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Disrupt, discredit, and divide : how the new FBI damages our democracy / Michael German.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : New Press, [2019]Description: 339 pages ; 23 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781620973790
  • 1620973790
Subject(s):
Contents:
Introduction: a lawless law enforcer -- Disruption -- A "culture of arrogance" -- A lack of internal controls -- Fear of foreignness -- Targeting their own -- Disrupting diversity and dissent -- The radicalization theory -- Disrupting muslim civil society -- Scapegoating Muslim American communities -- Criminalizing black identity -- Targeting innocent "others" -- Disrupting democratic controls -- The watchdog that didn't bark-ignoring executive abuse -- White nationalism and white collars -- Conclusion: what then must we do? -- Notes.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 363.2509 G373 Available 33111009700309
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"A powerful argument against idealizing the F.B.I. and overlooking its troubling record for the sake of short-term political convenience."

--The New York Times Book Review

A former FBI undercover agent and whistleblower gives us a riveting and troubling account of the contemporary FBI--essential reading for our times

Impressively researched and eloquently argued, former special agent Mike German's Disrupt, Discredit, and Divide tells the story of the transformation of the FBI after the 9/11 attacks from a law enforcement agency, made famous by prosecuting organized crime and corruption in business and government, into arguably the most secretive domestic intelligence agency America has ever seen.

German shows how FBI leaders exploited the fear of terrorism in the aftermath of 9/11 to shed the legal constraints imposed on them in the 1970s in the wake of Hoover-era civil rights abuses. Empowered by the Patriot Act and new investigative guidelines, the bureau resurrected a discredited theory of terrorist "radicalization" and adopted a "disruption strategy" that targeted Muslims, foreigners, and communities of color, and tarred dissidents inside and outside the bureau as security threats, dividing American communities against one another. By prioritizing its national security missions over its law enforcement mission, the FBI undermined public confidence in justice and the rule of law. Its failure to include racist, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, and xenophobic violence committed by white nationalists within its counterterrorism mandate only increased the perception that the FBI was protecting the powerful at the expense of the powerless.

Disrupt, Discredit, and Divide is an engaging and unsettling contemporary history of the FBI and a bold call for reform, told by a longtime counterterrorism undercover agent who has become a widely admired whistleblower and a critic for civil liberties and accountable government.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: a lawless law enforcer -- Disruption -- A "culture of arrogance" -- A lack of internal controls -- Fear of foreignness -- Targeting their own -- Disrupting diversity and dissent -- The radicalization theory -- Disrupting muslim civil society -- Scapegoating Muslim American communities -- Criminalizing black identity -- Targeting innocent "others" -- Disrupting democratic controls -- The watchdog that didn't bark-ignoring executive abuse -- White nationalism and white collars -- Conclusion: what then must we do? -- Notes.

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