The Department of Homeland Security observed the Occupy Movement

One may find among the Stratfor email cache just released by WikiLeaks a Department of Homeland Security Assessment Report which discussed the ‘threats posed by’ the Occupy Movement. The report begins with this passage:

Mass gatherings associated with public protest movements can have disruptive effects on transportation, commercial, and government services, especially when staged in major metropolitan areas. Large scale demonstrations also carry the potential for violence, presenting a significant challenge for law enforcement.

It is clear that this report prejudges a movement that has never committed itself to using violence to achieve political goals. Its commitment to non-violent methods is so unlike the official commitment to using violent methods when confronting the Occupy Movement. It is a well-established fact that law enforcement departments in numerous cities have used violent techniques to suppress the legal exercise of a citizen’s First Amendment rights. There are also reasons to believe that the Department of Homeland Security along with similar federal agencies coordinated the suppression of the Occupy Movement that occurred late last year. It is both ironic and unsurprising that the disorder surrounding the Occupy Movement originated mostly from the actions of the police.

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• CNN Investigates ‘Anonymous’ Hacktivist Group And How It’s Helping Occupy Movement (mediaite.com)
• Anonymous claims Stratfor spied on OWS (rt.com)
• WikiLeaks Release of the Day (geeks.thedailywh.at)
• WikiLeaks Uncovers Report Showing Homeland Security Monitored Occupy Movement (firedoglake.com)
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