September 25, 2010 by Suzanne M. Hill, Carroll County Coordinator

Hi all! Thanks to everyone who attended the September Carroll County Campaign for Liberty meeting.

In October we’ll meet on Friday the 22nd at 7:00pm at the SAP Hall in Westminster to hear Richard Rothschild speak about Agenda 21 and the UN initiatives for sustainable development and how the UN is involved in small communities like Carroll County. More scary stuff.

Thanks to Julie Sandhaus, the Maryland Coordinator for Operation Defuse, for speaking to us about the information government collects from surveillance of innocent citizens and organizes in Fusion Centers.

Maryland has a fusion center in Woodlawn.

You can read about Maryland’s fusion center at www.publicintelligence.net.

Maybe you’ve noticed highway overhead signs that say to report suspicious activity call 1-800-492-TIPS - this information is reported to Maryland’s fusion center.

There is no simple answer to who funds fusion centers or under what authority fusion center operate. Is it the state? The federal government? The Department of Homeland Security? The city? Julie Sandhaus has submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Maryland Fusion Center and had it returned because the request should go to the federal government not the state. This means Maryland’s Fusion Center is run by the feds. Other fusion centers in other states are run by the state itself. Some fusion centers exist only for the city, for example New York City or L.A. or D.C. So we can see that there is a deliberate blurring of jurisdictions which makes it difficult to determine whether or not the feds are trying to control local law enforcement. Simply put, the Fusion Center is a murky entity.

Supposedly fusion centers exist to collect information about crimes and terrorists. Federal law says the information cannot be shared unless there is suspicion of criminal activity. But what is the evidence that they are following this law. Indeed we seem to be in a total surveillance state.

1. Are Fusion Centers being encouraged to survey ordinary citizens?

2. Are they use Data Mining?

3. With what government entities are they sharing information on average innocent citizens as they go throughout their normal daily activities?

Fusion centers are inherently secret. There is very little transparency. They monitor citizens by police who suspect people’s motives or by citizens who call in to report “suspicious activity” by other fellow citizens. Who are they held accountable to? Who is to say this is a trustworthy or warranted decision-making process?

For example in 2006 the Maryland State police investigated citizens - those on both the political left and right - who were protesting the death penalty. These were peaceful activists. All they were doing was espousing their political points of view. They were put on a terrorist watch list.

And the Fusion Centers are increasing the use of private companies as a means to get even more information about citizens. Currently Maryland is networking all Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) cameras that monitor citizens and their activities; the number is reported to be 7000 cameras. This information will be stored at the Maryland Fusion Center. Governor O’Malley is getting federal funding to double the number of cameras. What will this information be used for? Will private companies be roped into this effort?

Julie has been sending Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to nearby Fusion Centers to find out more about them. She asks what databases are they using and where do they get their funding. The process has been arduous. A Fusion Center that has responded to her has requested very expensive funds in order to pay for their research time. Is all this designed to keep the average citizen from finding out more about the Fusion Centers and how they operate?

One reason the Fusion Centers are of concern is because all our rights and protections are suspended during episodes declared times of emergency. A declaration of emergency becomes easier for the government to undertake as all these parts and controls are put into place. So we need to have an impact on how and why information is being collected. An attendee suggested that maybe our local sheriff would be a good resource to help citizens find out more about Fusion Centers, why some locales work with Fusion Centers and why some don’t, why some accept federal funds and why some don’t. Maybe a constitutional politician like Delegate Don Dwyer would be a good resource. Or maybe a U.S. Senator like Barbara Mikulski would intervene.

Read online about the ways we are being tracked, traced, and databased. Recently Jesse Ventura held a show about the Fusion Centers - watch it if you get the chance. Inform yourself! and inform others!

Remember: We patriots and conservatives need our own media sources; issues like the Fusion Centers do not get coverage from the mainstream media. Liberty Works Radio Network could be a valuable resource for liberty and constitution-oriented citizens and citizen-politicians. They are poised to buy up small stations and transmitters to extend their patriot-oriented programming to more of the east coast states and beyond; they’ve been working on it for years. They need your help and donations. Hear more: http://www.libertyworksradionetwork.com/jml15/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=131%3Alwrn-video-alt&catid=3%3Avideo&Itemid=24

-Suzanne Carroll Co coordinator
[a Ron Smith fan]

Campaign for Liberty