Fergie's Tech Blog

'The Architecture' Reaches Out To Arrest Activist

I don't normally do this (re-post articles in their entirety) , but I know Ryan Singel and Kevin Poulsen won't mind me reproducing this 27B Stroke 6 article here in its entirety, given the enormous importance of the underlying issues -- which should disturb you.

Via 27B Stroke 6.

In Hartford, Connecticut at the inauguration parade of new Republican governor Gov. M. Jodi Rell an activist/journalist was arrested by police as he stepped onto the roadway to take photos of the governor,, according to the AP's account. The activist, Ken Krayeske, was on a list of threats compiled by police and the Connecticut Intelligence Center, a multi-agency homeland security group. He was arrested for breaching the peace. Officers recognized him prior to the arrest thanks to the list and photograph of the Green Party activist, who was the campaign manager for Cliff Thornton, the Green Party's candidate for governor. To her credit, Governor Rell has asked for an investigation.

This is the exact scenario I envisioned the other day when I asked what it was that state and local "fusion centers" actually fused? Given that there seems to be no real Al Qaeda cells inside the United States, the laws of bureaucracies dictate that other threats will need to be invented or elevated. Of course now that the Dems are in charge, they'll take a look at these centers and wonder if they are really useful, right?

Wrong.

In fact, H.R. 1, the bill passed by Congress Tuesday night to implement more of the 9/11 recommendations, actually increases the number and funding of these so-called fusion centers. Expect to see more fusion of legitimate political groups with terrorist groups in the future. These are the kinds of bureaucratic mechanisms that lead police to label Quakers as "criminal extremists," to infiltrate anti-war groups, peaceful protests and Critical Mass bike rides, and to file reports on anti-war protesters in Pentagon databases.

It's the architectural imperative.

posted by Fergie @ 1/11/2007 12:34:00 PM