As a footnote to that, it develops that tar sands activists in Oregon, Washington state, and Idaho who have participated in anti-Keystone XL and anti-tar sands protests have been getting visits from the FBI, and no one knows yet exactly why.The agents have reportedly been targeting activists who have protested what are called “megaloads,” a truckload of equipment for tar sands extraction. A megaload can be longer than a football field and can take up two lanes of a highway. These protests have blocked highways and delayed the equipment’s shipment.
The FBI insists that it doesn't investigate political activity, only crime. However, the people who have been contacted say the approach by the agents has been consistent, along the lines of saying "We’re not doing criminal investigations, you’re not accused of any crime. But we’re trying to learn more about the movement."
Which would suggest either that the FBI is on a fishing expedition, trying to find some major crime it can claim is hidden behind what is pretty straightforward nonviolent civil disobedience, or, as I think more likely, they are trying to intimidate activists with a "We know who you are and we're watching you" attitude.
Oooh, '60s flashbacks! Hopefully, the intimidation tactics will be as much of a failure now as they were then.
Sources cited in links:
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/02/09/3620703/tar-sands-fbi-visits/
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