![]() ![]() is a national security priority and the Department of Justice and the FBI are devoting a ton of time and resources to identifying and charging those cases," said Brandon Van Grack, a former Justice Department national security prosecutor now at law firm Morrison Foerster. ![]() The record number of foreign agent cases "shows that this issue of foreign agents in the U.S. The Chinese government has denied maintaining overseas police stations but has said there are volunteer-run centers outside China that help Chinese citizens renew documents and offer other services. They were charged with conspiring to violate Section 951. In the New York case, Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping are accused of working on behalf of China's Ministry of Public Security. government has prioritized suspected cases of spying, illegal lobbying and harassment. elections and intimidate political opponents on American soil, the U.S. Prosecutors have charged at least nine since the start of this year.Īlarmed by the efforts of Russia, China and others to influence U.S. ![]() ![]() That was the highest number since at least 2003, according to a Reuters review of Justice Department statements and court records. The Justice Department last year charged at least 25 people with violating or conspiring to violate the law. The law, Section 951, was passed as part of the 1917 Espionage Act - enacted partly to combat resistance to the World War One draft - and makes it illegal to operate in the United States subject to a foreign government's direction or control without notifying the Attorney General. charges last week against two people for allegedly running a Chinese "secret police station" in New York marked the latest case in a broad ramp-up in the use of a century-old law meant to curb the activity of foreign agents. The MP said that given only a few people were allowed out of the corralled crowd for the five hours he was held inside it, there should be no problem in investigating the allegation by examining video footage.NEW YORK, April 28 (Reuters) - U.S. "There is a logic having plain-clothes officers in the crowd, but no logic if the officers are actively encouraging violence, which would be a source of great concern," Brake said. It has been used effectively to combat football hooliganism in the UK and was employed during the May Day protests in 2001.īrake said he intends to raise the allegations with the Met's commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, when he next appears before the home affairs select committee. The use of plain-clothes officers in crowd situations is considered a vital tactic for gathering evidence. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "We would never deploy officers in this way or condone such behaviour." The IPCC said it had no record of complaints involving the use of police agents provocateurs. Of these, 121 have been made about the use of force by police officers, while 75 relate to police tactics. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has received 256 complaints relating to the G20 protests. Hopefully, a review of video evidence will clear this up." I don't believe in conspiracy theories but this really struck me. He legged it towards the police line, flashed some ID and they just let him through, no questions asked."Īmos added: "He was pretty much inciting the crowd. "Then suddenly a protester seemed to identify him as a policeman and turned on him. These include Tony Amos, a photographer who was standing with protesters in the Royal Exchange between 5pm and 6pm. But when the crowd became suspicious of the men and accused them of being police officers, the pair approached the police line and passed through after showing some form of identification.īrake has produced a draft report of his experiences for the human rights committee, having received written statements from people in the crowd. "When I was in the middle of the crowd, two people came over to me and said, 'There are people over there who we believe are policemen and who have been encouraging the crowd to throw things at the police,'" Brake said. Brake, who along with hundreds of others was corralled behind police lines near Bank tube station in the City of London on the day of the protests, says he was informed by people in the crowd that the men had been seen to throw bottles at the police and had encouraged others to do the same shortly before they passed through the cordon.īrake, a member of the influential home affairs select committee, will raise the allegations when he gives evidence before parliament's joint committee on human rights on Tuesday. ![]()
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