DEA Deploys Sophisticated Tech, ‘Sweeping Powers’ to Collect Protesters’ Information - Experts

While the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has been conducting surveillance and collecting information on protesters in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa and technology and security analyst Patricia Gorky told Sputnik the agency has long peered into activists’ communications.

“William Barr - who’s attorney general, who we’ve talked about many times as an absolute enemy of privacy and civil liberties - last week put out a statement staying that because of ‘anarchistic and far-left extremists, using Antifa-like tactics,’ he was deploying the FBI, the DEA and others into DC and other cities to monitor and basically spy on protests and organizers,” Garaffa told Loud & Clear host John Kiriakou on Monday.

The memo, dated May 30, also states: “We must have law and order on our streets and in our communities, and it is the responsibility of the local and state leadership, in the first instance, to halt this violence. The Department of Justice (including the FBI, Marshals, ATF [The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] and DEA), and all of our 93 US Attorneys across the country, will support these local efforts and take all action necessary to enforce federal law.”

As Sputnik reported, nearly a dozen federal law enforcement agencies were spotted patrolling DC streets last week amid the huge protests.

However, according to Garaffa, it isn’t surprising that the DEA is spying on protesters: when Barr was previously attorney general between 1991 and 1993 under President George H. W. Bush, the agency was given “sweeping powers” by Bush to do what the New York Times referred to as “fishing expeditions.”

The DEA isn’t the only agency that has a history of surveilling protest groups, either. Following the death of Baltimore, Maryland, man Freddie Gray due to injuries he sustained in police custody, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) monitored social media platforms to garner information on protesters. The FBI also monitored protesters during the 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement and mounted a sophisticated operation against leftist movements and socialist organizations called COINTELPRO in the 1950s through the 1970s.

The DEA monitors protesters using so-called stingrays, which the American Civil Liberties Union defines as “invasive cell phone surveillance devices that mimic cell phone towers and send out signals to trick cell phones in the area into transmitting their locations and identifying information.”

“The DEA, among other things, owns what are called stingrays. And they have deployed them not just on the ground, but in the past they have deployed them in planes,” Garaffa told Sputnik. “Some of these stingray devices have the ability to turn down the level of encryption that your phone is using when it’s talking to a cellphone tower. And with that, if they can break the weaker version of encryption, which it appears they can do, they actually could read your text messages or some other info that’s going through your phone,” they added.

“The DEA has worked with local authorities to access the country, to put surveillance cameras in road signs,” they continued.

According to Gorky, the DEA, which maintains presences around the world, tries to destabilize other nations.

“They’re actually international … The DEA has 91 foreign offices in 68 countries. What on Earth is this administration of the US doing across the world? It’s virtually on every continent except Antarctica … It's really this agency that’s there to destabilize countries, to actually flood weapons and support drug trafficking, as it has done across parts of Latin America,” Gorky noted.

https://sputniknews.com/analysis/202006091079560651-dea-deploys-sophisticated-tech-sweeping-powers-to-collect-protesters-information—experts/

DS using 'experts' to convey info to rioters?

New CNN poll shows Biden opening up a huge lead over Trump — and he just responded ​

The president accused CNN of pushing biased polling

A new poll from CNN shows presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden opening up an enormous lead over President Donald Trump, but the president responded with a scathing accusation.

The poll, which was released Monday, said that Biden had the support of 55% of registered voters polled, while Trump had only 41% support, a staggering difference of 14% in favor of the Democrat.

That is a massive change from the last results in May where Trump had 46% support to Biden's 51%, a difference of only 5%.

The poll also says that only 38% of Americans polled approve of how the president is handling the duties of the office, while 57% disapprove.

President Trump responded in a tweet blasting CNN and accusing the network of conjuring up a "suppression poll" intended to dissuade Trump voters from showing up on Election Day.

"I have retained highly respected pollster, McLaughlin & Associates, to analyze todays CNN Poll (and others), which I felt were FAKE based on the incredible enthusiasm we are receiving," the president tweeted.

"This is the same thing they and others did when we defeated Crooked Hillary Clinton in 2016. They are called SUPPRESSION POLLS, and are put out to dampen enthusiasm," he continued in a second tweet.

"Despite 3 ½ years of phony Witch Hunts," he concluded, "we are winning, and will close it out on November 3rd!"

The report from McLaughlin & Associates said that the poll was under-sampling Republicans in order to strengthen the appearance of the support for the Democrats.

"The latest skewed media polls must be intentional. It's clear that NBC, ABC and CNN who have Democrat operatives like Chuck Todd, George Stephanopoulos and other Democrats in their news operations are consistently under-polling Republicans and therefore, reporting biased polls," read the report posted by the president.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/cnn-poll-biden-trump-fake

kek

"Don't Treat Africans Like Kids" - Black Twitter Erupts At Democrats' Anti-Police Bill Stunt

In their latest absurd showing of "solidarity" with the Black Lives Matter movement, Nancy Pelosi and a host of Democratic lawmakers took a knee and - get this - donned traditional African garb during a press briefing where they unveiled their new 'police reform' bill that the White House has already said has no chance of passing.

The Justice in Policing Act of 2020, which Pelosi stressed was drawn up by the Congressional Black Caucus, calls for the introduction of a handful of measures aimed at stomping out police brutality and holding rogue officers accountable. Though the full text of the bill has yet to be revealed (despite promises to release it on Monday) Pelosi claimed it will end officers’ immunity from civil lawsuits, create a federal database of police misconduct, deny funding for departments that allow certain tactics like chokeholds, require body cameras for all officers in the field, and adopt racial bias training, while restricting "weapons transfers".

Additionally, the bill would require officers who use force against civilians to fill out detailed reports (the dreaded paperwork), and lower the bar for prosecuting officers who break the law.

Pelosi & Co capped off their performance by kneeling in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time Floyd was on the ground in police custody.

Almost immediately after the ceremony finished, Republican commentators demanded to see its full text, while hammering the venerable Democrat for her Kente-cloth outfit and tone-deaf virtue-signaling theatrics that turned the dial up to "11" on the tone-deaf scale. Meanwhile, Democratic nominee Joe Biden just publicly broke with BLM's demands to "abolish the police."

More

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/democrats-virtue-signaling-goes-11

You Have a First Amendment Right to Record the Police

Like the rest of the world, we are horrified by the videos of George Floyd’s murder. Once again, police brutality was documented by brave bystanders exercising their First Amendment rights. Their videos forcefully tell a painful truth that has further fueled a movement to demand an end to racism and abuse of power by police officers.

Recordings of police officers, whether by witnesses to an incident with officers, individuals who are themselves interacting with officers, or by members of the press, are an invaluable tool in the fight for police accountability. Often, it’s the video alone that leads to disciplinary action, firing, or prosecution of an officer.

This blog post provides some practical tips to record the police legally and safely, and explains some of the legal nuances of recording the police.

What to Know When Recording the Police

You have the right to record police officers exercising their official duties in public.

Stay calm and courteous.

Do not interfere with police officers. If you are a bystander, stand at a safe distance from the scene that you are recording.

You may take photos or record video and/or audio.

Police officers cannot order you to move because you are recording, but they may order you to move for public safety reasons even if you are recording.

Police officers may not search your cell phone or other device without a warrant based on probable cause from a judge, even if you are under arrest. Thus, you may refuse a request from an officer to review or delete what you recorded. You also may refuse to unlock your phone or provide your passcode.

Despite reasonably exercising your First Amendment rights, police may illegally retaliate against you in a number of ways including with arrest, destruction of your device, and bodily harm. We urge you to remain alert and mindful about this possibility.

Your First Amendment Right to Record Police Exercising Their Official Duties in Public

You have a First Amendment right to record the police. Federal courts and the Justice Department have recognized the right of individuals to record the police. Although the Supreme Court has not squarely ruled on the issue, there is a long line of First Amendment case law from the high court that supports the right to record the police. And federal appellate courts in the First, Third, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits have directly upheld this right. EFF has advocated for this right in many amicus briefs.

Federal appellate courts typically frame the right to record the police as the right to record officers exercising their official duties in public. Thus, if the police officer is off-duty or is in a private space that you don’t also have a right to be in, your right to record the officer may be limited.

https://www.activistpost.com/2020/06/you-have-a-first-amendment-right-to-record-the-police.html

Military Situation In Libya On June 8, 2020 (Map Update)

A brief overview of the recent developments in Libya:

The Egyptian Army sent massive columns with battle tanks to the Libyan border;

Turkish-led forces continue advance on Sirte. Currently, they are deployed in about 20km from the city;

Turkish-led forces entered al-Qaryat, Wadi Misrat, Mezdah, Nasmah and several nearby areas following the Libyan National Army (LNA) withdrawal from there;

The LNA struck a column of Turkish-led forces near Abu Qurayn.

https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-libya-on-june-8-2020-map-update/

Unstoppable rise of intel agency favourite Keir Starmer shows how UK 'democracy' really works

Sir Keir Starmer’s links to Britain’s national security establishment are being questioned. But in reality they illustrate that normal service has been resumed in UK ‘democracy’ and that Labour can again be ‘trusted’ to govern.

The investigative journalist Matt Kennard has written an open letter to the new Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, asking five questions about his relationship to the national security establishment.

They involve meetings Starmer had with the head of the domestic security service, MI5; his membership of the intelligence-linked Trilateral Commission; his discussions with the US attorney general at a time when Starmer was handling the case of Julian Assange; his role in the Assange case as the public prosecutor; and his relationship with the neocon Times newspaper.

The suggestion is clear: Starmer has been very close to that establishment.

No doubt some will be shocked by the information Kennard has managed to unearth, but if we consider how UK ‘democracy’ is supposed to function, it is really not too surprising. Parties are allowed to argue about the details of domestic policy, but there is meant to be no real disagreement on matters pertaining to foreign policy and national security. In other words, UK politics should be just like America’s.

For a long time, that was indeed the case.

History of bombing

It was a Labour government which took Britain into Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001 and 2003, and a Republican administration that did the same for the US. It was a Conservative government which bombed Libya in 2011 – and a Democratic one in the US. A bi-partisan approach to bombing countries: a bi-partisan approach to ‘regime-change’ ops. Elections won’t disrupt this: the more things change, the more they stay the same.

But in 2013, there was a wobble. To the horror of the endless war lobby, Labour, under Ed Miliband, voted against bombing Syria. Two years later, even worse for Rupert Murdoch and the ‘Deep State,’ a veteran Stop the War activist called Jeremy Corbyn became Labour leader.

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/491180-uk-keir-starmer-intelligence-links/

Former Acting DNI Richard Grenell Holds First Interview with Tucker Carlson Since Leaving Post

Former Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell joined Tucker Carlson on Monday night in his first interview since leaving his post as DNI.

Grenell was credited with doing more in 3 months to than many DNIs accomplish in their tenure in the position.

Rich Grenell told Tucker the Washington DC environment is its own closed system and these people despise an outsider like President Donald Trump. This is obvious with the outrageous treatment this president received his first three years in office.

Ric Grenell also took a swipe at General Mattis who fought against the president as Defense Secretary and is still attacking President Trump today.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/06/former-acting-dni-richard-grenell-holds-first-interview-tucker-carlson-since-leaving-post-video/