North Carolina 'Plain Clothes Officers' covertly spied on "Moral Monday" Protesters

[KoKo]

'Plain Clothes' Officers Spied on Moral Monday Organizers
'Murmur of disbelief' in court after police chief's testimony

- Jacob Chamberlain, staff writer


A woman is arrested as protesters rally during “Moral Monday” demonstrations at the General Assembly in Raleigh, North Carolina, Monday, July 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

North Carolina police covertly spied on protesters who were part of the widespread 'Moral Monday' demonstrations that shook the state this summer, according to testimony given at a trial for a protester who was arrested in an act of civil disobedience.

At the hearing of Saladin Muammad, a U.S. Army veteran and labor activist arrested on May 13 while at a Moral Monday protest, General Assembly Police Chief Jeff Weaver testified that he received advanced intelligence reports from officers about protesters' plans ahead of events in which arrests were made.

Raleigh Police Department Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown confirmed some of Weaver's statements to the Associated Press Monday night.

Deck-Brown told AP over the phone that a plain-clothes officer attended two meetings at the Davie Street Presbyterian Church on May 6 and May 13 at the height of the Moral Monday protests.

"The purpose of the officer’s presence was to determine how many people were expecting to be arrested to allow the department to gauge the sufficiency of the logistical support, such as transport vehicles, available at the Legislative Building," Deck-Brown told AP.

As Weaver testified that his department had targeted “anarchists” in the region and collected intelligence on them, there was "a murmur of disbelief among the many lawyers attending the Wake County District Court hearing," the News & Observer reports.

Weaver said his officers, who worked with Raleigh city police, scanned the many Moral Monday rallies for who they believed might be anarchists.

State NAACP president Rev. William Barber said that news of the Raleigh police behavior was concerning.

"It's not like we were planning a bank heist," Barber said after learning of the surveillance. "Mostly what we did was pray and sing."

"I am upset they felt they needed to infiltrate the way they did," Johnson said. "There was nothing to hide."

Over 940 protesters were arrested over the course of 13 consecutive Moral Monday protests, with more Moral Mondays promised in the future. The protests arose in widespread anger over a Republican-led take-over of North Carolina legislature, which has included massive budget cuts in the form of attacks on public education, voting rights and labor rights alongside generous tax breaks for the wealthy.

_______________________
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/10/08-8

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. yep. praying peaceful protesters - so much more dangerous than the deranged republicans....

[KoKo]

2. K&R! Watch it and WEEP! n/t

[KoKo]

3. Kick for the Night Crowd...NC wasn't Fundie...but they TOOK IT OVER!

Read and Weep.

[Fumesucker]

4. Hmm.. Where is the "If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear" crowd?

[KoKo]

5. NC deserves SOME RESPECT! We were Big Factor in '08 Pushing Obama Across the Line!

To see so little support for us here on DU is intersting.

What do you suppose as a NC'linian Transplant that I should take from this LACK OF SUPPORT for NC for OBAMA for our plight here these days after we managed to TURN "NC" BLUE to Put OBAMA OVER THE TOP!

We are now sitting here...wondering ...waiting... Yeah ...Eric Holder came out with some "last minute thing" to try to invoke some Civil Rights Legislation to try to stop the RW with Local Carolina Businessman and Kock Brothers and Alec.

But Eric Holder was "TOO LATE TO THIS DANCE of DEVILS"....he should have been onto this the moment President Obama appointed him...yet he's been so CAUTIOUS ...it looks to us on the LEFT DEM that he was ROOTING FOR WALL STREET.. We saw HOPE in him and he turned out to be nothing more than "Wall Street's Pick" and so we were supposed to applaud him for being a PRAGMATIC/RUBIN DEM and NOT the "Hope for Change" that we all turned out at the Polls for in 2008.

I thought Bill Clinton was the "HOPE FOR CHANGE!" Worked for HIM AND...

What Did We Get? "NAFTA, DEREG of MEDIA AND WALL STREET, WELFARE REFORM and YEARS OF KEN STARR INVESTIGATIONS!

SICK OF IT....! THIS DEM IS SICK OF IT!

[WorseBeforeBetter]

6. That's some serious bullshit, Deck-Brown.

Dr. Barber stated REPEATEDLY that the police are not the enemy and to show them respect. If police were so damned concerned about logistics, etc., I'm sure the NC NAACP would have been happy to meet with them -- out in the open.

"Anarchists." Right.

[sabrina 1]

7. Omg, that is shameful! What is happening to this country?

Shameful, no evil. If this were a comedy people would laugh at the idea that anything like this could happen in a sane society.

To think it is real is beyond belief.

Home of the Free? Look at those photos and try to tell anyone this is a free country.

And it's not as if they are unique. We say hundreds of similar evidence that this has gone way, way too far during the peaceful OWS protests.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

8. I could go on all day with the pics...

because nothing screams "anarchist" like a woman in a cheerful blouse with matching earrings:



Or -- gasp! -- Episcopalians:

?w=500&h=332

Or healthcare professionals and women in wheelchairs:





Or hand-holders awaiting arrest:



Police were (mostly) polite, both at Moral Mondays and Occupy -- no pepper spray or bashing of heads. But so were the protesters. Nearly 1,000 arrests and a blinding light shone on North Carolina. At least some in our local media aren't letting up.

2014 and 2016 can't get here fast enough...

[G_j]

10. Governor McCrory:

“very pleased that it’s been non-violent.”

[KoKo]

12. Thank you so MUCH for posting these Photos!

Ordinary People Expressing their Consitutional RIGHT to Protest! It's a beautiful thing!

[WorseBeforeBetter]

13. You're welcome and yes...

it is a beautiful thing!

[KoKo]

14. And folks poke fun at the Angry Old White Folks not supporting Democracy..

They are all all rallied around Black Minister Reverend Barer ...yet...they don't turn out for Elections. Major Irony There.... THIS IS THE 60's Generation going to Prison STILL PROTESTING THEIR RIGHTS UNDER THE USA CONSTITUTION!

It's wonderful to see.

AND...NO they are not sitting at home collecting their SS Checks. (I put that in for the Snarks who love to diss Activists)

[Uncle Joe]

9. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, KoKo.

[KoKo]

11. In light of the revelations about Undercover Cop involved in NYC SUV Attack

I thought I'd give this post a kick.

Thanks to those of your who replied when I posted it the first time. I've just sent of a notice about this to ACLU because it's gotten very little play out there in the Media. I donate to them...so hopefully there will be some action somewhere down the road on this.

All the local Police have to do is ask that any Group planning protest have a Uniformed Official alerted as to the Groups plans if the police Official wants to come to a meeting then let them officially REPRESENT themselves at a Meeting rather than sending in Clandestine Undercover agents as if citizens organizing is some kind of Anarchist Group plotting Terrorism.

We could work together. Instead they want to do this "Cloak and Dagger" stuff which pits the Law Enforcement against Citizens Expressing their Right to Dissent for policies they feel are wrong...working for change.