Posted on 08/18/2004 3:09:02 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - The FBI (news - web sites) anticipates violent protests at the upcoming Republican National Convention in New York but does not have enough evidence to move against any group or person, the bureau's top terrorism official said Wednesday.
New York officials have said they expect hundreds of thousands of people to stage demonstrations around the convention, which begins Aug. 30.
Concern over the convention comes amid heightened security across New York over fears that foreign terrorists might strike the city again. New York remains on a "high" terrorism alert level, while most of the country is on elevated alert.
Federal investigators have infiltrated some organizations and are monitoring plans for protests being published on the Internet. The FBI also interviewed some protesters around the country before last month's Democratic convention in Boston and in anticipation of the GOP convention.
"We don't have any specific plot where we have all the variables we need to go out and take pre-emptive and judicial action," said Gary Bald, assistant director of the FBI's counterterrorism division.
The FBI has noted that some activist Web sites critical of Republicans and the convention include links to a site that lists Molotov cocktails, slingshots and bolt cutters as appropriate "offensive weapons" to carry during protests.
Three Democratic lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee (news - web sites) have criticized the FBI's interviews of protesters around the country. They asked the Justice Department (news - web sites)'s inspector general to investigate what they called "possible violations of First Amendment free speech and assembly rights."
The committee's ranking Democrat, Michigan's John Conyers, along with Reps. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott of Virginia and Jerrold Nadler of New York, said in a letter that the FBI "appears to be engaged in systematic political harassment and intimidation of legitimate anti-war protesters."
Bald, speaking with about 20 reporters at the bureau's headquarters, said FBI agents have interviewed only protesters they believed were plotting to firebomb media vehicles at the conventions or might have known about such plots. All these investigations are being treated as terrorism cases, Bald said.
"I've got more than enough to keep my people busy than to worry about if a protester is pro or con on some issue," Bald said. He called it "critically important that citizens have the ability to exercise their First Amendment rights."
Bald added, "We don't monitor rallies; we don't monitor people at rallies." But the FBI will open an investigation if it learns from tips, informants or other methods that protesters are planning to commit violent acts, Bald said.
The warning of a possible attack against media trucks, disclosed days before the Democratic convention, was based on claims by an informant who described an alleged plot by self-described anarchists in the Midwest to throw Molotov cocktails at television vans, a senior U.S. law enforcement official said.
Mark Silverstein, the Colorado legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites), said he was "very skeptical of the FBI's claim." The ACLU, which was contacted by some of the protesters who were interviewed by the FBI, said agents never asked directly about such an alleged plot.
Meanwhile, in New York, an anti-war group planning a massive demonstration the day before the GOP convention asked a judge Wednesday to overrule city officials and let protesters gather in Central Park. Lawyers for United for Peace and Justice argued that the city's denial violates the state constitution.
City officials had said the expected crowd at the Aug. 29 rally, which could exceed 250,000 people, would damage the grass.
The more crap they pull, the more they drag the Democratic party down. They can't see that, I guess. Swing voters can, though.
Protesters seen in New York State 20 April. An organization representing groups protesting the US-led war in Iraq (news - web sites) filed suit against New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg for being denied access to the city's Central Park in late August during the Republican National Convention(AFP/File/Luke Frazza)
Ah, the descendents of ex-McVeigh rear their ugly heads.
The leftists/anarchists want to replicate Chicago '68 in the streets of Manhattan.
My guess is that some protestors will try to duplicate 1998, i.e., create enough disturbance to associate the Republican Party with chaos, disorder, and trouble, so that voters vote Dem in order to "make it [the chaos] all go away." But it might backfire if they do this; voters might accurately perceive that the disorder and chaos are coming from forces sympathetic to the Dems.
duplicate 1998 - of course I mean 1968.
I expect violence. It is a given, they cannot compete in the realm of truth and ideas.
Blessings, Bobo
That much fertilizer (BS) in one spot is liable to burn the grass pretty bad... plus the stench must be ,,uugghhhhh!
If the demonstrations turn violent or ugly, watch for Republicans to sweep races from top to bottom. IMHO, you will see a lot of Democrats that have been on the edge now officially leave their party.
We have a Republican County Commission candidate that was a Democrat until last year and he said he could not take it anymore and became a Republican.
With Kerry heading the ticket, flyover country democrats have been shut out of the process. Heck Kerry came in 3rd here in OK.
They should do what Israel does. If they see an agitator in the crowd they simply whack them with a sound suppressed Ruger 10/22 from a near by location. Protesting is perfectly fine but professional agitator with a mission of insighting violence are dealt with quietly and efficiently. The crwods are then allowed to continue protesting peacefully.
This was posted early this morning with little notice. the far left plans on electronic rioting as well
Electronic Civl Disobedience against the RNC
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1193886/posts
The dims put protesters in razor wire cages. How come the concerned rat politicians aren't investigating that?
If voters perceive this as a street attack upon the Republican convention by Democrats or Dem sympathizers, it very will may push swing voters to the Republican side. And if this happens, just watch the Dem spinmeisters go into action - "Oh, we TOTALLY disassociate ourselves from that unruly crowd." lol
And you KNOW when there is violence (I have no doubt myself)
that the first thing words they say are that it was,
"Agent provocators of the FBI and CIA who infiltrated the
peaceful demonstrators and incited... etc,etc, etc."
If they succeed they'll be doing their part to replicate the election results as well.
I agree -- I can see the spin at the same time they are funding the protestors. These bunch of RATs are totally out of touch with Americans in general IMO.
Ping!
In the 60s through to the early 90s the park belonged to New Yorkers, not New York. If you were looking for a pick-up baseball or football game all you had to do was show up and there was plenty to join. Now, football is verboten except in tiny mishapen pockets on uneven ground. Try to have a catch with your ten year old and a Park Ranger will chase you away or write a ticket.
Same with soft/baseball. Although you can get a permit to play on the different sets of fields. Try to use a vacant field without getting a permit though and you'll be stopped.
The large grassy area (Sheep Meadow, the Great Lawn) are fenced off with limited access points. Any grassy area where a family might have pic-nicked is shut off too. Now the park is the domain of foreign tourists and out-of town yuppie transplants. It's prettier, cleaner but it ain't NYC.
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