The FBI is investigating attacks on Tesla as “internal terrorism”. This is why it matters

There is a precedent for companies that not only receive information from the law enforcement agencies during internal terrorism investigations, but also work directly with the FBI. The German says that this was especially obvious during the reaction of a wave of protests to oil pipelines in early 2010.

Records published by News Website GRIST And a type of investigations found that the FBI considered a pipeline operator “dominant in domain” in a protest case that gave the company “direct access to the White House” and privileged information. The company was also invited To strategize with the FBI, the Ministry of Interior Security, the National Guard and the local police. And there are conversations about how to “guarantee resource coordination and management” not only among law enforcement officers but also with the company.

A different pipeline designer has hired a company to Monitor and infiltrate protest groups and write Intelligence reportswhich have sometimes been shared with federal law enforcement agencies and local police, according to a report by The Intercept. One of these pipeline operators informs the local police on the proposed path of the pipeline how to pursuit Criminal charges against organizers, GRIST reported.

Even after the protests decreased, oil and gas companies remained close to police and government. A Canadian pipeline company paid local police departments in Minnesotan More than $ 5 million In 2020 and 2021 for protests for police pipelines. Since 2017 have pressed more than 20 states To adopt laws violating “critical infrastructure” such as oil and gas pipelines, a criminal offense, according to records received by The Guardian.

Although it is not clear how the current investigations into the internal terrorism of the FBI, Musk and other Tesla leaders would eventually have similar access and influence on them. When cases go to court, Tesla may also be entitled to government compensation in the form of court restitution.

Such funds are often used to pay the families of victims of terrorism, but Germans say that cable corporations are also acceptable. In a successful criminal case, he says he sees no reason why Tesla will not be compensated. Tesla may also be entitled to money from programs to compensate for victims of state -level terrorism that Get some Funding from the federal government.

Risks to protesters

Investigations to internal terrorism are often implemented. Organizations such as US Civil Liberties have argued that The FBI routinely uses them to unjust research for activists and color communities without adequate supervision.

President Trump said his administration took Tesla incidents very seriously. “People who get caught for sabotage of Teslas will have a very good chance of going to prison in the age of twenty, and this includes the funding,” Trump writes in Social media post Thursday. “We are looking for you !!!”

Hina Shamsi, Director of the ACLU National Security Project, says that instead of “focusing on the most serious criminal behavior that harms life”, federal agencies have wasted resources and abused their authorities by the alleged civil disorders.

Historically, says German, the FBI has approved an idea called “Theory of Radicalization”, which claims that extremists’ beliefs naturally escalate from moderate and widely held beliefs. This logic, he says, justifies the FBI to throw a wide surveillance network, especially when it comes to monitoring activists.

“They suggest that anyone with such an ideology may be ready to commit the same type of crime,” the German explains. “We have seen a lot of abuse of the FBI investigative authorities, especially around the internal advocacy groups.”

Five years ago, FBI used the Law on Foreign Intelligence Monitor to explore the people who participate In the Black Lives Matter protests, investigating whether they have ties with terrorists. Thehe DOJ Inspector He called the incident an example of the “widespread discrepancy” of the FBI with FISA rules.

The German claims that in this case, instead of focusing on people who are claimed to have committed arson or acts of violence, the FBI’s focus can ultimately consider people who think they express “anger or hostility to Tesla or Elon Musk.”