I received this death threat against me recently on social media. I believe it was a provocation, and if I had reacted with threats of my own, it would have been seen as evidence I was a terrorist. Let me explain.
Sorry for quality: here is transcript. The original post was a joke about what to do when a national guardsman comes to your door, with a picture of a Second Lieutenants insignia. The joke was he would be asking for directions (but it would be during a military occupation). https://imgur.com/gallery/d0k8cfn
Me: “You’re thinking- 2nd Lts- funny- I’m thinking Kent State. Trump called out the military, declared counterterrorism ops on Left. If it was Obama?
Navy officer: “You’re already on borrow time there Skippy. Bye now.”
Me: “borrowed”
Me: “’30 years as a USAF officer, and I said goodbye, clown.’ [Quoting an earlier comment of his to another Imgurian] Doing your oath of office, country, service proud through personal threats I see.”
Navy officer [now deleted]: “Tick tock”
Me: “You’re a 30 year military officer- didn’t make command rank?- care to say more about how I’m “already on borrow time”?
Navy officer: “I will fulfill my oath and defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC… Tick Tock Scooter.”
BTW:My final comments to Navy officer/ on the threat operation are at the bottom of this post.
TLDR; The DOJ has been tasked with finding, and “investigating” domestic terrorists, and AG Barr just designated “Antifa” and “far-Left agitators” as terrorists. Expect social media to be used to provoke, elicit, monitor, and investigate (and “disrupt”) people using “Covid-19 contact tracing technology”. This will likely impact the election in 5 months.
Be very careful liking or commenting on posts provoking violence, denying anyone due process, or advocating far-Left views (whatever that is). Yes, this amounts to censorship and violations of First Amendment free speech.
Issue number One- Tasking of Military Intel to contact tracing protesters.
On the fourth day after the murder of George Floyd, in his second press conference, the Governor of Minnesota announced the deployment of several hundred military personnel to the State- against military tradition as we now know from General Milley’s Washington DC debacle,”to use the technology of Covid-19 contact tracing to trace the contacts, affiliations, and networks” of the “outside agitators”? I was so shocked at militarization I took notes. I haven’t seen any reporting on this at all, since.
It means all your records are being pulled, and dossiers on everyone assembled for review. Yup, you heard it right- if you were even near someone with a record- someone “Antifa” or “far-Left”, whatever those mean, you could be targeted next.
Issue number Two- militarization of counter-protests.
During a teleconference with state Governors, Defense Secretary Esper urged Governors to allow Federal deployment (under rarely-used laws allowing military deployment an insurrection) in order to “dominate the battlespace”. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/national-guard-troops-deployed-white-house-trump-calls/story?id=71004151
It seems Trump had a widespread, violent military action planned against the “insurrection”. Only the state Governors- at least in public- didn’t cooperate. That doesn’t mean some Governors didn’t cooperate in secret. Intel, Spec Ops, and other forces could easily have been given orders for domestic operations similar to the orders they used to infiltrate Iraq and Afghanistan. Also under-reported was Trump’s phone call with Putin just before Trump’s now infamous walk to the Church- after military-assisted non-violent protestor American carnage; it also sure fits with the Russian hybrid warfare- chaos, mistrust, disruption, get Americans fighting ourselves. https://www.axios.com/antifa-protests-trump-8f7519c2-fcc2-4caf-b881-6781ea1fe3df.html
Issue Three; Operations discrediting and disrupting terrorists- politicization of protesters as “outside agitators”, “far-Left terrorists”
The day after President Trump urged Governors to allow military into their states to “dominate” protesters, Attorney General William Barr blamed protests, violence were caused by “lack of faith in the criminal justice system”, (not police violence, lack of justice, systemic racism, agents provocateurs, military using tear gas etc.). He was essentially blaming Democrats, since Democrats don’t trust him, or the DOJ, while most Republicans do.
He said there were three categories of people involved- protesters, looters, and terrorists. This next part is far worse than is being reported. AG Barr then declared “Antifa” and “far-Left agitators” were terrorists, and announced he was re-tasking all the Agencies and Bureaus under his command (Bureau of Prison, FBI, DEA, ATF, Marshals) to domestic counter-terrorism (CT). Ask any intel officer, spec op- or FBI spec agent- about counter-terrorism. It ain’t pretty. The elections are in 5 months; they’re likely the ultimate target.
Issue number Four: Operations discounting the legitimacy of protests, denying racism, blaming the victim, criminalizing protesters and opponents, targeting voters and elections
Barr apparently intends to restore faith in the criminal justice system by treating civil rights leaders and the Left as terrorists, which means counter-terror operations aimed at “discrediting, dividing, degrading, disrupting, and destroying” them just as J Edgar Hoover (and former Miami police Chief Walter Headley) tried to do 60 years ago! CT operations- cointelpro- and counter-terrorism operates on a low burden of evidence. Investigations, and “disruption” can be pursued on reasonable suspicion- less than 50% certainty. Operations include recruitment of friends and family as informants, use of informants- including criminal informants- and agents to “divide, discredit, disrupt, degrade, and destroy” the threat, lies, pretextual interviews, and other operations to “neutralize” the threat. Like getting you fired from your job, false charges, Kompromat and sting operations, provocations, threats, medical tampering, vandalism, you name it.
Issue number five: shift blame, target the Left, sabotage the elections
These operations have been used against the Left, and civil rights activists before- in the 1960s by Hoover’s FBI and domestic operations of the CIA under Nixon, to name two notorious cases. Bush/ Cheney resumed CT ops including mass surveillance against the Left too. It is hard to imagine counter-terrorism operations will not spill over- intentionally or not- into the activities of civil rights activists and the Left organizing the vote, and chill minority comfort with voting. Systematic “investigation” (which also involves “disruption” of threats) of the “Left” 5 months ahead of the election is bound to effect the election .https://www.justsecurity.org/70041/barr-ignores-settled-justice-department-policies-in-run-up-to-2020-elections/
Remember the 2,000 former DOJ officers calling for Barr to resign? For misrepresenting the findings of the Mueller Report, redacting it, refusing Congressional subpoenas, and trying to investigate Trump’s investigators- as well as free Trumps conspirators. Even before this illegal deployment of his “Ministry of Justice” forces as a counter-terrorism/secret police occupying force. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/2-000-former-doj-fbi-officials-call-barr-resign-over-n1204601
Dick Cheney used 9/11as a pretext for targeting the Left with mass surveillance and violence, in the “war on terror”, according to one journalist: “It is what might be called threatism. Powerful, determined, immensely destructive forces—the Soviet Union, radical Islam, the domestic left—want to destroy American freedom and democracy. Complacent politicians, especially liberal ones, are incapable either of understanding this or of summoning the will to combat it. For the small cadre who do understand, it is imperative to use power unusually quietly, expertly, and aggressively.” https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/vice-vs-the-real-dick-cheney Nicholas Berthelot Lemann is the Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Professor of Journalism and Dean Emeritus of the Faculty of Journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Issue number Six: So what of my own being terrorized?
What of the guy threatening me? Yes, I have had years of being targeted, including death threats, attempts, against me and my family, after objecting to torture as a commissioned officer. Here was my reply. This post is also a way to publicize my attack and part of my safety response plan: do you have one too? Maybe you should.
My final comments on the threat operation:
Final after action/ Moderate confidence this was provocation op against me, just one of many ongoing
Condemn use of intel ops against Blacks, Left by Right-wing police, military, Intel is illegal, unconstitutional partisan, part of long history of occupation tactics, discredit, divide, disrupt, destroy.
big part of why US is so backward developmentally compared to wealth, other advanced countries
For your threats of violence against me, and for the many other threats and attempts Condemn you for your participation, you are the inside threat to the Constitution AG Barr says problem is “lack of faith in justice system” then lies about use of tear gas
orders law enforcement into intel role to target Left, “unbelievers” as terrorists we’ve seen Barr types for Centuries- targeting “unbelievers” Catholics, capitalists, oligarchs protecting criminals, elites, super rich, Nixon and Bush authoritarians
I don’t have faith in AG Barr and the current DOJ, especially the FBI, and in unitary Executive I have faith in God, and in the Constitution, the rule of law, democracy, human rights I have faith in restorative justice, that truth will out, in Karma
I have faith my parents’ murderers will be brought to justice, unlike Frank Olsen I have faith my abuse and torture at the hands of “justice” will bring about good
That the killers of MLK, JFK, Bobby Kennedy will be publicized soon and used to bring justice to the FBI and CIA, like the police are now held to account
That the ICC and world opinion will condemn US torture in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and domestically in “disruption” operations against Left, Civil rights, immigrants, children prisoners, poor, minimum wage workers, whistle-blowers, human rights defenders, union organizers, activists.
Thank you, friends. Stay safe. We’ve been through far-Right witch-hunts before.
WorldConsul 