‘Stasi-like’ move called ‘alarming’

Bob Unruh
WND News Center

The government not only has slammed conservative parents attending school board meetings as domestic terrorists, it now is producing videos explaining how the general population can watch for – and be wary of – those “radicals.”

A report from Reed. D. Rubinstein, of American First Legal, explains, “The Department of Homeland Security’s transformation into a domestic intelligence organization and a Stasi-like Deep State internal security apparatus is alarming.

“It is a very long way from ‘see something, say something’ regarding an unattended suitcase at the airport to profiling patriotic and politically conservative Americans as abusive parents and domestic terrorists because they oppose abortion on demand and voted for former President Trump. The agency is out of control.”

The Stasi was East Germany’s much-feared and lethal state security police from 1950 to about 1990.

America First this week released online copies of documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act from the Department of Homeland Security that “reveal shocking internal documents from the Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention.”

The concern “so-called domestic terrorism.”

The organization reported an internal memo, from Jan. 29, 2021, just eight days after Joe Biden moved into the White House, a “Choose Your Own Adventure” game-like memo for people to make “real-life decisions” based on “radicalization” scenarios.

“The scenarios describe political viewpoints like opinions on abortion and expanded government,” America First described.

The government offered five story branches, each with three video scenes, that present observers with “difficult choices that approximate real-life decisions.”

At the end, viewers “have made three choices impacting the potential radicalization of others,” the government explains.

“For example, one of these characters is ‘Ann’ who is described as a “middle-aged pro-life advocate,’ and another is ‘Courtney,’ a ‘budding conspiracy theorist.’ They also outline ‘Pete,’ the ‘Anti-gov/authority Abusive Parent/Stepdad,” America First explains.

Ann, the government charges, “Has always been religious but since the death of her mother, she’s become increasingly devout. She’s a regular in the small-town community, active in several church groups. While she has always been protective of her four kids, she has become increasingly more concerned about the welfare of other children including the unborn.”

“Courtney,” the government complains, “made new friends after moving to a new city. But she also “joined volunteer groups for underprivileged youth. She has become fixated on conspiracy theories regarding government connections to child abuse and trafficking.”

Pete has a family, works nine to five and mostly hangs out at a local bar.

The government program also offers images of the “Family First,” to show “that domestic terrorism can happen to anyone, but that anyone can also help prevent it.”

The DHS charges, “when casting, we would like to share diverse race, gender, cultural individuals that align to the same distribution of the United States based on the breakdown of the most recent Census.”

The America First report said, “These documents further reveal that the government is using taxpayer dollars to expand its capabilities to deem innocent people as ‘extremists’ or ‘domestic terrorists.'”

A report at Zero Hedge said the videos present scenarios where citizens “might encounter potentially ‘radicalized’ individuals. Citizens are then asked to choose what they think should be done…”

The report said, “Most of the scripted scenarios showcase people with conservative beliefs and values as the radicalized threat.”

The government, for example, presents: “You’ve been Ann’s hairdresser for years. During one of Ann’s visits, she brings up pro-life arguments and begins ranting, saying that something should be done to put a stop to the planned parenthood office in the next county. She shares videos of violent protests on her phone and you notice increasingly more militant language from Ann. After you wrap up the appointment, you…”

Zero Hedge warns, “The series also targeted ‘old high school friends’ who believe in ‘conspiracies’ as examples of radicalized citizens in need of bystander intervention.”

The report suggests, “The program seems to have been developed in tandem with the ‘Disinformation Governance Board’ which was eventually scrapped due to public opposition. It reveals an ongoing and disturbing trend within the federal government to implement authoritarian measures across the country, first using COVID as an excuse, then using the January 6th protests as a rationale.”

It continued, “The focus of these DHS efforts was overwhelmingly on conservatives, with a not-so-subtle implication that conservatives and constitutionalists (or anyone that questions official government narratives) are domestic terrorists. This was done while the DHS and Democrats mostly ignored the violent actions of BLM, Antifa, trans rights protesters, etc.”