Sources over the Internet are beginning to leak information that BAMN has been under observation of the FBI for potentially engaging in terrorist activity. From The Raw Story:

The American Civil Liberties Union today released an FBI document that designates a Michigan-based peace group and an affirmative action advocacy group as potentially “involved in terrorist activities,” RAW STORY has learned…

The file was obtained through an ongoing nationwide ACLU effort seeking information on the FBI’s use of Joint Terrorism Task Forces to engage in political surveillance.

“This document confirms our fears that federal and state counterterrorism officers have turned their attention to groups and individuals engaged in peaceful protest activities,” said Ben Wizner, an ACLU staff attorney and counsel in a lawsuit seeking the release of additional FBI records. “When the FBI and local law enforcement identify affirmative action advocates as potential terrorists, every American has cause for concern.”

The document released today is an FBI report labeled, “Domestic Terrorism Symposium,” and describes a meeting that was intended to “keep the local, state and federal law enforcement agencies apprised of the activities of the various groups and individuals within the state of Michigan who are thought to be involved in terrorist activities.”

Among the groups mentioned are Direct Action, an anti-war group, and BAMN (By Any Means Necessary), a national organization dedicated to defending affirmative action, integration, and other gains of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The FBI acknowledges in the report that the Michigan State Police has information that BAMN has been peaceful in the past…

At the very least, this puts to bed the old rumors of BAMN being a CIA front. CalStuff veterans, you know what I’m talking about.

On a serious note, as much as I am at odds with BAMN, I don’t think that bringing middle schoolers on campus to protest counts as terrorism, unless the PATRIOT Act covers school truancy policy. Shouldn’t a group have to be more effective to be labeled as terrorists? Also, how will this affect BAMN’s relationship with the university and/or the ASUC? I guess time will tell.

(From CalJunket)

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