On January 27, amidst media consensus that the “Proud Boys” and other right-wing organizations had organized the Capitol riots, a former federal prosecutor turned over federal court proceedings to Reuters showing that the Proud Boys’ national leader, one Enrique Tarrio, was “an informer for federal and local law enforcement.” But Tarrio was not at the Capitol riot. Nor is there any evidence that anyone in his organization did anything to organize it. This much is clear: the FBI knew everything that this little group was doing, and has had at least some hand in what the Proud Boys have and have not done.
In the 1950s, the FBI used to boast that whenever the Communist Party or one of its front groups met, a majority of attendees were undercover FBI agents. The FBI already knew that the Communists were the enemy. Its infiltrators were there to disrupt and discredit them. Alas, today’s FBI places red-state conservatives in the same category once occupied by the Reds.
Those are the words of Angelo Codevilla, writing in American Greatness.
Welcome to the big state where the elite few rule the roost. This isn’t about protecting the Capitol from rioters, it’s about protecting the power of those in charge.
Americans today are faced with the NSA data collection activities uncovered by Edward Snowden, the near-infinite amount of data collected about you by Big Tech, and the many Fourth Amendment eroding activities fostered by Washington bureaucrats eager to use the FBI and DHS to suppress any dissent.
Now the pandemic is being used to further erode your rights. Military-grade surveillance could soon be aimed at Americans for as little as not wearing their masks.
Already in Japan and China robots are being used to enforce mask rules. In Australia, police are flying drones around, reminding people to “mask up.”
If you’re beginning to get uncomfortable about always on surveillance watching your every move, good.
