Why Is My Mayor Reading Your Mail?

The air is rife with speculation that Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City will toss his hat into the presidential ring. Wev, you say - he'd certainly do a better job than the Dear Leader, the Worst.President.Ever.

But wait just a New York minute. Do we really want the man that was involved in this sort of special ops getting accesss to Bush's new toys at the FBI, CIA, DOD, and the rest?

For at least a year before the 2004 Republican National Convention, teams of undercover New York City police officers traveled to cities across the country, Canada and Europe to conduct covert observations of people who planned to protest at the convention, according to police records and interviews.

Hold on, you say, maybe it was police commissioner Ray Kelly, maybe Mayor Mike didn't know what was going on.  Nope:

In February 2003, the Police Department, with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s support, was given broad new authority by [District Court] Judge Haight to conduct such monitoring. However, a senior police official must still determine that there is some indication of illegal activity before an inquiry is begun.

Illegal activity like flying planes into buildings or using truck bombs?  Well ...

At the other end of the threat spectrum was Joshua Kinberg, a graduate student at Parsons School of Design and the subject of four pages of intelligence reports, including two pictures. For his master’s thesis project, Mr. Kinberg devised a “wireless bicycle” equipped with cellphone, laptop and spray tubes that could squirt messages received over the Internet onto the sidewalk or street.

The messages were printed in water-soluble chalk, a tactic meant to avoid a criminal mischief charge for using paint, an intelligence report noted. Mr. Kinberg’s bicycle was “capable of transferring activist-based messages on streets and sidewalks,” according to a report on July 22, 2004.

“This bicycle, having been built for the sole purpose of protesting during the R.N.C., is capable of spraying anti-R.N.C.-type messages on surrounding streets and sidewalks, also supplying the rider with a quick vehicle of escape,” the report said. Mr. Kinberg, then 25, was arrested during a television interview with Ron Reagan for MSNBC’s “Hardball” program during the convention. He was released a day later, but his equipment was held for more than a year.

Maybe Mayor Mike should just go back to his old job. Wasting time on stuff like this at the expense of looking for real terrorists is the same authoritarian nonsense we've suffered since Bush took office. It's time for a new approach.

Comments

[Comandante Agi]

Two liberal Republican NYC mayors running for the GOP nomination...brace yourselves for the rapture!

[actor212]

I ain't worried. No mayor from NYC has ever won any Presidential nomination much less the general election.

And that includes those who've actually held a job after mayor, Rudy....

[LewScannon]

I guess those 45,000 stolen cars had to wait that year because Bloomberg felt the Republicans needed their own SS.

[smafdy]

“capable of transferring activist-based messages on streets and sidewalks,”

"activist-based messages"? What the hell does that mean?

[catherine]

I like that they infiltrated my city. Yes, SF is the hub of all counter culture.

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