Banks Helped FBI to Crush Occupy: New Doc Trove

Those violent clampdowns on Occupy protesters weren't just planned by US authorities—they were carefully coordinated with the big banks themselves, writes Naomi Wolf at the Guardian. At times the FBI, police, and the Department of Homeland Security even merged with banks into a "monstrous whole" called The Domestic Security Alliance Council. Drawing on newly released FBI documents, Wolf argues that authorities were "working for and with banks to target, arrest, and politically disable peaceful American citizens." Among the findings:

• FBI officials conferred with banks to share information on Occupy Wall Street protesters gathered by private security firms.
• The FBI shared plans to crush Occupy events with organizations targeted by the protesters.
• Threats to assassinate OWS leaders are still redacted despite standard FBI practice of informing political leaders who are under a threat of violence.

A request by The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund prompted the release of the documents—"a groundbreaking scoop that should once more shame major US media outlets (why are nonprofits now some of the only entities in America left breaking major civil liberties news?)," writes Wolf. Click for her full piece or the fully searchable documents. (More Occupy Wall Street stories.)