Concerned about civil liberties? Here’s an impactful new activism project you can join.
GoGi’s After Dinner J.A.M. (Justice Action Meeting) and Attorney Ana Toledo of Targeted Justice have teamed up to launch an initiative focused on a timely and concerning issue – the Terrorist Screening Database(TSDB). This database has swollen to over 1 million names, many of whom are innocent Americans lacking due process.
The goal is to educate lawmakers about TSDB’s civil rights violations through respectful messaging grounded in facts and statistics. With lawmakers calling for a formal TSDB review, now is the time to act. Join us and make your voice heard on this important issue!
Read on for details of the activism project and how you can get involved. Let’s work together to uphold Constitutional rights for all.
Homework Assignment: Educating Lawmakers on the Terrorist Screening Database
Background:
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB). The number of individuals in the TSDB has seen a huge increase over the years. On Wednesday, December 20, 2023, a group of 12 Democratic lawmakers, led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, sent a letter calling for a review of the TSDB program. They raised concerns over accuracy, due process, and civil rights violations.
https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2023.12.20%20Terrorism%20Watchlist%20Letter.pdf
Our Assignment (assigned jointly by GoGi and Attorney Ana Toledo):
GoGi’s Sample Post:
In addition to the watchlist, there are over 400k innocent American citizens in the Terrorist Screening Database’s Targeted Individual Program (Handling Codes 3 and 4). We, as targeted individuals (TIs), are placed in the TSDB for illegitimate reasons with no warning, no due process, meeting no terrorist criteria, and no redress. For decades, we’ve been secretly spied on, followed, hacked, as well as tortured and experimented on. Please do not let us remain on this list- invisible Everyday Moms and Dads!
SHARE EVERYWHERE
Attorney Ana Toledo has encouraged us to act as ambassadors for our community and educate lawmakers and officials about the problems with the TSDB. She advises us to communicate in respectful, eloquent terms that they can understand – using legal language and statistics where possible.
We should avoid discussing topics like human trafficking or remote neural monitoring that could feed into a “fantastical” narrative. Instead, we should focus our message on the key facts:
– The TSDB includes over 400,000 innocent American citizens who do not meet any terrorist criteria.
– The FBI has admitted placing people in the TSDB for illegitimate reasons.
– The DOJ has acknowledged that 97% of those in the TSDB are “non-investigative subjects” (handling codes 3 and 4).
– Former FBI Deputy Director Timothy Groh admitted in a declaration that he did not know of any terrorist events stopped due to the TSDB.
Timothy Groh’s declaration dated March 11, 2019, contains relevant excerpts establishing that the watchlist primarily consists of “known and suspected terrorists.” However, footnotes 3 and 7 acknowledge the presence of individuals who do not meet the terrorist criteria. It is worth noting a discrepancy between Groh’s claim that the watchlist serves State Department purposes and the absence of any mention of such individuals in the Audit reports by the DOJ. The reports solely reference “non-investigative subjects.”
Our Actions:
1. Carefully review the background materials provided, including Senator Warren’s letter and the notes from Attorney Toledo.
2. Draft social media posts, emails, or faxes to educate lawmakers using the key facts listed above. Focus on legal terms and concrete statistics over emotional appeals.
3. Each person should post their message in at least 3 places (Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, email, fax, etc). At least 1 of the messages should be an email or fax.
4. Encourage others in your social media networks to get involved and contact lawmakers as well.
5. Follow up with lawmakers after January 9th to ask if they have responded to the concerns raised.
Remember, it is through thoughtful, persistent education that we can create change. Let’s work together diplomatically to get innocent citizens removed from the TSDB. Our freedom depends on it.
Attorney Ana Toledo: “It is your work that is moving mountains”
Important Notes from Attorney Ana Toledo:
– Do not confuse watchlist with TSDB
– Do not use the word dataset
– Watchlist is not the same as the TSDB
– Don’t repeat the word dataset because it is a trap