Meet the Muslim-American Leaders the FBI and NSA Have Been Spying On

Advocatus Diaboli (1627651) writes The National Security Agency and FBI have covertly monitored the emails of prominent Muslim-Americans — including a political candidate and several civil rights activists, academics, and lawyers — under secretive procedures intended to target terrorists and foreign spies. From the article: "The individuals appear on an NSA spreadsheet in the Snowden archives called 'FISA recap.' Under that law, the Justice Department must convince a judge with the top-secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that there is probable cause to believe that American targets are not only agents of an international terrorist organization or other foreign power, but also 'are or may be' engaged in or abetting espionage, sabotage, or terrorism. The authorizations must be renewed by the court, usually every 90 days for U.S. citizens. ... The five Americans whose email accounts were monitored by the NSA and FBI have all led highly public, outwardly exemplary lives. All five vehemently deny any involvement in terrorism or espionage, and none advocates violent jihad or is known to have been implicated in any crime, despite years of intense scrutiny by the government and the press. Some have even climbed the ranks of the U.S. national security and foreign policy establishments."

Comments

Probable cause

[qbast]

Apparently being Muslim is good enough for probable cause. So much for freedom of religion.

Re:Probable cause

[MRe_nl]

Unless, of course, you work for a multinational, are a serving member of the armed forces, you have traveled there and made friends, your forefathers came from the region, you still have family there, or lovers, you like to watch the news and have an inkling of an interest in international politics, history or economy it is indeed incredibly unlikely as an American citizen to be involved with anything happening in the Middle East.

Re:Probable cause

[thaylin]

So it is ok to profile people because they may be lying about who and what they are? Sounds like a police state to me.

Re:Probable cause

[TubeSteak]

What a Muslim American Said to Defend His Patriotism
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/07/what-a-muslim-american-said-to-defend-his-patriotism/374137/

-"You should be active in your community. And I have done that. The fact that I was surveilled in spite of doing all thatâ"it just goes to show you the hysteria that everybody feels."
-"I've never given a speech where I've said any ill feelings toward the United States."
-"I was a very conservative, Reagan-loving Republican."
-"I watch sports. I watch football. My kids are all raised here. My kids at that time went to Catholic school. It isn't as if I was raising them in a different way ..."

Gill correctly perceives that we'll all know what he means when he invokes the characteristics he possesses that would seem to make him less suspicious. The fact that most people internalize these judgments to some degree illustrates how chilling effects work: Americans, especially those who belong to minority groups, formulate a sense of what speech and actions will cast suspicion on or away from them.

Chilling Effects.

Re:Probable cause

[mjm1231]

freedom of religion IS the seperation clause.

Re:Probable cause

[FatdogHaiku]

Interestingly it does not seem to include Freedom From Religion...

Re:Probable cause

[HornWumpus]

You might want to study a little of the history of India they don't teach in high school.

After Ghandi got control of India he ordered _many_ killings in the future 'Pakistan' and 'Bangladesh'. Non violence is for when you don't have the power.

Re:Probable cause

[Anonymous Coward]

So you don't think the Crusades are relevant to mention?

Well, since most of us weren't alive when they happened, and were done by a church we don't all agree with ... this constant reference to the Crusades is idiotic.

Yes, a long time ago a Pope decided that killing anybody who didn't follow his teachings was a good idea.

And somehow you think that all white people should bear the blame for that? Fuck that.

Sorry, but I am not responsible for what some fucking idiot in a funny hat advocated for hundreds of years ago.

Or, do you think in 500 years we should all be blaming all Muslims for 9/11? You can't have it both ways.

The Crusades are fucking irrelevant, because they have nothing to do with the present. It's an excuse put forth by people who would simply find another reason if they didn't have that one.

Fuck all of your gods. Let them fuck one another. But please, stop fucking the rest of us over your petty bullshit.

Your god is a fucking myth, and if he/she/it did exist, would be far less narrow minded and stupid than the people who act in his name.

You want to be angry at the people who did the Crusades? Run wild. You want to act like the rest of the world bears responsibility for that, then you're a fucking idiot.

Re:Probable cause

[jc42]

I have nothing to hide, except the pron from my wife (she found it already) so why would I care what the FBI does? They aren't going to act on any of this unless these people actually plan to do something criminal and in that case, they should.

If you think you have nothing to hide, you should probably spend a bit of time studying the history of the FBI. Leading an exemplary life has never been a protection from them, if they suspect you may be part of whatever conspiracy is popular at the time. A few decades ago, it was Communists, and having no connection to any Communist organization was never protection from them or their colleagues in organizations like HUAC. It's quite clear that the "anti-terrorist" push nowadays is no more concerned with whether you have anything to hide; if they need a scapegoat and you're handy (perhaps because your name is vaguely like some name on one of their lists), they'll go after you and make your life a hell on Earth.

Having "nothing to hide" is one of the most naive misconceptions going around, and has been for at least a century. Dig into the history of the FBI and assorted other similar organizations. Google can find a lot of it for you. Then come back and tell us again whether you have anything to hide.

(And they probably already have a copy of your pron collection, added to their own. ;-)

They're not a corporation

[HangingChad]

Until they incorporate they're not entitled to free speech or religious exemptions.

Re:i remember when

[disposable60]

That's just pre-9/11 thinking.
Everything's different now - we got the National Security State we always dreamed of. Better, even!

Incorporate

[tekrat]

Every American should incorporate themselves. It's the only way to guarantee you have rights. If you are a closely held corporation, your religious rights cannot be infringed, your property cannot be confiscated, you can commit heinous crimes and only face a fine (no jail time for CEOs); and furthermore, NSA "spying" can be sued over as industrial espionage or as copyright violations under intellectual property rights laws.

Basically you have way more rights as a corporation. If you're an individual or "citizen", you're screwed.

Re:About that....

[thaylin]

That was bs justifications. You dont need to give corporations 4th amendment rights to protect people, because the people individually have those rights for example.