WASHINGTON — The government’s increasingly militarized response to nationwide protests has sparked concern among employees of a Pentagon intelligence agency, who fear they might be compelled to help conduct surveillance on Americans participating in demonstrations, sources tell Yahoo News.
Director Ashley, according to that source, responded that “our core mission is foreign intelligence.” That answer, however, did not assuage some DIA employees, who were concerned Ashley’s response did not address whether their work or the agency’s resources might be shifted to support domestic intelligence efforts or whether a task force is indeed being assembled. “It’s very scary,” said the first source.
But the tumult at DIA over that internal coordination group could further inflame tensions within the Pentagon over the department’s proper role in policing the protests that have sprung up nationwide in response to Floyd’s death. It is unclear what the appropriate role for DIA, a foreign intelligence agency, would be in tracking domestic protesters. The Pentagon has long had a role in counterterrorism operations overseas. In recent days, President Trump has compared protesters to terrorists, sweeping up law enforcement, intelligence agencies and the Pentagon in his efforts to disrupt demonstrators’ activities.
“There is currently no federal statute that contains provisions for designation of domestic groups as terrorist organizations, so the president saying it simply doesn’t make it so,” said Nick Rasmussen, a former director of the National Counterterrorism Center who is now a senior director at the McCain Institute.
In a new development on Thursday afternoon, Barr said that a “witches’ brew” of individuals and organizations, including some foreign, have been responsible for instigating violence amid the protests. “We are also seeing foreign actors playing all sides,” he said, without elaborating. According to former intelligence officials, for DIA to be turned inward at Americans, its personnel would need to either be detailed to another agency or supporting a separate lead agency, such as the FBI.
Irvin McCullough, national security analyst for whistleblower nonprofit Government Accountability Project, said that when employees, such as those at DIA, “question the legality of government-sanctioned actions, that’s a call for effective oversight alongside those activities.”
What did those employees think about the domestic surveillance of the Trump campaign
If LE is not using drones for surveillance over protests, I’d be very disappointed.
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