The national veterans organization Veterans For Peace issued a sharp rebuke to the Trump administration after learning that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been spying on its Minneapolis/St. Paul chapter for organizing community protection from ICE attacks.
“The Trump regime has repeatedly shown itself to be lawless and to have no respect for truth or the well-being of people in our country or around the world,” states Veterans For Peace. “This latest attack on civil society organizations includes unions, teachers, state government, small-business workers and veterans, all of whom were exercising their constitutional right to protest against the state-sponsored terror of violent, racist ICE attacks in their community.”
The DHS surveillance operation, dubbed Operation Puppet Master, sent undercover agents into houses of worship, libraries, schools, and union halls, and obtained organizations’ financial records. According to reporting in The Guardian: Internal investigative reports show the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent undercover agents to community meetings in the Twin Cities and New York City, infiltrated Signal chats and obtained financial records of mainstream unions and left-leaning non-profit groups.
Nearly 30 internal law enforcement reports were released by defense lawyers last Thursday in a criminal case the Department of Justice has filed against 15 Minneapolis protesters. The defendants are accused of a “conspiracy” to “impede” US immigration officers during the Trump administration’s surge in the region.
Veterans Will Not Be Intimidated
“These repressive tactics, which are intended to intimidate and instill fear, only strengthen our resolve,”says Michael McPhearson, Executive Director of Veterans For Peace. “As veterans who pledged to defend the Constitution, we have an obligation to speak out against violations of people’s rights, and we will continue to do so.”
The 41-year-old veterans’ organization, with chapters in over 100 U.S. cities, also recently issued a statement condemning Secretary of State Marco Rubio for his unfounded accusations that the U.S. peace movement is part of a Cuba-based communist conspiracy. “If Trump’s and Rubio’s sudden obsession with “communists” and “political terrorists” is telegraphing their intention for a clampdown on dissent in the U.S., we take this very seriously.”
Resist the Wars at Home and Abroad
Veterans For Peace makes the connection between increasing repression in the United States and aggressive war-making abroad:
“These domestic attacks are coinciding with an illegal and deeply unpopular war against Iran, heightened US intervention against Venezuela and Cuba, and attempts to undermine the integrity of upcoming midterm elections. We call on people across the nation to join together to oppose authoritarian repression in the U.S., to defend our elections, and to resist U.S. militarism around the globe, including the huge proposed increase in the already bloated Pentagon budget.”
The complete Veterans For Peace statement can be found here
