[pjw] ACTION (resend): End Portland's Cooperation with the FBI's Terrorism Task Force (again)

[Peace and Justice Works]

Peace and Justice Works supporters

The action alert that went out in early November asking you to contact 
City Council about the Joint Terrorism Task Force (and the attendant web 
page) were missing the email addresses for City Council members, which the 
new Portland Copwatch web-host read as blank since they were in brackets. 
Oops! Below is the corrected alert, but we also want to point you to some 
new resources on the website.

<http://portlandcopwatch.org/pjttf.html>

These include:

A background sheet on Portland's Joint Terrorism Task Force:
http://portlandcopwatch.org/JTTF_background0217.pdf

and a links page which goes to many articles and documents:
http://portlandcopwatch.org/JTTF_background_links2.html

Also, the original letter has been updated to include two more local 
activist groups as signers, and two endorsers from a local business and a 
national group which has members in Portland. If your organization wants 
to be added to the official letter let us know.

Also, if you email City Council, feel free to send us a copy to us or 
to copwatch at portlandcopwatch.org .

The ACLU reports that over 800 people have used their action alert
page, which is also a way you can send your message to Council.

dan h
peace and justice works/portland copwatch


    November 8, 2017

JOIN THE CAMPAIGN TO END PORTLAND'S COOPERATION
WITH THE FBI'S TERRORISM TASK FORCE! (AGAIN)

On November 8, 2017, a letter signed by 23 organizations and a
prominent Portland area survivor of unwarranted spying was presented
to Portland City Council asking to get the Portland Police out of the
Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).

Since the late 1990s, Portland Police have been working with the JTTF,
an FBI-led coalition of law enforcement which includes Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, the IRS, Homeland Security and local police
agencies.

The FBI and partner agencies have been targeting Muslims, immigrants,
the Black Lives Matter movement and other activists .
<http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2017/10/black_identity_extremists_join.html>


    --Between 2000-2004, Portlanders organized to get the PPB to remove
    its two full-time officers from of the Joint Terrorism Task Force,
    succeeding in 2005. Between 2011 and 2015, the PPB semi-rejoined the
    JTTF, only assigning officers to work with the FBI part time, and
    requiring annual reports which were extremely vague about the JTTF's
    activities. In 2015, the PPB re-assigned two members full time after a
    3-2 Council vote led by then-Mayor Charlie Hales.

    --Times have changed and there is reason to believe the targeting of
    people for their First Amendment activities will only ramp up.

    --We need you to contact City Council today and tell them to get the
    Portland Police out of the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Contact information is below, or you can use the ACLU's action alert
site to fill in a pre-written email:
    <http://www.aclu-or.org/JTTF>.

   Mayor Ted Wheeler <mayorwheeler at portlandoregon.gov> 503-823-4120
   Commissioner Chloe Eudaly <chloe at portlandoregon.gov> 503-823-4682
   City Council Member Nick Fish <nick at portlandoregon.gov> 503-823-3589
   Commissioner Amanda Fritz <amanda at portlandoregon.gov> 503-823-3008
   Commissioner Dan Saltzman <dan at portlandoregon.gov> 503-823-4151

    1221 SW 4th Av Portland OR 97204

If you email Council directly, please feel free to bcc: a copy to so
we can get a sense of how many people are contacting Council.

      _________________________________________________________________

END COOPERATION WITH THE FBI'S TERRORISM TASK FORCE

We, the undersigned, call on Portland City Council to withdraw the two full-time
Portland Police Officers from the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) and cancel
the Memorandum of Agreement with the FBI.

--Portland was not part of the Task Force from 2005-2011 based on the inability
of the Police Chief and Police Commissioner to have the same "Top Secret"
clearance as the officers they oversee. That issue has not changed.

--After Portland re-joined the JTTF fully in 2015, the public stopped receiving
annual reports, so there has been no indication whether PPB officers have
reported violations of provisions of ORS 181A.250 prohibiting law enforcement
from collecting or maintaining information on people's "political, religious or
social" affiliations without reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct.

--President Trump has made it clear he plans to target people based on their
religion (Muslims), national origin (immigrants), and political beliefs
(protestors), not to mention the media and others. Any JTTF activity along these
lines would violate not only ORS 181A.250 but would also be in apparent
violation of HB 2002's restrictions against profiling-- police targeting people
solely based on race, national origin or a host of other characteristics.*

--Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a member of the JTTF, meaning
Portland's pledge to be a Sanctuary City is threatened by PPB officers
participating in the Task Force.

--San Francisco pulled out of its Joint Terrorism Task Force on February 1,
acknowledging that working with the FBI in its current form would lead to
violations of state and local laws and policies.

As was the case from 2005-2015 when Portland formally re-joined, this would not
restrict Portland Police from working on legitimate law enforcement
investigations when actual criminal activity is suspected and detected on a
case-by-case basis.

The time is ripe for Portland to be part of a national movement to protect
residents and citizens from further potential civil liberties abuses.

Signed
ACLU of Oregon
Unite Oregon
Portland Japanese American Citizens League
Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform
Peace and Justice Works/Portland Copwatch
Brandon Mayfield
League of Women Voters of Portland
Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility
Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO)
Iraq Veterans Against the War
Veterans For Peace Chapter 72
Council on American-Islamic Relations of Oregon
Islamic Society of Greater Portland
Jewish Voice for Peace-Portland
Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition
Enlace (Portland)
Portland National Lawyers Guild
Portland Jobs with Justice
Sisters Of The Road
Oregon Progressive Party
International Socialist Organization (Portland)
Individuals for Justice
Network Against Racism and Islamophobia
350 PDX

For more information or to add your organization's signature to this letter
contact Porland Copwatch at 503-236-3065 or <copwatch at portlandcopwatch.org>.

*-HB 2002 (2015), now ORS 131.920

Additional signers after November 8, 2017 include:

Portland Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
Empower Portland Ad Hoc Committee

Endorsers include:

Defending Rights & Dissent Washington DC (on behalf of their members in 
Portland)
Duell Wealth Preservation


Last updated November 29, 2017