Mike Bloomberg NYPD Handschu Agreement

Are NYPD Intelligence Division violating terms of the Handschu Agreement ?

On September 6, 2012, activists against the Fracking Pipeline that is proposed to run through the West Village organised a demonstration along the West Side Highway. At that protest, a white shirt police officer was caught video taping lawful political activities of the protesters. If the protesters were only engaged in lawful political activities on September 6, as it surely does appear, then does the monitoring of the protesters by the NYPD not violate the Handschu Agreement ?

The Handschu agreement is a court ruling from the case Handschu v. Special Services Division, 605 F.Supp. 1384, affirmed 787 F.2d 828, that brought about guidelines that regulate police behavior in New York City with regard to police monitoring of citizens' political activity (Wikipedia).

A large coalition of activist groups accused police of compiling information to punish and repress lawful dissent, according to Wikipedia.

For the last year, the NYPD and the Bloomberg administration have been monitoring the Occupy Wall Street movement since before activists began their occupation in Liberty Square. In 2011, NYPD used camcorders to videotape protesters during a march against the execution of Troy Davis. On one occasion, in 2012, Occupy activists caught the NYPD engaged in monitoring the lawful political activities by #OWS.

Because New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gives direct orders to NYPD, what kind of approval has he made about any illegal monitoring acts by the New York Police Department ? Does this video appear to show that NYPD Intelligence Division assault reporters, block news cameras, and attack the Freedom of the Press to benefit Mayor Bloomberg ?

NYPD Infiltrated Liberal Groups

The Associated Press Reports That Documents Show That NYPD Infiltrated Liberal Groups

From The Associated Press (via CBS News, because The New York Times is boycotting this story, because it is a major embarrassment to New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn) :

NEW YORK — Undercover NYPD officers attended meetings of liberal political organizations and kept intelligence files on activists who planned protests around the country, according to interviews and documents that show how police have used counterterrorism tactics to monitor even lawful activities.

The infiltration echoes the tactics the NYPD used in the run-up to New York's 2004 Republican National Convention, when police monitored church groups, anti-war organizations and environmental advocates nationwide. That effort was revealed by The New York Times in 2007 and in an ongoing federal civil rights lawsuit over how the NYPD treated convention protesters. ...

As a result of this latest violation of the First Amendment Right to protest, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is encouraging activists to fight back : Don't Spy On Me! The NYCLU's Spy Files Campaign.

Everybody is encouraged to file a Freedom of Information Act request, to find out if the NYPD has been spying on YOU !

Bloomberg's Campaign of Lies

Red State New York

"Mike Bloomberg now claims to support gay rights, but went to Court to block a ruling granting same sex couples the right to marry. Bloomberg has always opposed gay marriage, and only supports it now for his re-election campaign. Bloomberg continues to give money to State Senators who oppose gay rights. Bloomberg endorsed George W. Bush."

NYCLU archives of 2004 G.O.P.-NYPD intelligence documents

The NYPD's 2004 Republican National Convention Documents

In 2007, after a federal magistrate judge order the declassification and release of hundreds of pages of surveillance documents relating to the NYPD's security preparations for the 2004 Republican National Convention, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) has posted its archives of the intelligence gathering conducted by the NYPD.

Information that can be found among the NYCLU's archives include the basic, mass-arrest process that would take place during the Convention and the agreement between the NYPD and the Hudson River Park Trust about the use of Pier 57 as a mass-arrest holding facility during the Convention.

According to a blog post on The New York Times, the NYCLU was critical of the extent of the city's monitoring of protesters' activities.

"Donna Lieberman, executive director of the civil liberties union, called the surveillance program “broad, clumsy, and often unlawful,” but Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has vigorously defended the program, saying the intelligence-gathering was essential for the convention to proceed peacefully. ""