[pjw] INFO: Annual Joint Terrorism Task Force report @ Council Wed 1/31

[Peace and Justice Works]

PJW supporters

I sent this to the Copwatch list yesterday, sorry for any duplication.

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Moving it to the last possible day (required to take place in January by
City policy), the Portland Police will be presenting their annual
report for 2023 about their involvement with the FBI's Joint
Terrorism Task Force at City Council on Wednesday, Jan. 31 in the
morning.

https://www.portland.gov/council/documents/report/jttf-2024

We're working with our usual allies to testify at City Council
Wednesday. Since this topic stretches across our peace and police
accountability issues, I will be representing Peace and Justice Works
and Portland Copwatch.

The community is in a bit of a tricky situation, as last year
Commissioner Mapps asked whether it was time to reconsider the part-time
relationship with the FBI. Mayor Wheeler, who opposed leaving the JTTF
in 2019, said the status quo is a compromise, indicating maybe he's ok
leaving it as-is.

As a reminder for those who haven't been deep into this issue for 23
years (!): Portland Copwatch discovered the Joint Terrorism Task Force
agreement in November, 2000, almost a year before 9/11. We organized in
the following months with people of color, labor organizers,
environmental activists, civil rights activists, immigrants, Muslims,
and others likely to be the targets of FBI spying. Oregon has a unique
law (ORS 181A.250) that prohibits law enforcement collecting information
on people's social, religious or political affiliations with no
suspicion of criminal conduct. PJW/PCW was the subject of at least two
unlawful PPB spying incidents, the first discovered in 1996 (though it
happened in 1992) and the second discovered in 1999 (happened in 1998).

https://www.portlandcopwatch.org/spycase2005.html

The City pulled out of the JTTF in 2005 when then-Mayor Tom Potter
decried his inability to supervise officers who had a higher security
clearance than he did. Then after the 2010 FBI sting against Mohamed
Mohamud centering on Pioneer Courthouse Square, the city re-entered its
agreement with the FBI.

https://www.portlandcopwatch.org/PPR54/PJTTF54.html

When Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty was elected, she made getting out of
the JTTF a priority and a resolution was passed allowing case-by-case
participation and requiring the annual reports.

(Not sure why it was easier to find this via the Willamette Week than on
the City's website, but then, it's the City's website.)

https://s3.amazonaws.com/arc-wordpress-client-uploads/wweek/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/30215701/Filed-JTTF-Resolution-FINAL-1.pdf

Quick summary of this year's annual report:

--there are three cases the FBI asked the Bureau to help with, but no
indication at all what the substance is. Even if these are ongoing
investigations, it hardly seems they would be tainted by saying
something like "involving a threat of violence against community members
to advance a political agenda" or something like that.

--Six of the seven cases that were still open in 2022 are detailed:

---Two were referred to the Behavioral Health Unit as non-criminal
offenses (one involving two men, one Black and one white, the other a
white woman)

---Three were closed due to "lack of tangible leads"), all regarding
vandalism (two to houses of worship, one to several downtown buildings).

---The last was a white male who made threats of violence who was not
deemed to pose an actual danger.

The Bureau is not required to list the details of the cases it sends to
the FBI, but continues to do so as a courtesy.

--This year the PPB sent a case about a white male making a threat
against a Portlander over social media. The outcome of this case is not
included.

It's particularly of concern that the PPB offered help to agents spying
on activists trying to block the building of a Liquid Natural Gas
pipeline in Coos Bay (2019)...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/08/fbi-oregon-anti-pipeline-jordan-cove-activists

and the Medford Police continued spying on those activists even after
the pipeline project was scrapped.

https://theintercept.com/2023/11/08/oregon-police-surveillance-protests-activists/

Also some recent articles talked more about cases where the FBI set up
people who had no ability to carry out "terror" plots on their own and
were taken to task in court.

--Four people were ordered released for a fake plot in Newburgh, NY

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/20/newburgh-four-james-cromitie-ordered-released

--More info came out about an 18 year old with autism set up by the FBI

https://theintercept.com/2024/01/10/fbi-sting-isis-autistic-teen/



I hope that's helpful...
dan handelman
peace and justice works/portland copwatch