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Anti-Keystone Activists Allege 'Continued Crackdown' by Feds
One protester found that he was on a watchlist and was subjected to more invasive airport security measures
Jun 08, 2015
Environmental activists claim they are still being monitored by law enforcement, more than six months after an FBI investigation into anti-Keystone XL protests--itself revealed to be in violation of internal rules--was allegedly closed.
The Guardian on Monday published accounts from several such activists, who say they've faced "a continued crackdown"--including being placed on government watchlists--despite a lack of evidence against them.
"From an hours-long detention at the U.S. border to a home visit by a terrorism task force and an encounter with police searching for bombs, the activists say law enforcement has tracked them from a peaceful Texas protest of the highly contentious oil project in 2012 and 2013 to the tony suburbs of Indianapolis as recently as the end of last year," the Guardian reports.
The new allegations come on the heels of reporting last month by the Guardian and Earth Island Journal that showed the FBI broke its own internal rules when it spied on Keystone XL opponents in Texas, violating guidelines designed to prevent the agency from becoming overly involved in complex political issues.
Read the full story here.
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Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Environmental activists claim they are still being monitored by law enforcement, more than six months after an FBI investigation into anti-Keystone XL protests--itself revealed to be in violation of internal rules--was allegedly closed.
The Guardian on Monday published accounts from several such activists, who say they've faced "a continued crackdown"--including being placed on government watchlists--despite a lack of evidence against them.
"From an hours-long detention at the U.S. border to a home visit by a terrorism task force and an encounter with police searching for bombs, the activists say law enforcement has tracked them from a peaceful Texas protest of the highly contentious oil project in 2012 and 2013 to the tony suburbs of Indianapolis as recently as the end of last year," the Guardian reports.
The new allegations come on the heels of reporting last month by the Guardian and Earth Island Journal that showed the FBI broke its own internal rules when it spied on Keystone XL opponents in Texas, violating guidelines designed to prevent the agency from becoming overly involved in complex political issues.
Read the full story here.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Environmental activists claim they are still being monitored by law enforcement, more than six months after an FBI investigation into anti-Keystone XL protests--itself revealed to be in violation of internal rules--was allegedly closed.
The Guardian on Monday published accounts from several such activists, who say they've faced "a continued crackdown"--including being placed on government watchlists--despite a lack of evidence against them.
"From an hours-long detention at the U.S. border to a home visit by a terrorism task force and an encounter with police searching for bombs, the activists say law enforcement has tracked them from a peaceful Texas protest of the highly contentious oil project in 2012 and 2013 to the tony suburbs of Indianapolis as recently as the end of last year," the Guardian reports.
The new allegations come on the heels of reporting last month by the Guardian and Earth Island Journal that showed the FBI broke its own internal rules when it spied on Keystone XL opponents in Texas, violating guidelines designed to prevent the agency from becoming overly involved in complex political issues.
Read the full story here.
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