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[Lime]

Not that this is new or should come as a surprise, but a really nice investigative article by Alice Speri

White supremacists and other domestic extremists maintain an active presence in U.S. police departments and other law enforcement agencies. A striking reference to that conclusion, notable for its confidence and the policy prescriptions that accompany it, appears in a classified FBI Counterterrorism Policy Guide from April 2015, obtained by The Intercept. The guide, which details the process by which the FBI enters individuals on a terrorism watchlist, the Known or Suspected Terrorist File, notes that “domestic terrorism investigations focused on militia extremists, white supremacist extremists, and sovereign citizen extremists often have identified active links to law enforcement officers,” and explains in some detail how bureau policies have been crafted to take this infiltration into account.

No centralized recruitment process or set of national standards exists for the 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States, many of which have deep historical connections to racist ideologies. As a result, state and local police as well as sheriff’s departments present ample opportunities for white supremacists and other right-wing extremists looking to expand their power base.

In a heavily redacted version of an October 2006 FBI internal intelligence assessment, the agency raised the alarm over white supremacist groups’ “historical” interest in “infiltrating law enforcement communities or recruiting law enforcement personnel.” The effort, the memo noted, “can lead to investigative breaches and can jeopardize the safety of law enforcement sources or personnel.” The memo also states that law enforcement had recently become aware of the term “ghost skins,” used among white supremacists to describe “those who avoid overt displays of their beliefs to blend into society and covertly advance white supremacist causes.” In at least one case, the FBI learned of a skinhead group encouraging ghost skins to seek employment with law enforcement agencies in order to warn crews of any investigations.

The report concluded that “lone wolves and small terrorist cells embracing violent right-wing extremist ideology are the most dangerous domestic terrorism threat in the United States.” Released just ahead of nationwide Tea Party protests, the report caused an uproar among conservatives, who were particularly angered by the suggestion that veterans might be implicated, and by the broad brush with which the report seemed to paint a range of right-wing groups.

Faced with mounting criticism, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano disavowed the document and apologized to veterans. The agency’s unit investigating right-wing extremism was largely dismantled and the report’s lead investigator was pushed out. “They stopped doing intel on that, and that was that,” Heidi Beirich, who leads the Southern Poverty Law Center’s tracking of extremist groups, told The Intercept. “The FBI in theory investigates right-wing terrorism and right-wing extremism, but they have limited resources. The loss of that unit was a loss for a lot of people who did this kind of work.”

“Federal law enforcement agencies in general — the FBI, the Marshals, the ATF — are aware that extremists have infiltrated state and local law enforcement agencies and that there are people in law enforcement agencies that may be sympathetic to these groups,” said Daryl Johnson, who was the lead researcher on the DHS report. Johnson, who now runs DT Analytics, a consulting firm that analyzes domestic extremism, says the problem has since gotten “a lot more troublesome.”

Johnson singled out the Oath Keepers and the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association for their anti-government attitudes and efforts to recruit active as well as retired law enforcement officers. “That’s the biggest issue and it’s greater now than it’s ever been, in my opinion.” Johnson added that Homeland Security has given up tracking right-wing domestic extremists. “It’s only the FBI now,” he said, adding that local police departments don’t seem to be doing anything to address the problem. “There’s not even any training now to make state and local police aware of these groups and how they could infiltrate their ranks.”

Critics fear that the backlash following the 2009 DHS report hindered further action against the growing white supremacist threat, and that it was largely ignored because the issue was so politically controversial. “I believe that because that report was so denounced by conservatives, it sort of closed the door on whatever the FBI may have been considering doing with respect to combating infiltration of law enforcement by white supremacists,” said Samuel Jones, a professor of law at the John Marshall School of Law in Chicago who has written about white power ideology in law enforcement. “Because after the 2006 FBI report, we simply cannot find anything by local law enforcement or the federal government that addresses this issue.”

A disproportionate number of Muslims have been included on the watchlist, and because the database is accessible to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies nationwide, the ACLU said, they are exposed to “unwarranted scrutiny or investigation by police.” That level of scrutiny has hardly been applied to white supremacists, however, even though the country’s first anti-terrorism laws, in the 1870s, were aimed at protecting black citizens from groups like the KKK, and despite the ongoing threat posed by these extremists.

“This is a fundamental problem in this country: We simply do not take this flexible, and forgiving, and exceptionally understanding approach for combating any other form of terrorism,” said Jones. “Anybody who’s on social media advocating support for ISIS can be criminally charged with very little effort.”

“For some reason, we have stepped away from the threat of domestic terrorism and right-wing extremism,” Jones continued. “The only way we can reconcile this kind of behavior is if we accept the possibility that the ideology that permeates white nationalists and white supremacists is something that many in our federal and law enforcement communities understand and may be in sympathy with.”

https://theintercept.com/2017/01/31...-supremacist-infiltration-of-law-enforcement/

 

[joe2187]

They need to start investigating the White House next

 

[Lime]

An alarming thing is also that the FBI is so worried about white supremacist infiltration of police that it hesitates to share info with them

 

[Tecnniqe]

Law enforcement is a mess and have been forever.

Time to start a cleanup operation of them and the rest of the branches.

 

[Slayven]

Shit goes back to forever, when being a member of the KKK was not only expected but open doors politically.

 

[Gutek]

Some of those who work forces, are the same that burn crosses.

 

[liquidtmd]

FBI needs to shut the hell up and respect mai authority. Sad.

 

[Lime]

I think another key take-away from this is that systemic investigations and measures to curb white supremacy in law enforcement were thwarted and entirely removed after conservatives and right-winged people threw a hissy fit.

 

[LucidMomentum]

Shit goes back to forever, when being a member of the KKK was not only expected but open doors politically.

Yep. Read Mean Justice:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1476702675/?tag=neogaf0e-20

As it goes over how the Central Valley in California has been a hotbed for white supremacy and the KKK actually held many county office positions.

Hard to call it infiltration when it's been there from the start, but at least someone is talking about it.

 

[Ozigizo]

A white supremacist has already infiltrated the Whitehouse though.

 

[Enduin]

Between this and radicalization thread I'm just reminded of this scene from American History X.

https://youtu.be/mGQSdhzqH8A?t=87

It's like the unofficial Richard Spencer biography.

 

[FyreWulff]

It's an open secret. Pretty much every major gang has infiltrated multiple police department.

the white supremacists are particularly coordinated about it. people think it's random old inherited hatred when it's an organized gang funded by organized crime ventures.

 

[Alligatorjandro]

Wasn't a warning sent out a while ago?

 

[Blader]

This is the article that Scahill was hyping up last night?

 

[Vital Tundra]

They stopped investigating because conservatives got pissed? The fuck kinda reason is that?

 

[questionmark]

The report concluded that “lone wolves and small terrorist cells embracing violent right-wing extremist ideology are the most dangerous domestic terrorism threat in the United States.”

Shamelessly stolen from reddit:

The president wont even say the words: radical white nationalist terrorism

 

[EnlightenedMint]

This is the article that Scahill was hyping up last night?

Yeah, it's just one in a series of articles about the FBI they published today.

 

[LucidMomentum]

They stopped investigating because conservatives got pissed? The fuck kinda reason is that?

Same reason the Military budget review study got canned.

People got found out and got shook, so they probably started making threats. It's still BS though.

Shamelessly stolen from reddit:

Brown Muslim teenagers commit acts of violence? Islam is to blame and it must be the nature of the religion. Ban them all!

White Christian / White Supremacist teenager commits acts of violence? Oh he's just misunderstood, must be a mental issue. Speaking of mental issues, why does no one care about our Veterans? That's the real problem here.

 

[Forearm Star]

Some of those who work forces, are the same that burn crosses.

How did this line not click for me
Holy shit

 

[Wilsongt]

A white supremacist has already infiltrated the Whitehouse though.

Two in fact.

 

[SoldierIce64]

Yep. Read Mean Justice:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1476702675/?tag=neogaf0e-20

As it goes over how the Central Valley in California has been a hotbed for white supremacy and the KKK actually held many county office positions.

Hard to call it infiltration when it's been there from the start, but at least someone is talking about it.

I never heard of this book but when you said Central Valley in California I had a feeling it would be my hometown of Bakersfield, my suspicions were correct.

 

[Valhelm]

Ironic, given that the FBI has always been the strongest federal enforcer of white supremacy

 

[Derwind]

No surprises here but damn does the validation on a federal level feel good.

America needs to fix it's shit and stop demonizing black people protesting over their fucking lives being unjustly toyed with by law enforcement.

 

[Imm0rt4l]

I have no reason to think the the feds have much interest in curbing this tbh. Historically speaking, the FBI enables these people so...thanks for the theatrics?

 

[The Last Wizard]

It was always present in the laws, this is how the system was intended to be once slavery ended. Something like this doesn't just happen, it's put into place upon creation and enacted. It just now people are actually paying attention to it meanwhile minorities specifically blacks people have been saying it for years towards deaf ears.

Sure, there's data to back it up now but ain't shit gonna change cause the people who don't "believe" this even with photo/video evidence along with data are racist fucks, then you've got the people who are complacent and sit by while benefiting from said supremacy.

Nothing is gonna be done about this as there were already reports and who's to say they haven't "infiltrated" higher organizations in the government(wanna know a secret, they're already there. They've been there for years.)

If enough white people and those who say they care about these issues and equality actually stood up to white supremacy to shut it down it'd be gone quickly but why would they when it benefits them. I mean who would want a level playing field? Just like that quote that goes like, when your accustomed to privilege equality feels like oppression.

 

[Messofanego]

”When somebody holds a belief that indicates that they do not see all Americans are worthy of equal protection under the law, it compromises their ability to be a police officer."​

If they stuck to their guns, they'd fire racist police officers on the spot and never to be rehired.

 

[dantevsninjas]

They need to start investigating the White House next

They won't investigate anything about the White House, because a lot of them support Trump.

https://theintercept.com/2017/01/31...has-inherited-an-fbi-with-vast-hidden-powers/

The fact that these investigations were closed because they might implicate some veterans is absurd. The Republican party, once again proving all they care about is projecting an image that covers up their own actions.

 

[Skiptastic]

Some of those who work forces, are the same that burn crosses.

I was just about to say, isn't this a Rage Against the Machine song?

 

[RinsFury]

The need to investigate the white supremacist infiltration of the FBI as well, starting with Comey.

 

[Messofanego]

Most police departments don’t screen prospective officers for hate group affiliation. The SPLC has reported that the number of these groups peaked at more than 1,000 in 2011, from less than half that in the late 1990s, though experts like Simi note that many of these groups “come and go” and membership between them is often fluid.​

So you mean to tell me that you don't do background checks about hate-group affiliations on people who're going to enter into lots of authority and power? Get out of here.

 

[OG Shaka Zulu]

Ironic, given that the FBI has always been the strongest federal enforcer of white supremacy

Yup. "We're stuck having to depend on our own enemies for help" paraphrasing some Malcolm X speech.

 

[Angelus Errare]

This shit goes back decades upon decades upon decades, better late than never I guess. If only America listened to minorities instead of ignoring us they could have culled A LOT of this current shit.

 

[Messofanego]

The military has more balls to kick out racists than law enforcement agencies, that's faint praise I guess.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

This shit goes back decades upon decades upon decades, better late than never I guess. If only America listened to minorities instead of ignoring us they could have culled A LOT of this current shit.

I mean rage against the machine was singing about this in the early 90s. And that's just popular music. Let alone many groups knowing about this

"Some of those that work forces, are the same that burn crosses"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWXazVhlyxQ

 

[sangreal]

Napolitano's backpedaling remains a disgrace

 

[LucidMomentum]

I never heard of this book but when you said Central Valley in California I had a feeling it would be my hometown of Bakersfield, my suspicions were correct.

Yeah I live in Bako and Kern County in general is kind of a mess.
We're high on the top ten lists for Illiteracy, Smog, and Unjustified Police Shootings.

Woo.

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/12/bakersfield-police-department-killings

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/01/the-county-kern-county-deadliest-police-killings

It's the last GOP bastion in California, I feel. If I wasn't getting paid out the ass to be here I'd leave. At least I can try to educate people where I live.

 

[Archaix]

White nationalists have infiltrated law enforcement? Oh no! In related news, up to 100 football players have infiltrated the Super Bowl. Have scientists infiltrated the EPA? Maybe some politicians have infiltrated Congress. I wonder what else happened when we weren't looking.

 

[Goodstyle]

I wouldn't be surprised if they had a codeword for each other like "Hail Hydra" or something.

 

[Jakoo]

OP, that link is broken I think? (EDIT: NVM, working now.)

But yes, the Intercept published a lot of harrowing facts about the FBI today, which is made much scarier in context since they have a "friend" in the White House

 

[Litan]

I was just about to say, isn't this a Rage Against the Machine song?

Killing in the Name.

 

[mr jones]

The military has more balls to kick out racists than law enforcement agencies, that's faint praise I guess.

Anecdotally, my cousin in the marines said that there's all sorts of stereotypes that they'll openly throw in your face, especially if you're black or latino. But even the most redneck white dude has your back when shit goes down. Y'all brothers when someone is shooting at you.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Anecdotally, my cousin in the marines said that there's all sorts of stereotypes that they'll openly throw in your face, especially if you're black or latino. But even the most redneck white dude has your back when shit goes down. Y'all brothers when someone is shooting at you.

Easy to say when the one usually shooting at you is some brown foreigner in a foreign country.

Wouldn't be so sure during a coup in the US.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

White nationalists have infiltrated law enforcement? Oh no! In related news, up to 100 football players have infiltrated the Super Bowl. Have scientists infiltrated the EPA? Maybe some politicians have infiltrated Congress. I wonder what else happened when we weren't looking.

This. It's not a bug. It's a feature!

 

[CrispyBoar]

I always knew that some of the policemen were white supremacists. And I've always said that there should be a police reform.

 

[Yopis]

They should do a deep dive on special forces community also.

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

Again, a cop on this site got invited to some massive nationwide police group(on Facebook, I think) and immediately bounced out and asked on GAF how to proceed when he saw how deplorable they were in their little safe space. Obviously there's lots of those fuckers out there.

(he immediately asked for the thread to be closed after he got some suggestions, that I assume he didn't actually make a move on)

 

[mr jones]

Easy to say when the one usually shooting at you is some brown foreigner in a foreign country.

Wouldn't be so sure during a coup in the US.

...damn. I got nuthin.

 

[MilkBeard]

It's so ingrained into the system that no one wants to dig it out. And now, the presidency.

 

[Forerunner]

Anecdotally, my cousin in the marines said that there's all sorts of stereotypes that they'll openly throw in your face, especially if you're black or latino. But even the most redneck white dude has your back when shit goes down. Y'all brothers when someone is shooting at you.

The military is racist as fuck. I've meant some of the most racist people while my time in the service. I was also in the Air Force, so I'd imagine it's even worse in the Marines or Army.

However, that's America and it's pretty much everywhere. The country was built on it.

 

[LegendofJoe]

This is why minority neighborhoods should self-police. Your government doesn't work for you. If you're a majority black community accept nothing less than a majority black police force.