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

[Peace and Justice Works]

Peace and Justice Works supporters and allies:
(apologies for any duplication with the Copwatch list)

After 9 months of meeting and planning, Portland Copwatch, the ACLU and other 
groups held a news conference this morning announcing a new campaign to get the 
Portland Police out of the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Below is the action 
alert we have posted on out site at
<http://portlandcopwatch.org/pjttf.html>, as well as the letter from 23 groups 
(and Brandon Mayfield) that was delivered to Council during the 
"Communications" slots this morning. Mr. Mayfield, Kimberly McCullough of the 
ACLU and Marleen Wallingford of the Japanese American Citizens League each had 
three minutes to tell Council why they should withdraw once more from the JTTF. 
They got a "thank you."

Also speaking at the news conference were members of Unite Oregon and Council 
on American Islamic Relations-Oregon. Other signators to the letter who had a 
presence included Portland Jobs with Justice, Portland National Lawyers Guild, 
League of Women Voters, International Socialist Organization-Portland, and 
Network Against Racism and Islamophobia.

Many of Portland's news outlets were at the conference but a quick scan has not 
turned up anything on the web yet, I will try to keep folks posted. Meanwhile, 
if you want to take action yourself see the alert below-- which is followed by 
the text of the letter. If you are with a group that wants to sign on, we will 
be updating the letter fairly regularly as signatures come in.

Thanks
dan handelman
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 503-823-4120
     Commissioner Chloe Eudaly 503-823-4682
     City Council Member Nick Fish 503-823-3589
     Commissioner Amanda Fritz 503-823-3008
     Commissioner Dan Saltzman 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

Last updated November 7, 2017