U.S : THEY'RE TRYING TO SILENCE "#BLACK LIVES MATTER" !

When the US government sees our movement they see a terrorist threat — using counter-terrorism units to spy on #BlackLivesMatter activists and intimidate them.

Don't let the FBI silence our movement. Chip in $15 to support this important campaign to expose the full extent of the FBI's spying.

DONATE $15 NOW

In just one week more than 1000 ColorOfChange members donated to help expose the FBI's illegal efforts to spy on activists like me. If just 200 more people donate $15, we will hit our goal of raising $25,000! When we hit that threshold, not only will we be able to overcome any financial obstacles to filing these crucial FOIA requests, but we'll be able to fight the FBI in court if they refuse to hand the documents over.

Don't let the FBI silence our movement. Chip in $15 to support this important campaign to expose the full extent of the FBI's spying.

Let's get free,

Alicia

_________________________________________________

Dear friend, 

Two years ago, my team and I created #BlackLivesMatter to address anti-Black racism and state sanctioned violence against our communities. It is an affirmation of the humanity of Black people and an homage to our resilience in the face of deadly oppression. Our movement is a fight for basic human rights, dignity and freedom. It is rooted in a deep and abiding love for Black people.

But when the US government looks at me and our movement, they see a terrorist threat.

The FBI, DHS and local police departments have been monitoring the social media accounts of activists like me, and have even tried to intimidate activists at public events. They say they use the information they get to develop "threat assessments" and provide "situational awareness" —but this is code for surveillance of lawful, First Amendment protected political speech.¹

What we currently know about the government’s surveillance of the Black Lives Matter movement is just a small fraction of their actual surveillance. We are going to do everything we can to expose illegal surveillance tactics by the FBI, DHS and local police forces.

Chip in $15 to fund our campaign to expose the FBI’s surveillance of #BlackLivesMatter activists, organizers and protestors.

This surveillance serves not only to keep tabs on activists, but also to deter them from pushing forward. Surveillance is a tool of fear. It is a tactic to reinforce White supremacy. These agencies are targeting activists of color with their counter-terrorism units.² Peaceful protests, vigils, and community organizing should not be treated as national security threats by our government, and yet they are.

We all know this isn’t new though. Once upon a time, according to the FBI, Martin Luther King, Jr. was “the most dangerous Negro for the future of this nation.” They did everything they could to stop our movement in its tracks, including using information they obtained by spying to turn leaders against one another through the infamous COINTELPRO program.³ We cannot let that happen again.

Will you help us stop this from happening? Let's expose the illegal surveillance practices of the FBI and DHS, using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). FOIA forces the government to turn over documents they're keeping on protests and movement leaders.

ColorOfChange will be filing FOIAs on my and others’ behalf to fully expose the government sanctioned surveillance of our movement — not just nationally, but locally in places like Ferguson, Chicago, Oakland and New York City.

Chip in $15 to expose the FBI’s illegal surveillance of #BlackLivesMatter and other liberation movements!

Normally the FOIA process is relatively inexpensive but — perhaps unsurprisingly — many journalists and groups have hit major financial roadblocks when it comes to uncovering the truth about movement surveillance. Ferguson, for example, is charging ‘nearly 10 times’ a government employee’s salary’ for FOIA requests.⁴ We need your help to offset costs so we can find out what they’re hiding.

Black people are dying in the streets daily while our federal government refuses to track police shootings and the group identified as the biggest terror threat to the United States: white extremists.⁵ Instead of addressing police brutality, the FBI is monitoring and trying to intimidate Black activists. Instead of working to prevent the next Dylann Roof, the DHS is monitoring and trying to block justice movements.

We have too many fights to win and too much on the line to let our movement come under attack!

Donate $15 now, and help us pull back the curtain on the government’s spying of civil rights activists.

Thanks and Peace,

Alicia

  

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References:

1. “ At Last Night’s Solidarity March, the NYPD ‘Came Out Swinging’,” The Nation, 04-30-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5225?t=9&akid=4896.1942551.zGLp0P

2. “EXCLUSIVE: FEDS REGULARLY MONITORED BLACK LIVES MATTER SINCE FERGUSON,” The Intercept, 7-24-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5394?t=11&akid=4896.1942551.zGLp0P

3. "THE DANGERS OF DOMESTIC SPYING BY FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT: A Case Study on FBI Surveillance of Dr. Martin Luther King," ACLU, January 2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5395?t=13&akid=4896.1942551.zGLp0P

4. "Ferguson Charging ‘Nearly 10 Times’ a Gov’t Employee’s Salary for FOIA Requests," Mediaite, 9-24-2014
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5396?t=15&akid=4896.1942551.zGLp0P

5. "White Americans Are Biggest Terror Threat in U.S.: Study," NBC News, 6-24-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5224?t=17&akid=4896.1942551.zGLp0P

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