Trump Admin Spied On Progressive Orgs, Anti-ICE Protesters

OK, before I reveal this “news,” I need everyone to make sure they’re seated and not currently eating or drinking anything, because I would hate for anyone to fall over or choke on their food in shock at what I’m about to report.

Is everyone settled? OK.

So, it turns out that the same White House administration that has attempted to deport activists just for engaging in ideology it doesn’t like, picks and chooses who has a right to due process, has the non-organization Antifa as a “major terrorist organization,” has lied about arresting the founder of Antifa and his girlfriend, deported a journalist just for covering a “No Kings” protest, and has spent the last year and a half launching failed lawfare cases against political rivals and “leftist” organizations —  launched a secret undercover surveillance operation targeting progressive organizations and anyone who protested President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

Seriously, nobody has passed out due to the sheer magnitude of their disbelief, have they? Good. Let’s continue.

From the Associated Press:

The program, dubbed Operation Puppet Master, was aimed at what officials called a network of conspirators helping “violent opportunists and agitators.” The documents were filed in a case involving 15 people charged by federal prosecutors in June with impeding the crackdown, accusing them of conspiring against the federal government through a range of actions, from throwing ice chunks to setting up blockades.

The government documents were released Thursday in connection with a motion from a defense lawyer in the case, Kevin Riach, who requested that officials disclose more material collected during the investigations.

The reality, according to government documents revealed in court motions, was Department of Homeland Security officers infiltrating meetings in churches, schools and parks that were often simply discussions of constitutionally protected protests.

AP noted, as an example, a Jan. 31 meeting in a Minneapolis library that was infiltrated by an undercover officer identified as “UCA 9833,” according to a report by the Department of Homeland Security. The undercover agent reportedly listened as supporters of a progressive climate group, the Sunrise Movement, discussed sit-ins, de-escalation tactics, and “having a police liaison and safety marshal present during events.”

“During the Action meeting, it was made clear that the Sunrise Movement organization focused on ‘peaceful’ protests,” the agent reported.

Imagine landing a job as an undercover government operative, thinking you’re going to be doing exciting work — like, James Bond-level spy shenanigans — giving you endless stories of heroism and espionage to tell your friends and family, only to find yourself sitting at the library, listening to environmental advocates discuss protests where the most exciting thing likely to happen is the free exchange of really good vegan recipes.

Still, if you asked DHS, Operation Puppet Master was a lot more exciting than that. In fact, the work of the operation was so important and detrimental to homeland security that DHS’s investigative branch created a slide titled “The Conspiracy,” which featured information acquired by surveilling 18 organizations, “from a small Minneapolis bicycle repair collective to the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor groups in the U.S.,” AP reported. In addition to “The Conspiracy” file, the government also obtained years of certain financial records for groups ranging from the Sunrise Movement to major unions, including the Service Employees International Union and the Communications Workers of America.

Again, none of this coming from this administration is particularly shocking, although it certainly should be. After all, this is coming from the side of the political aisle that has claimed to be the party of small government, and one that tosses around buzz phrases like “witch hunt” and “two Americas” whenever they think Trump or any conservative is being treated unfairly by a court of law, or has been subjected to partisan investigations and lawfare.

Every day, the Trump administration proves itself to be the tyrannical government Second Amendment enthusiasts spent years threatening to take up arms against. I mean, Operation Puppet Master is an ironic name for this program, because we know who the puppets are, and we damn sure know who their master is.

“Our union has become the latest target of a corrupt administration that weaponizes the legal process against law-abiding Americans exercising our Constitutional rights,” CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. said in a statement, responding to the revelation of the operation. “We will not be intimidated, and we will not be silenced.”

In a motion filed Thursday, Riach called Puppet Master and a later operation called Project Whipple Shield “broad and irrational investigation(s)” driven by politics and not criminal conduct, which also perfectly describes what Trump, his administration, the GOP, and right-wing media accuse everyone else of doing, while the call is clearly coming from inside the house.

Sad.

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Trump Admin Spied On Progressive Orgs And Anti-ICE Protesters [Op-Ed] was originally published on newsone.com