John Towery is a professional informant who works for the US Army. He works on Fort Lewis, WA in ‘force protection’. Between September 2007 and July 2009, using the alias “John Jacob (agent_orange@riseup.net)”, he illegally infiltrated various anti-war and “anarchist” groups around the Olympia and Tacoma (WA) area including Port Militarization Resistance and Students for a Democratic Society. He also worked closely with the Smash ICE Campaign and Iraq Veterans Against the War. Much of his time was spent befriending anarchists or those whose views had anarchist characteristics. People who knew John Jacob described him as kind, generous, and friendly. He came to meetings and quickly became a trusted individual, leading to him becoming the administrator of the PMR mailing list which gave him access to the name and email address of almost every person in the organization. The information he collected was given to and used by various government bodies including The US Army, The Olympia Police Department, the Tacoma Police Department, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, The Washington State Patrol, and the Washington Joint Analytical Center. After his outing, he admitted to spying on these groups and passing on information to these agencies. This information collection on US citizens and groups engaged in 1st Amendment protected activities was clearly illegal under a number of statues and violated the rights and civil liberties of those involved.
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