By Cliff Montgomery – Mar. 29th, 2015
The VFC’s analysis focused on a protest in Chicago held in November 2014 and the (sometimes questionable) responses of that city’s law enforcement.
But what has served as the collective basis for all this fear of protesters? A small number of individual comments about the Chicago matter posted on the social media site Reddit, an anonymously-published protest guide discovered on Pastebin and any ‘heavy use’ of a cellphone by a protester.
The threshold for “precipitating violent or malicious activity” appears to be rather low for our self-proclaimed ‘protectors’. Consider this snippet of dialogue lifted from police scanner traffic in Chicago, which was recorded by the activist group Anonymous – and which appears to show that the city’s law enforcement was openly spying on the protesters:
Dispatch: “CPIC [Crime Prevention and Information Center] on the air for a mobile”
CPIC Officer: “Go ahead”
Car 41 Officer: “Yeah one of the girls is kind of an organizer here, um, she’s been on her phone a lot. Are you guys picking up any information, uh, where they’re going, possibly?”
CPIC Officer: “Yeah we’ll keep an eye on it, we’ll let you know if we hear anything.”
Car 41 Officer: “10-4. They’re compliant, and they’re, they’re doing ok now but she’s spending a lot of time on the phone.”
CPIC Officer: “10-4”
Below, publishes the essence of the VFC bulletin:
“The Virginia Fusion Center (VFC) has observed via open sources that actors affiliated with the Anonymous hacktivist movement released a video which purportedly identifies a Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC) vehicle as a tool for law enforcement wiretapping efforts by police and fusion center personnel in Chicago, Illinois.
“The VFC is sharing this information for situational awareness, as emergency management vehicles operating near protest areas may be targeted by precipitating violent or malicious activity.
“The YouTube.com video was published by user anon2world on December 5, 2014 and includes multiple images, presumably obtained via social media, of an emergency communications vehicle present at or near a protest site in Chicago, Illinois on November 28. The video purportedly includes radio communications between police and fusion center personnel (unrelated to the vehicle) that suggest the vehicle is a ‘stingray’ or ‘cell site manipulator’ that can intercept the phone communications of demonstrators.
“The video does not suggest violent recourse. However, commenters on the popular web forum Reddit.com, where the video was one of the top viewed posts, have expressed an interest in responding to similar vehicles via technical, subversive, or violent means.
“Additionally, an ‘emergency guide’ for activists being monitored by supposed ‘stingray’ devices was also published anonymously to Pastebin.com on December 6, and encourages protesters to ‘physically get in the way’ of purported vehicles and inhibit their movement.
“Emergency management vehicles deployed to potential protest areas, particularly areas which may have a propensity for violence, should exercise caution and maintain proper communications with sworn law enforcement personnel.
“Furthermore, vehicle operators should also be aware that they may be targeted by non-violent methods in order to inhibit their vehicle movements in the area.
“Please contact the VFC should you have any information or questions associated with this bulletin. The VFC can be reached by phone at 804-674-2196 or by email at VFC@vsp.virginia.gov.”
