The Last American Vagabond – by Derrick Broze
On June 19, 2020, 269 gigabytes of internal U.S. police documents were released by the group Distributed Denial of Secrets as part of the #BlueLeaks operation. The documents were reportedly obtained by “a source aligned with the hacktivist group Anonymous” after a security breach of Netsential. #BlueLeaks has been called the largest hack of U.S. police documents. The collection contains emails, audio files, intelligence files, bulletins, and memos, mostly drawn from law enforcement Fusion Centers, produced between August 1996 and June 2020.
Fusion Centers are centralized systems that pool and analyze intelligence from federal, state, local, and private sector entities. The National Network of Fusion Centers was created after the 9/11 attacks to provide for more streamlined communication between federal and local agencies. The Fusion Centers have been criticized as violations of civil liberties and a danger to separation of federal and local governments, and the abuses of these centers predate #BlueLeaks, including targeting of protesters of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Most infamously, in 2009 it was revealed that the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) was targeting supporters of third party candidates, Ron Paul supporters, anti-abortion activists, and “conspiracy theorists” as potential domestic extremists.
Some reports on #BlueLeaks have shown police using counter-surveillance methods on Black Lives Matter protesters and concerns of face masks blocking facial recognition. However, due to the size of the #BlueLeaks files, important information is still being found and reported on.
In fact, I was recently notified that my name and a video I produced were listed in the files. I was informed that a friend and fellow activist was listed in a document from the Austin Regional Intelligence Center, a Fusion Center based in Central Texas. The ARIC is a partnership between 19 local law enforcement agencies and shares data with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.
Read the rest here: https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/blueleaks-reveal-fusion-centers-employ-undercover-agents-target-activists/