The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund reports: "FBI documents just obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) pursuant to the PCJF's Freedom of Information Act demands reveal that from its inception, the FBI treated the Occupy movement as a potential criminal and terrorist threat."

The FBI and other federal agencies monitored Occupy from the beginning. (photo: Occupy Portland)

FBI Secret Documents Reveal Nationwide Occupy Monitoring

By The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund

25 December 12

BI documents just obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) pursuant to the PCJF's Freedom of Information Act demands reveal that from its inception, the FBI treated the Occupy movement as a potential criminal and terrorist threat even though the agency acknowledges in documents that organizers explicitly called for peaceful protest and did "not condone the use of violence" at occupy protests.

The PCJF has obtained heavily redacted documents showing that FBI offices and agents around the country were in high gear conducting surveillance against the movement even as early as August 2011, a month prior to the establishment of the OWS encampment in Zuccotti Park and other Occupy actions around the country.

"This production, which we believe is just the tip of the iceberg, is a window into the nationwide scope of the FBI's surveillance, monitoring, and reporting on peaceful protestors organizing with the Occupy movement," stated Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Executive Director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF). "These documents show that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are treating protests against the corporate and banking structure of America as potential criminal and terrorist activity. These documents also show these federal agencies functioning as a de facto intelligence arm of Wall Street and Corporate America."

"The documents are heavily redacted, and it is clear from the production that the FBI is withholding far more material. We are filing an appeal challenging this response and demanding full disclosure to the public of the records of this operation," stated Heather Benno, staff attorney with the PCJF.

As early as August 19, 2011, the FBI in New York was meeting with the New York Stock Exchange to discuss the Occupy Wall Street protests that wouldn't start for another month. By September, prior to the start of the OWS, the FBI was notifying businesses that they might be the focus of an OWS protest.

The FBI's Indianapolis division released a "Potential Criminal Activity Alert" on September 15, 2011, even though they acknowledged that no specific protest date had been scheduled in Indiana. The documents show that the Indianapolis division of the FBI was coordinating with "All Indiana State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies," as well as the "Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center," the FBI "Directorate of Intelligence" and other national FBI coordinating mechanisms.

Documents show the spying abuses of the FBI's "Campus Liaison Program" in which the FBI in Albany and the Syracuse Joint Terrorism Task Force disseminated information to "sixteen (16) different campus police officials," and then "six (6) additional campus police officials." Campus officials were in contact with the FBI for information on OWS. A representative of the State University of New York at Oswego contacted the FBI for information on the OWS protests and reported to the FBI on the SUNY-Oswego Occupy encampment made up of students and professors.

Documents released show coordination between the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and corporate America. They include a report by the Domestic Security Alliance Council (DSAC), described by the federal government as "a strategic partnership between the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the private sector," discussing the OWS protests at the West Coast ports to "raise awareness concerning this type of criminal activity." The DSAC report shows the nature of secret collaboration between American intelligence agencies and their corporate clients - the document contains a "handling notice" that the information is "meant for use primarily within the corporate security community. Such messages shall not be released in either written or oral form to the media, the general public or other personnel…" (The DSAC document was also obtained by the Northern California ACLU which has sought local FBI surveillance files.)

Naval Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS) reported to the DSAC on the relationship between OWS and organized labor for the port actions. The NCIS describes itself as "an elite worldwide federal law enforcement organization" whose "mission is to investigate and defeat criminal, terrorist, and foreign intelligence threats to the United States Navy and Marine Corps ashore, afloat and in cyberspace." The NCIS also assists with the transport of Guantanamo prisoners.

DSAC issued several tips to its corporate clients on "civil unrest" which it defines as ranging from "small, organized rallies to large-scale demonstrations and rioting." It advised to dress conservatively, avoid political discussions and "avoid all large gatherings related to civil issues. Even seemingly peaceful rallies can spur violent activity or be met with resistance by security forces. Bystanders may be arrested or harmed by security forces using water cannons, tear gas or other measures to control crowds."

The FBI in Anchorage reported from a Joint Terrorism Task Force meeting of November 3, 2011, about Occupy activities in Anchorage.

A port Facility Security Officer in Anchorage coordinated with the FBI to attend the meeting of protestors and gain intelligence on the planning of the port actions. He was advised to request the presence of an Anchorage Police Department official to also attend the event. The FBI Special Agent told the undercover private operative that he would notify the Joint Terrorism Task Force and that he would provide a point of contact at the Anchorage Police Department.

The Jacksonville, Florida FBI prepared a Domestic Terrorism briefing on the "spread of the Occupy Wall Street Movement" in October 2011. The intelligence meeting discussed Occupy venues identifying "Daytona, Gainesville and Ocala Resident Agency territories as portions …where some of the highest unemployment rates in Florida continue to exist."

The Tampa, Florida FBI "Domestic Terrorism" liaison participated with the Tampa Police Department's monthly intelligence meeting in which Occupy Lakeland, Occupy Polk County and Occupy St. Petersburg were discussed. They reported on an individual "leading the Occupy Tampa" and plans for travel to Gainesville for a protest planning meeting, as well as on Veterans for Peace plans to protest at MacDill Air Force Base.

The Federal Reserve in Richmond appears to have had personnel surveilling OWS planning. They were in contact with the FBI in Richmond to "pass on information regarding the movement known as occupy Wall Street." There were repeated communications "to pass on updates of the events and decisions made during the small rallies and the following information received from the Capital Police Intelligence Unit through JTTF (Joint Terrorism Task Force)."

The Virginia FBI was collecting intelligence on the OWS movement for dissemination to the Virginia Fusion Center and other Intelligence divisions.

The Milwaukee division of the FBI was coordinating with the Ashwaubenon Public Safety division in Green Bay Wisconsin regarding Occupy.

The Memphis FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force met to discuss "domestic terrorism" threats, including, "Aryan Nations, Occupy Wall Street, and Anonymous."

The Birmingham, AL division of the FBI sent communications to HAZMAT teams regarding the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The Jackson, Mississippi division of the FBI attended a meeting of the Bank Security Group in Biloxi, MS with multiple private banks and the Biloxi Police Department, in which they discussed an announced protest for "National Bad Bank Sit-In-Day" on December 7, 2011.

The Denver, CO FBI and its Bank Fraud Working Group met and were briefed on Occupy Wall Street in November 2011. Members of the Working Group include private financial institutions and local area law enforcement.

Jackson, MS Joint Terrorism Task Force issued a "Counterterrorism Preparedness" alert. This heavily redacted document includes the description, "To document…the Occupy Wall Street Movement."

You can read the FBI - OWS documents below where we have uploaded them in searchable format for public viewing.

The PCJF filed Freedom of Information Act demands with multiple federal law enforcement agencies in the fall of 2011 as the Occupy crackdown began. The FBI initially attempted to limit its search to only one limited record keeping index. Recognizing this as a common tactic used by the FBI to conduct an inadequate search, the PCJF pressed forward demanding searches be performed of the FBI headquarters as well as FBI field offices nationwide.

The PCJF will continue to push for public disclosure of the government's spy files and will release documents as they are obtained.

Click here to see the FBI documents obtained by the PCJF.

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-57 # brux 2012-12-25 14:08

I don't really have a problem with the government monitoring political groups ... it is all in how they do it, where the data goes and how it is used. There are a lot of potential problems and crimes that can happen from political groups ... and may I remind people that the government also monitored/monit ors the TEA Party as well as other groups.

The government should have hands off any individual expressing his view peacefully, that is our right, but when it comes to groups, strange things can happen. Look at how the National Socialists in Germany ... turned from a leftist idea to a right-wing terrorist organization when Hitler and his backers got control of it.

The people should benefit more from the information the government finds.

+19 # fliteshare 2012-12-26 02:32

I consider it proof of cowardice.

+27 # futhark 2012-12-26 03:11

Government monitoring implies that there is something potentially illegal going on within a political group, even in the absence of any overt evidence to that effect. The monitoring inevitably leads to self-censorship by group participants, violating the principle of the sovereignty of the people. The rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights are not simply good things we enjoy; they are essential to the preservation of a society that can adapt to new challenges peacefully by generating, propagating, and implementing new ideas.

-3 # Mannstein 2012-12-26 19:15

The biggest terrorists in WWII were the british and American carpet bombers. You don't know terror until you've been bombed.

+4 # Elusive Pimpernel 2012-12-26 19:52

Quoting Mannstein:

The biggest terrorists in WWII were the british and American carpet bombers. You don't know terror until you've been bombed.

ummmm, have you heard of the "London Blitz"? 42,000 people were killed in Britain.

+11 # PRB 2012-12-26 22:52

If your defnition of "monitoring" includes pepper-spraying unresisting, unarmed demonstrators, confiscating or breaking cameras if anyone attempts to document what's going on, surrounding demonstrators and arresting them instead of allowing them a chance to disperse, and pulling random people out of the crowd and beating them, then I guess it's all good. Mine doesn't.

All of these things have happened, repeatedly, since Occupy began in fall 2011.

+56 # treadlightly 2012-12-25 14:51

This is not news to me. It was obvious that there was nationwide surveillance and a well coordinated attempt to shut the movement down. Remember when they simultaneously moved on occupy encampments in several states within hours of each other. The scale is a bit surprising though. Here is the part that most disturbs me: the document contains a "handling notice" that the information is "meant for use primarily within the corporate security community. Such messages shall not be released in either written or oral form to the media, the general public or other personnel…"
Words fail me after that. It reads like a declaration of war against the American people who are not a part of this insane military corporate infrastructure. How do we respond to this? My own family is divided by this. One half has been on Uncle Sam's payroll for decades (Lockheed Martin) and the other half are just private citizens who work and pay taxes.

+33 # brux 2012-12-25 20:54

There was intrusive government monitoring and more in the 60's. Every group had planted government agents, often trying to foment radical or violent action to discredit these groups and ideas. This is the antithesis of democracy ... we need to come to a consensus in America if we all believe that democracy is still possible, if so how and under what conditions, and if not ... what on Earth do we replace it with?

+7 # PRB 2012-12-26 23:14

I am 66 years old and participated in many demonstrations during the 1960s. I have not forgotten the police violence at the 1968 Democratic Convention or the shootings at Jackson State and Kent State. Those things were horrifying, and a lot of people were horrified and spoke out.

What's happening now is quieter but more pervasive and systematic. I never felt unsafe attending a demonstration in those days. Almost always, despite those horrible exceptions, they'd leave you alone if there was no threat of violence, and if you refused to disperse they'd arrest you without roughing you up. Nowadays, that's not true (a man was beaten within an inch of his life in Oakland, remember?), yet few have objected.

Surveillance technology is also far more sophisticated than it was by then, and therefore more easily subject to abuse.

I think 9/11 has driven the country mad for over a decade. Just say "terrorism" and people will put up with anything, even though you're far more likely to be killed by a drunk driver or a lunatic with a gun than by a terrorist.

+5 # PRB 2012-12-27 10:55

I've argued a lot with Brux, but his posts have provoked some thought. My comment above too easily forgets the naked violence that confronted civil rights protestors in the 50s and 60s, or union organizers in the early 20th century.

So yes, state sponsored or condoned violence against fellow citizens may have been worse in the past. But the intimidation and marginalization of dissent seems to me far more chillingly effective now than it used to be. I think this is owing to more advanced surveillance technology and, as I've said elsewhere in this thread, the 9/11 attacks and their political exploitation as a tool for frightening people into accepting the unacceptable.

+29 # SMoonz 2012-12-26 01:39

A couple of articles have appeared here in RSN at least a year ago pointing out the fact that Occupy movements were being shut down thanks to the Federal govt.

Investigative articles have shown that there was a coordinated effort by Homeland Sec, FBI, police and mayors of major cities.
http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/316-20/8432-occupy-crackdowns-coordinated-with-federal-law-enforcement-officials

These articles showed that Cabinet members withing the administration were well aware and ordered the shutdown of Occupy.

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/441-occupy/10625-focus-dhs-documents-show-role-in-occupy-crackdown

How anyone can say that Obama was always on the side of OWS is really naive.

+12 # Grout4cake 2012-12-26 07:43

He's not even on the side of Democrats

+8 # ritaague 2012-12-26 06:33

Yes, treadlightly, a ",,,war against the American people..." it is, and, sorry but true, it's been a longtime coming and in place, this POLICE STATE AIN'T GREAT of ours.

Great, truth telling articles such as this are absolutely vital if any hope for change is to occur, along with loads and loads of courage filled, peaceful activism.

Lots and lots of taking off the blinders, and getting upped all the courage and determination in and out of us that we can muster. And then, harder than hard work we the sheeple must do to Occupy Liberty and Justice for All and...

UNDO THE COUP !

-1 # babaregi 2012-12-25 19:15

Godwin's law (also known as Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies or Godwin's Law of Nazi Analogies[1][2] ) is an argument made by Mike Godwin in 1990[2] that has become an Internet adage. It states: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."[2][3] In other words, Godwin observed that, given enough time, in any online discussion—rega rdless of topic or scope—someone inevitably makes a comparison to Hitler or the Nazis.

+9 # brux 2012-12-25 20:56

Yeah, that's real funny, but when you think about it the point of it is to unlearn the lessons we should have learned from Hitler and WWII because of some people with bad judgement that make stupid vapid analogies ... it should not discredit thoughtful relevant ideas.

+1 # Mannstein 2012-12-26 19:18

Yes indeed and they conveniently forget Stalinism and his mass murdering willing executioners. Go figure that one out and you may actually come closer to knowing what's wrong with the West.

+46 # Michael_K 2012-12-25 19:31

"Fascism is the marriage of the Corporations with the State" (Mussolini)

+56 # PRB 2012-12-25 21:18

@brux

Uh, Bill of Rights, Amendment I:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

This clearly means that peaceful assembly is not to be treated as illegal. That a peaceful demonstration can sometimes be exploited by provocateurs is not an excuse for treating it as an act of terrorism or criminality. Too bad the only amendment we hear about nowadays is the next one.

-26 # brux 2012-12-26 04:01

You are not taking my comments as they were meant, and monitoring is not interfering with freedom of speech or assembly.

+2 # Bill Clements 2012-12-25 22:08

You think this is chilling? Read this article in Seattle's The Stranger, Christmas in Prison

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/christmas-in-prison/Content?oid=15565849

+5 # Michael_K 2012-12-26 00:28

The "Constitutional scholar" in the White House obviously never read it as far as the First Amendment.

+9 # cordleycoit 2012-12-26 02:21

Everyone's a terrorist every one's a criminal. Big Brother has us in his sights all of us.

-11 # Tigre1 2012-12-26 03:10

What is this, a blog for mouth-breathing kindergartners? Of #!@*!! course the FBI monitors. EVERY GOVERNMENT HAS ALWAYS DONE SO. FACT: Elizabethan England...the records are pretty clear. Even Marlowe worked for the domestic spying services.

Kautilya's Arthashastra, several thousand years old, details pretty much up-to-date spy coverage on the populace, and as I recall, has methods of drawing off revolutionary energy by SETTING UP revolutionary "leaders" and their groups...religi ous, educational, whatever...to attract disaffected persons where they can be monitored IN GROUPS rather than singly.

Heck, even King David in the BIBLE had spies in the populace. DOESN'T ANYBODY READ ANY MORE?

and we have the ANSWER! of course nobody knows their history, at least because of our more NEW electronic distractions, with NO historical records in their brand-new cases...therefo re ignorant clods such as yourselves think every FBI spying case...part of THEIR specific duties, by the way...YOU clods think this is NEW!!!

Deliver me from stupid contemporaries, ALL of you, mostly! gutless, ignorant, frightened of people with no power, amazed at jerks with no talent except having rich, hotel-owning parents, for instance...Amer icans have become VERY ignorant and hardly worthy of respect by adults.

Oh my goodness! the FBI is spying!!!!

Talk to your grandfather who lived thru the sixties, children. GO AWAY until you actually LEARN something.

+4 # treadlightly 2012-12-26 08:33

ignorant clods such as yourselves

Dude! That's pretty cold man. This arrogant condescending attitude will not stand. Merry December 26th.

+4 # Anarchist 23 2012-12-26 09:39

Oh please, Tigre1. You are quite correct on history but one would think after all these eons that we could come up with something better. In a way we have-24/7 monitoring of everyone while simultaneously destroying their planet's ecosystems, their economic and spiritual lives, so a few rich violent hominids can have thier way. And yes, I will bring up the Nazis since I read history too. I suggest you read the chapter in Wm Shirer's book 'The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich', the chapter on the Nazification of Germany, which should give you some interesting parallels to think over-what happened to people in MI for example. And if you don't think people's speech is curtailed, see how many people around you these days feel free to speak their minds unless it is to agree with the 'Official History.' I am no fan of Obama, but I am no fan of any of the presidents for a long, long time. I saw the best two possibilities assassinated. We are facing what could well be the most extensive system for totalitarian rule yet seen on this planet. It will be interesting if unpleasant to see it unfold.

-1 # Mannstein 2012-12-26 19:23

Do you also read what went on under Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, etc. or are you suffering from historical amnesia like the rest of the left wingers on this blog?

0 # Eldon J. Bloedorn 2012-12-28 00:22

You have some good ideas. Yet, a good mental bath would also help your ideas become more sophisticated.

+2 # MainStreetMentor 2012-12-26 04:01

Spying is “clandestine observation” and has been condoned and practiced in history by nearly every authoritative person one might care to name. Contributors to THIS forum are being monitored as well. Spying is to be expected … however, resultant actions of such procedure is wherein potential dangers lay. Since the Bush/Cheney kakistocracy, the act of spying has escalated rapidly and has led to, been involved with, or has been an enabling factor in legislative construction which undermined our Constitution. I don’t believe spying in and of itself is the issue, but rather what we allow it to incubate, giving rise to birth of miscreant actions.

0 # Michael_K 2012-12-26 14:54

You say "authoritative" instead of "authoritarian" ..

+2 # Elusive Pimpernel 2012-12-26 20:09

Spying is not ok when the targets are innocent civilians.

The spying and disarming of America and other countries is only the beginning of international globalization run like a police state.

The Patriot Act was a tool waiting in the wings to appear out of nowhere as soon as the dynamite went off in the twin towers. Its main purpose (the Patriot Act) is to impose more restrictions on rights of citizens and give greater powers to the police and the President. One needs to only ask the simple question, "why" are they ratcheting up the laws? The answer is, they want to control the population.

+6 # mrbadexample 2012-12-26 05:03

So if the FBI knew about Occupy a month before the first sleeping bag appeared at Zuccotti Park, what does that say about their infiltration of the early leadership? ADBUSTERS had issued a call for action over the summer of 2011, but they had done that before. Was the leadership of the Occupy movement co-opted early on and guided to some extent by informants and provocateurs?

BTW, the movement organizers who preferred to keep OWS leaderless may have had a point--page 61 of the document shows a plan for identifying, photographing and assassinating leaders.

+2 # Tigre1 2012-12-26 06:36

Stay under the radaz, "Don't follow leaders, watch the parking meters"...and you might seriously want to consider personal 'change of base'...lots of world out there.

0 # garliccrabs 2012-12-26 06:15

of course they were monitoring the OWS movement.. so ??.. in helping with the movement here in miami, fla., with the exception of a few very BRIGHT YOUNG MEN,& WOMEN this movement here was going " nowhere in a hurry ".. they were so discombalted !!!..but anxious to make a difference in our society..our phones were monitered / tapped as well.. WE KNEW !!..CHAIRWOMEN CONCERNED CITIZENS COMMITTEE, INC. LIBERTY CITY, MIAMI,FLA.

+5 # treadlightly 2012-12-26 08:44

Excellent..Than k you for your service..We never got off the ground here. Our camp was downtown right across the street from B of A in a public park. Cops found an excuse to arrest several people for "Tent violations" and that was that. This area runs on paychecks from the likes of Lockheed Martin and Textron so finding support here is a bitch. We have just begun to fight. And by fight I mean peaceful protest..lol

+2 # Kootenay Coyote 2012-12-26 07:52

COINTELPRO redivivus.

+4 # Buddha 2012-12-26 08:05

Threaten the status quo, which is vastly enriching some very powerful special interests, and you will have the full weight of the government, which is their tool, arrayed against you. Now watch as stuff like the NDAA is passed, eroding our ability to peacefully assemble and protest without being detained indefinitely...

+3 # wrknight 2012-12-26 08:27

This should not come as any surprise to anyone. The FBI considers anyone who is not an FBI agent is a criminal, and anyone who farts in public is a terrorist. What do you expect from a bunch of paranoid fascists?

+4 # cycleman60 2012-12-26 09:14

Occupiers need to fight back. If there is a national attemnpt to suppress what this movements stood for, and with the FBI and Home Land security involved, then its time to stand up to this outrageous interference of rights to speak out. Again big business is controlling federal agencies.

+1 # tbcrawford 2012-12-26 11:46

Perhaps the "end of the world" rumor is legitimate--we have already lost so much of not just our "American Dream" but with more loss to come for the planet and humanity. "Occupy" for me provided hope, but naively, I ignored the power of money and self-interest. We must speak out and more important, live out, our hopes. The least we can do as individuals is commit to the truth in all things.

+2 # charsjcca 2012-12-26 19:44

Interesting. I thought everyone knew that the surveillance of Americans was a routine event. Anyone associated with organized labor, the civil rights movement and the student movement knew this was the price one had to pay. I do not know that I have talked on a secure telephone, other a pay phone, since 1963.

+3 # Elusive Pimpernel 2012-12-27 05:56

Quoting charsjcca:

Interesting. I thought everyone knew that the surveillance of Americans was a routine event.

I don't think "everyone" knows much about the acceleration of the spying going on. We are slowly learning to accept video surveillance as a common thing in our society, and after 911 the government has many believing that there is a terrorist under everyone's bed. So, the government creates a scared and paranoid society in order to justify increased surveillance of the citizens and we seem to want it for our own good.

That premise is totally based on deliberate false information by the government and the ignorance of many to search for truth beyond what the government and media spew out as "fact".

+1 # charsjcca 2012-12-26 19:53

Your only out is to boycott the economic system and allow the total structure to collapse. Otherwise suffer.

+2 # Elusive Pimpernel 2012-12-26 20:04

AS I read posts here and in other forums, it strikes me as ironic that there are two groups here who use name calling such as "Left winger" and "Pro NRA Conservative" etc.etc.

The irony that most people don't get, is we are all on the same side. The "Left wingers" want to change the government and its corrupt cabal membership, and the "Pro Gun" group, dares the same government to take their guns away. They, the pro gun group, are arming themselves to the hilt in anticipation of a soon to come police state.

In the meantime, we have two groups who should be working together, not fighting one another while the powers that be, New World Order, is having a great time watching from the sidelines as we attack each other.

Folks, these are time when we all need to unify and set aside our differences because we have a common enemy, our government and its police arms that have some sinister plans for all of us, regardless of party affiliations and regardless of our liberal or conservative standings. Fusion centers are collecting data on all of us, Occupy groups, and NRA pro gun groups.

We are under scrutiny regardless of our political affiliations, and that my friends is a sure sign of big brother spying on all of us and not on the REAL terrorists. Thats because the "terrorists" are made up so that our laws can be cranked to unbearable limits.

Its time to join forces and not let the FEDS divide us!

+1 # Third_stone 2012-12-28 07:22

The terrorists mobilized to threaten the occupy groups who came into the streets to petition their government. Apparently they are more afraid of the citizens that they were of the Saudi airliner hijackers. This is a story of frightened and small minded men who have gained power far beyond their ability to think, so miss the real threats to the nation. This is the same story as Bradley Manning's charges of "Aiding the enemy". At first I thought they were miswording it since the people of the nation are the only ones he aided, but apparently law enforcement is all in agreement now that you and I are the enemy.

0 # Michael_K 2012-12-28 09:44

There once was a prerequisite of some sort of evidentiary data or "probable cause" before any permissible domestic spying on citizens. This has fallen by the wayside under the pretense of "fighting terrorism".

It is a sham. The people should not allow it. But "the people" are far too stupid to lift even a finger defending their rights.

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