FBI report claims anti-capitalist graffiti could indicate plans for violence

From Prism  by Glen Stellmacher 

An FBI counterterrorism report obtained by Prism describes tactics of “anarchist violent extremists” that can be reported to federal authorities

The FBI says that anti-capitalist graffiti can indicate a mobilization to violence and can be reported to the bureau, according to a counterterrorism report obtained by Prism through a public records request.

The public safety awareness report, dated Jan. 30, states that “anarchist violent extremists,” dubbed AVEs by the FBI, “pose [a] persistent public safety threat.” Among the activities the report claims are “potential indicators of AVE mobilization to violence” are “creating anti-capitalist, anti-fascist, anti-government, or anti-law enforcement graffiti,” which could necessitate law enforcement action. 

The report, which is intended for local, state, and other law enforcement agencies, was produced by the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division and its Office of Partner Engagement, which maintains the bureau’s relationships with local law enforcement. One agency that disseminated the report, the Washington State Fusion Center, shared it to its own email distribution list with the tags terrorism, ISIS, material support, and violent extremists.

In addition to graffiti, the FBI highlights three other potential indicators of violence: “conducting pre-operational surveillance of government personnel or buildings, law enforcement personnel or facilities, critical infrastructure, or symbols of capitalism”; “making claims of or calling for criminal action against business, government, or law enforcement entities on extremist websites”; and “seeking and acquiring materials to construct” improvised explosive devices or improvised incendiary devices.

“No single indicator should be the sole basis for a determination of criminal activity and may include constitutionally protected activities,” the report says.

The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Intelligence reports like this lead to law enforcement viewing ordinary people and activities, like ‘lawful donations’ to activists, as threats,” Spencer Reynolds, a former senior intelligence and counterterrorism lawyer with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), told Prism in a statement. Reynolds is now senior counsel with the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund. “This thinking justifies criminalizing people for speaking up, in keeping with COINTELPRO tactics to discredit the Black civil rights movement.”