> Let's say you were preparing an Occupy 2.0 movement. Do you think the government would bring the NSA to bear on you? Do you think you might get "stifled?" Pe

> Let's say you were preparing an Occupy 2.0 movement. Do you think the government would bring the NSA to bear on you? Do you think you might get "stifled?" Perhaps it's just the nature of activist groups, but I've been reaching out to various groups of protesters and activists since the Restore the Fourth protests last year. Anecdotally, I have yet to contact a single group that doesn't believe that they have experienced government surveillance, infiltration, or subversion. Now, perhaps this is due to the closeted nature of activist groups and the paranoia can go hand in hand with activism, so take it for what it is. There's reports of JP Morgan offices inside the NYPD surveillance complex. The NATO 3 case is an indication to me that this type of activity (Surveillance, infiltration, disruption) may be widespread. Certainly, it seems to coincide with the attitude and perspectives that led to COINTELPRO and other Hoover-esque tactics such as blackmailing Martin Luther King. This is all to say nothing of the Arab Spring, and the subsequent development of practices and technologies that have "stifled" activism on social media. The other thing to take into consideration is that protests and activism in the US may play into the narrative put out by Russia or other foreign national interests, in the same way that the United States covers Pussy Riot or stories of unrest in Ukraine. I tend to think in the coming months, you'll hear more about this topic. We'll see, though.