Attending Gaza Protests? The Feds Are Watching

From the FBI to the Forest Service, the government’s antisemitism police have their marching orders

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

The U.S. government hears the student protests and is responding — but not in the way you might hope.

For the feds, it is all about turning protests into a national security crisis, with imagined foreign influence, sympathy for Hamas and other terrorist groups, and a threat to the government itself.

It’s widely known that local law enforcement agencies like the NYPD have been responding to the Gaza protests sweeping across the country; but less well known are the federal agencies that are quietly watching and preparing. Instead of addressing the issues raised – civilian casualties and the plight of the Palestinian people, divestment from Israel, demilitarization of universities and colleges – President Biden himself bluntly dismisses the students.

“Mr. President, have the protests forced you to reconsider any of the policies with regard to the region?,” a reporter asked at Biden’s press conference on Thursday. Without hesitation, Biden answered: “No.”

Those are the marching orders. So while the students continue to speak out, and so many are clearly unhappy with American policy, the federal government has wasted no time in surging resources from all across the country as it colors the students as threats to national security.

Here are just some of the federal agencies that have now become involved:

• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),

• Federal Protective Service (FPS) – the Department of Homeland Security law enforcement agency that protects federal buildings and other assets, and

• Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Department of Homeland Security’s investigative arm.

Under the Biden’s administration’s 2023 National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, a gaggle of additional agencies are called upon to take action. These include the Department of the Interior, whose rangers and guides are directed to “identify and counter antisemitism and other forms of hate”; and the Department of Agriculture, through its law enforcement agents assigned to the Forest Service, who have been directed “to learn how to identify and counter antisemitic, Islamophobic, and related forms of discrimination.”

The Pentagon, through its various investigative arms – Army CID, Navy NCIS, Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) – and other agencies, also manages FBI-run Joint Terrorism Task Forces which are active throughout the country.

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FBI

In an NBC interview last week, FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed that “we do share intelligence about specific threats of violence” regarding the campus protests. During the interview, Wray also revealed the Bureau’s alarmism about the terrorism threat level since Hamas’ October 7th attack on Israel.

“We thought that even before October 7th, that the terrorism threat was already elevated,” Wray said. “But post-October 7th, it’s gone to whole ‘nother level.”

Despite the fact that there have not been any terror attacks in the U.S. since the Hamas war began, Wray has been fear mongering about the threat for months.

In March testimony to Congress, Wray warned that “we expect that October 7 and the conflict that’s followed will feed a pipeline of radicalization and mobilization for years to come.” 

The White House has also acknowledged the Bureau’s involvement. 

On Wednesday, when asked about the campus protests, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said that “the DOJ and FBI is going to continue to offer support to universities and colleges in respect to federal laws.” 

The FBI is also under pressure from Congress to crack down on the protests. Last week, Senator Marsha Blackburn, a member of the Judiciary Committee which oversees the FBI, called to “put any student who promotes terrorism on behalf of Hamas on the terrorist watchlist.” The watchlist is maintained by the FBI.

The Intercept has also reported on a zoom call in which representatives Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Mike Lawler (R-NY), along with trustees from several universities, discussed what they saw as the need for FBI intervention. 

Following repeated claims by a university board of trustee member that outside entities were funding and orchestrating the encampments, Gottheimer said that he had been in touch with the FBI on the matter.

“Based on my conversations with the FBI,” Gottheimer, who is a member of the Intelligence Committee said, “I can just say that I think people are well aware this is an issue.” 

Gottheimer added: “I can’t speak for the local FBI field offices, but it’s got to be all hands on deck.”

Federal Protective Service (FPS)

The little-known Department of Homeland Security law enforcement agency tasked with protecting federal buildings and workers has also been involved in responding to Gaza protests, including at Yale University. 

While FPS is tasked with protecting federal facilities, federal law allows them to operate “in areas outside the property to the extent necessary to protect the property and persons on the property.” 

In 2020 during the George Floyd protests in Portland, Oregon, FPS undertook a number of anti-protest operations, including Operations Keen Titan and Nail Head, never before revealed. 

As part of these operations, two unidentified federal agents clad in full combat gear snatched a protester off the streets and moved him into an unmarked van. Video of the incident generated a firestorm of criticism and confusion, including from Congress, about who the agents worked for. Only later did it become clear that these were FPS inspectors, as they’re called. They are federal law enforcement officers.

The Department’s Customs and Border Protection later acknowledged that it had sent its special forces equivalent, BORTAC (Border Patrol Tactical Unit), to Portland to protect federal property, deputized to operate under FPS cover.

Unbeknown to many, under federal law the Secretary of Homeland Security can “designate employees of [DHS] … as officers and agents for duty in connection with the protection of property owned or occupied by the Federal Government and persons on the property, including duty in areas outside the property to the extent necessary to protect the property and persons on the property.” 

FPS’s unique authorities have since been brought to bear on the college protesters. In an FPS email obtained by Jason Leopold of Bloomberg under FOIA, warns of a pro-Israel rally scheduled for October 13 on Yale’s campus in New Haven, Connecticut.

“The concern is that Yale University is pro-Hamas,” the FPS inspector wrote, later conceding that “at this time there is no credible threat.”

FPS’s involvement has looped in both the Biden administration and even Congress. In an October 17 email obtained by Bloomberg, an FPS inspector alerted top Biden administration officials to Gaza protesters “rotating between USG [U.S. Government] locations,” noting that a recent missile strike on a Gaza hospital “has started inflaming tensions…” The email also alludes to “all of the FPS reporting you’re already receiving.”

At the prodding of FPS, the office of Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) requested FPS presence. Several days after Hamas’ October 7 attack, the office was warned by FPS that a Rabbi would be visiting Warren’s office “to intimate [sic] and harass her,” Warren’s office requested their presence. “Given the tone of the social media posts [sic] would be helpful to have an officer there and ready should we need more assistance,” a Warren staffer wrote in an email obtained by Bloomberg.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)

Much less is known about the involvement of the Department of Homeland Security’s investigative arm, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). While this ICE sub-agency likes to bill itself as working to combat child exploitation (who could have a problem with that?), its sprawling mission encompasses many other things — including, it turns out, monitoring the Gaza protests.

In another email obtained by Bloomberg, an HSI official is shown alerting others to the National March for Gaza, a demonstration that took place on October 21 at the Washington Monument.

– Edited by William M. Arkin