This is interesting to me because it shows at least bits of the government legitimately think there’s a centralized movement behind the ice protests
I don’t think that’s the case. This is supposed to scare him and, once the stories make the rounds, have a chilling effect on the protests. People will now have to think, what if the FBI shows up at my house or place of emplyment because I went to a protest. That is the reason they are doing this.
Yeah it could be contact tracing for red scare purposes rather than actually looking for evidence of a shadow organization
After 9/11, as the FBI reoriented itself to fighting terror groups like al Qaeda, they focused on identifying and locating individuals and then mapping out their networks of family, friends and associates. That’s the Trump administration approach to Antifa, imagining an organization network that encompasses everything from membership cards to elaborate funding.
This approach was evident to Serafini, who told me: “I could tell by their questioning that they were trying to figure out the shadowy entity behind the protest.”
He added: “What a waste of their time to go after shit that doesn’t exist.”
The FBI seemed more interested in who was behind the protest than the protest itself, with the agents repeatedly asking about who had produced the protest signs, he explained.
I don’t think that’s the case. This is supposed to scare him and, once the stories make the rounds, have a chilling effect on the protests. People will now have to think, what if the FBI shows up at my house or place of emplyment because I went to a protest. That is the reason they are doing this.
Yeah it could be contact tracing for red scare purposes rather than actually looking for evidence of a shadow organization