Compare and Contrast: Homeland Security Style

Recently California's Department of Homeland Security came under fire for circulating threat reports that included information on peaceful anti-war demonstrations.† These were compiled by a contractor called SRA International.

Over the last few months, the Department of Defense has taken flak for including entries about peaceful anti-war and anti-recruitment groups in their TALON database.† Just yesterday, newly released documents show that a federal Homeland Security Force Protection Service officer was forwarding emails (.pdf) from a University of California - Santa Cruz anti-recruitment group, which were duly entered into the threat database.

In California, the response was immediate and transparent.† SRA was told never to do so again in the future, and then the Office of Homeland Security allowed reporters to come look at a set of threat reports that included the ones that listed political demonstrations -- with some sensitive information redacted.† What did reporters find:

There was a bomb threat to the Bay Bridge in March, and one to a Greyhound bus in Bakersfield in April. Agencies have recorded multiple reports of individuals taking photographs of a nuclear facility in San Clemente and of an oil refinery in Rodeo. Security guards also found a hole cut in a fence at an oil refinery in Martinez. [...]

Although portions of the reports shown to media representatives were redacted, officials said they demonstrated that they are not tracking the activities of political groups.

And it showed that anti-terrorism police have real threats to deal with.

What was the federal Department of Homeland Security's response to revelations that one of its own was monitoring Americans exercising their First Amendment rights?† According to Progressive.org:

"The Department of Homeland Security has an important public safety mission," says spokesman Russ Knocke. "In a post 9/11 world, I think the public would be comforted to know that part of our mission is to maintain situational awareness of possible vulnerabilities to public safety or even security, such as, for instance, at large public gatherings. The department will, as a routine matter, maintain situational awareness of large public gatherings and share that with state and local partners."

I'm surely comforted to have been protected from CampusAntiWar.Net.