Massachusetts fusion center spied on Black Lives Matter protesters
MA - Boston and state police kept protesters off the highways — specifically Interstate 93 and the Mass Pike — by forming human walls as marchers turned out in force over the failure to indict Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of unarmed teen Michael Brown.
By the end of the night, 51 protesters had been arrested on disorderly conduct and related charges. Out of that, 40 had the charges dropped yesterday to civil infractions — a non-criminal complaint that won’t appear on their records, the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office claimed. That's a lie, once you're arrested, the record of your arrest follows you forever and good luck trying to get it expunged. DA: A civil infraction won't follow you forever, that's rich! Tripp Diaz, 24, of Roxbury, with a bruise on the right side of her face, said she and her girlfriend were part of the crowd trying to block the Mass Pike near Copley Square when they were stopped by a wall of police officers pushing back at protesters. Diaz claimed an officer yanked her hair and dragged her to the ground. She held onto her girlfriend and said several officers landed on them in what she called the most “traumatic” experience of her life.
“I obtained my injuries from a police officer kneeing my face into the concrete, yanking my earring out, doing something to the side of my body. I have a bite mark on my arm — I don’t know where that came from,” Diaz said. Francis Donald Brooks III, 30, of Randolph has prior assault convictions and was ineligible yesterday to have his charge of disturbing the peace reduced, authorities said. Brooks said cops on bikes were funneling the crowd in the South Bay area. “I got ripped over the front lines and beat by like five or four state police officers,” Brooks claimed. “I slept on the street during the Occupy Boston. I support freedom. I don’t give a (expletive) if you’re purple.”
Spokesmen for both state and Boston police said last night they are not aware of any formal complaints of excessive force.
Not aware of any formal complaints? What about the ACLU's recent report on how Boston police target black & brown people.
The Boston Police Department has used racially biased policing, as shown by data from reports of 200,000+ encounters between BPD officers and civilians from 2007–2010. According to researchers, the data show that police targeted Blacks in 63.3% of encounters—while Blacks make up less than a quarter of Boston's population.
The state police Commonwealth Fusion Center monitored social media, which provided “critical intelligence about protesters’ plans to try to disrupt traffic on state highways,” state police said.
There are many examples in Massachusetts of fusion centers getting caught red handed monitoring protest movements and dissidents, conflating First Amendment protected speech with crime or terrorism.
Click here to read the ACLU's Mass. Fusion Center spy files & here to read more about fusion center spying.
DHS run fusion centers have never once stopped a terrorist attack. It’s not clear what beyond monitoring dissidents and black people—through so-called ‘gang’ databases—these fusion centers actually do. We know one thing for sure they don’t stop terrorism.
Fusion centers have virtually no oversight and are spying on innocent Americans.
Click here to read more.
https://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2014/11/as_evans_lauds_boston_cops_some_protesters_cry_foul