Screen shot of the Homeland Security report from October on Occupy

The transparency organization WikiLeaks has published an assessment reportfrom the Homeland Security Department (DHS) on the Occupy movement that was put together in October of last year. The assessment was attached to a Stratfor email, one of five million or so emails the organization obtained and has been releasing since February 27.

The release of the report is timely, as it is being released just as Occupy supporters are mobilizing for demonstrationsagainst the suppression of the Occupy movement by law enforcement and political leaders in the United States.

Put together by the Office of Infrastructure Protection under DHS, the report seems to have put together with the following presumption in mind, which appears in bold at the top of the report:

Mass gatherings associated with public protest movements can have disruptive effects on transportation, commercial, and government services, especially when staged in major metropolitan areas. Large scale demonstrations also carry the potential for violence, presenting a significant challenge for law enforcement.

The report proceeds to break down the risks and threats the Occupy movement poses to “critical infrastructure” by looking at their “impacts” on financial services, commercial facilities, transportation, emergency services and government facilities. The breakdown relied on news reports from sources like the New York Daily News, CBS, Associated Press, CNN, Chicago Tribune, Reuters, New York Times, Boston Globe, etc.

The DHS report found financial services sectors had been the “focal point of the OWS movement, with protesters holding protests and camping out” in financial districts. It found “large gatherings” had a “major impact on surrounding business and retail districts” and in some cases “commercial facilities” were “targeted” (though no real examples are cited). It found that demonstrations had caused “widespread traffic jams, road closures and suspension of public transit.” It found a “considerable burden on emergency services personnel to control crowds, protect critical infrastructure and maintain public order” had occurred. And, the movement had “impacted” government facilities through protests at “city halls and courthouses.”

In the report’s summary, DHS concluded:

The growing support for the OWS movement has expanded the protests’ impact and increased the potential for violence. While the peaceful nature of the protests has served so far to mitigate their impact, larger numbers and support from groups such as Anonymous substantially increase the risk for potential incidents and enhance the potential security risk to critical infrastructure (CI).

http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2012/02/28/wikileaks-uncovers-homeland-security-report-on-occupy-movement/