The Biden administration is considering the recruitment of an army of non-government "snoops" to conduct surveillance that would be illegal if done by federal agencies. As part of its war on extremism, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can exploit a “legal work-around” to spy on and potentially entrap Americans who are “perpetuating the ‘narratives’ of concern,” CNN reported last week, not out of opposition but out of glee.
However, federal informant programs routinely degenerate into “dollars for collars” schemes that reward criminals for fabricating crimes that destroy the lives of innocent Americans. Take for example, the FBI’s sweetheart deal for Whitey Bulger, among others. Bulger, who was recently killed in prison, was a notorious FBI informant and Irish crime boss linked to at least 20 murders. The FBI knew of Bulger’s role in the killings but lied in court to protect him, even providing false testimony to send innocent men to prison for life to safeguard Bulger. Don't believe me? Don't care. Look it up!
The DHS plan would “allow the department to circumvent constitutional and legal limits” on surveillance of private citizens and groups. As we all know, federal agencies are prohibited from targeting individuals solely for First Amendment-protected speech and activities. But "hirelings," not sworn in to defend the constitution, would be under no such restraint. Private informants would be capable of fabrications and lies that otherwise would be problematic, if done by federal agents, such as setting up schemes to evade constitutional restrictions on warrantless surveillance.
Nonetheless, DHS is already ramping up a war against an enemy which they have never clearly or competently defined. According to report by Biden’s office of the Director of National Intelligence, “domestic violent extremists” include individuals who who belief that the U.S. government is purposely exceeding its Constitutional authority. One DHS official even bewailed to CNN that "potential domestic extremists" are already moving to encrypted platforms, but also adapting their language so they don’t trigger any kind of red flags. That they are moving into platforms like Wikr, Signal, or the Russian App, Telegram.
Back in 2002, the newly established DHS, warned LEO departments to keep an eye on anyone who “expressed dislike of attitudes and decisions of the U.S. government” as potential terrorists. DHS-funded Fusion Centers in every state have attached the “extremist” tag to gun-rights activists, anti-immigration zealots, and individuals and groups" rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority—even though many of the Founding Fathers shared the same creed. The Pentagon has even taught soldiers that people who attend public protests are guilty of “low-level terrorism.” Yes you heard me right. Now you understand why they are going after the Capitol protesters with a vengeance.
Any new informants hired by the Biden administration will operate under the same "perverse incentives" that have long subverted due process. Informants tend to be rewarded based on how much assets they help government seize or how many people they help prosecutors condemn. Guilty or innocent is irrelevant as a 2019 report by the American Bar Association indicated.
The list of of "persons of concern" is troublesome in itself. The list is too long but I will include some of the most alarming here:
all veterans of the armed forces, members of the Family Research Council, anyone with a patriotic bumper sticker, 2nd Amendment supporters, Libertarians, anti-abortion, anti-LGTBQXY&Z, those worried about crypto-marxism subtly taking over our country, or anyone who believes that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. Yes, you heard me right.
I'll conclude with this. Communist regimes were able to remain in power longer than they should have, despite their ineptitude, by the implementation of vast surveillance programs carried out by informants. Take the East German formidable STASI (Ministerium für Staatssicherheit) or department of state (homeland) security. Every third person you walked by on the streets of East Berlin was a government informant. A true believer or someone who got caught doing something that the state frowned upon, and in order to avoid the consequences, they became informants. You couldn't trust anyone. Not the butcher down the street, your neighbors, your friends, not even your family. No one!
We are moving into a very dangerous time in American history indeed. You can now be considered a “potential terrorist” just because of your military experience, religious or political beliefs, your comments, or affiliations. We are rapidly becoming an Orwellian society. The exact opposite of what our founding fathers intended for America. Today, your opinion and free speech is being cancelled or erased. Tomorrow, it could be you.