" online, implying that Zions executives might also be subject to such treatment per an impending Occupy rally in Salt Lake City, where Zions is headquartered. Zions declined to comment on the call for this article, but the bank -- which has about 2 percent of the total assets of JPMorgan -- has not been a target of Occupy rhetoric before or since the FBI call.

The only other banks named in the FBI documents are Hancock Bank, Peoples Bank, Bancorp South and Regions Bank -- all of which declined to comment for this article. The FBI attended a Nov. 16, 2011, meeting of officials from those banks in Biloxi, Miss., where someone from Hancock Bank warned attendees to expect an Occupy protest on Dec. 7 that could include a "sit-in" or efforts to "lock the bank doors."

None of the banks mentioned in the FBI file would comment on whether the FBI met regularly with bank officials. Bank robbery is a federal crime, which gives FBI jurisdiction.

All of these banks would have been small-ball for a protest movement that targeted massive income inequality and outrageous executive pay. But if the FBI was issuing warnings to and meeting on security issues with these smaller banks, they were almost certainly having talks with bigger New York banks -- meaning the portrait of the FBI's activities around Occupy, insofar as the internal documents are concerned, is likely incomplete in a significant dimension.

Recent FBI investigations have at times put big banks in a negative light, but have yet to result in major actions against financial institutions. In July 2012, an FBI probe found that Bank of America had allowed a Mexican drug cartel to launder money through the bank. While BofA has yet to face any fines for the episode, the head of the FBI in Charlotte, N.C., BofA's headquarters, recently left the law enforcement agency for a job at Bank of America.

While the FBI communicated with the financial sector about Occupy, it's unclear the degree to which they engaged with actual Occupy activists like Franzen.

Kevin Zeese was one of the founding organizers of Occupy Washington, D.C., which set up camp just blocks from FBI headquarters and the Department of Justice. Zeese told HuffPost that infiltration by law enforcement agents or informants was an issue, but whether much of it was just shadowy conspiracy or serious agitating remains a mystery.

In one exchange he had with a Homeland Security officer, Zeese said the agent knew a key detail about a scheduled protest at the Environmental Protection Agency. Zeese joked that the officer knew more than he did about what was going on.

Zeese did remember one FBI agent who would bike over to the camp. Some of the younger activists talked regularly with the agent. "He was open about it," Zeese said. "He would ride through on a bike with the FBI thing on his back." The agent ended up spending a weekend at the camp and even donating funds to help pay for security.

Whether law enforcement had a hand in breaking up camps, Zeese said, "I can't tell." To which he added, "Down the road, there may be proof."

Franzen suggests that federal agents conducted more clandestine activities than simple Internet searches and protest monitoring. Occupiers frequently complained that the more outspoken activists within their ranks appeared to be targeted by police for arrest. Franzen said there is a connection between the agent who inquired about him among his friends and his subsequent arrest at a protest. He chronicled the incident on his blog a year ago:

Before the police officers warned the crowd to disperse from the street I had already gotten onto the side walk. One of the police Lieutenants yelled to his officers, 'Get him' and pointed at me. The police had to worm their way through the crowd in order to grab me and drag me into the street.

When I was dragged into the street, I asked the lieutenant what he was doing and he said, 'arresting you.'

'For what,' I asked.

'For being in the street,' he said.

'But I was on the sidewalk,' I replied.

'You're not now,' he said with a smile.
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Re: FBI DOCUMENTS REVEAL SECRET NATIONWIDE OCCUPY MONITORING

Postby admin » Wed Jan 13, 2016 7:59 am

FBI Occupy Wall Street Memos Skip Infiltration Of Occupy Cleveland
by Huffington Post
01/08/2013

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WASHINGTON -- Connor Stevens was sentenced to eight years in prison in mid-November for taking part in a plot to blow up an Ohio bridge. The 20-year-old's sentence was the culmination of work by an FBI informant, who pushed the bridge idea, and furnished Stevens and his associates with jobs, drugs, and ultimately explosives. The informant's operation began at Occupy Cleveland, where he met the would-be bombers.

The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FBI for all documents related to the agency's work monitoring Occupy Wall Street. It was a request likely to have produced materials related to the Cleveland sting.

Just before the New Year, the FBI released internal documents showing a coast-to-coast surveillance of the Occupy Wall Street movement. In the memos, federal agents review possible protests against banks in the South, ports in the West, and activities on Wall Street. The documents make only a glancing mention of Occupy Cleveland.

Neither the informant's work nor his reason to infiltrate Occupy Cleveland turn up in the FBI's response to the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund document request.

This did not escape the notice of Gail Stevens, Connors' mother. She still has unanswered questions about her son's case -- questions the documents do not come close to solving. "Why was the FBI sending someone into Occupy in the first place?" she asked. "There was never an answer, a satisfying answer."

Shaquille Azir, ex-con, bank robber, forger, passer of bad checks, and FBI informant, first visited Occupy Cleveland the night the activists were evicted from their camp. The young men were homeless, looking for a cause and a paycheck. At best they were failed gutter punks.

It took months of convincing by Azir to get the plot in motion. After the camp folded, Azir gave the penniless Occupy activists construction jobs, and plied them with beer while they worked. He sent them home, according to a Rolling Stone magazine account, with more beer, weed and prescription drugs. At first, the activists rebuffed Azir's arms-dealer friend, who was an FBI agent. Azir continued to press them.

When the Occupiers waffled, Azir pushed back. Eventually, Stevens and the others gave in. "They were kind of hooked into this guy," Stevens' attorney, Terry Gilbert, told HuffPost. "When Occupy disbanded, it took a chunk of meaning out of their lives -- to the point where they were kind of dangling out there with nothing to do. They were disaffected. ... One day it's all over and it's like where do I go now. That's when they started really working on these kids -- the FBI."

After the activists attempted to set off the fake bombs, agents swooped in on April 30. Four of the five defendants, including Stevens, pleaded guilty. The fifth defendant's case has been delayed for a psychological evaluation.

Gail Stevens said she wants to know how deep the FBI's involvement went. What did agents know about Azir and drugs? What instructions did the FBI give? What was documented in the hours when the recording equipment failed?

"I just want to shake people and wake them up," Stevens said. "Do you not realize what the FBI is doing? The power that they have?"

So far, at least when it comes to Occupy Wall Street, the FBI has the power to withhold and redact documents. "All FBI documents responsive to the request have been processed and released," bureau spokesman Christopher Allen told HuffPost in an email.

Tim Russo, a member of Occupy Cleveland who filmed the group's activities, said his group's scant mention in the FBI release proves the existence of more documents.

"The FOIA release is incomplete on its face," Russo told HuffPost. "If you ask for info about the FBI's involvement in the Occupy movement and not one word in the release mentions this plot -- it's like 'really?' It doesn't pass the smell test."

Said Russo: "Follow the money and there's your terrorist. These guys didn't have enough money to buy lunch at an Olive Garden. Any FOIA release would have some discussion of where this money came from."

Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, a co-founder of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund who filed the FOIA request, said she agrees. She told HuffPost an appeal for more FBI documents is in the works.

"There are references throughout [the documents] to monitoring reports, other information that they obtained, discussions that themselves would have generated other written materials that we do not have," Verheyden-Hilliard explained.

Those 100 or so pages, Verheyden-Hilliard said, were "the tip of the iceberg."
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Re: FBI DOCUMENTS REVEAL SECRET NATIONWIDE OCCUPY MONITORING

Postby admin » Wed Jan 13, 2016 8:01 am

How FBI Entrapment Is Inventing 'Terrorists' - and Letting Bad Guys Off the Hook
by Rick Perlstein
RS Politics Daily
MAY 15, 2012

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Rolling Stone

This past October, at an Occupy encampment in Cleveland, Ohio, "suspicious males with walkie-talkies around their necks" and "scarves or towels around their heads" were heard grumbling at the protesters' unwillingness to act violently. At meetings a few months later, one of them, a 26-year-old with a black Mohawk known as "Cyco," explained to his anarchist colleagues how "you can make plastic explosives with bleach," and the group of five men fantasized about what they might blow up. Cyco suggested a small bridge. One of the others thought they’d have a better chance of not hurting people if they blew up a cargo ship. A third, however, argued for a big bridge – "Gotta slow the traffic that's going to make them money" – and won. He then led them to a connection who sold them C-4 explosives for $450. Then, the night before the May Day Occupy protests, they allegedly put the plan into motion – and just as the would-be terrorists fiddled with the detonator they hoped would blow to smithereens a scenic bridge in Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park traversed by 13,610 vehicles every day, the FBI swooped in to arrest them.


Right in the nick of time, just like in the movies. The authorities couldn’t have more effectively made the Occupy movement look like a danger to the republic if they had scripted it. Maybe that's because, more or less, they did.

The guy who convinced the plotters to blow up a big bridge, led them to the arms merchant, and drove the team to the bomb site was an FBI informant. The merchant was an FBI agent. The bomb, of course, was a dud. And the arrest was part of a pattern of entrapment by federal law enforcement since September 11, 2001, not of terrorist suspects, but of young men federal agents have had to talk into embracing violence in the first place. One of the Cleveland arrestees, Connor Stevens, complained to his sister of feeling "very pressured" by the guy who turned out to be an informant and was recorded in 2011 rejecting property destruction: "We're in it for the long haul and those kind of tactics just don't cut it," he said. "And it's actually harder to be non-violent than it is to do stuff like that." Though when Cleveland's NEWS Channel 5 broadcast that footage, they headlined it "Accused Bomb Plot Suspect Caught on Camera Talking Violence."

In all these law enforcement schemes the alleged terrorists masterminds end up seeming, when the full story comes out, unable to terrorize their way out of a paper bag without law enforcement tutelage. ("They teach you how to make all this stuff out of simple household items," one of the kids says on a recording quoted in the FBI affidavit about a book he has just discovered, The Anarchist Cookbook. Someone asks him how much it says explosives cost. "I'm not sure," he responds, "I just downloaded it last night.") It’s a perfect example of how post-9/11 fear made law enforcement tactics seem acceptable that were previously beyond the pale. Previously, however, the targets have been Muslims; now they’re white kids from Ohio. And maybe you could argue that this is acceptable, if the feds were actually acting out of a good-faith assessment of what threats are imminent and which are not. But that's not what they're doing at all. Instead, they are arrogating to themselves a downright Orwellian power – the power to deploy the might of the State to shape a fundamental narrative about which ideas Americans must be most scared of, and which ones they should not fear much at all, independent of the relative objective dangerousness of the people who hold those ideas.

To see how, travel with me to rural Florida, and another arrest that occurred at almost exactly the same time. On April 28, members of American Front, a white-supremacist group labeled "a known terrorist organization" in the affidavit justifying the arrest, took a break from training with machine guns for a race war in order to fashion weapons out of fake "Occupy" signs which they planned to use to assault May Day protesters in Melbourne, Florida. No script, no choreography for maximal impact on sensation-hungry news broadcasts, no melodramatic press conference with a U.S. attorney and FBI Special Agent in Charge; this arrest only went down after an informant working with state law enforcement fled in fear for his or her life after being threatened by the group's leader Marcus Faella with a 9mm pistol. And though the media reported the involvement of a "joint terrorism task force of FBI and local law enforcement" the arresting affidavit does not even mention federal law enforcement; the charges filed were state, not federal. A circuit court judge scrawled a bail amount of $51,250; that was accidentally knocked down to $500. The Cleveland anarchists were held without bond.

The contrasts are extraordinarily instructive. When federal law enforcement agencies take an affirmative role in staging the crimes, the U.S. Justice Department then prosecutes, leaving more clear-and-present dangers relatively unbothered, the State is singling out ideological enemies. Violent white supremacists are not one of these enemies, apparently – because, as David Neiwert, probably the nation’s top journalist on the subject, told me, the federal government has much less often sought to entrap them, even though they are actually the biggest home-grown terrorism threat. That is unconstitutional, because law enforcement’s criterion for attention has been revealed as the ideas the alleged plotters hold – not their observed violent potential.

Who else are we supposed to be afraid of? Certainly animal-rights and environmental radicals. In 2006, when FBI Director Robert Mueller announced the indictments of Animal Liberal Front activists who burned down a horse-rendering plant in 1997, harming no humans, he called such property destruction one of the agency's "highest domestic terrorism priorities." We're supposed to be afraid of Muslims, of course – though not even necessarily Muslim militants. In a sting stunningly anatomized on a Pulitzer-worthy This American Life episode from 2005 the target, British citizen Hemant Lakhami, known as "Habib," was an Indian-born Willy Loman, so dumb he referred to night-vision goggles, which he’d never heard of, as "sunglasses" and so broken down and desperate for attention he told the federal informant he had full-sized submarines to sell. He was egged by the informant into selling him Stinger missiles (Lakhami had approached him hoping to sell him mangoes). Upon Lakhami's terrorism conviction then-U.S. Attorney Chris Christie stepped up to the press conference microphones to announce, "Today is a triumph for the Justice Department in the war against terror. I don't know that anyone can say that the state of New Jersey, and this country, is not a safer place without Hemant Lakhani trotting around the globe attempting to broker arms deals."

But don't worry your pretty little heads over the epidemic of far-right insurrectionism that followed the election of Barack Obama: all told, according to a forthcoming data analysis by Neiwert, there have been 55 cases of right-wing extremists being arrested for plotting or committing alleged terrorists acts compared to 26 by Islamic militants during the same period. The right-wing plots include the bombing of a 2011 Martin Luther King Day parade in Spokane and the assassination of abortion doctor George Tiller in 2009. Neither of their perpetrators, it goes without saying, had been arrested before they attempted their vile acts; neither required law enforcement entrapment to conceive and carry them out. It's just too bad for their victims they did not fit the story federal law enforcement seeks to tell.

I use the word "story" advisedly. Entrapment is the most literary of abuses of power: Investigators and prosecutors become as unto little Stephen Kings, feeding into, and feeding, the fear centers of our lizard brains in order to manipulate their audience. Unsurprisingly, the tactic crops up whenever the powers that be are themselves most frightened for their power, such as during the 1960s, when instigation of criminal acts by agents provacateurs infiltrating the anti-war movement became extremely prevalent. When one of the accused Chicago 7 left the courtroom just as a witness for the prosecution left the stand, the other six became horrified when it became clear that the guy who had just got up (actually to go to the bathroom) was a plant about to testify against them.

The antiwar movement soon learned whom to be afraid of: people who don’t quite fit in, who always seemed ready to volunteer for anything (if you’re on the FBI payroll, you don’t need a job), people pressing violence when everyone else in the room preferred peace. In the 1972 "Camden 28" trial of Catholic left conspirators who tried to steal and destroy registration records from a local draft board, the star witness got his breaking-and-entering training from the FBI and swore in court that the accused never would have raided the building absent his leadership. Although the people the FBI preferred to recruit were the sort who had trouble keeping jobs anyway. They were frequently mentally unstable: the agent provocateur whose recordings got twenty-three members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War indicted for supposedly conspiring to attack the 1972 Republican National Convention with "lead weights, 'fried' marbles, ball bearings, cherry bombs ... wrist rockets, slingshots, and cross bows" had received a psychological discharge from the Army. And they were usually criminals. In the Harrisburg 7 trial of in 1972 (in which the feds fantastically claimed that a pacifist priest, some nuns, and their confreres intended to blow up the steam tunnels beneath Washington, D.C.) the prosecution's star witness had offered himself to the FBI as an undercover New Lefty from the jail cell where he was serving time for so many crimes the U.S. Attorney had classified him as a "menace to society."

The entrapment game still works the same. In the case documented on This American Life, informant "Habib" was such a notorious liar, thief, and con man that the feds deactivated him – until after September 11, when suddenly "different FBI bureaus were fighting" for his services. The key informant in the Animal Liberation Front arrests was a truck thief and heroin addict. The dude in the Cleveland anarchist case, identified by thesmokinggun.com as a Donald Trump fan named Shaqil Azir, had convictions for cocaine possession, robbery, and passing bad checks – and was also under a current check-fraud indictment the FBI covered up in its affidavit. They also neglected to mention his frequent appearances in bankruptcy court.

Such choices are a feature, not a bug: Criminals with cases pending are able to act more convincingly as, well, criminals, and will do anything the government asks to reduce their sentences; sociopaths are better able to manipulate the emotions of macho young men. The play's the thing. Although sometimes the play becomes too convincing: In the Watergate hearings in 1973, some of the witnesses testified that hearing about VVAW's violent plans to disrupt the Republican convention were what convinced them it was OK to break laws on behalf of their president.

Not everything is the same since the 1970s, of course. The media has changed: Newsday editorialized in 1972 of the Camden case, "We have come to expect such tactics from totalitarian nations that have no respect for individual rights permitting dissent. They have no place in American and those who advocate them have no place in this government." You don’t see that sort of language much any more. Indeed, Newsday appears not to have covered the arrest and trial of Hemant Lakhami at all. "Such tactics" are just not a very big deal any more.

You know what else has changed? You and I – to our shame. Entrapment is illegal – but the question of whether law enforcement set up a legal sting or illegal entrapment is for a jury to decide. Entrapment was why juries acquitted the defendants in the Camden, VVAW, and Harrisburg cases. "How stupid did those people in Washington think we were?" a Harrisburg juror told a reporter. The feds don’t have to worry about folks like that any more. Not a single "terrorism" indictment has been thrown out for entrapment since 9/11 – not the Liberty City goofballs supposedly planning to blow up the Sears Tower who had no weapons and refused them when offered; not the Newburgh, New York outfit whose numbers included a schizophrenic who saved his own urine in bottles. (Even the judge who sentenced them said "the government made them terrorists.")

The civil liberties of the Florida white supremacist Marcus Faella, at least, have been honored. He was out on bail the day he was arrested. There’s no police informant to monitor his activities any more, but not to fear. His experiments in attempting to produce the deadly toxin ricin, according to the Florida affidavit, have not so far been successful. And Connor Stevens, heard on the menacing video shown on Cleveland news saying that his favorite part of Occupy protests "is meeting people walking down the street, average people, talking to them, hearing about how they're affected by the economy, by the justice system, things like that"? He is safely behind bars. So, for the rest of his life, is Hemant Lakhami, the hapless Stinger missile salesman. The man who put him there, Chris Christie, is now the celebrated governor of New Jersey, and was all but begged by his fellow to run for president. Republicans think he tells a good story.

Rick Perlstein is the author of Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus and Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America. He writes a weekly column for RollingStone.com.
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Re: FBI DOCUMENTS REVEAL SECRET NATIONWIDE OCCUPY MONITORING

Postby admin » Wed Jan 13, 2016 8:04 am

The Plot Against Occupy: How the government turned five stoner misfits into the world's most hapless terrorist cell
by Sabrina Rubin Erdely
Rolling Stone
SEPTEMBER 26, 2012

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Image
The Plot Against Occupy, Illustration by John Ritter, Photo in Illustration by David Maxwell/EPA Landov

Thunder rumbled and rain pattered on the leaves as Connor Stevens tramped through the darkness down a wooded path to the base of the Brecksville-Northfield High Level Bridge. A sad-eyed 20-year-old poet from the Cleveland suburbs, Stevens was crouched in the foliage, his baby face obscured by a bushy lumberjack's beard. Beside him ducked two friends from Occupy Cleveland – the group that had come to define Stevens and his place in the world – both as gaunt and grungy as Stevens himself. Farther up the trail, Stevens knew, three other comrades were acting as lookouts. Gingerly, the young men opened the two black toolboxes they'd carried down from their van. Inside were eight pounds of C4 explosives.

They were actually going through with it. The six of them were going to blow up a bridge.

That they were on the brink of something so epic was surprising, even to the crew, a hodgepodge of drifters plus a pair of middle-class seekers: quiet Stevens and puppyishly excitable Brandon Baxter, also 20. Anarchists who had grown disenchanted with the Occupy movement, which they considered too conservative, they yearned to make a radical statement of their own – to send a message to corporate America, its corrupt government and that invisible grid underlying it all, the System. They'd joined Occupy Cleveland in the fall, but over the winter they'd waited in vain for the group to pick a direction before finally taking matters into their own hands. For weeks they'd fantasized about the mayhem they'd wreak, puerile talk of stink bombs and spray paint that had anted up to discussion of all the shit they'd blow up if only they could. But the grandiosity of their hopes stood in stark contrast to their mundane routine. They spent their days getting stoned at their Occupy­subsidized commune in a downtown warehouse, squabbling over dish duty and barely making their shifts at the Occupy Cleveland info tent; when they managed to scrounge up a couple of cans of Spaghettios for dinner, it was celebrated as an accomplishment. If not for the help of their levelheaded comrade Shaquille Azir, who at this critical moment stood as lookout, hissing, "How much longer is this gonna take?" the plot might never have come together.

Inside Occupy Wall Street

The boys anxiously fiddled with the safety switch on one of the IEDs. Even on this April night, as they planted two bombs, the plan felt slapdash. No one knew how to handle the explosives. They had no getaway plan. At one point they'd discussed closing the bridge with traffic cones to minimize casualties – 13,000 vehicles crossed the bridge daily – but there was no mention of that now. Some of the accomplices weren't even clear on the evening's basic agenda. "Do we plant tonight and go boom tomorrow?" Baxter had asked in the van. "No, we're going to detonate these tonight," someone had clarified.

The red light on the other IED winked on, signaling it was armed. "One is good to go," Stevens announced. "We just gotta do this one." A night-vision camera mounted nearby captured the boys' movements as they hunched around the second IED until its light shone. Then all six jogged back to the van, relief in their voices. "We just committed the biggest act of terrorism that I know of since the 1960s," Stevens said, as a recording device memorialized every word. All that was left now was for the boys to pick a location from which to push the detonators and go boom. They were feeling pretty good. They decided to go to Applebee's.

Nothing was destined to blow up that night, as it turns out, because the entire plot was actually an elaborate federal sting operation. The case against the Cleveland Five, in fact, exposes not just a deeply misguided element of the Occupy movement, but also a shadowy side of the federal government. It's hardly surprising that the FBI decided to infiltrate Occupy; given the movement's challenge of the status quo and its hectic patchwork of factions – including ones touting subversive agendas – the feds worried it could become a terrorist breeding ground. Since 9/11, the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force has been charged with preventing further terrorist attacks. But anticipating and disrupting terrorist plots require both aggressive investigative techniques and a staggering level of collaboration and resources; to pull together the Cleveland case alone, the FBI coordinated with 23 different agencies. The hope, of course, is that the results make it all worthwhile: The plot is detected and heroically foiled, the evildoers arrested, and the American public sleeps easier. The problem is that in many cases, the government has determined that the best way to capture terrorists is simply to invent them in the first place.

"The government has a responsibility to prevent harm," says former FBI counterterrorism agent Michael German, now the senior policy counsel for the ACLU. "What they're doing instead is manufacturing threatening events."

That's just how it went down in Cleveland, where the defendants started out as disoriented young men wrestling with alienation, identity issues and your typical bucket of adolescent angst. They were malleable, ripe for some outside influence to coax them onto a new path. That catalyst could have come in the form of a friend, a family member or a cause. Instead, the government sent an informant.

And not just any informant, but a smooth-talking ex-con – an incorrigible lawbreaker who racked up even more criminal charges while on the federal payroll. From the start, the government snitch nurtured the boys' destructive daydreams, egging them on every step of the way, giving them the encouragement and tools to turn their Fight Club-tinged tough talk into reality. To follow the evolution of the bombing plot under the informant's tutelage is to watch five young men get a giant federal-assisted upgrade from rebellious idealists to terrorist boogeymen. This process looks a lot like what used to be called entrapment. And yet

Before 9/11, German says, the FBI would have considered the idea of advancing terrorism plots just to defuse them as "laughable. But what was justified as an emergency method has become a normalized part of regular criminal-justice work." All too often, agents rely on informants who pump up criminal plans to comic-book-villain proportions. It's a tactic that's been used repeatedly to convict Muslims of being domestic Islamic terrorists, like the four men in Newburgh, New York, convicted in 2010 of a plot to shoot down military jets – a plot engineered by an informant who provided them with a fake Stinger missile.

Now this same strategy is being used to ensnare homegrown political activists. Environmental crusaders have fallen prey, including Eric McDavid, sentenced in 2008 to 20 years for conspiring to blow up a dam, even though it emerged at trial that a driving force behind the scheme was an FBI informant named "Anna." And anarchists are increasingly in the crosshairs, especially as they've become more visible with the rise of Occupy Wall Street. In a May sting at the Chicago NATO summit, three anarchists were charged with plotting to use Molotov cocktails on police stations and Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home – accusations that defense attorneys call "propaganda," contending the bomb ingredients were provided by undercover agents.

Obama, Occupy Wall Street and the Rebirth of the Left

"These tactics are beyond the pale for what could be seen as a legitimate anti-terrorism operation," says Green Is the New Red author Will Potter, who tracks government crackdowns on activists. "But this is how the Bureau is spending their counterterrorism money, and thousands of man-hours: creating the terrorism plots that they are ostensibly preventing."

When Connor Stevens arrived at Occupy Cleveland's tent city on October 9th, 2011, it was with the electric knowledge that he was exactly where he belonged. Wearing a secondhand sweater he'd found at the donation tent, he gazed with amazement around the encampment of 100 people, swept up in the camaraderie: Everyone here was an ally, working for a common goal. The mood was infectious. His friend Brandon Baxter from nearby Lakewood, as hyper as Stevens was introverted, was rushing around the plaza, already Occupy's most eager evangelist. "Hi, I'm Brandon!" he'd say, approaching every onlooker in sight. "Can I talk to you about Occupy Cleveland?" For the moment, Stevens was content to stand on the sidelines and beam his gaptoothed grin, taking it all in.

From the minute he got there, Occupy consumed his life," recalls his sister Brelan. "He wanted to fix the whole world."

Stevens had long been smitten with radical ideology – inspired by the Communist Manifesto and the Black Panther Party, concerned for the plight of the poor – and he was determined to cultivate an appropriate political identity. To that end, he had recently decamped from his mom's home in the Cleveland suburb of Berea to a Christian-anarchist commune in the rough neighborhood of Detroit-Shoreway, shedding his bourgeois trappings to live as Jesus did: with few possessions, serving others, and questioning the establishment. His sister attributes Stevens' independent spirit to their parents' influence: "They're Christian, but adamant about us having our own thoughts and opinions, being aware of the world outside."

Serious and thoughtful, Stevens called himself the Bearded Bastard, projecting an air of mellow masculinity with his facial hair, flannel shirts and a pipe he smoked semi-ironically. With his Hemingway-esque image, it took people by surprise to discover that Stevens was gay (though he politely insisted on the more properly radical term "queer"). More readily apparent was that Stevens was a walking wound with an aura of sadness, who wrote poetry as his way of grappling with "the meaning of suffering." He was a welcome addition to the commune, which called itself Agape House: a condemned building with graffiti-covered walls, where residents stayed up after Bible study drunkenly discussing the works of Howard Zinn and hosting rowdy punk-rock shows. Stevens spent his days as a guerrilla gardener, coaxing greenery from the city's vacant lots as a form of populist protest. "No war but grass war," he'd say, pulling weeds.

Agape, pure love devoid of any ape-nature, yet love in an entirely sexual sense, is the innermost kernel of the doctrine of Jesus. Only in this way can the otherwise theologically inexplicable pagan portrayals of the lust-filled revels (agape-feasts, Eucharists = love between men and women), cupids, and couples embracing in love found in the catacombs be explained. Our blond-haired baby Jesus is certainly no one other than Bacchus, Cupid and Skeaf! Cupid and Psyche (Fig. 38) are even seen quite often in primitive Christian iconography and between them is usually the basket (kepos) with Sodomite bread which they have refused (while the lascivious naked woman in Fig. 37 cannot separate herself from the Sodomite basket in her lap.

So let us lay off playing the harps of Sodom and play the harps of men (Clemens Al protrept.), so that Apollo's holy swans can return and we can again become a congregation of Gods. German men, play on "human harps," love the strong loyal, Nordic woman in whom the divine electron still slumbers. Knowledge, Gnosis, is very valuable, but more valuable still is love [Ger. Minne] devoid of ape-like nature. Gnosis plants, but Agape builds the house (I. Cor. VIII.1). In Agape all the elect of God will be brought to full maturity (I Clemens Rom. ad Cor. XLIX). We must guard our bodies as temples of God. If we all love [minnen] one another among ourselves we will all come into the Kingdom of God (IT Clemens Rom. ad Cor. IX). Agape is the path that leads us to God (Ignatii ep. ad Ephes. IX). Jesus is Cupid, is Frauja, the Bridegroom of the Soul (Psyche). "God is love devoid of the ape-like nature (agape). He who abides in love devoid of the ape-like nature (Minne), abides in God. and god in him." (I Jn. IV.16).

-- Theozoology, or the Science of the Sodomite Apelings and the Divine Electron, by Dr. Jorg Lanz von Liebenfels


In 1939, Jack Parsons became involved with Crowley's OTO through the Agape Lodge of California, then being run by one W. T. Smith, who had been a Thelemite since 1915 via the Vancouver Lodge under Charles Stansfeld Jones ("Frater Parzival"), an accountant and a very early member of the OTO from the first days of Crowley's rulership of the Order's English-speaking world community. In 1942 -- a significant year as we shall see -- Crowley removed Smith from leadership of the Agape Lodge and installed Parsons as its chief.

The Agape Lodge was run from Parsons's home in Pasadena, where rituals were held daily and from where Parsons would collect membership dues, etc. and forward them to Karl Germer on the East Coast, who would send them on to Crowley in London. In other words, this OTO Lodge was being run more or less openly during the war by a man -- magickal name "Frater 210" -- simultaneously involved in critical work for the war effort, under the spiritual guidance of a former concentration camp inmate who corresponded regularly with a man accused of being a former German spy, now living in London!

-- Unholy Alliance: A History of Nazi Involvement with the Occult, by Peter Levenda


According to Hopsicker, "many of the flight trainers who had trained the Arab terrorist pilots had also flown missions out of the Venice-Sarasota airport for such Christian missionary services as televangelist Pat Robertson's Operation Blessing." One of the pilots who did the training at Huffrnan was Mike Mikarts, also a pilot for the fundamentalist "Agape Flights" of Sarasota which runs air missionary activity with obvious destabilization overtones in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. After Venice, Atta and Shehhi rented planes from Kemper Aviation at North Palm Beach Airport near Miami in August 2001. Owner Joe Kemper spent 20 years in Peru and Bolivia as a "missionary pilot" for the evangelical-run SAMAlR (South American Mission Air) which worked to bring fundamentalism to Andes mountains Indio tribes. SAMAIR is a part of an international evangelical/Pentecostal air wing, often drawing on former military pilots, who are not accidentally often found in areas in the middle of civil wars, drug gangs, and mercenary intelligence operations in Third World countries. Additionally, Joe Kemper's chief pilot trainer between 1989 and 1999 was Jean-Francois Buslik, who was later arrested on murder charges filed in Belgium, Buslik was implicated in the 1982-85 Brabant killings, a wave of serial killings and de facto strategy of tension which claimed the lives of over 30 victims at supermarkets in the Brussels suburbs. These were no ordinary flight schools. (Mad Cow Morning News 41; EIR, October 26, 2001)

-- 9/11 Synthetic Terror Made in USA, by Webster Griffin Tarpley


"Heute die Welt" all repeated, "Morgens das Sonnensystem!")

But two days earlier, as the Leif Erikson left the Atlantic and entered the underground Ocean of Valusia beneath Europe, George Dorn was listening to a different kind of chorus. It was, Mavis had explained to him in advance, the weekly Agape Ludens, or Love Feast Game, of the Discordians, and the dining hall was newly bedecked with pornographic and psychedelic posters, Christian and Buddhist and Amerindian mystic designs, balloons and lollypops dangling from the ceiling on Day-Glo-dabbed strings, numinous paintings of Discordian saints (including Norton I, Sigismundo Malatesta, Guillaume of Aquitaine, Chuang Chou, Judge Roy Bean, various historical figures even more obscure, and numerous gorillas and dolphins), bouquets of roses and forsythia and gladiolas and orchids, clusters of acorns and gourds, and the inevitable proliferation of golden apples, pentagons and octopi.

The main course was the best Alaskan king crab Newburg that George had ever tasted, only lightly dusted with a mild hint of Panamanian Red grass. Dozens of trays of dried fruits and cheeses were passed back and forth among the tables, together with canapes of an exquisite caviar George had never encountered before ("Only Hagbard knows where those sturgeon spawn," Mavis explained) and the beverage was a blend of the Japanese seventeen-herb Mu tea with Menomenee Indian peyote tea. While everyone gorged, laughed and got gently but definitely zonked, Hag-bard—who was evidently satisfied that he and FUCKUP had located "the problem in Las Vegas"—merrily conducted the religious portion of the Agape Ludens.

-- The Illuminatus! Trilogy, by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson


Instead of their missions to search and destroy, but still searching, we looked for a unifying principle that would magnetize the disparate fields of politics, the arts, and the spirit into a solid-state approach; one that would ease our outrage and pain.

When all you suddenly want is to stop participating in the hurt created by others for you to live in, you start asking a lot of questions. Why this? Why that? We became like children woozy with agape. Why clothes? Why marriage? Why work? Did you really have to eat meat? Eat at all? And why did the sky have to be blank or blue when it could be purple and populated with avatars and Alpha Centurions. What if C-A-T spelled "dog"? "WOW" became the first guileless retort in a new Esperanto. Language was becoming less than slang, it was becoming epiphanic, almost placental.

-- The Other Side of Eden: Life with John Steinbeck, by John Steinbeck IV & Nancy Steinbeck


In the 18th century, representatives from witch-cults all over Europe made their way to a fertility and death ritual on this mountain and some were alleged to have been Masons. Masons were believed to have been able to communicate in some voiceless way which was called telepathy by some and empathy by others. Empathy can be described as the feeling of entering into the spirit of a person or thing and so empathy is synonymous with the Rapport of Mesmeric Masonry. The witches at the Hartz Mountain festival came together in sympathetic understanding (Rapport) and were in non-verbal communication. In fact, at a given signal, the occult gathering began to cling together in a sort of "Epoxy" of "Agape" ("Love-In", if you will) that became a rite of magica sexualis and ritual intercourse.

-- King Kill 33, by James Shelby Downard & Michael A. Hoffman II


"Connor is the gentlest, sweetest person around," says his friend Katie Steinmuller.

His demeanor hadn't always been so chill. Before dropping out of Berea High School in 10th grade, intent on "unschooling" himself, he'd founded a militant student group called Fighters for Freedom, disrupted a job fair where the Army was recruiting, and e-mailed a sergeant to call him a "fascist pig." His loathing of law enforcement had begun at age nine, when his father was arrested for touching the breasts and buttocks of two 10-year-old girls; Dad pleaded guilty, served seven months in state prison, and remains a registered sex offender. Young Connor became enraged not at his father, but at the men who had taken his daddy away. "I developed a keen hatred for authority, 'order' and especially 'law,'" he later wrote. "The simple fact that they can put you in handcuffs and haul you off was enough for me to hate them at that adorable age."

His father's conviction changed everything for the fracturing Stevens family. Connor's mother, Gail, who had been a stay-at-home mom to her five children, suddenly had to support them, and her absence while working long hours as a medical assistant further stoked Connor's fury. Police in their town of 19,000 finally decided to have a chat with his mom after fielding a complaint about 15-year-old Connor's MySpace page, where he'd posted the Unabomber's Manifesto and screeds urging readers to "KILL COPS! YEA, THE PIGS IN BLUE ARE THE FASCISTS WE HAVE TO FIGHT!!!" "Gail says Connor is not a violent person but has very strong beliefs and is immature about it," the police report noted. "She is working with him about how he comes across." He evidently listened to his mother, coming to embrace pacifism. "One of our major principles was nonviolence," says Zachy Schraufl, who shared a room with Stevens at Agape House. "We became brothers in Christ and all that shit."

It was while living at the commune and working at the anti-war kitchen Food Not Bombs that Stevens met fellow volunteer Brandon Baxter, who was hurling himself into the activist life with the energy of someone discovering a cool new band. With his bright blue eyes, earnest intensity and radical garb – camo jacket, biohazard patches, black bandanna around his neck – Baxter looked like a post-apocalyptic Boy Scout as he stood on the corner of 25th and Lorrain shouting, "Free food!" Baxter was psyched to be doing something constructive – psyched, really, just to be out of his hometown of Lakewood, an inner-ring suburb where he'd been rudderless since finishing high school. His quest to fit in somewhere had already taken one reckless turn when, wanting to connect with his German heritage, he briefly joined a neo-Nazi group. ("Brandon doesn't know anything about the world," says his sister Rachael Garcia. "He's very impressionable.") He'd been just as enthused upon realizing that his father, absent much of his childhood, was infatuated with Native American culture; Baxter had attended powwows and absorbed the culture so fully that new friends believed him to be part Indian. His newest incarnation as anarchist do-gooder suited him fine. Hearing about Occupy Cleveland's dawning days, Baxter had encouraged Stevens to check it out with him. "Let's have a revolution!" Baxter crowed.

Few places in America were in as dire need of change as Cleveland. In 2010, Forbes named it the country's most miserable city; its recession had been under way for a decade, with jobs vanishing and unemployment and homelessness skyrocketing. Stevens and Baxter were ready to be part of the solution, and they vigorously dived into Occupy. They attended study groups on horizontal decision-making and the principles of anarchism. It was a lot to absorb. "Within the first day it was so much information that my mind was boggled," Stevens told a documentary filmmaker who showed up at the tent city.

The boys' inexperience and political naiveté were instantly apparent. "They were not well-informed," says Sam Tylicki, a longtime anarchist in Cleveland. "Their hearts were in the right place, but they were new to everything. They saw the world not making sense but didn't know exactly what to do about it." Stevens and Baxter were stung to find themselves relegated to grunt work – kitchen duty, night watch. Deepening their hurt, the old-guard liberal contingent swiftly took the reins of Occupy Cleveland's discussions, rejecting the suggestions of the younger, more radical crowd. A suspicious rift opened between the two groups. Anarchists complained about Occupy's timidity, and jealously referred to its core members as the Power Circle.

Tensions came to a head when the city gave Occupy Cleveland an October 21st deadline to remove its tents, and the two factions clashed over how to proceed, with liberals tempted to comply and radicals like Stevens and Baxter insisting on standing their ground and getting arrested en masse. At 10 p.m. on the appointed night, as a crowd of 500 gathered and police arrived in riot gear, a staged bit of symbolic protest unfolded: Eleven volunteers preapproved by the Power Circle were peacefully arrested. Then everyone packed up their tents and dispersed. "This is bullshit – fuck this!" the radicals grumbled, stalking off in a huff. The glory days of Occupy Cleveland had lasted less than three weeks. For Baxter and Stevens, the movement that had jolted them with optimism and purpose felt like a crushing disappointment.

Someone else was there the night of the arrests. Shaquille Azir stood in the crowd, checking out the scene. He was 38, with ears that jutted from his bald head, a double chin and an imposing presence – six feet five, 350 pounds – a physique he described on his MySpace page as having "some extra baggage." Azir homed in on the mad-looking, bandanna-clad dudes waving anarchist flags. He approached one, a 26-year-old with a black mohawk and a pitted face named Doug Wright. Wright was a lifelong train­hopper who told friends he'd hitched his way across 40 states and once worked as a roadie for the garage band the Scurvies; his status as a real-deal gutterpunk inspired respect among younger Occupiers.

Wright was fired up that night. He bragged to Azir that his missing teeth and crooked nose were from past riots. He added that if he went back to jail, he wouldn't be out for a while. (In fact, Wright did have a history of violence, having served time in New Orleans for aggravated assault.) Soon Azir was listening to Wright bitch about Occupy.

Occupy Wall Street: A Timeline

Wright confided that he suspected the Power Circle was in cahoots with the government; he'd already told them so, shouting, "You're gonna get us sent to FEMA camps!" He was ready to start some real shit – like detonating a smoke grenade as a diversion, then pulling down the bank signs from the tops of Cleveland's towers. "Wright was still in the planning phase and was unsure how they would go about bringing down the signs," an FBI report reads. "Wright stated that . . . they need to make sure everyone knows that the action was against corporate America and not just some random acts."

Azir listened with studious sympathy. It was a technique honed over the course of his devious, dishonest life. His name had once been Kelvin Jackson, before he'd spent three years in state prison for robbing a bank, using a toy gun, while his girlfriend and their baby waited in a cab outside. His rap sheet also included cocaine possession, receiving stolen property, forgery, theft and passing bad checks. That was Azir's thing, writing worthless checks – a "crime of dishonesty," as it's known, a conviction used as evidence of a person's untruthfulness, the sort of thing that can cripple your job prospects or undermine your credibility in a court of law. In the eyes of the FBI, however, Azir's crimes had posed no impediment. Months earlier they had hired him as an informant, finding his leads fruitful enough that they'd opened several investigations, paying him $5,750, plus $550 in expenses.

Azir needed the cash. He owned a construction company that rehabbed houses, Desdy Property Group, which he bragged earned him $75,000 a year. But in reality he had been fending off foreclosures, the state tax department and lawsuits from stiffed contractors and people to whom he had written worthless promissory notes; he had been on the losing end of tens of thousands of dollars' worth of civil judgments. Seeking financial shelter, Azir had filed nine attempts at bankruptcy. Now, as he sat across the table from boastful Doug Wright, Azir was on the verge of being busted in two more bad-check cases – placing him on probation, for which the FBI would take him off its payroll. Azir needed to prove his value to the feds, and fast.

Which might explain why over the next three months, Azir kept in touch with Wright, even when Wright showed no sign of action. In February, Azir and Wright met for breakfast to discuss the issue: Did Wright still want to bring down those bank signs? Sure, Wright answered. Explaining that he had drifted away from his Occupy friends, he told Azir he wanted to touch base with them first and see what they thought. He would begin with his buddy Brandon Baxter.

By this time, Baxter wasn't doing so well. Even though he'd been trying his hardest to play his role as Occupy Cleveland's slogan-shouting cheerleader, the group was rapidly disintegrating. One big reason was that its members had nowhere to meet: Since the loss of the encampment, Occupy's presence had been reduced to a single information tent on Public Square – too chilly a gathering space in winter, especially when the gusts coming off Lake Erie whipped through the plaza and caught the tent like a windsock. For a short time, Occupy had rented a 10-by-15-foot office in a downtown high-rise, but Baxter and others had swiftly moved in with their sleeping bags and got the group evicted.

Therein lay Occupy Cleveland's other problem: Its thinning ranks were dominated by homeless teenagers. "They had no place to go," says Leatrice Tolls, a veteran activist who became Occupy Cleveland's maternal figure. "These were kids that were very lost, and needed a place to get fed and sleep." Still, homeless teens were better than no members at all, and Occupy was anxious enough to keep them that there was talk of renting a space for them to live – like a new incarnation of Agape House, which had disbanded for lack of funds.

"It's just so hard to sleep outside," Baxter complained to his friends. He was loath to return to Lakewood, the site of his traumatic childhood, where a restraining order barred him from his mother's house. Such a constant font of positivity was Baxter that few realized he had grown up in a household his sister Rachael Garcia calls violent. "He was very fragile as a child," she says. "He was so sensitive. He'd come to me every day, crying," given to nervous tics, doodles of people hanging in nooses and writing violent poetry. "In my deepest darkest fantasys [sic] I see myself as evil," he wrote, "lacking all reason and empathy spilling the blood of the innocent."

When Baxter was 17, the stress had reached an apex. Believing his stepfather had beaten his mother, Baxter pulled a kitchen knife. "Cut me if you're going to cut me!" the stepdad urged, before Baxter sliced the knife across his chest. Baxter did a stint in a psych ward, says Garcia, after which he was legally forbidden from coming within 500 feet of his stepdad, and maintained little contact with his mom. Instead, he'd moved in with his biological father, a tense, out-of-work roofer whom he barely knew.

Occupy had been Baxter's escape hatch. Now he reluctantly returned to his father's home, which the bank was trying to foreclose on. Dad was scraping payments together by selling Native American handicrafts online. Baxter continued to faithfully walk or bike the seven miles into Cleveland for Occupy's meetings. Late one February night, furious with himself at his inability to somehow repair a broken world – or even his own broken life – Baxter had what he called a "mental break." He leapt in front of a moving car, shouting, "Kill me!" Police responding to the driver's 911 call found Baxter standing on the railing of the Hilliard Bridge, looking down onto the lanes of traffic below and screaming incoherently. The cops talked Baxter into coming down, then tackled him as he tried to flee. He had a 10-and-a-half-inch knife in his coat and a smaller one in his pants pocket. Charged with carrying a concealed weapon, he was sent to Lakewood Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. On his way out of the police station, Baxter gave officers the finger, yelling, "Fascists!"

Days later, Wright and Azir picked Baxter up from his dad's house and took him to lunch at a Lakewood restaurant. They wanted to talk about fucking shit up – for Occupy's sake. Baxter was in.

They brainstormed and discussed possible targets, like a bank. Or Cleveland's new casino, during its grand opening. Or what about the G8 in Chicago, or the Republican convention? At one point Wright mentioned explosives, but dismissed it as too costly. They kept on talking.

Flash-forward a month to late March. The group was still dithering. It had made only one decision: That its action should coincide with May Day, when Occupy was calling for a national day of protest. Wright had finally downloaded The Anarchist's Cookbook, which he'd been talking about doing forever, and which he hoped would jump-start their imaginations: "We can make smoke bombs, we can make plastic explosives," Wright said in his gravelly voice, laughing. "It teaches you how to pick locks. It does everything."

At the word "explosives," Azir perked up. "How much do we need?" he stammered. "How much money we need to make explosive – make the plastic explosives?"

"I'm not sure," Wright said. "I haven't read too much yet."

"Well, you gotta get with me," Azir persisted. "If we gonna be trying to do something in a month, you need to get with me as soon as possible on how much money we gonna need, and the materials that we gonna need. Tell me what all we need to make the bombs." 
The very next day, Azir met with Wright to float a remarkable proposal: Now that they were broaching the topic of explosives, was Wright determined to make the bombs from scratch – or should they just buy some C4 from a guy Azir knew?

Days later, Wright and Baxter were standing with Azir in the kitchen of one of his vacant properties, agog as Azir's arms-dealer friend laid out an array of batons, tear gas and gas masks before them. Wright and Baxter excitedly asked about ordering some riot gear. The arms dealer – in reality, an undercover FBI agent – pointed to a picture of explosives and asked if they would need "the heavy stuff."

"Yeaaaah, we're gonna wait on that," Wright sidestepped. He repeated his disinterest in explosives two days later, when the undercover agent phoned – and then again the next day, when Azir prodded him about it. Wright explained that they were flat broke, without money to afford even the riot gear, much less the explosives.

Azir had a solution. He gave them jobs.

Everybody at the warehouse – Occupy Cleveland's commune where anyone who worked a shift at the information tent earned a space – agreed that Baxter and Wright's boss sounded way cool. Since the boys didn't have a car, Azir picked them up for work each morning and drove them to the day's construction site. He gave them beers all day long. And when he dropped them off at the Warehouse each night, they came in bearing cases of beer, baggies of pot and Adderall – all procured with the help of Azir, they said.

Stevens had joined the conspirators not long after they met with the arms dealer, in part because of the lure of a job. "Scratch my back, it hurts!" Stevens would cry out as he burst through the door of the Warehouse, skin burning from handling fiberglass insulation. He was proud to be employed for the first time, even if his pay was only five bucks an hour. "Just getting home, boss is gonna get here at nine to start it all over again," Stevens would text his sister near midnight, before zipping into his winter coat to get some sleep.

Rest was near impossible in their freezing-cold living space. The Warehouse was a cavernous indoor tent city for a dozen or so residents – mostly young men – who stayed up till all hours drinking 40s, playing guitar and arguing over cigarettes. There were no rules, no respect for personal space, no working stove and almost no heat. The place was filthy, with dishes stacked so high in the kitchen that someone just moved the pile into the bathroom.

The chaotic atmosphere wore down Stevens. "I don't feel spiritually right," he complained to a friend. He was frustrated with the stagnancy of Occupy Cleveland, whose entire existence was now staked to round-the-clock staffing of a tent that no one even visited. Stevens was attending church weekly. He told his sister he thought God might be calling him to the ministry.

And yet at the same time, Stevens was also busy trading ideas with Baxter, Wright and Azir about what to bomb. Some friends wonder if Stevens initially joined to talk his comrades out of the plot: "He's a deeply moral guy," says Occupier Joe Ziff. "I have a hunch that he may have gone along in the hopes that he could stop it." Whatever Stevens' reasons, from the moment Azir had brought his arms-dealer friend into the picture, the conversation had definitively shifted to talk of explosions. The friends discussed attacking a KKK headquarters, then dismissed the plan as lacking a deeper message about the one percent. Baxter mentioned blowing up a bridge, which earned a vote from Azir – "Gotta slow the traffic that's going to make them the money" – but then Baxter backpedaled, concerned that the media might not portray the action in a positive light. Stevens suggested targeting mines or oil wells. Wright joked that if he got drunk enough he might wear a suicide vest; Baxter confided that once he would have been willing to do that, but no longer. He'd gotten himself a girlfriend now – fellow Warehouse-dweller Justine Strehle, an 18-year-old who wore fuzzy hats with animal ears – and was moony with new love.

Azir implored them to decide. "What are we going to do with the stuff we got?" he asked. "We're on the hook for it."

"We've got eight fucking pounds of C4," Wright said in disbelief.

It was true. The "arms dealer" had been remarkably flexible about payment, allowing them to place an order for eight bricks of C4 plastic explosives, vests, tear gas and gas masks for $900, only half of which would be due upon receipt; if they couldn't come up with the additional $450, the dealer would even allow Wright to work off the debt. Stevens was worried that the C4 salesman could be a cop, but Azir vouched for him, saying if it made Stevens feel better, he'd personally meet with the guy when it came time for the buy. Now, as Azir wouldn't stop reminding them, they needed to come up with something to blow up in time for May Day: "We're 10 days away – if you guys are going to do something, let's put together a plan!"

The guys in the crew put on their thinking caps. They could turn the C4 into depth charges and throw it into a river to sink a ship. Would that work? Or they could blow up the Cleveland Justice Center. Better still: They would blow up the Federal Reserve Bank. But wait – where was the Federal Reserve, anyway? Discussions were endless. So fantastical did their schemes seem to Baxter that he proposed they throw tacks out the window of their getaway car, to foil would-be pursuers.

Azir was fed up with their bumbling indecision. "Did you follow up on anything? What are we doing? Because as usual you got me on a stupid-ass holding pattern," he scolded. "Every time we meet, we leave saying we're going to do some research and then we get back together and we're back to square one!"

The boys had come to look up to Azir, one of the few adults in their lives. "This guy portrayed himself as a father figure," says Occupy's Sam Tylicki. "He provided them work, provided them drugs, provided them with alcohol, provided them housing." Azir, aware of their miserable living situations, had offered to let the guys squat in one of the empty apartments he was rehabbing, an opportunity that Wright and Stevens took him up on. They were grateful to Azir, who even proposed to pay for identical tattoos for all of them, branding them as their own little gang for life.

The buy, which took place on April 29th, was simple. Azir, Wright, Baxter and newly drafted crew member Tony Hayne – who had a rap sheet for theft and domestic violence – drove to a hotel room in nearby Warrensville, where they snapped on latex gloves and blasted the TV in an attempt to foil any recording devices in case the guy was a cop. Wright threw $450 in cash on the bed. The undercover agent handed over a duffel bag full of riot gear, along with two black boxes containing decoy bombs that looked like real IEDs. He explained how to arm them and how to detonate each with a cellphone. Then they were on their way.

Driving back to Cleveland, Azir asked if they were all in for the plan, which would take place the next night. Wright replied yes, except for Stevens, who had skipped out on the buy for a reason: He didn't want to go through with it after all. Azir told Wright to have Stevens call him.

Later that day, amid performances and speeches at an Occupy festival next to City Hall, Stevens was even quieter than usual. He'd been acting weird for a few weeks – by turns depressed, aggravated, antsy and either drunk or high as hell. But now, during a Native American shaman circle in which everyone took turns congratulating an Occupy friend about to become a father, Stevens burst out crying. And at 8:00 the next night, when Azir pulled up in a van to pick him up with Wright and Hayne, Stevens hung back. The others were already inside: Baxter and one last-minute member, 23-year-old Josh Stafford, a stoned street rat and devoted Juggalo who told a friend he was schizophrenic.

Stevens looked haggard, his normally trim beard and hair grown out grizzly wild. He said he wasn't coming. He asked Azir whether his decision to bail would affect his construction job; early in his employment, Azir had told Stevens that if he wasn't "good" with the plan, he didn't want Stevens around. Azir now replied that the van still had space for one more, but that tonight's plan and the job were separate issues. It was all up to Stevens.

Wright rolled down a window. "There's still space if you want to join."

Stevens looked at his friends in the van. He got in.

So here they were at Applebee's, wet and bedraggled as they took their seats around the table. The operation had gone smoothly: Wright, Stevens and Stafford had planted the bombs under the bridge while Baxter, Hayne and Azir had acted as lookouts. Although it had taken mere minutes, the tension and the rain had made it feel like forever, and the mood in the van afterward had been one of adrenaline-charged bonhomie. "If you do this stuff together, you're basically family," Wright had said, adding, "I'm glad you came, Connor." Stevens had agreed he was glad, too.

In the cheery restaurant, Wright scanned for cameras; Azir had suggested going to a place with surveillance video, to establish their alibi. As another red herring, the guys volunteered to their waiter that they were a touring rock band en route to a gig in Lakewood. As soon as the waiter left the table, Wright and Stafford each hunched over a detonator phone.

Wright tried punching in the code first. Back in the van he had joked, "I guess if we call and the FBI picks up, we know it didn't work." Then he added, "Something like that happens, I'm just going to swallow a razor blade." But now, when Wright dialed the number he'd been given, a voicemail picked up. Stafford tried too: voicemail. Each tried calling again, then texting; they tried entering multiple codes.

Stevens snickered. "What kind of group did I get involved in?" he asked.

"This is serious," Wright said. "We need to figure it out." They called the arms dealer to ask whether they had the correct code. Then Wright and Stafford tried sending the codes at the same time. For more than 10 minutes, they tried unsuccessfully to detonate the bombs. Then they all got up and left the restaurant. The FBI was waiting in the parking lot.

"The public was never in danger from the explosive devices," read the U.S. Attorney's Office statement to the media the next morning, announcing the arrests. "The defendants were closely monitored by law enforcement." All five were charged with conspiracy and attempting to use weapons of mass destruction. The trial is scheduled to begin on September 17th – if convicted, the boys could get life in prison. Hayne has already cut a deal, pleading guilty and agreeing to testify in exchange for a sentence of up to 19 years.

It's difficult to characterize five young men who may have been willing to detonate a bridge – killing an untold number of people in the process – as innocent. The pivotal question is not how sincere they were, but whether they could ever have managed to put together and act on such a plan on their own, without the pressure, funding and resources provided by Shaquille Azir. Consensus among friends and family is unanimous. "I hate talking about them like this, but they weren't smart enough for something like this," says Strehle, Baxter's girlfriend, echoing the prevailing opinion. "They were clueless."

The crux of the Cleveland Five's defense will likely rest on whether Azir's aggressive role in the crime constituted entrapment – a strategy which Baxter's defense attorney John Pyle foreshadowed at an early court appearance. "They couldn't blow their noses, let alone blow up a bridge," he said of his clients, "were it not for what this provocateur did." Yet the government has had no problem overcoming the entrapment defense to win convictions in similar cases. The legal definition of entrapment is actually rather narrow: Even though enticing people into committing crimes might seem unjust, that doesn't make it unlawful. Prosecutors typically argue that defendants' histories show they were predisposed to commit the crime. And juries frightened by the magnitude of the foiled plots are inclined to bring down the hammer.

In the case of the Cleveland Five, defense attorneys have also signaled their intention to reveal Azir's extensive criminal history, which could undermine his credibility. Azir has been causing prosecutors plenty of headaches since the arrests. After his identity was outed by the Smoking Gun, the FBI scuttled him into the witness-protection program, reportedly in response to a threat. But living life under federal protection hasn't kept him out of trouble. In May, Azir – who still faces two outstanding bad-check cases he picked up during his time with Occupy – was arrested in Cuyahoga County for theft. He's out on $5,000 bail.

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Five, denied bail, have remained in prison since their arrests. (All declined comment for this article.) Each is adjusting to prison in his own way. Baxter has been stalwartly upbeat, saying that what he's read so far of the FBI transcripts of Azir's recordings are "not bad." Wright, by contrast, is lashing out, having been put into solitary confinement for breaking minor prison rules, including "hoarding Personal Hygiene." "I didn't know you could have too much soap . . . WTF?!" he wrote to a friend, signing off, "Freedom or Death, Down with the Fascist Pigs." He recently declared a hunger strike in protest of his treatment.

But it is Connor Stevens who has blossomed behind bars, writing zealous, rambling diatribes from jail, warming to his new role of political prisoner. "More and more of the truth will come out during the trial. What's done in the dark will be brought to the light," he wrote in one letter. "They can stone me to death tomorrow and I will die with dignity on the righteous side of the People." Stevens has been bowled over by the letters of solidarity pouring in from friends and strangers, and is relishing the embrace of the anarchist brotherhood. He often gets swept away by his own rapturous outrage. "The Fascists have not merely imprisoned the May Day 5," he wrote. "They have, in effect, declared war on any life which even QUESTIONS their hegemony." It's as though Stevens, in his rhetorical fervor, forgot the part where he tried to blow up a bridge.

From the loving yet angry kid with half-baked political ideals, Connor Stevens has morphed into someone who sounds like the fiery radical the government has painted him to be. Perhaps in the end, after all their efforts, the feds really did get the terrorist they wanted. But Stevens got something, too. With his legit cred as a political dissident, he has finally found a life-defining mission and, at last, a sense of belonging and identity – the fulfillment he was searching for all along.

This story is from the September 17th, 2012 issue of Rolling Stone.
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