stanford.edu photo

On this MLK day holiday, the blog of the ACLU has some recriminations for the FBI’s treatment of the civil rights movement hero.

“Over the course of two decades, the FBI went to war against Dr. Martin Luther King,” their January 16 blog post begins.

Under J. Edgar Hoover’s direction, the FBI grew obsessed with King as his political power and influence grew, the ACLU writes, leading the bureau to use a variety of tactics in the ‘50s and ‘60s to discredit King, mounting a “full-court press to portray him as a Communist provocateur, attempting to disrupt tributes after Dr. King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and repeatedly bugging his hotel rooms.”

When Congress first considered making King’s birthday a holiday, in 1969, the FBI even tried to covertly tarnish his reputation posthumously, the ACLU writes.

ACLU points to its 2002 report  which highlighted the campaign against King, what they call “one of the sorriest chapters in FBI history.”

To ACLU report is available at the above link; to read more click here.

By Danny Fenster

A retired British businessman will be extradited to the US after losing a High Court battle, reports the Mail Online.

Christopher Tappin, 64, faces charges of conspiring to sell parts for Iranian missiles in the US, which he denies. In fighting extradition, he claimed entrapment by the FBI, which a British judge dismissed as an “unsustainable” claim, reports the Mail. He may now face up to 35 years in prison.

Tappin is suspected to have unlawfully tried to export batteries for Hawk air defence missiles.

To read more click here.

By Danny Fenster

ATF hasn’t had it easy these day. But at least it can count on one small victory.

On Friday, a US Judge in Washington upheld new, controversial federal rules requiring four border-states to report sales of multiple semi-automatic rifles, reports Reuters. The gun industry had challenged the new rules on privacy and gun rights arguments.

The new rules were issued in an attempt to stem the flow of illegal guns from the US into Mexico.

The George W. Bush-appointed Judge Rosemary Collyer found the ATF’s requirement rational, and that the requirements were “sufficiently narrowly tailored,” according to Reuters.

“Congress has effected a delicate balance between ATF’s regulation of firearms and the right to privacy held by lawful firearms owners,” Collyer wrote. The ATF’s reporting requirement”did not disturb that balance.”

To read more click here.

By Danny Fenster

The FBI has joined international law enforcement agencies in investigating a 100 million pound gold scam in West Africa, reports the Belfast Telegraph.

The scam, which the FBI is looking into with Interpol, is thought to have originated in Lagos, Nigeria, according to the Telegraph. It allegedly was  masterminded by a Nigerian gang and involves an Irish passport used to steal millions of dollars from US investors over nearly 12 months.

Scammers offered US investors the ability to purchase unprocessed gold directly from a west African mine, telling them the purchases were tax and fee free.

US Investors put $3 million in creating a secure export system.

The scam was discovered when an Irish security team arrived in west Africa to escort the gold out. The team was unable to make direct contact with the main organizer of the gold shipment–John Recketts–and reported their suspicions to the US investors.

The US investors immediately withdrew from the plans and abandoned the Irish team.

To read more click here.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Stephen Linder stepped way over the line, federal authorities say.

A Chicago fed grand jury last week indicted him for civil rights violations for allegedly assaulting handcuffed prisoners.

The Justice Department alleged that Linder, 36, choked a handcuffed man on July 8, 2010, and head-butted a handcuffed man on May 13, 2008 and allegedly persuaded another law enforcement officer to withhold evidence of the 2008 assault.

The case is being investigated by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General and is being prosecuted by the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.

By Danny Fenster

Dominick Pelletier was not expecting prison time when he went looking for a job at the FBI. But he got it.

The 34-year-old suburban Chicago resident applied with the bureau as an intelligence analyst in August of 2008, according to the Daily Herald, but after taking a routine polygraph test he told interviewers that he felt he made mistakes on the polygraph regarding questions involving child pornography.

Pelletier later admitted to having child porn on his computer, and allowed authorities to search it, the paper reported. In August of 2011 he pleaded guilty to the charges.

After pleading guilty to charges of possession of child pornography, the one-time FBI job applicant was recently handed an 80 month prison sentence without parole, reports the Daily Herald.

To read more click here.

OTHER STORIES OF INTEREST:

• Authorities Expand Search for Killer of Homeless Men (OC Register)
• Magistrate Orders Release of FBI Investigation Into Alleged Police Beatings (Charleston Gazette)
• Missing Montana Teacher Found Dead (ABC)
• FBI Investigates Food Freight Theft (Amarillo Globe-News)
• Mark Wahlberg Irritates Fans with Proposed Bulger Biopic (SheKnows.com)
• Two Arrested in DEA Raid, Including Attorney’s Office Employee (WSVN-TV)