top
Central Valley
Central Valley
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

JOINT TERRORISM TASK FORCE COMES TO FRESNO

by Mike Rhodes (MikeRhodes [at] attbi.com)
Homeland Security and the Joint Terrorism Task Force come to Fresno and the Central Valley.
THE JOINT TERRORISM TASK FORCE COMES TO FRESNO
By Mike Rhodes
March 29, 2003

We learned, through the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in San Francisco, that Fresno is in the process of joining the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The Fresno Police Department (FPD) is in the final stages of finalizing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the FBI formalizing the relationship. Fresno will be the center of a JTTF that will run throughout the Central Valley. The FPD will not tell us the exact geographical location of this JTTF, what agencies are involved, and they will not allow us to see a draft of the MOU.

What we have heard, however, is that the FPD believes that Fresno is a hotbed for terrorism. According to a story in the San Francisco Chronicle (Saturday, March 29) Fresno is the 5th largest recipient of money for homeland security in the nation. Fresno is receiving $1,500,000 a week. San Francisco, who is number 2, receives $2,500,000. By way of comparison, San Jose is receiving about $200,000 a week. Why is Fresno receiving so much money for homeland security and why the push to establish a JTTF in this region?

Two meetings took place earlier this week shed some light on the situation. The first meeting, attended by Lt Pat Farmer of the FPD, who is the point person in Fresno for the JTTF, and the Fresno Chief of Police told the group that Fresno was a hotbed for terrorism. “While Fresno might seem like a quiet little community, that is exactly why it is such a good location to embed terrorist sleeper cells.” Meeting participants were told that the extensive illegal methamphetamine drug production in the central valley was a funding source for terrorism. The group was told that there are dangerous Muslim groups in the area and several detentions of terrorists have taken place at the Fresno airport.

I attended a meeting last Thursday (March 27) with Lt Pat Farmer with representatives from several community groups. Our intention was to share with Lt. Farmer and Police Chief Dyer our concern about racial profiling, privacy, and immigration issues. We are concerned that the JTTF will negatively effect community members and we were seeking to have input into the MOU that is being written. Lt. Farmer listened to our concerns and confirmed some of our concerns. After hearing Lt. Farmer I believe that the FPD is, against State of California guidelines, infiltrating community groups with plain clothes officers. It appears that the FPD is using the more repressive Federal guidelines promoted by the FBI in establishing the JTTF. We know they are taking pictures of activists and attending events sponsored by the anti-war group Peace Fresno. It is very possible that they are monitoring email and other communication. It is against State of California guidelines to gather intelligence against participants in community or religious groups without the suspicion of criminal wrongdoing. That has not stopped the FPD from using these tactics in the past. For details go to: http://www.fresnoalliance.com/home/GAP.htm

Why is Fresno the new focus of the JTTF? Why is Fresno receiving $1,500,000 a week to fight terrorism, probably making it the largest recipient (per capita) of homeland security money in this country? I would like to know! If you have any idea why we should be given this dubious honor, drop me a line.

Mike Rhodes
Editor
Community Alliance magazine
P.O. Box 5077
Fresno Ca 93755
(559) 226-0477
AllianceEditor [at] attbi.com
http://www.fresnoalliance.com/home/
Add Your Comments
Listed below are the latest comments about this post.
These comments are submitted anonymously by website visitors.
TITLE
AUTHOR
DATE
Mike Rhodes
Wed, Apr 2, 2003 7:43AM
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network