The FBI Loses the Public

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-fbi-loses-the-public-opinion-la-nyc-trust-crime-order-wray-7166e7d8

by Jimmc414 • 3 years ago

37 35 3 years ago

Jimmc4142• 3 years ago

mydriasis2• 3 years ago

This article spends most of its time outlining relations between _domestic police_ -- local departments and officers -- with the public, and doesn't say a ton about the FBI, save for a blurb about statistics here and there... its substance with regard to the implications of the title is lacking.

I'd really like to understand more about the anti-FBI sentiment that's going around.

gjsman-1000• 3 years ago

Well, I'll give you a quick summary for why a conservative might be upset. You do not have to agree with these issues at all or their interpretation, but a short list:

1. Anything Trump; because Hunter Biden. You might argue about "whataboutism," but "whataboutism" is what protects us from flagrantly biased institutions. This is also going on today with IRS "whistleblowers" claiming the IRS recommended felonies on Hunter, but the DOJ offered way too sweet a deal.

2. Catholics. Specifically, the memo which targeted "Radical-Traditional Catholic Extremists." It also attempted to define the term by theological distinctions (do they like Vatican II? Do they have disdain for modern Popes?), cited sources that are otherwise banned for bias in the FBI (the SPLC), and advocated "the exploration of new avenues for tripwire and source development." The memo also did not list any potential crimes that they were concerned such a group would commit. Christopher Wray retracted the memo immediately saying it was "appalling" but has been extremely cagey on answering questions as to how such a memo was even written.

3. The FBI, according to The Washington Post reporting (not even conservative media) admitted that they misused a Section 702 database, illegally, 278,000 times that they know of in just over a year. Did it against all sorts of people - protestors, BLM, Jan 6 suspects, basically managed to piss off everyone.

4. "Pro-Life" Pregnancy Centers were violently attacked over 100 times as of October 2022 since Roe v. Wade was overturned, with firebombings and similar. No arrests were made for any of them. When asked about the FBI's seemingly blind eye at the time in a Congressional hearing, Merrick Garland claimed the attackers were too "clever" by "doing this at night, in the dark." This explanation was not thrilling.

5. Mark Houck was a pro-lifer, and father of seven, who was recently acquitted unanimously after being accused of violating the FACE Act (basically, obstructing access to an abortion clinic). Now, that's a potential crime that does involve the FBI, but the FBI arrested him by raiding his house with a SWAT team for no apparent reason other than to terrorize his family. And that's not my assessment - 22 members of Congress demanded a plausible basis for sending a SWAT team over this alleged crime, and they claim to still not have had an answer. Republicans put him in the audience for the last State of the Union in protest against Biden.

mydriasis2• 3 years ago

Yikes, they're really striking out across the board!

kmos17• 3 years ago

This whole « FBI losing trust from people » looks to me basically because for the first time they are actually doing their job in going after trump’s flagrant law breaking and the Jan 6 attempt to overthrow the election, and conservatives are not liking it.

34tlkj45y• 3 years ago

1) Election interference.

2) Refusing to prosecute the Bidens even though they already had to show (via threat) by the House of the vast amount of evidence of all the bribes the Bidens have been doing with countries including Ukraine and China.

red-iron-pine• 3 years ago

u/34tlkj45y is a 19 hour old account pushing narratives about Bidens / Ukraine / China.

Low-hanging fruit as spam accounts go. The serious ones will have a longer history and put out longer points.

Make of that what you will

Amezarak3• 3 years ago

For most of the FBI’s history, it was run by J Edgar Hoover, who used it to spy on and blackmail innocent Americans and as a political weapon.

It’s still the same organization, from spying to entrapment to outright murder to authoritarian political influence (and don’t be mistaken - it’s not on any particular party’s side, it’s on the FBI’s side.) The real question is my mind is how some people came to be convinced it was respectable organization - maybe through its portrayal in pop culture shows? Just institutional power?

more_corn• 3 years ago

We can’t have a complete conversation about the anti-FBI sentiment without mentioning how a twice impeached former president, who is facing a half dozen federal indictments, drummed up said anti-FBI sentiment in order to discredit our federal investigative bureau in hopes of looking less guilty.

He is literally attacking the institutions of our country to distract from his crimes.

I would expect law and order conservatives not to stand for such blatant self serving behavior.

helaoban2• 3 years ago

We can’t have a complete conversation about the anti-FBI sentiment without mentioning their very, very long rap sheet:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_FBI_controversies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO

jollyllama• 3 years ago

Read up on U.S. Private Vaults

LinuxBender• 3 years ago

In an interview with Vivek Ramaswamy Presidential Candidate he said he plans to fire all of them including most of the redundant 3 letter agencies. Are U.S. presidents empowered to do that? Interview is on TimcastIRL on YT.

Bostonian• 3 years ago

This is grandstanding. The Federal government will have law enforcement and tax collection arms, whether you call them the FBI and IRS or something else.

torstenvl2• 3 years ago

Hmm. Maybe. But it isn't necessary. Federal law enforcement is a pretty novel thing. State institutions have parity. There's no technical reason not to go back to that, though it would be a rather radical restructuring.

jjulius• 3 years ago

https://www.vivek2024.com/truths/

Oof.

DimitriPetrova• 3 years ago

Rick Perry in a presidential primary debate wanted to eliminate three government agencies but couldn't remember all three on live television. He later become head of the Department of Energy, the same agency which he wanted to eliminate but forgot during the debate years earlier.

PaulHoule3• 3 years ago

... the FBI tried to entrap me years ago but I don't feel bad about it. God they are overwhelmed with cyber-crime and need all the help they can get.

ecf• 3 years ago

The FBI stole my dog and threatened to steal my cat too if I didn’t keep quiet about it.

Jimmc4142• 3 years ago

Would love to hear more about this story if possible.

PaulHoule3• 3 years ago

I’m not afraid of the FBI (just doing their job) but I don’t need to get crap from the other people who were involved in that story and might still be sore about the crazy stuff that went down.

incogitor• 3 years ago

I'm in the middle of a suit against them for harassment received from surveillance employees. Can't say much more than that (active case), but it's extremely common. The methods used once surveillance is discovered are deliberately made to be so unusual that you're either terrified into silence or are afraid no one would believe you, so that the operation can continue.

PaulHoule3• 3 years ago

I dunno. They applied COINTELPRO tactics from the 1960s to take down the Sicilian Mafia in the 1970s once Hoover was out of the picture. One of the best ways for cops to get some credibility is to bust somebody who deserves it.

aschearer• 3 years ago

So much for "back the blue."

willcipriano• 3 years ago

It's with "sticking it to the man".

egberts12• 3 years ago

The mere fact that FBI can plant evidences is just anti-thema to their bureau motto.

https://radixverum.substack.com/p/fbi-admits-to-planting-evi...

https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/594627286/fbi-experts-certif...

https://theintercept.com/2016/05/05/fbi-told-cops-to-recreat...

https://frankreport.com/2022/07/23/dr-brandon-porter-condemn...

https://casetext.com/case/reynolds-v-werlich

The FBI Loses the Public

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