How a Department of Homeland Security Fusion Center in Texas Targeted Animal Rights Activists

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Last September, a Facebook event caught the eye of a counterrorism specialist within the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The email was among those released by the Austin Regional Intelligence Center (ARIC) last month. This same release revealed that ARIC took stock of potential anti-circus demonstrators in 2012.

Given the overall tame tenor, it’s unclear how such a post came across a counterterrorism specialist’s desk, or why it merited sharing. 

The privacy policy for ARIC similarly limits collection of information on individuals and organizations. Collected information must relate to terrorism, criminal activism or a threat to public safety.

– Fromt the Muckrock article: Vegan Potlucks, Anime Screenings on the Counterterrorism Unit’s Calendar

In the wake of the attacks on September 11, 2001, the American public morphed into a collective of spineless jellyfish and basically let Congress and the intelligence agencies to do whatever they wanted in order to “protect them.” Never mind that convincing a naive and fearful populace to hand over authoritarian powers to the government has been the playbook of tyrants for millennia, it still worked brilliantly on the dumbed down American public.

One of the most hideous creations to emerge from the post 9/11 societal lapse in sanity was the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As far as I can tell, this organization has done nothing but harass and threaten ordinary Americans for completely normal activities. Let’s revisit a few examples from the DHS highlight reel:

The “War on Terror” Turns Inward – DHS Report Warns of Right Wing Terror Threat

Navy Veteran is Fired from Hotel Job and Called a “Terrorist” for Posting Pictures of DHS Vehicles on Facebook

“War on Terror” Targets Underwear – Department of Homeland Security Raids Maker of Unlicensed World Series Panties

The DHS has also produced the statist spawn known as “fusion centers.” So what are fusion centers. The DHS describes them as:

“A fusion center is a collaborative effort of two or more agencies that provide resources, expertise and information to the center with the goal of maximizing their ability to detect, prevent, investigate, and respond to criminal and terrorist activity.”

Criminal and terrorist activity. Silly me, I thought DHS was created to deal with terrorists, but as always the case with federal power grabs, the mission creep is endless. With 25% of the world’s population prison population in these United States, criminal activity can be pretty much anything.

One of these fusion centers is the Austin Regional Intelligence Center, or ARIC. Muckrock recently dug into what ARIC has been up to, and the results are extremely disturbing. We learn that:

Last September, a Facebook event caught the eye of a counterrorism specialist within the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Here’s what an internal email on the event looked like:

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The email was among those released by the Austin Regional Intelligence Center (ARIC) last month. This same release revealed that ARIC took stock of potential anti-circus demonstrators in 2012, and also passed around a private citizen’s social media posts on the basis that such information is “open source.” 

The Facebook page of interest to Texas DPS was the hub for animal rights events to take place across the country over the first weekend of September. All events surrounding this “National Weekend of Action” were organized to oppose the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA).

The linked Houston event, for instance, was a screening of Princess Mononoke to be hosted at Rice University. The Dallas event featured a snack table, know-your-rights literature and videos that address AETA’s impact on environmental and animal rights activists. 

Given the overall tame tenor, it’s unclear how such a post came across a counterterrorism specialist’s desk, or why it merited sharing. 

When asked about how the agency monitors such events, a Texas DPS spokesperson pointed to its privacy policy. This policy explicitly prohibits collecting information about individuals or organizations solely based on participation “in a particular non-criminal organization or lawful event,” or on the basis of political or social views.

Texas DPS did not answer specific questions regarding how last fall’s AETA events came to the counterterrorism specialist’s attention, or what other events the department looks for via social media. 

The rest of the September 2014 email chain indicates that the event page was shared beyond Texas DPS. An officer at the Austin Regional Intelligence Center also received a FYSA (“For Your Situational Awareness”).

“We will be monitoring as well,” the ARIC officer wrote back, elaborating that he had “added the event to the calendar.” 

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Think about how incredibly disturbing this is. A DHS fusion center created after the 9/11 terrorist attacks is now actively monitoring U.S. citizens who are animal rights activists.

The privacy policy for ARIC similarly limits collection of information on individuals and organizations. Collected information must relate to terrorism, criminal activism or a threat to public safety. As under the Texas DPS privacy policy, ARIC officers cannot collect information based on political views or event participation.

Since their establishment following the September 11 attacks, many have questioned how much fusion centers such as ARIC actually strengthen homeland security.2012 Senate committee report cataloged a number of issues with fusion center intelligence collection and reporting.

In case you aren’t yet convinced, I’d like to remind readers of a great article from Vox published earlier in the year titled: The Department of Homeland Security is a Total Disaster. It’s Time to Abolish it. Here’s a Taste:

Or think of “fusion centers,” regional hubs supported by DHS to share information among multiple federal agencies and between state, local and federal law enforcement. The fusion centers aren’t limited to sharing information about terrorism (they’re also supposed to monitor other types of crime), but it’s definitely a big component of their mission. The problem is that the FBI already has Joint Terrorism Task Forces to investigate terrorism, and Field Intelligence Groups to share information about it. In a 2013 study, the Government Accountability Office looked at eight cities, and found that the fusion centers in all eight cities overlapped at least partially with the FBI’s counterterrorism work — and in four of them, there was nothing the fusion centers did that the FBI wasn’t already doing. (There are also other things within DHS that overlap with fusion centers’ other purposes.)

For related articles, see:

The “War on Terror” Turns Inward – DHS Report Warns of Right Wing Terror Threat

Navy Veteran is Fired from Hotel Job and Called a “Terrorist” for Posting Pictures of DHS Vehicles on Facebook

How the IRS and Department of Homeland Security are Expanding Undercover Work (IRS Agents Can Even Pose as Clergy)

How the Boston Police Were Too Busy Monitoring “Occupy Boston” to Notice Tamerlan

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

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