Politics-What's on your mind?

[GeorgiaMa'am]

How did I not hear about this?

Apparently it has been a "thing" for radical right-wingers to invade government buildings and threaten federal workers for years. They are rarely charged with any crime, or they are arrested and later let off the hook. T***p has pardoned several of these repeat agitators. Other politicians pander to them as well.

No wonder the rioters last week thought they could get away with insurrection. Here's a brief overview from NPR's _All Things Considered_. https://www.npr.org/2021/01/11/95572...in-western-u-s

[Cin]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaMa'am

How did I not hear about this?

Apparently it has been a "thing" for radical right-wingers to invade government buildings and threaten federal workers for years. They are rarely charged with any crime, or they are arrested and later let off the hook. T***p has pardoned several of these repeat agitators. Other politicians pander to them as well.

No wonder the rioters last week thought they could get away with insurrection. Here's a brief overview from NPR's _All Things Considered_. https://www.npr.org/2021/01/11/95572...in-western-u-s

Ya, they can pretty much do what they want. And have been able to for years. These groups are filled with retired military, police, fire fighters and have active police as members. At this point we can add a president as well as bunch of elected state and federal officials.

https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...P=share_btn_tw

For decades, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been aware and has routinely warned its agents that the white supremacist and far-right militant groups it investigates often have links to law enforcement. Yet the justice department has no national strategy designed to protect the communities policed by these dangerously compromised law enforcers.

A leaked 2015 counter-terrorism policy guide made the case more directly, warning agents that FBI “domestic terrorism investigations focused on militia extremists, white supremacist extremists, and sovereign citizen extremists often have identified active links to law enforcement officers”.

in June 2019, when Congressman William Lacy Clay asked the FBI counter-terrorism chief, Michael McGarrity, whether the bureau remained concerned about white supremacist infiltration of law enforcement since the publication of its 2006 assessment, McGarrity indicated he had not read it. Asked more generally about this infiltration, McGarrity said he would be “suspect” of white supremacist police officers, but that their ideology was a first amendment–protected right.

The 2006 assessment addresses this concern, however, by summarizing supreme court precedent on the issue: “Although the First Amendment’s freedom of association provision protects an individual’s right to join white supremacist groups for the purposes of lawful activity, the government can limit the employment opportunities of group members who hold sensitive public sector jobs, including jobs within law enforcement, when their memberships would interfere with their duties.” I wonder if the Supreme Court in its current configuration would uphold it's own precedent.

The FBI’s 2015 counter-terrorism policy, which McGarrity was responsible for executing, indicates not just that members of law enforcement might hold white supremacist views, but that FBI domestic terrorism investigations have often identified “active links” between the subjects of these investigations and law enforcement officials. But its proposed remedy is stunningly inadequate.