Widespread Surveillance and Targeting of Activists
Hermes stressed that "heavy surveillance has been a foundation" of what the police have been doing. "They are intensely videotaping activists across the St. Louis area, targeting particular people and picking particular people out of a crowd--often for brutal arrest. They're going after organizers."
One example was the arrest of videographer and live-streamer Bassem Masri, who has been very prominent and active in the protests. He was being followed by police and was then arrested and detained on a $15,000 cash bond for allegedly driving a vehicle with a revoked license. This constitutes an act of preventive detention. The Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee in St. Louis quickly raised the money through crowdfunding to get Masri out.
Three NLG legal observers were illegally arrested on November 21 while monitoring and filming the police.
The Bronx Defenders, a legal group whose mission is to "zealously defend the rights of clients, fight for systemic change and promote justice for the community," sent a delegation to Ferguson and their Tweets paint a similar picture:
Like in the Bronx, but perhaps even more marked here, it's clear the legal system as a whole is ground zero for injustice in #Ferguson.
Heard a LOT this evening at county jail from protestors & spectators hauled in on trumped up charges and abused by police in #Ferguson.
The St. Louis County police denying access to counsel here in Clayton to visit with arrested #Ferguson protestors.
NYPD Spying on Protest Leaders
It has also been reported (WNYC, November 25) that the NYPD has sent experts to Ferguson to identify "professional agitators." "We have a number of our detectives out there, have had them out there for over a week to help out in terms of intelligence we have on some of the professional agitators who are involved in these types of activity," NYPD Commissioner William Bratton said.
Coming from New York's police commissioner, this is an outrageous self-exposure and admission of illegal actions by the authorities. First, it's not against the law to be a "professional agitator," whatever that means. The targeting of "agitators" is not being based on any specific allegations of illegal activity but simply people the NYPD doesn't think have the right to speak out against police brutality and murder!
Reports seem to indicate this strategy is being put into action: In Ferguson as well as in New York, Los Angeles, and other cities, activists and "agitators," including communist revolutionaries, have been targeted simply for political speech, and snatched out of crowds and arrested.
What's described above is, no doubt, just some of the state's illegitimate violence, violation of rights, and repression being wreaked on the people. The whole world needs to know!
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Larry Everest is a correspondent for Revolution newspaper / revcom.us, where this article first appeared.
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