Glenn Greenwald’s continuing coverage of Police State USA at the RNC
Posted on September 2nd, 2008 by bile Tags: Federal Bureau of Investigation, federal government, Glenn Greenwald, Law enforcement agencies, law enforcement officers, left-wing activist groups, local law enforcement, local law-enforcement agents, Marcy Wheeler, Minneapolis, Minneapolis Joint Terrorist Task Force, Minnesota, police, police state, Salon, St. Paul, tear gas cannisters, thugs, tyranny, vegan groups, violenceFollowing up on this weekend’s extreme raids on various homes, at least 250 people were arrested here today in St. Paul, Minnesota. Beginning last night, St. Paul was the most militarized I have ever seen an American city be, even more so than Manhattan in the week of 9/11 — with troops of federal, state and local law enforcement agents marching around with riot gear, machine guns, and tear gas cannisters, shouting military chants and marching in military formations. Humvees and law enforcement officers with rifles were posted on various buildings and balconies. Numerous protesters and observers were tear gassed and injured.
Today’s Star Tribune added that the raids were specifically “aided by informants planted in protest groups.” Back in May, Marcy Wheeler presciently noted that the Minneapolis Joint Terrorist Task Force — an inter-agency group of federal, state and local law enforcement led by the FBI — was actively recruiting Minneapolis residents to serve as plants, to infiltrate “vegan groups” and other left-wing activist groups and report back to the Task Force about what they were doing. There seems to be little doubt that it was this domestic spying by the Federal Government that led to the excessive and truly despicable home assaults by the police yesterday.
So here we have a massive assault led by Federal Government law enforcement agencies on left-wing dissidents and protesters who have committed no acts of violence or illegality whatsoever, preceded by months-long espionage efforts to track what they do. And as extraordinary as that conduct is, more extraordinary is the fact that they have received virtually no attention from the national media and little outcry from anyone. And it’s not difficult to see why. As the recent “overhaul” of the 30-year-old FISA law illustrated — preceded by the endless expansion of surveillance state powers, justified first by the War on Drugs and then the War on Terror — we’ve essentially decided that we want our Government to spy on us without limits. There is literally no police power that the state can exercise that will cause much protest from the political and media class and, therefore, from the citizenry.
He goes on to speak of his disgust for those who claim these people deserve this and questioning why the liberals who were denouncing the Chinese for the very same actions weeks ago at the Olympics aren’t speaking out against this now?
I know why Glenn… it’s because they are part of this system. They not only are complacent in it’s creation, they desire it.



