#forestdefenders — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #forestdefenders, aggregated by home.social.
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How Government #FusionCenters Violate Americans’ Rights — and How to Stop It
The Biden administration and Congress must impose oversight and accountability on the state-run centers.
by Mike German
December 15, 2022"A federal jury awarded $300,000 this month to a #MaineStatePolice trooper who was demoted after blowing the whistle on privacy violations at the state’s intelligence #FusionCenter. The federal government spurred the development of fusion centers after 9/11 as a means for sharing counterterrorism intelligence among state and local governments, as well as select private entities. The facts revealed during this trial adds to a mountain of evidence that fusion centers require greater regulation and oversight.
"The trooper alleged that the Maine Intelligence and Analysis Center, 1 in a network of 80 fusion centers operating across the country, was illegally collecting and sharing information about Maine residents who weren’t suspected of criminal activity. They included gun purchasers, people #protesting the construction of a new power transmission line, the employees of a #peacebuilding #SummerCamp for teenagers, and even people who travelled to New York City frequently. The whistleblower also claimed that fusion center supervisors pressured him to illegally share sensitive FBI information he had access to because of his position on the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
[...]
"Shortly after the Maine trooper filed his lawsuit in May 2020, a hack of a fusion center contractor exposed 296 gigabytes of intelligence records from more than 200 law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and DHS. The records substantiated the trooper’s complaints about privacy and #CivilRights violations at the #Maine fusion center and showed similar abuse occurring throughout the network, particularly in tracking #BlackLivesMatter #protests. The documents also showed that fusion centers had regularly spread misinformation sourced from dubious social media posts, including false reports alleging that #antifascists were starting wildfires or planning acts of violence. These specious reports distracted law enforcement during public safety emergencies."
#FTPFriday #ACAB #SLAPPs #Fascism #CivilLiberties #ClimateActivists #QuebecHydro #CMP #CMPCorridor #ForestDefenders #WaterProtectors #CorporateColonialism
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Mexico: defender of monarch butterflies found dead two weeks after he vanished
- Homero Gómez González was found floating in a well
- Activists say death could be over illegal logging disputesby David Agren
Thu 30 Jan 2020A #Mexican #environmental #activist who fought to protect the wintering grounds of the monarch #butterfly has been found dead in the western state of Michoacán, two weeks after he disappeared.
“#HomeroGómezGonzález, a former logger who managed #ElRosarioButterflyReserve, vanished on 13 January. His body was found floating in a well on Wednesday, reportedly showing signs of torture.
“The motive for his murder remains unknown, but some activists speculated that it could have been related to disputes over illegal #logging.
“Last week, authorities called in 53 police officers from the surrounding municipalities for questioning.
“Gómez González’s death comes as the murder rate continues to surge in a country where environmental defenders, human rights workers and community activists are routinely targeted for their work.
“President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has promised to halt attacks on environmental defenders, but the killings continue.
“‘This is a very regrettable act, very painful,' López Obrador said at his morning press conference on Thursday. 'It’s part of what makes us apply ourselves more to guarantee peace and tranquility in the country.'
“According to Global Witness 14 defenders were murdered in Mexico in 2018.
“Gómez González grew up in #ElRosario, a hamlet in the hills of western Michoacán, where monarch butterflies winter amid dense forests of fir and pine trees.
“Millions of the butterflies make a 2,000-mile (3,220km) journey each year from Canada to pass the winter in central Mexico’s warmer weather. But the forests and the monarchs are threatened by climate change and the incursion of illegal loggers and #AvocadoFarmers.
“A gentle man with a salt-and-pepper hair and thick mustache, Gómez González was born into a logging family according to a profile in the Washington Post.
“‘We were afraid that if we had to stop logging, it would send us all into poverty,' he told the newspaper.“But he eventually convinced others to abandon logging and protect butterfly habitats instead, figuring tourism would replace the lost income. The sanctuary is now a #UnescoWorldHeritageSite and federal law outlaws logging in the site.
“#GómezGonzález often posted mesmerising videos of fluttering monarchs to social media.
“In one of his last videos, shared on Twitter a day before his disappearance, Homero Gómez González stood amid a cloud of butterflies. 'Come and and see this marvel of nature! [The #butterflies] are lovers of the sun, the souls of the dead,' he said, referring to #IndigenousLegends about the migratory butterflies.
“Speaking to the AP, #HomeroAridjis, an environmentalist and poet who is a longtime defender of the butterfly reserve, said: 'If they can kidnap and kill the people who work for the reserves, who is going to defend the environment in Mexico?’”
#ForestDefenders #JusticeForHomero
#CriminalizingDissent #DefendTheForest #IndigenousRights #MonarchButterflies #Extinction #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice
#SilencingDissent
#CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #ACAB -
We need volunteer watch people for shifts at tree protection new resistance camp in Wsanec territory. Please contact via DM & I'll send contact info over.
#Saanich #Wsanec #VolunteersNeeded #forestdefenders #SaveOldGrowth #protectOldGrowth #watchStation #ResistanceCamp #CallOut #environmentalists #EcoActivists