The DHS risk-based approach reflects a broader shift in U.S. law enforcement shaped by post-9/11 security priorities—a one that raises intentions for proven wrongdoing and uses behavioral cues, affiliations, and other potential predictors to justify early interventions and expand surveillance.
A year ago, the Department of Homeland Security warned that immigration-related complaints were driving threats to judges, immigration and law enforcement, predicting that new laws and high-profile crackdowns would further radically. In February, another convergence center reported a renewed call for violence by police and government officials, citing an over-view of the federal government and determining that protests and court rulings at the time could trigger.
Sometimes, the huge prediction may seem prescient, echoing the flashpoints in the real world: In Texas, a coordinated ambush was conducted at a detention center in the detention center this week, shooting a police officer before the July 4 fire broke out, and taking Ice Agents out of fireworks before the fire broke out. (There have been arrested nearly twelve times, and at least 10 people have been arrested for attempted murder.)
Before the protests, institutions increasingly rely on intelligence predictions to identify groups that are seen as ideologically subversive or tactically unpredictable. Demonstrators marked as “violation” can be monitored without charges or being subjected to force.
Socialist movement scholars have broadly recognized that the introduction of preemptive protests against the introduction of policing was a departure from the late 20th century approach, which prioritized downgrade, communication and promotion. Authorities are increasingly emphasizing the control of demonstrations through early intervention, surveillance and disruption of control of demonstrations, which is monitoring organizers, limiting public spaces, and proactively responding based on perceived risks rather than actual behavior.
Infrastructure originally designed to combat terrorism is now commonly used to monitor street-level protests, with virtual investigation departments censoring protesters in an online manner. The Integration Center funded through the Department of Homeland Security grants is increasingly issuing announcements that mark protest slogans referring to incidents of police brutality and solidarity as possible signs of violence that place these assessments in the case of law enforcement without clear evidence of criminal intent.
Surveillance of protesters includes the use of high-tech tools to compile subjects’ social media posts, branches, personal networks and public statements, and criticism of government policies.
DHS Dossier, a former Colombian graduate and anti-war activist, obtained exclusively by DHS archives, an analyst attracted the information from Canary Mission, a dark blacklist that anonymously criticized supporters of Israeli military operations and Palestinian rights.
In a federal court Wednesday, senior DHS officials acknowledged that Canary Mission’s materials have been used to conduct more than 100 archives for students and academics despite the website’s ideological tendencies, mysterious funding and unverifiable procurement.
Threat announcements can also enable officials to foresee conflicts and shape their postures and decisions locally. Following the violent protests in 2020, the San Jose Police Department cites “numerous intelligence announcements” it received from its local regional integration center, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, and the heart of understanding the mentality of “officials in the days before and before the civil unrest”.
The specific announcement cited by SJPD (when the protest reaction prompted a $620,000 settlement this month, using the demonstrations as a possible cover for “family terrorists”, warned of opportunistic attacks on law enforcement officers and facilitated “unconfirmed reports” by U-Haul Vans, allegedly using U-Haul Vans for weapons and explosions.
Subsequent reporting in the wake of BlueLeaks—a 269-gigabyte dump of internal police documents obtained by a source identifying as the hacktivist group Anonymous and published by transparent group Distributed Denial of Secrets—found federal bulletins riddled with unverified claims, vague threat language, and outright misinformation, including alerts about a parody website that supposedly paid protecters and accepted Bitcoin to set cars on fire, despite explicit banner marking “fake”.
Threat alerts (uncategorized and frequently accessed by the media) can help law enforcement to take a foundation for them to legitimize positive police responses before they begin. The unverified Department of Homeland Security warned about the 2020 family terrorist infiltration demonstrations, the agency responded publicly on Twitter and circulated widely in media coverage and amplified.
Americans usually oppose positive protest repression, but fear is often the driving force when they do support them. Experimental research shows that support for the use of power is less support, and protesters actually do more than what officials, the media, and racial and ideological frameworks portray.
