Petition Asks For White House To Declare Copblock And Others 'Domestic Terrorists'

from the get-the-DHS-on-it! dept

In what I'm sure is a huge coincidence, a petition at We the People was submitted Sept. 19th asking for the government to label "Copblock.org" (and any variation) members as "domestic terrorists." [h/t Police State USA] This seems to follow news of Austin police officer Justin Berry's designation of these organizations as "domestic extremists" far too closely to be just some sort of random happening -- more or less within five days of the information first being exposed.

Here's the stupidity in full:

CopBlock.Org and its affiliates on social media are often applauding and encouraging violence towards law enforcement officers and their families. At times, they are even directly causing said violence in their communities, and then supporting each other online or in person for their illegal activities. I believe that many people who are active in this organization are committing terroristic acts by inspiring, inciting, or taking parts in acts that are designed to take human lives in cold blood for political gain. The statements made by this organization and its affiliates should be taken very seriously by local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, and proper action should be taken to combat this. I believe the US DHS and FBI should monitor and investigate this Organization.

Last things first, the DHS/FBI probably already monitor groups like this to a certain extent. Both work closely with local law enforcement and if local officers are complaining about being filmed or otherwise "harassed" by civilians, chances are certain reports have been kicked up the ladder to agencies with bigger budgets, more manpower and (especially in the case of the DHS) plenty of spare time to collect and collate information on Constitutionally-protected activities.

Next, there's the unfounded accusations that these organizations are "directly causing violence." As I've noted earlier, police accountability organizations draw more than their share of people who can't articulate their objections to law enforcement tactics beyond vague threats and misspelled swear words, but those running these organizations (along with a majority of their members) do not encourage violence towards law enforcement members. Holding someone accountable for their actions does not mean acting as judge, jury and executioner.

"...take human lives in cold blood for political gain." I can't even. Pushing for accountability through activism isn't a political sport. Law enforcement agencies aren't partisan entities. They don't check voter registrations before ordering people to stop filming or restraining someone into a coma/morgue. That's not how this works. At all.

The petition stills needs ~95,000 signatures before it can be officially ignored, but at the rate it's going, it will never get there, despite pushes from law enforcement advocacy groups. About all that can be done with this information is a bit of data mining to determine which state harbors the most resentment towards police accountability.

What this does definitely show is that there's a subset of law enforcement (and their supporters) that find the activities of these groups threatening, and are looking for any route at all to shut them down. The percentage of those seeking this is probably no larger than the subset of Copblock members who actively wish injury and death on law enforcement members. Just as Copblock shouldn't be judged by a vocal minority, neither should law enforcement advocates. To most, these groups are just another part of the job. Some handle the extra attention better than others but there's no concerted effort being made to shut them down.

Filed Under: copblock, petitions, police, white house