pre-crime National Disruption & Early Engagement Program arrives in the USA - down it comes - [PEACE]

[Zenaan Harkness]

Freedom has a price.

Free people pay the price for freedom.

The rest are slaves.



We exist with the right to be presumed innocent.

We exist with the right to communicate freely and anonymously.

We exist with the right to travel freely and anonymously.



Science fiction becomes rights-violating reality:

  With Little Fanfare, William Barr Formally Announces Orwellian
  Pre-Crime Program
  https://www.zerohedge.com/political/little-fanfare-william-barr-formally-announces-orwellian-pre-crime-program
  https://www.mintpressnews.com/william-barr-formally-announces-orwellian-pre-crime-program/262504/

  Last Wednesday, U.S. Attorney General William Barr issued a
  memorandum to all U.S. attorneys, law enforcement agencies and top
  ranking Justice Department officials announcing the imminent
  implementation of a new “national disruption and early engagement
  program” aimed at detecting potential mass shooters before they
  commit any crime.

  Per the memorandum, Barr has “directed the Department [of Justice]
  and the FBI to lead an effort to refine our ability to identify,
  assess and engage potential mass shooters before they strike.” The
  Attorney General further described the coming initiative, slated to
  be implemented early next year, as “an efficient, effective and
  programmatic strategy to disrupt individuals who are mobilizing
  towards violence, by all lawful means.” More specific information
  about the program is set to follow the recent memorandum, according
  to Barr, though it is unclear if that forthcoming document will be
  made public.

  ... However, the memorandum differentiates suspected terrorists
  from the individuals this new program is set to pursue. Barr states
  that, unlike many historical terrorism cases, “many of today’s
  public safety threats appear abruptly and with sometimes only
  ambiguous indications of intent” and that many of these individuals
  “exhibit symptoms of mental illness and/or have substance abuse
  problems.”

  Thus, the goal of the program is ostensibly to circumvent these
  issues by finding new and likely controversial ways to determine
  intent. As will be shown later in this report, Barr’s recent
  actions suggest that the way this will be accomplished is through
  increased mass surveillance of everyday Americans and the use of
  algorithms to analyze that bulk data for vaguely defined symptoms
  of “mental illness.”

  Barr also suggested the likely courses of action that would follow
  the identification of a given individual as a “potential mass
  shooter.” The Attorney General notes that in past cases individuals
  deemed a violent or terroristic threat before they commit a crime
  are subject to “detention, court-ordered mental health treatment,
  substance abuse counseling, electronic monitoring”, among other
  measures. Ostensibly, the new program would then apply these same
  practices to individuals in the U.S. that federal authorities
  believe are “mobilizing towards violence,” as Barr put it.

  ...
  Barr went onto say that “warrant-proof encryption is also seriously
  impairing our ability to monitor and combat domestic and foreign
  terrorists.” Barr stated that “smaller terrorist groups and ‘lone
  wolf’ actors” — such as those involved in the series of mass
  shootings in California, Texas and Ohio that occurred in the weeks
  after his speech — “have turned increasingly to encryption.” Barr
  later noted that he was specifically referencing encryption used by
  “consumer products and services such as messaging, smartphones,
  email, and voice and data applications.”

  To overcome the resistance by some private companies — who do not
  want to renege on their right to privacy by giving the government
  backdoor access to their devices — and American consumers, Barr
  tellingly anticipated “a major incident may occur at any time that
  will galvanize public opinion on these issues.” Shortly after this
  speech, several mass shootings, including one at an El Paso Walmart
  took place, which again brought the issue to the forefront of
  political discourse. 

  As MintPress reported at the time, Barr’s uncanny prediction and a
  litany of other oddities related to the El Paso shooting left many
  answered questions about the FBI’s foreknowledge of the event. In
  addition, the tragedy did appear to serve as the very “galvanizing”
  event that Barr had anticipated, as the solution offered by
  President Trump in the wake of the shootings was the creation of a
  government backdoor into encryption as well as calling for the very
  pre-crime system Barr formally announced just last week.

  The pre-crime dragnet takes shape
  ...


[worth reading in its entirety]