Privacy SOS

Why is a “Domestic Terrorism Analyst” thinking about Occupy protests?

Rifling through the hundreds of heavily redacted pages DHS released to the Partnership for Civil Justice and Truthout, I stumbled upon this gem:

It's an email from a DHS Homeland Counterterrorism Division intelligence analyst to his or her superior, or to someone in the DHS office for civil rights and civil liberties. The author of the email works in the "Homegrown Violent Extremism Branch" and has the title "Domestic Terrorism Analyst."

Given that the person's job description includes the words "violent extremism" and "domestic terrorism," don't you find it odd that he or she wants to find out how his or her coworkers feel about the writing of an "intelligence product" on the Occupy movement? 

The analyst wants to know "exactly what [the colleague's] objections would be" prior to writing such a product, suggesting that the analyst wants to write a "product" about the Occupy movement but simply isn't sure how best to do it, or when.

Again, this person is supposed to be doing intelligence work related to "homegrown violent extremism." 

If this confirms your worst assumptions about DHS, join the club. Stay tuned for more from these files. 

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