I wrote an article for Truthout about how, before the dust had even settled at ground zero, corporations and politicians were trying to use the tragedy of September 11th to label environmentalists as “eco-terrorists.” Here’s an excerpt:

On September 12, 2001, as emergency crews searched for survivors, Rep. Greg Walden warned Congress that “eco-terrorists” posed a threat “no less heinous than what we saw occur yesterday here in Washington and in New York.” He was not alone: Rep. Don Young publicly speculated that the attack might have actually been the work of environmentalists. A month later, The Washington Times called for war against the “eco-al-Qaeda.”

Comments like this were not gaffes. They were part of a carefully coordinated campaign that had been in the works long before 9/11. When planes hit the Twin Towers nearly ten years ago, most Americans saw an unprecedented tragedy. For some corporations and politicians, it was an unprecedented opportunity.

Read the full article: The “Eco-al-Qaeda”? September 11 Ushered in War on “Eco-Terrorism” and Civil Liberties

I had a great discussion with Brittany Shoot of Alternet about the book. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

BS: In light of the ways the post-9/11 climate of fear fuelled debates about domestic terrorism, how do you think Osama bin Laden’s death could alter the public discussion about eco-terrorism?

WP: What has stood out to me in the past couple of days is how little we as a country have changed — or to put it another way, how much this rhetoric, these policies, and this way of viewing the world has become institutionalized. President Obama made a statement in which he said that Osama bin Laden may be dead but we will never forget the legacy of what has happened.

I would actually argue that we have forgotten. We really have forgotten what and how much things have changed. We have forgotten the uproar that existed surrounding the Patriot Act that was passed in the middle of the night. We have forgotten how national security policies were completely overhauled in the name of fighting terrorism. We have forgotten when “terrorism” was not a household word heard on the news every single day. We have forgotten all of these things. To me, Osama bin Laden’s death really represents a pivotal moment in a long chain of events that is becoming more and more everyday life.

Read the full interview: “Why Does the Govt. Treat Peaceful Enviro Activists More Harshly Than Extremists Who Aim to Kill?”

This project has consumed so much of my life, for so long, that writing this “official announcement” is ridiculously hard. So I’ll leave it at this: Next month, City Lights Books will release Green Is the New Red: An Insider’s Account of a Social Movement Under Siege…

Special thanks to Casey, Denis, Hal, and Matthew at Open Road Films for their incredible work creating this trailer.

And thank you to everyone who has been reading and supporting this site over the years. I feel strongly that this book will contribute something to the national discussion of these issues that hasn’t been possible in blog posts or magazine articles. I hope you’ll feel the same way.

The book is available for pre-order through City Lights Books or Amazon.

I was on the Alyona Show last night talking about emails between the PA Department of Homeland Security and a private counter-terrorism firm comparing environmental groups to Al-Qaeda.

In September, we learned that the Pennyslvania Department of Homeland Security distributed reports on the activities of non-violent animal rights and environmental groups, such as screening the film Gasland. New emails between James “Tim McVeigh is Not a Terrorist” Powers and the Institute of Terrorism Research & Response compare these groups to Al-Qaeda.

On May 3, Mike Perelman of ITRR emailed James Power of homeland security:

“The Internet is an incredible force multiplier — example: I doubt that the Rainforest Action Network or the Ruckus Group number more than 25 people each. But they have incredible reach, sophistication, and influence on local groups.”

Perelman then wrote: “Shades of Al Qaeda!”

Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated case.

Pennsylvanians are calling on Gov.-elect Tom Corbett to stop government agencies from spying on people because of their political beliefs. Corbett hasn’t taken any action.

If you missed the last segment on the Alyona Show:

“Eco-terrorist: The new Boogeyman”

Also, check out Donald Gilliland’s detailed piece in The Patriot-News.

I’ve been hearing two types of responses to the recent raids against peace activists in Minneapolis and Chicago. They sound something like this:

1. OMG! This is outrageous! I can’t believe this is taking place in a free country! This must be a mistake.
2. The FBI has always done this. Remember COINTELPRO? Spying on MLK? Nothing will ever change.

For those who have never heard about the Green Scare, it is tempting to view recent events as a News of the Weird story: an anomaly wholly separate and distinct from any broader political climate. Viewing government conduct in this way makes it easier to laugh at Keystone Kops antics (which is healthy) and believe government statements that these examples are isolated (which is not).

For those who know about the government’s history of surveilling, harassing and disrupting social movements, news of further misconduct is dismissed in another fashion: business as usual. At best, it is met with deadpan statements about the frequency of such harassment, at worst the FBI visits and raids are viewed as badges of honor. To be very clear, I think it is imperative we place everything going on now in a historical context.

But here’s the thing:

What is taking place now is not an isolated instance, nor is it inevitable. It is the work of real human beings, making real choices, and their actions are dependent on the ignorance–either orchestrated or willful–of the general public.

Through this work I have had the fortune of speaking with people from a variety of backgrounds who aren’t “activists.” I have seen that, time and again, when people learn about what’s going on they are not very surprised. There is a growing, deep-seated distrust of corporate influence and abuses of political power. What people don’t seem to realize is that behind these general feelings of unease are specific campaigns to destroy social movements.

Most people do not sympathize with the financial interests of gas companies, and if they knew, they would be outraged that the Pennsylvania Department of Homeland Security is protecting business interests. Most people know that being a peace activist does not mean you are a terrorist, and if they knew about these raids they would be disgusted. It’s up to us to show them.

We can’t do this, though, if we are only going to pull people from one extreme, of ignorance, to another, of hyper-aware paralysis. If activist communities are going to survive this repression and move forward, and if we are going to welcome others to join us, we must lay claim to a space between the extremes of patriotic naiveté and hopelessness.

If that space does not exist we must create it, and then show others that social change is not about “faith” or “hope,” and it is also not impossible. We can’t turn to presidents and we can’t turn to hopelessness. We can only turn to each other.

Pennsylvania’s Department of Homeland Security has distributed intelligence bulletins warning that an animal rights protest against the use of carriage horses could be “a fertile recruiting or meeting ground” for extremists.

As I have written here previously, the bulletins notified law enforcement of meetings by non-violent environmental groups, including a film screening of Gas Lands.

Gov. Rendell’s office has released all 137 state-issued intelligence bulletins produced for the homeland security department by a private firm called Institute of Terrorism Research and Response. The bulletins also warned of antiwar protests at a defense contractor: “When their focus is not directed at Lockheed itself, protesters will likely gather at the traffic light on the corner of Mall and Goddard to wave signs at cars,” the bulletin said.

The head of homeland security, James “Timothy McVeigh is No Terrorist” Powers, awarded the contract to the private firm with no competitive bidding. In a leaked email, Powers had said that he wanted to protect “natural gas stakeholders” from those “fomenting dissent.” He signed a form that said the contract with ITRR should bypass a competitive bidding process because the threat was so urgent:

“Without this information, the ability to protect commonwealth assets and resources while simultaneously alerting/notifying private sector owners/operators of the potential and/or credible threats/warnings is severely hindered.”

The ACLU of PA has called on the governor to fire Powers. Kudos to them. But let’s not stop there. Pennsylvania, after you kick Powers to the curb, some good folks in Minneapolis and Chicago could use your help doing the same.

The recent raids of the homes and office of peace activists in Chicago and Minneapolis reflect a new front in the expanding war on dissent in this country. Readers of this site know that FBI raids and harassment of animal rights activists and environmental activists are systemic problems. What’s significant about the latest raids in the Midwest is that the government is blurring the lines between its domestic and international War(s) on Terrorism, conflating peace activists with foreign “terrorist organizations.”

In prior cases, particularly regarding “eco-terrorism” and “animal enterprise terrorism,” the FBI has frequently justified using terrorism resources to target political activists because they allegedly have some connection to property crimes. Recently in Pennsylvania, for instance, the Department of Homeland Security used this mantra to justify the monitoring of film screenings and protests.

With the peace groups in question in Minneapolis and Chicago, there is no alleged link to any underground activity. There is no spraypainting, no broken windows. These are above-ground activists, many of whom have been involved in social struggles for decades. The flimsy pretext that has been a fallback excuse for much of the FBI’s “terrorism” crackdowns are simply not relevant. Instead, the FBI is alleging that these groups may have ties to foreign terrorist organizations.

Photo from The Uptake.

Some of the groups listed in the search warrants include the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The subpoena also requested “items relating to trips to Colombia, Jordan, Syria, the Palestinian territories of Israel.”

These raids come on the heels of a report by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General. The Inspector General’s report criticized the FBI’s spying on animal rights and environmental activists, including PETA and Greenpeace. The report said there was “little or no basis” for the terrorism investigations, and that they were “unreasonable and inconsistent with FBI policy.” And at about this time, the DHS intelligence bulletin from Pennsylvania showed the utter absurdity of these terrorism priorities.

Pressure is mounting on the FBI, DHS and other government agencies to justify their use of federal terrorism resources on domestic groups.

What we’re seeing in the Midwest must be put in this context. The “number one domestic terrorism threat” is slowly being exposed as a fraud, a waste of resources and a threat to basic First Amendment rights. Now, the FBI is attempting to connect domestic groups to international threats in order to justify the campaigns of harassment and intimidation.

It is imperative for activists of all movements to recognize that these tactics are expanding. They are spreading. For years I have heard replies from liberals justifying attacks on activists as “terrorists.” “Oh, those activists supported the Earth Liberation Front,” some say, or “Well, they did release mink from fur farms.” The government is abandoning those feeble excuses. And all social justice movements must do the same.

Sparrow Media has a list of cities holding protests against the raids. Please get involved.

Pennyslvania’s Department of Homeland Security is in hot water after an intelligence bulletin shows the agency has been monitoring non-violent activists, including a film screening of Gasland, and labeling them “environmental extremists.”

Governor Ed Rendell has said he is “appalled.” But he has said he will not fire the state director of homeland security, James Powers.

As I discussed on the Alyona Show recently, this intelligence memo represents a national problem. Local, state and federal “domestic terrorism” priorities are completely out of line with what most reasonable people would agree are true threats. They are completely detached from any rational definition of terrorism. Perhaps the best example of that is James Powers himself.

As director of homeland security, Powers is responsible for the controversial intelligence bulletins. James Powers wrote in an email that he intended for pro-drilling industry groups, “We want to continue providing this support to the Marcellus Shale Formation natural gas stakeholders while not feeding those groups fomenting dissent against those same companies.” The department chose to focus its resources on non-violent environmental groups such as Climate Ground Zero. But do you know who James Powers does NOT think is a “terrorist”?

Timothy McVeigh.

As I reported here previously, Powers does not think McVeigh is a terrorist, “just a person very angry with the U.S. government.” McVeigh is responsible for the most destructive act of terrorism on U.S. soil prior to 9/11.

Unfortunately, James Powers is indicative of a broader problem. For instance, check out what the head of New Jersey’s homeland security office, Charles McKenna, had to say about his priorities:

“Jihad, Crips, extreme animal-rights activists, it’s all the same: people trying damage the system…”

No one with such a transparent political agenda and absurd priorities should head such a powerful office. It’s time for James Powers to either resign from his position, or for Governor Ed Rendell to force him out. And if reports by the Patriot-News are accurate, and the governor’s staff knew of these operations long ago, they need to be forced out as well.

Such skewed terrorism priorities place all Americans at risks. When people like James Powers and Charles McKenna are focused on environmental and animal rights activists, pandering to their corporate supporters, it means they are not doing their jobs and focusing on more serious threats. It’s time we stop tolerating their political games.

Pennsylvania’s Department of Homeland Security has distributed intelligence bulletins about non-violent environmental groups, such as Climate Ground Zero, and labeled activists as “environmental extremists.” In response to public outrage, the state’s contract with a private firm called the Institute of Terrorism Research & Response has been terminated; Governor Ed Rendell said he’s “appalled.” But this was no fluke, no error, no isolated instance. The same policies that have come to light in Pennsylvania have been exposed across the country, and up to top levels of the federal government.

After Abrahm Lustgarten at Pro Publica broke the story, the mainstream press and many bloggers have been treating this story as a “news of the weird,” a strange case of a bizarre intelligence bulletin that, if you buy the governor’s rhetoric, was simply a mistake. In reality, this intelligence bulletin is nearly identical to countless others that have been exposed around the country, and it is representative of federal terrorism priorities.

For instance:

• In Georgia, local homeland security officials were exposed spying on animal rights activists distributing leaflets at a HoneyBaked Ham store. The vegans prevailed in a lawsuit.
• In Maryland, police labeled environmental activists as “eco-terrorists” and “environmental extremists,” monitored group meetings, maintained databases, and shared those files with the FBI and NSA.
• In Minnesota, FBI agents approached a local activist with hopes of infiltrating vegan potlucks.

The list goes on. And on. And on.

These are not the goofy exploits of Keystone Kops. These misplaced priorities come from the top levels of government. The animal rights and environmental movements have repeatedly been labeled the “number one domestic terrorism threat.”

If you read the Pennsylvania intelligence bulletin closely, you can see that the reference to activists as “environmental extremists” actually cites an FBI memo as its source for that claim (on page 8).

This is not the work of a few rogue homeland security officials, it is the work of multiple local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. Until we demand a fundamental restructuring of domestic terrorism operations in this country, and demand true checks and balances on local homeland security cops and, more importantly, the FBI, there will be many more Pennsylvanias.

UPDATE: There has been some great coverage of this issue elsewhere. Please check out John Robbins’ piece on Huffington Post, Jen Phillips’ column in Mother Jones, and the post on Empty Wheel, to name a few.

Last night I was invited by The Alyona Show to talk about “eco-terrorism” and the Department of Homeland Security spying on activists in Pennsylvania. Here’s a bit about the show:

“These days, when you hear the word domestic terrorist, environmental activists probably don’t come to mind. But documents recently leaked show 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. Why is the government so scared of these people they call eco-terrorists, over cases of vandalism?”

If you haven’t seen The Alyona Show before, please check out their YouTube archives (it’s also on cable in NYC and many other cities). Alyona and her crew researched these cases extensively before the show, which, unfortunately, is all too rare for TV programs. Also on the show yesterday was Glenn Greenwald of Salon, who has done incredible work. Check them both out.