Governor: State's tracking of protesters 'absolutely ludicrous'
By the CNN Wire Staff
September 15, 2010 5:54 a.m. EDT
(CNN) -- Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell says he is appalled that the state's Office of Homeland Security, unbeknownst to him, had been compiling and circulating information about protesters at peaceful gatherings.
Banging his fist on the podium Tuesday evening, a visibly angry Rendell called the practice "absolutely ludicrous."
"Let me make this as clear as I can make it. Protesting against an idea, a principle, a process, is not a real threat against infrastructure," he said at a news conference. "Protesting is a God-given American right, a right that is in our Constitution, a right that is fundamental to all we believe in as Americans."
The governor said he only recently learned that the state homeland security office had been paying a Pennsylvania firm to compile lists of rallies -- which were then passed to law enforcement agencies and other entities as possible security threats. The contract cost the state $125,000 and will not be renewed, he said.
More...
`Appalled' Pa. gov. shuts down reports on protests:
(AP article)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gtDwVxKz9w-Cmlio-XZTBHjbJfIwD9I81L4O0
Institute of Terrorism Research and Response's website:
http://www.terrorresponse.org/
ASIS, http://www.asisonline.org/about/history/index.xml
I came across a list of ASIS networks off of their own webpage, and ITRR is one of them, including the whole cast of suspects that A_I has been exposing for the last couple of years:
http://www.asisonline.org/councils/documents/OpenSourceIntelligenceLinks.pdf
ASIS Propaganda site: "Security management": http://www.securitymanagement.com/contact-us
ITRR loves to brag about their Israel connections:
http://www.securitymanagement.com/article/israels-lessons-public-resilience-006782
Isn't that nice, that our American peace officers who swore an oath to the Constitution, receive Z**nist training to track terrorists AKA you, me and Gasland viewers?
Disturbing "Case Study" of ITRR: (total violation of fourth amendment if it were to happen in U.S.)
http://inhomelandsecurity.com/2007/06/case_study_institute_of_terror.html
Powerpoint Presentation done by ITRR:
http://www.slideshare.net/arichman3/fusion-center-briefs-final
Selected Slides:
ITRR: Document Preparing the Next Generation of Defenders: ASU students train in Israel
http://www.slideshare.net/arichman3/iacspasu-loftus
Meet Aaron Richman, director of ITRR:
http://il.linkedin.com/in/richmanaaron
If these guys are sooo worried about "cybersecurity" why the heck would they publish all of their bios, battleplans, documents, on the regular world wide web for everyone to find and read, just by typing in key phrases on Google Advanced Search? Is it like some type of honeypot, or are these globalist scumbags just full of hubris?
I believe there is enough evidence to try Aaron Richman for espionage and treason. This guy and his cronies are hardcore criminals for violating Pennsylvania citizens' Constitutional rights.
MODIFIED/EDIT: That powerpoint was taken down off of that server immediately after I did this posting.
Here is a Google cache of that presentation:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:uZKpt0q_8VoJ:www.slideshare.net/arichman3/fusion-center-briefs-final+Institute+of+Terrorism+Research+and+Response&cd=24&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Protest Group Demands Investigation Into Homeland Security Spying
http://www.infowars.com/protest-group-demands-investigation-into-homeland-security-spying/
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
September 16, 2010
Governor Rendell apologized to the groups that were targeted, noting that protest was a constitutional right. Photo: Cliff.
One of the Pennsylvania protest groups that was targeted for surveillance by Homeland Security as a possible terror threat has demanded an investigation into the scandal after Gov. Ed Rendell was forced to issue an apology and cancel a $108,000-a-year contract with the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response, the American-Israeli group that provided DHS with intelligence on pro-gas drilling, anti-war and Tea Party organizations.
“This has angered me more than anything so far,” Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition member Janine Dymond of Harding said Wednesday. “We’re not even against drilling. We’re against the regulation of this industry and the loss of our rights. But we’re labeled as potential terrorists.”
Governor Rendell apologized to the groups that were targeted, noting that protest was a constitutional right, but refused to fire Department of Homeland Security Director James F. Powers Jr.
“Obviously I’m thrilled that Rendell apologized and everything, but I still think (Powers) needs to be fired,” Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition co-founder Dr. Thomas Jiunta of Lehman Township said. “For people exercising their right to free speech and opinions about natural gas drilling to be put on the same level as terrorists is not only extreme, but unconscionable. I think there definitely needs to be an investigation.”
As we have documented for years, the true target of the domestic anti-terror apparatus has always been peaceful Americans who show much as the slightest interest in anything political or have any kind of grievance against the state whatsoever. Until consequences are brought to bare, and the whole culture of training police and federal authorities that American citizens are their enemy is irrevocably altered, peaceful protest groups will continue to be treated as terrorists.
During the Clinton years we saw numerous reports issued by the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force that characterized the most banal and seemingly pro-American activities as signs of potential domestic terror. One advisory leaflet encouraged people to contact the JTTF if they came into contact with Americans who were “defenders of the US Constitution” or those who “make numerous references to the US Constitution”. Lone individuals were listed under the category “single issue terrorists”.
A Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Law Enforcement pamphlet issued in 2006 identified buying baby formula, beer, wearing Levi jeans, carrying identifying documents like a drivers license and traveling with women or children, all as signs of potential terrorism. Being a “nice guy” was also a potential characteristic of a domestic terrorist, according to the document.
A Virginia training manual that also became public in 2006 and was used to help state employees recognize terrorists listed anti-government and property rights activists as terrorists and included binoculars, video cameras, paper pads and notebooks in a compendium of terrorist tools.
Authorities are already acting on the premise that anyone who is mildly political or talks about the Constitution is a potential terrorist.
In May 2008, a student of a large bible college in east Texas was accused by federal agents of committing an “act of terror and espionage” after he gave a talk to a group of Boy Scouts in which he encouraged them to educate themselves about the U.S. constitution.
In July 2007, the Kuhns, a North Carolina couple were terrorized by sheriff’s deputy Brian Scarborough, who broke into their house, assaulted them and then arrested the couple for the crime of flying an upside down U.S. flag.
In 2004, Kelly Rushing was charged with making “terroristic threats” after he handed out Alex Jones videos and recordings of a Congressman Ron Paul speech on C-Span to Lyon County, Kentucky officials and Kentucky State Trooper Lewis Dobbs.
These are just a handful of the plethora of cases we have covered where Americans are treated as terrorists simply for engaging in peaceful protest or merely routine behavior.
We have to understand that Homeland Security was explicitly set up and has been operating for the primary purpose of oppressing the American people since its inception. DHS is a hostile threat to the very bedrock of the country, the US Constitution, and until the entire organization is disbanded it will continue to trample on the rights of citizens from all political persuasions.
Pa. ordeal raises new questions about states' info-gathering
http://the-peoples-forum.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=20457
By John Gramlich, Stateline Staff Writer
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has canceled a $125,000 contract with a consulting firm that sent a bulletin to the state's Office of Homeland Security in which it described opponents of natural gas drilling as "environmental extremists" and suggested they were a threat to the state. Rendell told reporters in a news conference on Tuesday (Sept. 15) that Pennsylvania would cancel its deal with the firm, the Institute of Terrorism Response and Research, which also identified animal rights demonstrations and anti-war events as potential security threats to the state. "I am appalled that information was disseminated about groups that were exercising their constitutional right to free speech and to protest," Rendell said, according to ProPublica, an investigative journalism group in New York that broke the initial story about the security bulletin. "They shouldn't be on any list [of possible security threats]. This is extraordinarily embarrassing." While the state's contract with the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response was relatively small, ProPublica notes that there are many unanswered questions about the episode, suggesting it may not be over. For one, Rendell's staffers knew about the bulletin last week, but Rendell himself claims to have found out only this week. Also, ProPublica reported that the initial description of anti-drilling activists as "environmental extremists" came from the FBI, rather than the private sector.
On a national level, the events in Pennsylvania raise new questions about the information that states and their security contractors might be gathering on political groups or activists who have broken no laws. In July 2008, The Washington Post reported that Maryland State Police had spied on anti-war and anti-death penalty activists for more than a year during the administration of Robert Ehrlich, a Republican former governor who is also the party's nominee this year to replace current Governor Martin O'Malley. The federal Department of Homeland Security assisted in the spying, which drew condemnation from Maryland politicians, activists and civil liberties groups for months.
Ex-top Rendell aide questions contract with private terror intelligence group
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20100916_Ex-top_Rendell_aide_questions_contract_with_private_terror_intelligence_group.html
By Joelle Farrell and Angela Couloumbis
Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau Posted on Thu, Sep. 16, 2010
HARRISBURG - Gov. Rendell's former top emergency management adviser on Wednesday questioned why the state has been paying a company $103,000 for intelligence on terrorism threats, saying much of that work is already done by a specialized unit in the Pennsylvania State Police. Adrian R. King Jr., director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) until late 2005, said the state police's Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center has trained analysts who supply intelligence information and investigative data to help law enforcement counter potential threats. Instead, he said, the state was paying the Philadelphia-based Institute on Terrorism Research and Response for little more than a compilation of planned public demonstrations by activist groups, including antiwar, environmental, and animal-rights advocates. "In my experience, the PA [Criminal Intelligence Center] is well-equipped to do this work, to do this analysis," said King, now a partner at Ballard Spahr. "They're trained. They understand the law. They understand people's rights. They understand what is credible." King added, "For $103,000 a year, you could hire at least one if not two full-time analysts to operate out of the state police criminal intelligence center with, I believe, better quality control." State police officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
[...]
Rendell policy chief Donna Cooper was quoted in a July Inquirer story about some of the groups that were being tracked, including groups that advocated for more education funding.
[...]
He ordered his staff to terminate the contract, but said he did not plan to discipline anyone in his administration who had authorized it. [Terminating a contract with Mossad? hmmm... either he has found a "creative" way to fund this anti-constitutional project or the NWO has gotten themselves even more infighting.]
Maria Finn, spokeswoman for PEMA, which oversees the Homeland Security Office, said the contract with the institute had not been competitively bid. Asked why, she said it had been "determined that there was no other company at the time who could fulfill the requirements." She added that the Homeland Security Office "had researched possible options regarding this type of service and had concluded that, outside of the FBI and CIA, there existed no other service of this kind."
Incorporated in 2004, the institute is directed by Perelman, a former York police officer, and Aaron Richman, who served in military and counterterrorism operations in Israel.
[...]
The company also lists offices in Washington, London, and Jerusalem.
By the CNN Wire Staff
September 15, 2010 5:54 a.m. EDT
(CNN) -- Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell says he is appalled that the state's Office of Homeland Security, unbeknownst to him, had been compiling and circulating information about protesters at peaceful gatherings.
Banging his fist on the podium Tuesday evening, a visibly angry Rendell called the practice "absolutely ludicrous."
"Let me make this as clear as I can make it. Protesting against an idea, a principle, a process, is not a real threat against infrastructure," he said at a news conference. "Protesting is a God-given American right, a right that is in our Constitution, a right that is fundamental to all we believe in as Americans."
The governor said he only recently learned that the state homeland security office had been paying a Pennsylvania firm to compile lists of rallies -- which were then passed to law enforcement agencies and other entities as possible security threats. The contract cost the state $125,000 and will not be renewed, he said.
More...
Documents show Homeland Security tracks anti-drill groups in Pa.
Donald Gilliland
- The (Harrisburg) Patriot-NewsSeptember 15, 2010 12:35pm EDT
According to recently leaked documents, the Pennsylvania Office of Homeland Security has been tracking anti-gas drilling groups and their meetings — including a public screening of the film “Gasland,” a documentary about the environmental hazards of natural gas drilling.
The office has included the information in its weekly intelligence bulletins sent to law enforcement agencies.
The bulletins are also sent to gas companies drilling in the Marcellus Shale.
Activists and environmental groups have responded with outrage and some alarm.
“There’s something dead-fishy here. ... Something is rotten,” activist Gene Stilp said. He has called for a formal House and Senate inquiry into the activities of the Homeland Security Office.
State Homeland Security Director James Powers explained that he has been including anti-gas drilling activist information in his triweekly intelligence briefings for about a month because there have been “five to 10” incidents of vandalism around the state related to the natural gas industry, which is one of the sectors he is charged with monitoring.
One of those incidents, he said, involved someone shooting a natural gas container tank with a shotgun in Venango County.
Powers said the briefings are sent to local law enforcement and the owners and operators of “critical infrastructure.”
Comparing himself to Tommy Lee Jones’ character in the film “The Fugitive,” Powers said, “I don’t care” which side of the issue someone is on — or if he or she is innocent. “My concern is public safety.” However, the “intelligence” in the briefings includes lists of public meetings the state has determined anti-drilling activists plan to attend.
“I find it kind of creepy that the state is compiling information on the innocuous activity of citizens,” said Jan Jarrett, president of PennFuture, a group that has expressed concern about drilling issues.
When one of these intelligence bulletins was spotted on a pro-drilling Internet site and disseminated among anti-drilling activists, Powers sent an e-mail of reprimand to the woman who e-mailed it.
He mistakenly thought she was pro-drilling.
Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/2010/09/14/2206710/documents-show-homeland-security.html#ixzz0zmWqLC3n`Appalled' Pa. gov. shuts down reports on protests:
(AP article)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gtDwVxKz9w-Cmlio-XZTBHjbJfIwD9I81L4O0
Quote
Rendell said he ordered an end to the $125,000 contract with the Philadelphia-based organization, the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response, that supplied the information, but said he was not firing his homeland security director, James Powers.
Institute of Terrorism Research and Response's website:
http://www.terrorresponse.org/
ASIS, http://www.asisonline.org/about/history/index.xml
I came across a list of ASIS networks off of their own webpage, and ITRR is one of them, including the whole cast of suspects that A_I has been exposing for the last couple of years:
http://www.asisonline.org/councils/documents/OpenSourceIntelligenceLinks.pdf
ASIS Propaganda site: "Security management": http://www.securitymanagement.com/contact-us
ITRR loves to brag about their Israel connections:
http://www.securitymanagement.com/article/israels-lessons-public-resilience-006782
Isn't that nice, that our American peace officers who swore an oath to the Constitution, receive Z**nist training to track terrorists AKA you, me and Gasland viewers?
Disturbing "Case Study" of ITRR: (total violation of fourth amendment if it were to happen in U.S.)
http://inhomelandsecurity.com/2007/06/case_study_institute_of_terror.html
Powerpoint Presentation done by ITRR:
http://www.slideshare.net/arichman3/fusion-center-briefs-final
Selected Slides:
ITRR: Document Preparing the Next Generation of Defenders: ASU students train in Israel
http://www.slideshare.net/arichman3/iacspasu-loftus
Meet Aaron Richman, director of ITRR:
http://il.linkedin.com/in/richmanaaron
If these guys are sooo worried about "cybersecurity" why the heck would they publish all of their bios, battleplans, documents, on the regular world wide web for everyone to find and read, just by typing in key phrases on Google Advanced Search? Is it like some type of honeypot, or are these globalist scumbags just full of hubris?
I believe there is enough evidence to try Aaron Richman for espionage and treason. This guy and his cronies are hardcore criminals for violating Pennsylvania citizens' Constitutional rights.
MODIFIED/EDIT: That powerpoint was taken down off of that server immediately after I did this posting.
Here is a Google cache of that presentation:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:uZKpt0q_8VoJ:www.slideshare.net/arichman3/fusion-center-briefs-final+Institute+of+Terrorism+Research+and+Response&cd=24&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Protest Group Demands Investigation Into Homeland Security Spying
http://www.infowars.com/protest-group-demands-investigation-into-homeland-security-spying/
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
September 16, 2010
Governor Rendell apologized to the groups that were targeted, noting that protest was a constitutional right. Photo: Cliff.
One of the Pennsylvania protest groups that was targeted for surveillance by Homeland Security as a possible terror threat has demanded an investigation into the scandal after Gov. Ed Rendell was forced to issue an apology and cancel a $108,000-a-year contract with the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response, the American-Israeli group that provided DHS with intelligence on pro-gas drilling, anti-war and Tea Party organizations.
“This has angered me more than anything so far,” Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition member Janine Dymond of Harding said Wednesday. “We’re not even against drilling. We’re against the regulation of this industry and the loss of our rights. But we’re labeled as potential terrorists.”
Governor Rendell apologized to the groups that were targeted, noting that protest was a constitutional right, but refused to fire Department of Homeland Security Director James F. Powers Jr.
“Obviously I’m thrilled that Rendell apologized and everything, but I still think (Powers) needs to be fired,” Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition co-founder Dr. Thomas Jiunta of Lehman Township said. “For people exercising their right to free speech and opinions about natural gas drilling to be put on the same level as terrorists is not only extreme, but unconscionable. I think there definitely needs to be an investigation.”
As we have documented for years, the true target of the domestic anti-terror apparatus has always been peaceful Americans who show much as the slightest interest in anything political or have any kind of grievance against the state whatsoever. Until consequences are brought to bare, and the whole culture of training police and federal authorities that American citizens are their enemy is irrevocably altered, peaceful protest groups will continue to be treated as terrorists.
During the Clinton years we saw numerous reports issued by the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force that characterized the most banal and seemingly pro-American activities as signs of potential domestic terror. One advisory leaflet encouraged people to contact the JTTF if they came into contact with Americans who were “defenders of the US Constitution” or those who “make numerous references to the US Constitution”. Lone individuals were listed under the category “single issue terrorists”.
A Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Law Enforcement pamphlet issued in 2006 identified buying baby formula, beer, wearing Levi jeans, carrying identifying documents like a drivers license and traveling with women or children, all as signs of potential terrorism. Being a “nice guy” was also a potential characteristic of a domestic terrorist, according to the document.
A Virginia training manual that also became public in 2006 and was used to help state employees recognize terrorists listed anti-government and property rights activists as terrorists and included binoculars, video cameras, paper pads and notebooks in a compendium of terrorist tools.
Authorities are already acting on the premise that anyone who is mildly political or talks about the Constitution is a potential terrorist.
In May 2008, a student of a large bible college in east Texas was accused by federal agents of committing an “act of terror and espionage” after he gave a talk to a group of Boy Scouts in which he encouraged them to educate themselves about the U.S. constitution.
In July 2007, the Kuhns, a North Carolina couple were terrorized by sheriff’s deputy Brian Scarborough, who broke into their house, assaulted them and then arrested the couple for the crime of flying an upside down U.S. flag.
In 2004, Kelly Rushing was charged with making “terroristic threats” after he handed out Alex Jones videos and recordings of a Congressman Ron Paul speech on C-Span to Lyon County, Kentucky officials and Kentucky State Trooper Lewis Dobbs.
These are just a handful of the plethora of cases we have covered where Americans are treated as terrorists simply for engaging in peaceful protest or merely routine behavior.
We have to understand that Homeland Security was explicitly set up and has been operating for the primary purpose of oppressing the American people since its inception. DHS is a hostile threat to the very bedrock of the country, the US Constitution, and until the entire organization is disbanded it will continue to trample on the rights of citizens from all political persuasions.
Pa. ordeal raises new questions about states' info-gathering
http://the-peoples-forum.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=20457
By John Gramlich, Stateline Staff Writer
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has canceled a $125,000 contract with a consulting firm that sent a bulletin to the state's Office of Homeland Security in which it described opponents of natural gas drilling as "environmental extremists" and suggested they were a threat to the state. Rendell told reporters in a news conference on Tuesday (Sept. 15) that Pennsylvania would cancel its deal with the firm, the Institute of Terrorism Response and Research, which also identified animal rights demonstrations and anti-war events as potential security threats to the state. "I am appalled that information was disseminated about groups that were exercising their constitutional right to free speech and to protest," Rendell said, according to ProPublica, an investigative journalism group in New York that broke the initial story about the security bulletin. "They shouldn't be on any list [of possible security threats]. This is extraordinarily embarrassing." While the state's contract with the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response was relatively small, ProPublica notes that there are many unanswered questions about the episode, suggesting it may not be over. For one, Rendell's staffers knew about the bulletin last week, but Rendell himself claims to have found out only this week. Also, ProPublica reported that the initial description of anti-drilling activists as "environmental extremists" came from the FBI, rather than the private sector.
On a national level, the events in Pennsylvania raise new questions about the information that states and their security contractors might be gathering on political groups or activists who have broken no laws. In July 2008, The Washington Post reported that Maryland State Police had spied on anti-war and anti-death penalty activists for more than a year during the administration of Robert Ehrlich, a Republican former governor who is also the party's nominee this year to replace current Governor Martin O'Malley. The federal Department of Homeland Security assisted in the spying, which drew condemnation from Maryland politicians, activists and civil liberties groups for months.
Ex-top Rendell aide questions contract with private terror intelligence group
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20100916_Ex-top_Rendell_aide_questions_contract_with_private_terror_intelligence_group.html
By Joelle Farrell and Angela Couloumbis
Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau Posted on Thu, Sep. 16, 2010
HARRISBURG - Gov. Rendell's former top emergency management adviser on Wednesday questioned why the state has been paying a company $103,000 for intelligence on terrorism threats, saying much of that work is already done by a specialized unit in the Pennsylvania State Police. Adrian R. King Jr., director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) until late 2005, said the state police's Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center has trained analysts who supply intelligence information and investigative data to help law enforcement counter potential threats. Instead, he said, the state was paying the Philadelphia-based Institute on Terrorism Research and Response for little more than a compilation of planned public demonstrations by activist groups, including antiwar, environmental, and animal-rights advocates. "In my experience, the PA [Criminal Intelligence Center] is well-equipped to do this work, to do this analysis," said King, now a partner at Ballard Spahr. "They're trained. They understand the law. They understand people's rights. They understand what is credible." King added, "For $103,000 a year, you could hire at least one if not two full-time analysts to operate out of the state police criminal intelligence center with, I believe, better quality control." State police officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
[...]
Rendell policy chief Donna Cooper was quoted in a July Inquirer story about some of the groups that were being tracked, including groups that advocated for more education funding.
[...]
He ordered his staff to terminate the contract, but said he did not plan to discipline anyone in his administration who had authorized it. [Terminating a contract with Mossad? hmmm... either he has found a "creative" way to fund this anti-constitutional project or the NWO has gotten themselves even more infighting.]
Maria Finn, spokeswoman for PEMA, which oversees the Homeland Security Office, said the contract with the institute had not been competitively bid. Asked why, she said it had been "determined that there was no other company at the time who could fulfill the requirements." She added that the Homeland Security Office "had researched possible options regarding this type of service and had concluded that, outside of the FBI and CIA, there existed no other service of this kind."
Incorporated in 2004, the institute is directed by Perelman, a former York police officer, and Aaron Richman, who served in military and counterterrorism operations in Israel.
[...]
The company also lists offices in Washington, London, and Jerusalem.
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