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Have a Political Bumper Sticker? The FBI Might Be Snapping Photos of You (muckrock.com)

Posted by timothy on from the join-the-club dept.

v3rgEz writes: Tomorrow marks the 35th anniversary of Food Not Bombs, the peace organization that seeks to democratically divert military spending into free food for the needy. But as documents recently obtained by MuckRock show, even such tepid support as a bumper sticker for the outspoken anti-violence organization could land you in FBI files. Read on for yet another example of how the FBI puts war protesters, Juggalos, and animal rights activists in the same category as organized crime and terrorist groups.

14 of 192 comments (clear)

  1. The FBI will also track you... by saloomy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    if you read the story or comment on it!

    1. Re:The FBI will also track you... by slashdot_commentator · · Score: 4, Insightful

      COINTELPRO, look it up.

      Just realize that the managers at all these agencies don't work for the American people. The American people didn't give their okay to be spied upon. Cabinet members and agency directors answer to the people who handle their next lucrative assignment.

      --
      There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
  2. Misleading Summary headline by Etherwalk · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The car photo in the story has dozens of bumper stickers plastered over the back; it's hardly a single political bumper sticker. The person wanted to get noticed and should not be surprised to have someone take a pic of his car--or, if the FBI is there, to have them grab a picture for file art. If you're out investigating and see something that sticks out that much, wouldn't you take a picture of it?

    1. Re:Misleading Summary headline by alvinrod · · Score: 4, Insightful

      On one hand, it's a vehicle in public. Anyone can take a picture of it as there's no guarantee of privacy so pinning this up as some kind of government overreach is inane when there are so many better examples of the government infringing on the rights of the country's citizens.

      On the other hand, why the hell is the FBI bothering with these people. Unless their slogan is the world's biggest misnomer, they're not going to be blowing anything up. The worst they'll do is be annoying and passive aggressive in public, which hardly warrants a single letter in the local paper let alone three in the form of some government agency.

      Anyone stupid enough to ruin a perfectly good bumper with a sticker isn't worth wasting time or resources on. I'd be far more suspicious of the individuals with truck nuts. There's someone with enough screws loose to do something dangerous.

    2. Re:Misleading Summary headline by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      On the other hand, why the hell is the FBI bothering with these people?

      Because they have nothing better to do. In the last 20 years, crime rates in America have dropped dramatically, yet the FBI budget has doubled. They are over funded and over staffed, and they don't have enough real work to do.

      There are two alternative solutions:
      1. Criminalize more activities
      2. Cut their budget
      So far we have been opting for #1.

    3. Re:Misleading Summary headline by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What if crime rates have dropped dramatically because the FBI budget has doubled?

      That is unlikely. On a state-by-state basis, spending on law enforcement has been negatively correlated with crime reduction. More cops and more prisons leads to more crime (or at least less of a decline). The effect is especially perverse for teenagers. Once a kid is sucked into the juvenile justice system, they are on the fast-track to a life of crime. If a teenager commits a minor crime, and gets away with it, or is let off with a warning, they are less likely to commit future crimes than if they are arrested and their life is turned upside down.

      The solution to over-policing is fewer police and less spending on law enforcement. When you see an ad for a politician bragging about endorsements from the police union and the prison guard union, you should vote for someone else.

    4. Re:Misleading Summary headline by Aighearach · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Law enforcement is supposed to be reactive. They can't be proactive without interfering with legal freedom, because it isn't a crime to not break the law; it isn't a crime to think about breaking the law; it isn't a crime to almost break the law, but then not do it. And they don't even have a pre-crime unit anyways.

      Actual "proactive" law enforcement means things like, instead of harassing the hippies that want to have a march, you work with them to plan the route and get the cops ahead of them diverting traffic and offering a polite escort. It is only for small stuff, because big stuff that didn't happen there is nothing to do yet except training. But the training should be in methods of reaction to actual crime that actually happened. In the past, not in the future.

      Sometimes slashdot makes me wish the world was as smart as President W Bush, then we could at least agree that the past already happened. Hopefully we could even extend that to the future having not happened yet!

  3. AWESOME! by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Time to slap stickers on random people's cars in parking lots.

    Enjoy the increased signal to noise ratio mister FBI man!

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  4. Re:The counter strategy... by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's because the only time anyone will notice the bumper sticker on your front bumper is when you're about to mow them down.

    "Ah, he's against fossil fuels. That's kind of.... Aggghhhhh!"

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  5. Lies, damn lies by s.petry · · Score: 4, Insightful

    People who had Ron Paul bumper stickers were placed on DHS watch lists, which we all know gets shared with everyone else _including_ the FBI (Remember fusion centers right?). It only takes 1 of something to get you on a list, and like TFA demonstrates simply following a particular band like ICP will get you labelled and placed on a list.

    Oh, and to be perfectly clear, we _KNOW_ that people were put on lists for being Ron Paul supporters. It took years for people to get removed and of course the Government "claims" that they don't do that any more. If you believe the Government.. well, you are beyond help.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

  6. Re:Well... by Salgak1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I've found, purely by instinct, a way to deal with passive-aggressive Vegans. I threw a party several years ago, and had no idea that the date of a guy I had known from a previous job, was a hard-core vegan. Things had already gone wrong (kitchen set off the smoke alarm, and a neighbor's dog had gotten into the yard. . .), when she loudly complained that there were no Vegan Entrees. I opened the back door, pointed to the lawn, and told her to graze to her heart's content. . . When she stomped out, I got a small ovation from the other attendees. . . (grin)

  7. Here's a study that proves you right by spun · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I remember reading about this study this years ago, it shows that people with more bumper stickers are more likely to be involved in road rage incidents. The theory is, people who personalize their vehicle tend to view the vehicle as their own private space, even when on the public roads. Because they are in their own private space, they literally do feel that they own the road.
    http://www.nature.com/news/200...

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
  8. All fun and games... by clonehappy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We can sit around and poke fun at vegans, Juggalos, PETA, and all the other groups that are super easy to/we love to hate. That's precisely why this article is propaganda, as you shouldn't think for a second that "political statements" like being pro-encryption, rooting for Apple, anti-authoritarian, or against a police state doesn't also land you on the same lists.

    It's fun to joke around and all, but allowing any ridiculous-yet-innocuous activities be branded as terrorism just opens the door for the totalitarians to brand any common sense political leanings the same way. You know, I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Juggalo...or whatever.

  9. Re:The counter strategy... by david_thornley · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What's pro-crime about wanting to legalize pot? Legalizing the stuff would give us a significant drop in the crime rate.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes