Several well-timed exposes, arriving right before the release of what all reasonable observers assume will be a white-wash of a report on police actions during the RNC, detail the absurd secrecy of Sheriff Bob Fletcher’s anti-democracy endeavors. From the Pioneer Press story:
On Tuesday, Fletcher said publicly it cost his department $305,000 to pay overtime or temporary salaries to nine investigators to travel around the country tracking and infiltrating the groups, which included self-described anarchists. The team, which worked alongside at least one St. Paul cop as well as FBI agents, also tallied $15,000 in travel expenses.
Fletcher said he was glad he kept it secret. “We chose not to have the (St. Paul) city attorney aware of what we were doing,” Fletcher said. “Look at what happened after: You had one City Council member vocal in his opposition to what we did.”
Yes, Bob, just look! Transparency might have produced opposition to COINTELPRO operations, so the only option left was to delude the public and the very people tasked with oversight in order to carry them out.
Oboy. A secret $300,000 bill at a moment of budget shortfalls? Willful evasion of oversight? A litany of lies, hyperbole, and media stunts intended to slander and imprison activists?
Better go fill one of those buckets with actual pee, Sheriff. The clock’s ticking and even your overlords are not amused.
