KurtFF8
21st March 2012, 18:34
http://truth-out.org/news/item/8012-dhs-turns-over-occupy-wall-street-documents-to-truthout
Click here to go to the documents. They are being uploaded as we receive them (http://truth-out.org/news/item/8012-dhs-turns-over-occupy-wall-street-documents-to-truthout#files). Did the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) advise local law enforcemcent officials on how to respond to the nationwide Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protest movement and/or play a hands-on role in the dismantling of more than a dozen Occupy encampments last year?
The answers to those lingering questions may be found in the first official release of government documents related to OWS since the launch of the movement last year. DHS turned over hundreds of pages of documents to Truthout Wednesday morning.
We are currently poring over the documents, which we sought under the Freedom of Information Act, and will publish a series of reports later today and throughout the week.
Truthout was the first news organization to file a FOIA request with DHS (http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/foia/priv-foia-logs-oct-fy12.pdf)for OWS-related documents. Specifically, we requested from DHS:
All records, including emails, memoranda, letters, audio/video, transcripts, reports, including Threat Assessments, related to the protest movement known as “Occupy Wall Street.”
A DHS FOIA officer asked Truthout if we could narrow "the scope of [our FOIA] request to include responsive records from senior DHS officials only" due to numerous requests for OWS documents the agency received, which had "overwhelmed" DHS staff.
Narrowing the scope of our request, DHS said, would speed up the response time. We agreed. However, Truthout has since filed a separate FOIA request for all OWS-related documents from DHS field offices. Moreover, Truthout also filed a FOIA request for the "processing notes" to determine how DHS handled our original FOIA request.
Eric Neuschaefer, a DHS FOIA program specialist, said the agency expects to release a second set of OWS-related documents to Truthout sometime in mid-April.
In preparing these documents for release, DHS worked with its Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), according to that component's 2012 FOIA logs (http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/foia/crcl-foia-log-fy12.pdf), which identifies requests for OWS documents this reporter filed.
According to the logs, CRCL withheled certain information, citing two exemptions (http://www.dhs.gov/xfoia/gc_1208265747435.shtm) in its "partial grant" of documents in response to Truthout's FOIA request.
Exemption 5 – Protects the integrity of the deliberative or policy-making processes within the agency by exempting from mandatory disclosure opinion, conclusions, and recommendations included within inter-agency or intra-agency memoranda or letters.
Example of information the Department of Homeland Security may withhold using 5: Draft documents and recommendations or other documents that reflect the personal opinion of the author rather than official agency position.
Exemption 6 – Protects information that would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy of the individuals involved.
Example of information the Department of Homeland Security may withhold using 6: Social Security Numbers, home addresses and telephone numbers, certain identifying information regarding Department employees.
DHS also worked with other agency offices and cited the following exemptions for withholding documents or releasing only partial records (see the letter below DHS sent to Truthout for a full description of exemptions cited):
Exemption 7 – Protects records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes the release of which could reasonably be expected:
7(C) – to constitute an unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of a third party/parties (in some instances by revealing an investigative interest in them).
7(E) – would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions.
Example of information the Department of Homeland Security may withhold using 7(E): Law enforcement manuals, records pertaining to Watch Lists.
In addition to OWS documents, Truthout also filed a separate FOIA request with DHS for documents related to "US Day of Rage (http://www.usdayofrage.org/)," a movement that preceded OWS. US Day of Rage coordinated a day of protests on Wall Street last September against the use of corporate money in US elections. Neuschaefer said records related to US Day of Rage are included in the batch of OWS documents released Wednesday.
FBI Denies Truthout's Appeal for OWS Documents
Meanwhile, the FBI maintains it still cannot locate any OWS records responsive to a FOIA request Truthout filed with the agency last October.
As Truthout previously reported, the FBI responded to our FOIA request two weeks after we filed it by stating the agency was "unable to identify main file records responsive to the FOIA."
We immediately appealed the decision to the Justice Department's Office of Information Policy (OIP) and requested the FBI conduct a broader search for documents given that a report published last October by Gawkein other that Jordan T. Lloyd, a member of the FBI's cybersecurity team in New York, received dozens of emails about Occupy Wall Street (http://gawker.com/5850054/meet-the-guy-who-snitched-on-occupy-wall-street-to-the-fbi-and-nypd) and that Loyd responded to at least one of the messages.
On February 7, Justice Department attorney Sean R. O'Neill, denied our appeal and affirmed the FBI's position that the agency could not locate responsive records on OWS.
"After carefully considering your appeal, I am affirming the FBI's action on your request," O'Neill wrote in a letter to Truthout. "I have determined tha tthe FBI's action was correct and that it conducted an adequate, reasonable search for responsive records."
Truthout has since filed a separate FOIA request with the FBI for processing notes to determine how the agency handled our FOIA request for OWS documents. Furthermore, we also requested a copy of the administrative file from OIP related to the denial of our appeal.
OWS Records Also Sought From NYPD
Finally, on January 29, Truthout filed, under New York's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), a wide-ranging request for OWS documents, including video, audio, photographs, emails, and threat assessments, with the New York Police Department (NYPD) and its Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The most violent crackdowns on OWS have taken place in New York City.
In a February 13 letter sent to Truthout, Lt. Richard Mantellino, a records access officer in NYPD's legal bureau, said, "Before a determination can be rendered, further review is necessary to assess the potential applicability of exemptions set forth in FOIL, and whether the records can be located."
Files:
DHS Response to Truthout FOIA Request: Cover Letter (Occupy Wall Street) (http://truth-out.org/truth-out.org/files/12-0048-First-Interim-Response-Letter.pdf)
DHS Reponse to Truthout FOIA Request: Cover Letter (http://truth-out.org/files/DHS-ows-FOIA-letter.pdf) (US Day of Rage)
DHS Response to Truthout FOIA Request: Documents, Part 1 (http://truth-out.org/files/12-0048-First-Interim-Release_OWS_Part1.pdf)
DHS Response to Truthout FOIA Request: Documents, Part 2 (http://truth-out.org/files/12-0048-First-Interim-Release_OWS_Part2.pdf)
DHS Reponse to Truthout FOIA Request: Documents, Part 3 (http://truth-out.org/files/dhs-ows-foia-part1.pdf)
DHS Response to Truthout FOIA Request: Documents, Part 4 (http://truth-out.org/files/dhs-ows-foia-part2.pdf)
DHS Response to Truthout FOIA Request: Documents, Part 5 (http://truth-out.org/files/dhs-ows-foia-Part4.pdf)
This article may not be republished without permission from Truthout.
Click here to go to the documents. They are being uploaded as we receive them (http://truth-out.org/news/item/8012-dhs-turns-over-occupy-wall-street-documents-to-truthout#files). Did the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) advise local law enforcemcent officials on how to respond to the nationwide Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protest movement and/or play a hands-on role in the dismantling of more than a dozen Occupy encampments last year?
The answers to those lingering questions may be found in the first official release of government documents related to OWS since the launch of the movement last year. DHS turned over hundreds of pages of documents to Truthout Wednesday morning.
We are currently poring over the documents, which we sought under the Freedom of Information Act, and will publish a series of reports later today and throughout the week.
Truthout was the first news organization to file a FOIA request with DHS (http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/foia/priv-foia-logs-oct-fy12.pdf)for OWS-related documents. Specifically, we requested from DHS:
All records, including emails, memoranda, letters, audio/video, transcripts, reports, including Threat Assessments, related to the protest movement known as “Occupy Wall Street.”
A DHS FOIA officer asked Truthout if we could narrow "the scope of [our FOIA] request to include responsive records from senior DHS officials only" due to numerous requests for OWS documents the agency received, which had "overwhelmed" DHS staff.
Narrowing the scope of our request, DHS said, would speed up the response time. We agreed. However, Truthout has since filed a separate FOIA request for all OWS-related documents from DHS field offices. Moreover, Truthout also filed a FOIA request for the "processing notes" to determine how DHS handled our original FOIA request.
Eric Neuschaefer, a DHS FOIA program specialist, said the agency expects to release a second set of OWS-related documents to Truthout sometime in mid-April.
In preparing these documents for release, DHS worked with its Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), according to that component's 2012 FOIA logs (http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/foia/crcl-foia-log-fy12.pdf), which identifies requests for OWS documents this reporter filed.
According to the logs, CRCL withheled certain information, citing two exemptions (http://www.dhs.gov/xfoia/gc_1208265747435.shtm) in its "partial grant" of documents in response to Truthout's FOIA request.
Exemption 5 – Protects the integrity of the deliberative or policy-making processes within the agency by exempting from mandatory disclosure opinion, conclusions, and recommendations included within inter-agency or intra-agency memoranda or letters.
Example of information the Department of Homeland Security may withhold using 5: Draft documents and recommendations or other documents that reflect the personal opinion of the author rather than official agency position.
Exemption 6 – Protects information that would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy of the individuals involved.
Example of information the Department of Homeland Security may withhold using 6: Social Security Numbers, home addresses and telephone numbers, certain identifying information regarding Department employees.
DHS also worked with other agency offices and cited the following exemptions for withholding documents or releasing only partial records (see the letter below DHS sent to Truthout for a full description of exemptions cited):
Exemption 7 – Protects records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes the release of which could reasonably be expected:
7(C) – to constitute an unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of a third party/parties (in some instances by revealing an investigative interest in them).
7(E) – would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions.
Example of information the Department of Homeland Security may withhold using 7(E): Law enforcement manuals, records pertaining to Watch Lists.
In addition to OWS documents, Truthout also filed a separate FOIA request with DHS for documents related to "US Day of Rage (http://www.usdayofrage.org/)," a movement that preceded OWS. US Day of Rage coordinated a day of protests on Wall Street last September against the use of corporate money in US elections. Neuschaefer said records related to US Day of Rage are included in the batch of OWS documents released Wednesday.
FBI Denies Truthout's Appeal for OWS Documents
Meanwhile, the FBI maintains it still cannot locate any OWS records responsive to a FOIA request Truthout filed with the agency last October.
As Truthout previously reported, the FBI responded to our FOIA request two weeks after we filed it by stating the agency was "unable to identify main file records responsive to the FOIA."
We immediately appealed the decision to the Justice Department's Office of Information Policy (OIP) and requested the FBI conduct a broader search for documents given that a report published last October by Gawkein other that Jordan T. Lloyd, a member of the FBI's cybersecurity team in New York, received dozens of emails about Occupy Wall Street (http://gawker.com/5850054/meet-the-guy-who-snitched-on-occupy-wall-street-to-the-fbi-and-nypd) and that Loyd responded to at least one of the messages.
On February 7, Justice Department attorney Sean R. O'Neill, denied our appeal and affirmed the FBI's position that the agency could not locate responsive records on OWS.
"After carefully considering your appeal, I am affirming the FBI's action on your request," O'Neill wrote in a letter to Truthout. "I have determined tha tthe FBI's action was correct and that it conducted an adequate, reasonable search for responsive records."
Truthout has since filed a separate FOIA request with the FBI for processing notes to determine how the agency handled our FOIA request for OWS documents. Furthermore, we also requested a copy of the administrative file from OIP related to the denial of our appeal.
OWS Records Also Sought From NYPD
Finally, on January 29, Truthout filed, under New York's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), a wide-ranging request for OWS documents, including video, audio, photographs, emails, and threat assessments, with the New York Police Department (NYPD) and its Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The most violent crackdowns on OWS have taken place in New York City.
In a February 13 letter sent to Truthout, Lt. Richard Mantellino, a records access officer in NYPD's legal bureau, said, "Before a determination can be rendered, further review is necessary to assess the potential applicability of exemptions set forth in FOIL, and whether the records can be located."
Files:
DHS Response to Truthout FOIA Request: Cover Letter (Occupy Wall Street) (http://truth-out.org/truth-out.org/files/12-0048-First-Interim-Response-Letter.pdf)
DHS Reponse to Truthout FOIA Request: Cover Letter (http://truth-out.org/files/DHS-ows-FOIA-letter.pdf) (US Day of Rage)
DHS Response to Truthout FOIA Request: Documents, Part 1 (http://truth-out.org/files/12-0048-First-Interim-Release_OWS_Part1.pdf)
DHS Response to Truthout FOIA Request: Documents, Part 2 (http://truth-out.org/files/12-0048-First-Interim-Release_OWS_Part2.pdf)
DHS Reponse to Truthout FOIA Request: Documents, Part 3 (http://truth-out.org/files/dhs-ows-foia-part1.pdf)
DHS Response to Truthout FOIA Request: Documents, Part 4 (http://truth-out.org/files/dhs-ows-foia-part2.pdf)
DHS Response to Truthout FOIA Request: Documents, Part 5 (http://truth-out.org/files/dhs-ows-foia-Part4.pdf)
This article may not be republished without permission from Truthout.