Bizarre police tip-offs offer glimpse into America's surveillance state
Two men of Middle Eastern descent were reported buying pallets of water at a grocery store. A police sergeant reported concern about a doctor "who is very unfriendly".
Two men of Middle Eastern descent were reported buying pallets of water at a grocery store. A police sergeant reported concern about a doctor "who is very unfriendly". And photographers of all races and nationalities have been reported taking snapshots of US post offices, bridges, dams and other structures.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and several other groups have released 1,800 "suspicious activity reports", saying they show the inner workings of a domestic surveillance programme that is sweeping up innocent Americans and forever placing their names in a counterterrorism database.
Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, the federal government created a multibillion-dollar information-sharing programme meant to put local, state and federal officials together to analyse intelligence at sites called fusion centres.
Instead, according to a Senate report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and now the ACLU, the programme has duplicated the work of other agencies and hasn't directly been responsible for any terror-related prosecutions.
According to the GAO, the government maintains 77 fusion centres throughout the country and their operations are funded by federal and local sources.
The ACLU obtained suspicious activity reports filed with a fusion centre in Sacramento, California, and more were submitted as part of a court case.