June 27, 2011 | 5:55 PM | By

LulzSec releases law enforcement intelligence reports on U.S. Anarchists

FILED UNDER: Community, Anarchism, Anarchists, fusion centers, Lulz Boat, LulzSec

Ali Winston

Unconventional Action at a March 4, 2010 education protest.

Shortly before the hacker collective LulzSec shut down its operations last week after a 50-day hacking spree, the group released a trove of law enforcement documentation. Many of these reports pertain to Arizona police agencies and were released as a critique of that state’s laws criminalizing illegal immigration. However, other reports released by LulzSec offer a clear window into the “domestic terrorist” threat posed by Anarchists.

It’s commonly known that American law enforcement keeps close tabs on the Anarchist movement, and has done so for years. A report from the Missouri Information Analysis Center, one of dozens of fusion centers that collect and disseminate information to local law enforcement agencies, breaks down several strains of Anarchism and associated groups.

The ideological strains identified by the report are: Anarcha-Masculinism, Anarcha-Feminism, Anarcho-Communism, Anarcho-Syndicalism, Anarcho-Primitivism, Green Anarchism and Christian Anarchism. Here is a brief primer from the MIAC report on Anarchist ideology at large, which MIAC claims “poses a significant domestic terrorist threat at this time”:

There are many different ideologies that an anarchist may follow. Although there may be a number of differences, they all contain the same central belief. Anarchism is the idea that government (the state) is unnecessary and harmful. Anarchy is society without government. Anarchists are people who desire to live in a society without rulers as their ancestors once did. The main belief is that the community in which they live be dependant only upon itself. People who believe in government (such as liberals, conservatives, socialists and fascists) are known as “statists”. Anarchism opposes all forms of hierarchical control.

The terms “anarchism” and “anarchy” are often confused in their meaning. When most people think Anarchist, they think of the chaotic Molotov cocktail throwing teenager (which grew out of the Anarcho-Punk persona) or ALF/ELF members (Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front – Eco-Anarchism, Green Anarchism, or Anarcho-Primitivism ideologies). Although there are a few direct action radical sub-groups not all believe in violence.

More detail on each sect’s activities and belief systems are available in the report posted below.

In spite of the Missouri fusion center report, a 2008 Department of Homeland Security “Threat Assessment” shows there is not a consensus in the law enforcement community about how serious a hazard Anarchist activity poses to national security. Environmental and animal rights activists, who are associated with a strain of Anarchism called “Green Anarchism, are identified as “the most active of domestic groups” classified as terrorists. Anarchists also have “well-developed capabilities in surveillance, arson and the use of small explosives. Prisons are also identified as a recruiting groups for new followers.

However, the 2008 DHS Threat Assessment does acknowledge that Anarchists are known for property damage, and rarely carry out actions that may result in a loss of life. Right wing groups such as citizen militias and white supremacists are classified as extremists capable of lethal violence, albeit on a limited scale.

  • Guest

    They just copied and pasted from the Infoshop.org Openwiki, at least as far as Christian Anarchism goes: http://wiki.infoshop.org/Christian_anarchism

  • Nonesuchplace

    Hey, they didn’t include the libertarians as anarchists.  Color me impressed.

  • http://twitter.com/Deprogrammer9 Depro9

    The pigs failed to mention Anarcho-capitalists (black/yellow) & my favorite branch of anarchism Anarcho-technocracy (black/red/white) They only touched on Anarcho-pacifism (black/white)

  • http://profiles.google.com/jstevens2009 James Stevens

    “Environmental and animal rights activists, who are associated with a strain of Anarchism called “Green Anarchism, are identified as “the most active of domestic groups” classified as terrorists.”
    So environmental and animal rights activists are being labeled as terrorists? Maybe that explains why the FBI raids peaceful people like this http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/activists-cry-foul-over-fbi-probe/2011/06/09/AGPRskTH_story.html ? They raided lots of personal belongings from activists in various environmental and peace groups… And since the government can classify them as terrorists they can be detained without trial because of the Patriot Act… seems like the government is actually harmful! LulzSec may as well be a false flag, too; they’re coming to lock down the Internet next! 

  • http://twitter.com/AsaDodsworth Citizen Dodsworth

    libertarians strongly believe in the police state.

  • Anonymous

     That’s because “Anarcho”-capitalists aren’t Anarchists.

  • http://georgedonnelly.com George Donnelly

    Actually, no, we don’t. And libertarian, as broadly conceived, includes anarchists.

  • http://twitter.com/AsaDodsworth Citizen Dodsworth

    #lulzSec is not a false flag any more then the BlackBlock, And if we can’t defend internet liberty its only because we have failed to speak to/ engage the apathetic majority, 95% of the world thats not radicalized..

  • Herpderpno

    Yes they are. Only children repeat that circular statement. Idiot.

  • Amber Watkins

    um they do have terrorist parties formed by extreme environmentalists. usually what those parties do is assassinate heads of “big oil” companies, or vandalize mines and pipelines, and extreme animal right’s activists put animal life above humans, meaning they would kill people just to give all animals their natural habitat back. Either way, killing people for political or social gain is usually terrorism…

  • Guest

    Those are some heavy accusations you’re throwing out there. Eco and animal liberation groups often destroy property and use sabotage, but homicide is not part of those movements.

    I dare you to come up with ANY names of “heads of ‘big oil’ companies” who have assassinated or people who have been killed in the name of animal rights. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/calvin.a.miner Calvin Miner

    It depends which sort of libertarian. Left-libertarians, the original kind are synonymous with anarchists. Right-libertarians tend to have beliefs that would permit a police-corporate-state (where the state devolves totalitarian work to the private sector where the right-libertarian does not care what goes on) and inverted totalitarianism.

  • http://www.facebook.com/calvin.a.miner Calvin Miner

    so-called “anarcho-capitalists” are merely for the privatization of the police-state.

  • http://www.facebook.com/calvin.a.miner Calvin Miner

    You fail to realize that humans are animals too- ALF and others recognize this.

  • Anonymous

    What’s really funny to me is that the *MOST* active of anarchists are the Free Staters up in Keene. Those Keeniacs are libertarian market anarchists, or voluntaryists, as some of them prefer to be called, since sectarian douchebags and arm chair activists can’t help but get all pedantic and superior about their version or “brand” of anarchism (see above) being the one, true way (so much for opposing hierarchies), thus polluting and disparaging the word anarchism for them. But whatever they call themselves, they do more (and more effective) anti-state activism in a week than the “Black Bloc” does all year,

  • anonymouse

    Anarcho Capitalists only exist on the internet

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2SKDPOYNI6C3EXNYPEN2LOOVOM Greg

    That’s a lie.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2SKDPOYNI6C3EXNYPEN2LOOVOM Greg

    You’re confused.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2SKDPOYNI6C3EXNYPEN2LOOVOM Greg

    Not true!!! Idiot! What a ridiculous statement. You are implying that people on the internet are not real people!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2SKDPOYNI6C3EXNYPEN2LOOVOM Greg

    So, you’re either apathetic or radicalized? Think before you type!

  • http://www.facebook.com/mneisler Mark Neisler

    Anarcho Capitalism is Capitalism plain and simple. There is no anarchy involved.

  • http://otester.myopenid.com/ PiRat

    Right-Libertarians are for minimal government, just enough to secure individual rights. The type of corporation we have today are due to the banking system we have; run by the few for the few, look up fractional reserve banking.

    Those for a corporatocracy are fascists.

  • Blacquejacqueshellacque

    On the other hand, we can name many corporations who have assassinated worker’s rights activists and union leaders in the name of protecting corporate profits.  The first one coming to mind being Coca-Cola.

  • Zizek’s Dusty Testicles

    “they do more (and more effective) anti-state activism in a week than the “Black Bloc” does all year,”

    Why are an-caps always so racist?