Transcript
Author: Levert Brookshire Title: The New Police State In the wake of Sept. 11th, 2001. There's been an expected increase in the Governments counter-terrorist activities. Aiming to turn the country into a high-tech modernized militarized police state. Using each and every advanced biometric tool, and high-tech surveillance equipment available, everything that can enable law enforcement to possess the latest resources they can have to target, identify and monitor large numbers of people covertly without their knowledge. Using biotechnology devices such as facial recognition computer software with wireless digital cameras, handheld portable fingerprint scanners, cellphone frequency detectors, license plate readers, etc. Such technology mostly used by U.S. military elite forces in counter terrorists operations overseas has now been put in the hands of police officers who patrol Amerika's streets. And they've been trained to use all of it intensely in and around large inner cities, poverty-stricken neighborhoods and low-income housing projects, specifically. Targeting ordinary-residents under the guise of suspicious activity, or subversive behaviors, neither of which is illegal or criminal. But it's problematic to warrant increased police attention according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Areas known for heightened criminal activities, nefarious gang activities and clandestine and criminal enterprises have brought on even greater increases in police surveillance and presence using an intense frequency of such military style-police technology coinciding with an investment other police departments scattered all around the country, all of them unified and connected to one another, integrated together in using the same data collection technology as special ops military units are using. All of it provided to identify, target and go after Amerika's threats, and terrorists overseas and concealed here in America hiding in plain sight. The plausible reality of waking up one day to find a full-scale militarized police state, right here in America is becoming even closer to reality. Our country has been engaged in a fifteen year long counter terrorism effort, to stave off another 9/11 like attack. In the counter terrorism efforts there has been a war to diminish our freedoms. which has been a direct result of September 11, 2001. Many would argue that this was the plan behind orchestrating 9/11 in the first place, but I digress. None of this increased security and aggressive counterterrorist effort is particularly surprising or even troubling in and of itself, if in fact it really was isolated to identifying, targeting and dismantling Jihadist terrorist-cells and or suicide bombers, seeking to do Amerikans harm. Unfortunately this isn't where it stops. It's been slowly but surely spreading out of the confines of what it was designed for, moving into one poverty stricken community to another slowly making its way into each and every low income area found in every state around the country. Now today it's grown into a much more broad and wider effort than counter-terrorism. Simultaneously it's beginning to form into much more than it originally started out, many ordinary tax paying citizens are beginning to get treated as if they are terrorists and a much bigger, wider and clearer picture is starting to emerge. All of the new surveillance technology and militarized police counterterrorist efforts isn't just about finding and destroying terror cells and Jihadist suicide bombers. It's about using this hightech sophisticated technology against ordinary U.S. citizen's also under the disguise and ruse of teasing-out the so called terrorists. While some of the police officers overzealousness and deeply ingrained personal prejudices and contempt for certain minority groups drive them to become terrorist themselves against ordinary Amerikan citizen's. Let's not be fooled here. Who have they now identified, labeled and targeted as their so called terrorists? Federal-state homeland security intelligence gathering networks are now being being abused by police officer's that have their own deeply hidden, well disguised personal agenda's and buried prejudices. Police Officer's who are sworn under oath to serve and protect the public, now harboring contempt and hate for minority groups have taken these new high-tech tools designed for counterterrorism operations and turned them against minority groups and people of color, particularly Black people. As the police have become seen as terrorists themselves, the way that they aggressively use all of their new technology and trample over our constitutional rights murdering our unarmed neighbors and violating the rule of law with impunity, with the mask of looking for terrorists when in fact what we really have is the military police, "thought" police force. Without having the rule of law to adhere to because they're going after so called terror cells. Now ordinary U.S. citizens are fair game. If we even associate with anyone who's labeled as suspicious or we are somehow linked in one way or another to any subversive groups nothing that's criminal or illegal just simply outspoken against social injustice or police brutality. We are automatically targeted, labeled and tracked as if we're terrorists. Same goes for street gangs, ex-felons, political dissent advocates. All are now targets for homeland security, police surveillance and even arrests. This kind of broad authority is perfect camouflage and cover for those overzealous, hyper-aggressive and trigger happy, mentally unstable police officers that we already face on a daily routine already. We know the police officer's wear their ethical appearances and professionally displayed public faces as public servants doing brave and selfless, noble work. Men and women who are only looking to make a difference serving their communities. For many police officer's that is in fact true, but, the problem is those percentages of police officers who, after climbing inside their patrol units, their ethical professional faces come off replaced by their "bully" face, aggression and deeply rooted bias and contempt toward's specific minority groups and particular social classes begin to rise up inside them as they patrol their street zones. Having a take no prisoners attitude as they start their shifts, a shoot to kill ideology ignoring any/all constitutional, civil rights laws altogether. Empowered by the fact knowing that their actions will be protected and justified by their own with their very own secretive overprotective so-called "Blue Wall" of silence shielding all police officers from any public scrutiny or wrongdoing guaranteeing all police officer's silence and cover up whenever they are prone to act in terrorist ways and commit terrorist acts against ordinary law-abiding, unarmed citizens themselves as we all have seen in recent months around the country which seems to be at a spike nowadays. Or it's just these recent instances have been captured on video images for the rest of the world to see for themselves. What we've been seeing and trying to raise awareness about for years. Which interestingly only happens in the communities and those neighborhoods that have the highest percentages of Black and Brown residents, the highest numbers unemployment, highest crime statistics are reported, highest school dropout rates but reports the lowest paid property taxes and the lowest income taxes filed, with the highest concentration of registered parolees, documented street gang membership. All of which for some reason or another has always been the circumstances way before September 11, 2001 happened. These areas represent the suspicious areas for police departments to focus on post 9/11 for their counterterrorist efforts, where no suicide bombers have been known to come from. Yet in the eyes of the Department of Homeland Security and police departments, this is where they should focus. All of which harken's back to the day's when J. Edgar Hoover created the covert, secretive 'Cointelpro' program. When this government had assigned undercover agent's, spies and confidential informants to infiltrate the inner cities, join all civil right's groups, black power social movements, disrupt , discredit, and dismantle all social-political groups and their leaders, who had all been targeted and labeled as subversive and suspicious organizations also. Like the label always attached to anyone who speaks out against these recent police murders occurring all over the country. Anyone or any grassroots social movements forming together to protect and publicly object to these brutal terrorist acts being perpetuated against the Black community, they are targeted as homeland security threats and tracked in every way. Unlike criminal law, where there's any suspicion of terrorist views under the U.S.Patriot Act. The burden of proving guilt is now lost. It's now the burden of proving innocence which rests on the accused not the accuser. Nowadays we even have more physical evidence, even technical visual proof more than we had during those J. Edgar Hoover days. A storage room of video images and other indisputable evidence to prove our claims of civil rights violations, abuses of power, police brutality and terrorist-murder, even hate crimes carried out against our people, by police officers who show no regard for the fact there hasn't been any crime committed. They are found to be unarmed and law abiding. Police officers who have a complete disregard for those constitutional rights that have been enshrined to protect us all. Yet this new militarized police force empowered with more authority by the Federal government's Department of Homeland Security has now become their own state sponsored domestic terrorist network without any accountability to anyone with no oversight, no transparency, police officer's limitless power that allows them to operate with impunity, no clear definition of exactly who the terrorist really are, or what exactly it is, the police are legally allowed to do or even not to do? With no specific guidelines or oversight in place to hold police officer's accountable for the actions along with those who keep sustaining the 'Blue Wall of silence" protecting them. They will continue to unleash their aggressions in bias ways, terrorist fashions and abusive manners aimed at ordinary citizens who belong to certain racial groups and social-economic classes and reside in targeted areas of the city I described early on. Using these factors alone none which have anything to do with terrorism, warrants intense, especially aggressive high-tech surveillance, tracking and surprise raids, military-commando style arrests, coordinated traffic stops, wiretapping etc. All of it meant to intimidate, instill fear, and threaten all who reside in these targeted areas while concealed behind their own Blue Wall of silence. By the way, it's a Blue Wall of Silence which police officer's still refuse to admit to or even acknowledge its existence. Those law enforcement officers who in fact are fair and professional who are unbiased and follow police protocol's to the letter of the law. However, they too, become complicit to the same abuses of authority and police terrorism whenever they succumb to their peer pressures and maintain their silence in order to protect those policer's that are guilty of breaking laws, procedural misconduct and wrong doing. Keeping up that Wall of Silence to coverup cancerous, malignant, police officers malfeasance in the line of duty is just as guilty as perpetuating the acts themselves. Title: State Sponsored Terrorism Because of the fear they have of losing cohesive camaraderie, acceptance, trustworthiness, a peer approval from their own police units something that police officers like military cadres, street gangs and even cult groups take extreme measures in protecting. Like all others who promote the group thought and group peer pressure belief-systems. What do police officers practice? They practice (illegible) cover up in order to protect their own. The so called good ones also go along with the majority, 'doin and sayin,' whatever's necessary to hide the bad apples. Even if it has to be done at the expense of law-abiding ordinary civilians. Especially if its at the expense of a socio-economically and politically-disadvantaged often times powerless and voiceless people of society. Usually and repeatedly Black or people of color. Police departments already know that most Americans really won't care anyway. What we do know is that law enforcement, police departments everywhere care deeply even fear the loss or diminishing in any way of their glorified public image of selfless, noble and brave public reputations. The police department will in fact do whatever it takes for them to maintain their public image and keep their public relations propaganda campaign going strong. Only showing the side they want the public to see while the corrupt, wretched and cancerous parts are carefully concealed away hidden from view. In order to keep the public praises of heroic bravery and patriotic acts continuously pouring in as they do the status quo's bidding. Fighting the proverbial good fight, an image police departments absolutely depend on, to in fact keep themselves well funded and sanctioned to effectively keep the authority to justify the arbitrary unleashing of state-funded terrorism against black and brown populated communities where they are granted impunity for egregious acts of unwarranted aggression, abuses of authority and bias. All have been able to see this as it actually happens though the recent introduction of widespread video images and cell phones taking the police department's terrorists acts to the public stage where it can no longer be covered up or hidden away any longer. Finally exposing how the police department has been coordinating militarized police efforts and state sponsored terrorists acts against our neighborhoods to intimidate, harass, threaten and murder unarmed ordinary citizens who look different than the status quo on the notion that if we look different, generate significantly lesser amounts of income taxes and pay extremely lower amounts of property taxes in our communities, have higher percentage of government subsidized housing per capita, with a high percentage of government assistance, social services recipients, a poorly funded lower quality school system with a concentration of state registered parolees/probationers that all of this somehow disqualifies our community residents as ordinary law abiding citizens. Therefore designated as Department of Homeland Security's de facto terrorist training camps/communities and or so called so Hot Beds. Despite the fact that no suicide bombers or terror cells linked to foreign terror group have been connected to or tied to low income, poverty stricken, minority communities spanning across the U.S. There's an unprecedented record of U.S. Department of Homeland Security and police department resources being amassed and directed at our communities; an investment of the newest high-tech intelligence analysis, data mining and other sophisticated counter-intelligence analysis, counter-intelligence, counter terrorism efforts to be used out on the streets of AmeriKa's inner cities. Why is this? We're talking about technology here and coordinated operations that are so well-aimed at our 'hoods.' These kind of militarized-police command operations rival the terrorists round-up stings being set up overseas in France and Germany to capture terrorist operatives. Being a native from California who was born and raised in the poverty stricken area of San Bernardino whenever I talk to my comrades and sista soldiers from them streets back home, they tell me its official. Today, the tentacles of our U.S. government's counter terrorist efforts have now been definitely set up to reach ever so deeply into the streets and inner cities all across the country. Turning all low income, government subsidized housing projects and inner cities into militarized police controlled communities. As if designated and classified Jihadist populated, radicalized areas known for terrorist cells? Targeting and labeling all residents who are found to live there, surveilled, tracked and treated as hostile threats, even insurgents, without ever displaying any such behaviors or indications that might suggest is the case. While the police departments use military grade infra-red night vision cameras integrated with mounted computer consoles in their patrol units, automatic license plate readers that scan left to right snapping quick digital images one license plate after another patrolling through the hood while uploading all information to their database. Identifying any/all suspended driver's licenses, traffic violators, outstanding warrants, reported stolen vehicles, and automatic alert signals to warn of any ex-felon's, registered sex offenders even documented street gang members too. The justification given for using such a high level of intense sophisticated data analysis technology for Amerika's poverty stricken inner-cities is to stop the next Isis inspired terrorists attack here in Amerika. This explain their constant harassment, arrests, cell phone monitoring and shootings of unarmed non-threatening, law-abiding citizens. As this may all in fact may apply to the status quo so called homeland security department (counter terrorist efforts). Interestingly and in reality whenever these advanced technological efforts are applied in the correct manner that all of it was supposedly intended for and applied according to the rules of law. The real terrorists cells, their plots and often times their new works are identified, targeted and dismantled. However, whenever its misused or applied arbitrarily and abusively imposed upon our communities and everyday law-abiding, tax- paying, ordinary, unarmed citizens just because of the racial group they belong to or the socio-economic class, community or zip code they reside in. It then becomes a matter of terrorism used against those people. Something called state sponsored terrorism as we know it to be; From those we've lost due to state sanctioned terrorists attacks in just recent months. Tamir Rice, Alton Sterling, Jordan Davis, Sandra Bland, Philando Castille, Oscar Gray, LaQuan McDonald, Sean Bell, Rumain Brisbon, Paul O'Neil, Travon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Diallo and others, may they Rest in Peace and their deaths spur us into mobilizing our own grassroots nationwide counter terrorists effort aimed at protecting ourselves against those who seek to do us harm. No longer can we only march and protest, waiting for colonial Amerikas' status quo to come save us. We have to organize our communities, clergy, business owners, residents, veterans, even corner boys and hood generals. Formulate all new Action Plans. Draft up Articles of Incorporation,By- Laws, Charters, create a vetting process for Board of Directors with responsible, well trained and equipped vanguard cadre on call, a uniform structure in every major city with smaller satellite structures in smaller cities, all coordinated, mobilized with the Black Lives Matter Movement. The Celldweller Journalist
