Police State

TSA’s VIPR could be screening you without you knowing it

"The TSA could be screening you without you even knowing it. From the Super Bowl to the Inauguration to Union Station, if you're traveling, the Transportation Security Agency could be there, and they could be looking at you. They are a special brand of the TSA, called 'VIPR.' It stands for 'Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response.' VIPR has been around since 2005, and they are meant to boost security by being a deterrent, and detecting security risks. WUSA9 asked the TSA what the qualifications are for becoming a TSA baggage screener versus being part of the VIPR program. We have not heard back." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTSA’s VIPR could be screening you without you knowing it

Wisconsin lawmaker & state official threatened with arrest for observing protest

"A Wisconsin lawmaker and a state official were both threatened with arrest for observing a progressive 'Solidarity Sing Along' protest at the state Capitol. State Rep. Sondy Pope and executive secretary Tia Nelson of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands told Isthmus they were threatened with arrest by a Capitol Police officer. The officer told the two women that anyone who stood to watch the protest rather than moving along was subject to arrest. In July, a judge ruled that groups of more than 20 people could not gather in the Wisconsin Capitol without a permit. Police have issued more than 100 citations to protesters so far." Continue reading →

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NYPD agrees to purge database of people stopped by police

"The New York City Police Department has agreed to purge a database of names and addresses of people stopped by police under the NYPD’s controversial stop-and-frisk program but later cleared of criminal wrongdoing. The department will cease collecting the information as part of a settlement ending a lawsuit filed in 2010 in state court by the New York Civil Liberties Union, which announced the agreement on Wednesday. The settlement applies to people issued a summons or arrested after a police stop but whose cases were dismissed or ended with a fine for a noncriminal violation." Continue reading →

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IRS secretly used DEA surveillance database to launch investigations

"Details of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration program that feeds tips to federal agents and then instructs them to alter the investigative trail were published in a manual used by agents of the Internal Revenue Service for two years. The practice of recreating the investigative trail, highly criticized by former prosecutors and defense lawyers after Reuters reported it this week, is now under review by the Justice Department. An IRS spokesman had no comment on the entry or on why it was removed from the manual. Reuters recovered the previous editions from the archives of the Westlaw legal database." Continue reading →

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Homeland Security “Constitution Free” Zones Inside US Ignored By Media

"It’s not ‘conspiracy’ and it’s not fraud, the DHS has literally created an imaginary ‘border’ within the United States that engulfs 100 miles from every single end of the nation. Within this fabricated ‘border’, the DHS can search your electronic belongings for no reason. No reason whatsoever is required under their own regulations. This ‘border’ even includes where the US land meets oceans in addition to legitimate borders with Mexico and Canada. As a result, you have over 197 million citizens suffocated in these 100 mile ‘border zones’ that include major cities like New York City, Houston, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHomeland Security “Constitution Free” Zones Inside US Ignored By Media

How Martial Law In America Will Affect You

"The lock-down of the Boston area is not an isolated incident. It is part of a well-funded, coordinated federal program called Operation Urban Shield. Law enforcement is being trained to impose martial law. Americans are being trained to obey without question. People sometimes marvel over how a civilized populace like the pre-Nazi Germans were blind to the approach of totalitarianism. How could they miss the signs? Most Americans are missing the hint presented by armored personnel vehicles rolling into a peaceful community. The best way to avoid martial law in America is not to be here when it occurs." Continue reading →

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T.S.A. Expands Duties Beyond Airport Security

"With little fanfare, the agency best known for airport screenings has vastly expanded its reach to sporting events, music festivals, rodeos, highway weigh stations and train terminals. Not everyone is happy. T.S.A. and local law enforcement officials say the teams are a critical component of the nation’s counterterrorism efforts, but some members of Congress, auditors at the Department of Homeland Security and civil liberties groups are sounding alarms. T.S.A. officials would not say if the VIPR teams had ever foiled a terrorist plot or thwarted any major threat to public safety, saying the information is classified." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingT.S.A. Expands Duties Beyond Airport Security

N.H. City Wants a “Tank” to Use Against Occupiers and Libertarians

"Police Chief John Duval now says that he doesn't actually believe the Free State Project or Occupy New Hampshire are domestic terror threats. 'I wish I would have worded things different in retrospect,' he says. 'I understand why their eyebrows are raised about that.' He says it was meant to refer to the 'unpredictable nature of unpredictable people who attach themselves to otherwise lawful situations.' Duval has no plans to issue a formal apology, but he has exchanged emails with Carla Gericke, president of the Free State Project, who is suing a police department for arresting her in 2011 for allegedly recording a police traffic stop." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingN.H. City Wants a “Tank” to Use Against Occupiers and Libertarians

California’s first mobile Amber Alert shocks strangers

"FEMA sends out Amber Alerts from cell towers in locations near the abduction. The alerts can pop up on new phones with Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) capabilities, or phones that get the corresponding software update. It’s a voluntary system, and participating wireless companies were required to add WEA services to their phones by April 7, 2012. Californians were angry and confused about the Amber Alert, scared by an alarming phone notification they didn’t know they had. The reaction mirrors New Yorkers’ response a few weeks ago, when the first New York City mobile Amber Alert woke people up at 4 in the morning." Continue reading →

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Former LA County GOP chief arrested for sexting after mocking Weiner’s candidacy

"The former executive director of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County was arrested last Friday for allegedly sexting with a 16-year-old girl. The girl told officers that Scott Hounsell, 30, had engaged in sexually explicit chats with her via a social media website. Police did not say what social media website was used. Hounsell was arrested by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. He was released on $40,000 bail Friday afternoon. Firedoglake noted that Hounsell had mocked New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner on his personal Twitter account." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer LA County GOP chief arrested for sexting after mocking Weiner’s candidacy