DoomsdaysCW<p>WTF!!! <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DHS" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DHS</span></a> Tells <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Police" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Police</span></a> That Common <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Protest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Protest</span></a> Activities Are ‘Violent Tactics’<br> <br>DHS is urging law enforcement to treat even <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/skateboarding" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>skateboarding</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/livestreaming" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>livestreaming</span></a> as signs of violent intent during a protest, turning everyday behavior into a pretext for police action.</p><p>By Dell Cameron, Jul 10, 202</p><p>"The <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DepartmentOfHomelandSecurity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DepartmentOfHomelandSecurity</span></a> is urging local police to consider a wide range of protest activity as violent tactics, including mundane acts like riding a <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/bike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>bike</span></a> or livestreaming a police encounter, WIRED has learned.</p><p>"WIRED has made this article free for all to read because it is primarily based on reporting from Freedom of Information Act requests [<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FOIA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FOIA</span></a>]. Please consider subscribing to support our journalism.</p><p>"Threat bulletins issued during last month’s '<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NoKings" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NoKings</span></a>' <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/protests" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>protests</span></a> warn that the US government’s aggressive immigration raids are almost certain to accelerate domestic unrest, with DHS saying there’s a 'high likeliness' more Americans will soon turn against the agency, which could trigger <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/confrontations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>confrontations</span></a> near federal sites.</p><p>"Blaming intense media coverage and backlash to the US military deployment in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LosAngeles" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>LosAngeles</span></a>, DHS expects the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/demonstrations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>demonstrations</span></a> to 'continue and grow across the nation' as <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/protesters" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>protesters</span></a> focused on other issues shift to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/immigration" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>immigration</span></a>, following a broad 'embracement of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AntiICE" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AntiICE</span></a> messaging.'</p><p>"The bulletins—first obtained by the national security nonprofit <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PropertyOfThePeople" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PropertyOfThePeople</span></a> through public records requests—warn that officers could face assaults with fireworks and improvised weapons: <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/paint" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>paint</span></a>-filled fire extinguishers, smoke grenades, and projectiles like <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/bottles" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>bottles</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/rocks" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>rocks</span></a>.</p><p>"At the same time, the guidance urges officers to consider a range of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/nonviolent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>nonviolent</span></a> behavior and common <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ProtestGear" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ProtestGear</span></a>—like <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/masks" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>masks</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/flashlights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>flashlights</span></a>, and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/cameras" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>cameras</span></a>—as potential precursors to violence, telling officers to prepare 'from the point of view of an adversary.'</p><p>"Protesters on <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/bicycles" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>bicycles</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/skateboards" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>skateboards</span></a>, or even 'on foot' are framed as potential 'scouts' conducting reconnaissance or searching for 'items to be used as weapons.' <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Livestreaming" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Livestreaming</span></a> is listed alongside '<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/doxxing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>doxxing</span></a>' as a 'tactic' for 'threatening' police. Online posters are cast as ideological <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/recruiters" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>recruiters</span></a>—or as participants in 'surveillance sharing.'</p><p>"One list of 'violent tactics' shared by the Los Angeles–based Joint Regional Intelligence Center—part of a post-9/11 fusion network—includes both protesters’ attempts to avoid identification and efforts to identify police. The memo also alleges that face recognition, normally a tool of law enforcement, was used against officers.</p><p>"Vera Eidelman, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union [<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ACLU" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ACLU</span></a>], says the government has no business treating <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/constitutionally" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>constitutionally</span></a> protected activities—like <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/observing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>observing</span></a> or <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/documenting" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>documenting</span></a> police—as threats.</p><p>"<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DHS" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DHS</span></a> did not respond to a request for comment."<br> <br>Read more:<br><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/dhs-tells-police-that-common-protest-activities-are-violent-tactics/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">wired.com/story/dhs-tells-poli</span><span class="invisible">ce-that-common-protest-activities-are-violent-tactics/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ACAB" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ACAB</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FusionCenters" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FusionCenters</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Fascism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Authoritarianism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Authoritarianism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Resistance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Resistance</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Journalism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Journalism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PoliceState" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PoliceState</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CriminalizingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CriminalizingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Protestors" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Protestors</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Protest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Protest</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/USPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>USPol</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CriminalizingProtest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CriminalizingProtest</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Orwell" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Orwell</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BigBrother" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BigBrother</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DoublePlusUngood" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DoublePlusUngood</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SurveillanceState" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SurveillanceState</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NaziPatrol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NaziPatrol</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NineteenEightyFour" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NineteenEightyFour</span></a></p>