FBI Investigations: Be Prepared!
On November 23, 2003, the New York Times reported that the FBI "has collected extensive information on the tactics, training and organization of antiwar demonstrators and has advised local law enforcement officials to report any suspicious activity at protests to its counterterrorism squads, according to interviews and a confidential bureau memorandum." The Bill of Rights Defense Committee has created postcards that you can distribute to people to fill out and mail to the FBI at your next demonstration. Download as a Word or PDF file.
FBI agents or liaisons may be on the payroll of your local or campus police force. In November 2002, the media revealed Attorney General John Ashcroft's secret policy to monitor all Iraqi-Americans and Iraqi students in the United States. As a result, many have been questioned on the basis of their ethnic profile, and prior to U.S. attacks in Iraq, the Bush Administration had indicated that it will detain Iraqis and Iraqi sympathizers. The ACLU of Massachusetts has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for details of this program. See 12/12/02 press release.
For more information on FBI spying and surveillance, see our Threatened Communities page.
If you are questioned, be prepared by knowing your rights and by making arrangements with an attorney who will take your call. Click on the links below for tools to help you:
- Poster (PDF), including contact information for Western Massachusetts
- Wallet card version of the poster (PDF)
- ACLU "Know Your Rights" pamphlet (PDF), in Urdu, to be printed on letter size paper
See articles:
- January 6, 2004, Kim Zetter, Wired, Bush Grabs New Power for FBI
- March 27, 2003, Associated Press, FBI Interviews of Thousands of Iraqis
- March 20, 2003, Dan Eggen, Washington Post, Rules on Detention Widened
- January 25, 2003, Dan Eggen, Washington Post, FBI Taps Campus Police in Anti-Terror Operations
- December 18, 2002, L.A. Times, Hundreds of Muslim Immigrants Rounded Up in California