By Sooner Tea Party staff

Posted: January 9, 2012

www.soonerteaparty.org

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Last week we caused quite a stir when we reported rumors of two local gun rights groups being mentioned at the Oklahoma Fusion Center where law enforcement officers were told of two “new” organizations that had been placed on the Oklahoma Fusion Center Terror Watch List.  The story came from a firsthand report from one of the attendees of an OK2A meeting (Oklahoma Second Amendment Association), where an Oklahoma law enforcement officer told a small group of attendees about the report that was given directly to him from a subordinate.

We spoke directly to the OK2A member and were offered contact information for the law enforcement officer that knew the facts.   We declined, there are some stories where in order to protect our sources, we don’t want to know who they are, just are they trustworthy and that the the information credible.   Just about every story we publish includes the blue links that take you to source documents or government websites with corroborating documents but sometimes we prefer not to know too much.

After the story come out, a flurry of activity occurred, listed in no particular order.  First, legislators expressed concern about the Fusion Center bringing up either group to other police officers without proof and since many of the legislators attend the High Noon Club and know of the OK2A group, they understood that the possibility of concern was slim.  Second, reports say that Miles Hall, the owner of H & H Gun Range immediately contacted the Oklahoma Fusion Center.   Thirdly, the original law enforcement source came forward and gave us more details including correcting part of what our source had given us.   Lastly, the OSBI was contacted by conservative legislators and questioned at length on the allegations.

The Fusion Center admitted that there was a meeting at Oklahoma City Police Department facilities where a variety of groups were present and gave presentations.   OSBI, the Fusion Center, the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and state and local police departments attended.   Under questioning by legislators, OSBI adamantly denied that they had placed either gun group on a watch list.   By this time, late in the week, we had received further information that claimed that the comments came from an FBI source, so the legislators asked the OSBI to ask the FBI.

The OSBI checked with the OSBI and reported back that neither they nor the FBI had anything to do with the information and claimed the OSBI didn’t know of the existence of either group and the FBI admitted knowing of only one of the groups.   The legislators said that the OSBI spokesperson was obviously ill at ease and nervous over the allegations bringing legislators to their door with questions but that they were “forthright” in their answers.   One of the parts of the joint OSBI/FBI response rang true, that while they didn’t make the comments, there were numerous other agencies presenting information and participating so they couldn’t vouch for the other groups.  They also suggested that it was possible that something might have been mentioned during a break or after the meeting between individuals that were chatting.

Here what we were told was the OSBI statement:

“Neither the FBI nor the OSBI are making representations on anything said in other presentations, during breaks, or during individual conversations after the event officially ended. “

Fair enough, we will take their word on the matter.

Shortly after we received the report from legislators the original source had an email sent to us where he explained the difference between what he said and our source repeated.   Basically there was a meeting at the Oklahoma Fusion Center at OSBI headquarters in a classroom setting where they were told that there were "militia types meeting monthly at H&H".   The presenter was said to have said it in an offhand manner as if he didn’t quite know that to think of the information.  No organization names were mentioned, nor was the word terrorist used.  The statement was further categorized as from an individual but not an official part of the presentation.  Another statement left the door open for the presenter making the statement but that it was not part of the official presentation.

The original law enforcement officer then spoke to the supervisor who in turn spoke to our original source at an OK2A meeting and elaborated a bit but in a perfectly understandable manner.  This person mentioned that both the OK2A group and the High Noon Club met regularly at the H & H Gun Club and it didn’t seem that groups meeting with legislators qualified as “militias”.    Our source apparently added the word terror list and identified the groups as being specifically named.   Here is the exact wording that we received:

"Information came through their fusion center identifying OK2a and high noon as "militia groups" and has them pegged as "terrorist"."

We also received a report that little written material was being handed out after MIAC report so that there wouldn’t likely be any documented list, that in their experience everything was given verbally.  We cannot speak as to the veracity of this statement but it makes sense.

Obviously the Oklahoma Fusion Center was caught in the middle of a controversy but what do we make of all of this?  The original source asked us to retract the story but there are several things about this story that made an update a necessity but not an outright retraction.

First, the information did come from a Fusion Center meeting of law enforcement officers.

Second, the report either offended or concerned three separate law enforcement officers, enough so that the information was reported to where someone could get members of the legislature to look into the issue.

Third, the information turned out to be mostly true, gun rights groups meeting at H & H Gun Range were thought to be of concern according to some report in the Fusion Center system regardless of the origination of the information.

Fourth, this didn’t happen in a vacuum, the Fusion Center system had previously been involved in placing the Oklahoma Bombing Commission in an extremist category.   If it quacks, it is a duck most of the time.

Fifth, the Oklahoma Information Fusion Center specifically states that they gather and retain information based upon mere suspicion.  If that is a good enough standard for a professional law enforcement organization then it is good enough for a grassroots group.

 “The OIFC may retain information that is based on mere suspicion, such as tips and leads.”

After thinking about the controversy for several days here are the conclusions that we believe fit the facts.   None of the three law enforcement officers did anything wrong other than perhaps the repeating of the “militia meeting at H & H Gun Range” statement at the Oklahoma Fusion Center meeting.  The two officers were concerned and did the right thing in blowing the whistle.  If the Oklahoma Information Fusion Center got caught up in a scandal, it was because they are basically spying on people and their entire system is so corrupt that they accept mere suspicion as good enough to place in a person’s dossier.   I’m told that the guys down there are decent and have Oklahoma values so I would ask them two questions if I had the chance

1.         How does it feel to have mere suspicions develop into an informal investigation?   How do you think a taxpayer would feel it the same standard of information was used to pry into their life?

2.       Have you tracked down the person who made the “militias meeting at H & H Gun Range” and verified exactly where the information came from?   Your own rules require the investigation of erroneous information back to the source it came from.   Have you done this yet?

Here is a good interview with an expert on the subject of domestic spying on citizens and the pitfalls.

I believe that the most obvious result of the Oklahoma Information Fusion Center will be the chilling effect on activists.

I attended the High Noon Club on Friday and on my way out of the meeting I was approached by an off duty OKC police officer.   He was concerned about the story, mentioning that he had invited a supervisor to the High Noon Club a few weeks ago and had to go back to the guy and inform him of this “militia” report that was circulating among law enforcement officers.  His concern was his security clearance and his career.   A report that he was a member of a militia group would cost him his job.  I updated him on the info we had at that time, which was that both the FBI and the OSBI were denying their part in the controversy.  The officer also believed that things like this must be outed immediately and corrected.   He agreed with our assessment that the two officers did the right thing in coming forward.

But, I have a favorite quote from Marcus Aurelius the stoic Roman Emperor who lived in the second century A.D. where he speaks of seeing the true nature of things and using them in the best manner, basically make lemonade out of lemons.   With that in mind we need to use this controversy to effect change.

We should start by calling on Governor Mary Fallin to rescind her executive order that funded the Oklahoma Information Fusion Center through the OSBI and properly allow the legislature to appropriate the funds to continue participating in the Fusion Center system if the law enforcement profession believes it to be of any value, if the legislators agree, and if we can properly prioritize our spending to allow for the Fusion Center.   I wonder how it is even possible for the Governor to bypass the legislature on spending money on this boondoggle.   The Brad Henry/Wayne Pettigrew spy camera system died because the legislature wouldn’t let it through, how is this different?

E-mail: info@gov.ok.gov Local: (405) 521-2342 Or (918) 581-2801

Second, if the legislature wanted to defund the Fusion Center project, it could be completed in less than a month.  Or at least the process could be well on the way in a month.  Therefore on March the 6^th at 1:30 pm, the Sooner Tea Party will begin using the same criteria for information sources for our articles as the Oklahoma Information Fusion Centers use for deciding to gather and retain information on Oklahomans.   If we receive a report or rumor on any legislator, governor, or staff member then it will be treated as suitable subject for public airing of the issue, regardless of the lack of documentation or the need for multiple sources.   Like the Fusion Center rules state, we will identify the issue’s source as rumor if we don’t have multiple sources or documentation but we will publish the story.  And lastly, on  March 6^th at 1:30 pm will start our own SAR program, Suspicious Activity Report, where any sort of suspicious activity or behavior by a legislator, the governor, or staff member will be sufficient reason for airing a potential issue or concern.

Of course this enables us to use past reports were we couldn’t develop multiple source confirmation.  There are some doozies out there on Mary Fallin that are just going to be a blast to expose!   I can see why Governor Fallin decided to fund the fusion centers, this spying on people and the potential mayhem you can create is amazing!

Controversies like this come in handy for smoking out the group leaders that are timid or not completely on board.   The leader of OK2A became quite upset over the Sooner Tea Party airing the report of the militia comments.   Multiple sources reported back, as did some of OK2A’s members, all of which wondered why in the heck the leader was complaining!   Most said this is a gift to show that the groups are under attack and that only happens if you are doing something productive.   But the most telling thing was the physical reaction of the leaders of the two groups, the owner of the H & H Gun Range took this very seriously and obviously rattled the folks at OSBI with his questioning.   That is what we need, men that are courageous enough to fight back and stand their ground!  The other group, OK2A actually sent me a text message on Friday, two actually, asking “So do you realize how wrong that email was. (from the original OK2A source)  Are you going to issue a correcrion? (sic)