Comments on: “God Hates Fags” group trains the FBI

By: WMDKitty

WMDKitty — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 02:18:08 +0000

Wait, what?

By: chrissypoo

chrissypoo — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 02:08:54 +0000

So how much money did the FBI pay WBC for the training?

By: PLAINTOM

PLAINTOM — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:36:59 +0000

INSANE!!!!!!

By: Regan DuCasse

Regan DuCasse — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:09:27 +0000

Hmmmm….
Well, that’s interesting. Here in Los Angeles, the Museum of Tolerance does that work. Cadets from law enforcement agencies all over Los Angeles County and it’s environs have to attend MANDATORY training on dealing with hate groups and where they are and their tactics, but ALSO train cadets in dealing with ethnic and cultural communities of all kinds.

I’m a volunteer for the MOT and a facilitator. I’ve personally been the writer of scenarios that might occur between the police and civilians who may or may not be familiar with each other’s customs.

There is extensive interfacing with the Southern Poverty Law Center, the ADL and other anti hate or pro diversity orgs.
When police agencies want to know, contacting any of these is doable.
It does make more sense why the WBC is involved that way.
But if they spin it as if they are qualified applicants to BE FBI, then there is a problem.
THAT would be fraud and the agencies that recruit them have to be careful of how such outreach can be used in that direction.

By: james

james — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:27:40 +0000

NPR reported that the FBI invited WBC to help train law enforcement officers on how to remain professional when confronted by groups whose ideas and viewpoints they might disagree with. They also report the WBC representatives were not compensated. I saw this on Towleroad and checked the NPR report on their website. The focus of the training was on domestic terrorism.

There is some logic to this as a training exercise, although I still wonder if it could have been accomplished without involving WBC or any other similar group.

By: customartist

customartist — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 15:44:07 +0000

To NOT know what the Westboro Group’s ideologies and methodologies are, AND to be the ultimate Law Enforcement Entity of the USA?? – OMG!

NEXT will be Ponxy Schemer Bernie Madoff conducting training sessions for the IRS!

By: Iamposterity

Iamposterity — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 15:04:45 +0000

It just becomes more clear every day that the tradition of the constitutional “Wall of Seperation” continues to be violated. This is something every American should be infuriated by! No day of Prayer, No Religious Organizations granted special rights, tax exempt statuses should be revoked and IRS inqueries made when these groups cross the line. AFA, Rick Perry, Focus on the Family should really be closely watched. These are not logically thinking organizations or individuals.

By: james

james — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 14:30:48 +0000

@Aaron, Richard, and Matt: You make valid points.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:05:59 +0000

Since WBC is a bunch of inbreeds, it’s hard for law enforcement to infiltrate. so maybe RR is right that it was a way to “buddy up” to learn more about its tactics. Also, it is practice for learning how to deal with wingnuts.

By: Richard Rush

Richard Rush — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:26:12 +0000

Could it possibly be that this was a clever FBI tactic used as part of an investigation into Westboro’s activities, with the idea being that the Westboro people might inadvertently reveal some useful information about themselves? I know this seems outlandish, but it seems less outlandish than believing that Westboro could possibly have something useful to offer for training of police officers and FBI agents – other than to demonstrate how hate groups might behave and present themselves in a friendly venue.