The FBI also targeted political advocacy organizations with renewed vigor after 9/11, as demonstrated through ACLU FOIAs and confirmed by a 2010 Inspector General audit. And FBI training continues to describe political activism as an “extremist” tactic and non-violent civil disobedience as terrorism. The FBI uses many of the same tactics it uses against AMEMSA communities, including invasive surveillance, infiltration, and sting operations using agents provocateur.260
But the FBI has also been using its expanded powers to conduct inappropriately harsh overt investigations that appear designed to suppress political activity. As the Church Committee pointed out decades ago, aggressive investigation can often be more disruptive than 42 covert action: “[t]he line between information collection and harassment can be extremely thin.”261
In a recent case in Nevada, Native American political activists representing the American Indian Movement (AIM) appeared at public meetings of the Nevada Wildlife Commission and the Washoe County Wildlife Advisory Board in March 2012 to speak out against a proposed bear hunt, on religious grounds.262 Shortly thereafter, a law enforcement officer assigned to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force arrived at the home of one AIM activist and workplace of another to question them about their appearance at the public meetings, saying audience members felt threatened when they spoke. The police arrested one of the AIM activists, interrogated her in jail, and tried to get her to sign a document saying she was involved in terrorist activity.263 She refused and was released without charge. In an email statement given to the Reno-Gazette Journal, a spokesman said the FBI “conducted an assessment and determined no further investigation was warranted at this time.” The Reno-Gazette Journal contacted a Department of Wildlife spokesman who said an FBI official had contacted them and asked if the wardens were threatened: “We absolutely answered no, we have not.”264 This use of FBI assessment authority appears to have been intended to intimidate political activists rather than investigate real threats.
More troubling, however, are incidents in which the FBI targeted activists with armed raids. In September 2010, dozens of FBI agents conducted simultaneous raids on peace and labor activists’ homes and offices in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Grand Rapids, Mich., seizing documents, computers, and cell phones.265 An FBI spokesman said the searches were part of a Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation “into activities concerning the material support of terrorism,” but there was no “imminent danger” to the public. The FBI also served fourteen of the activists with subpoenas commanding their appearance before a grand jury in Chicago. One activist’s bank account was frozen. More than three years later, none of the activists has been charged with a crime, raising troubling questions about whether these aggressive raids were necessary or justified.
Such aggressive law enforcement operations obviously have a devastating impact on these activists’ ability to continue their political advocacy.But they also create fear in the larger activist community. Both those who worked directly with the targeted activists now living under a cloud of suspicion and those who didn’t, but work on similar political issues, have to worry if they will be the next ones to be raided. Unfortunately, the FBI is only increasing its use of these tactics.
In July 2012, FBI SWAT teams wearing body armor and carrying assault rifles raided at least six homes of alleged anarchists in Portland, Ore., and Seattle and Olympia, Wash., reportedly using flash-bang grenades at some locations.266 Sealed search warrants reportedly sought “anarchist” literature, computers, cell phones, black clothing, and flags carried at protests.267 No arrests were made but several people were served with grand jury subpoenas related to the raids. Some have been jailed for refusing to testify before the grand jury. The Oregonian reports that court records43 indicate the investigation is targeting an “organized ‘black bloc’” that committed vandalism during May Day protests in Seattle in 2012 and broke windows at the federal courthouse there.268 While vandalism of U.S. government property is indeed a federal crime, the extreme tactics the FBI is using in this case appear to be designed more to send a message to, and potentially “disrupt”, this community of activists than to solve serious federal crimes.
Strong-arm tactics have no place in American law enforcement. While FBI agents conducting search warrants must act in a manner to protect themselves and others from violence, force can only be used when necessary to prevent imminent harm. Flash-bang grenades are potentially lethal weapons. They have caused deadly fires, induced heart attacks, and recently killed a police officer who accidently set one off in his garage as he was placing equipment in his patrol car.269 When FBI agents use their law enforcement powers to suppress or disrupt political activity, they are violating the Constitution they have sworn to defend and undermining the rights of all Americans.
