Homeland Security mouse pads tell football fans to report “unusual” activity.
The Department of Homeland Security’s “See Something, Say Something” campaign is giving out free promotional mouse pads at NFL games that urge attendees to watch their fellow Americans for “unusual behavior.”
Most recently handed out at a Baltimore Ravens game, the mouse pads, developed by Securetransit.org, ask football fans to keep their “good eye open” and report any alleged suspicious activity.
According to the website’s “What to look for” section, an assortment of mundane activities, including everything from wearing vests, jackets and “disproportionate” clothing in hot weather to parking a vehicle with improper tags, are deemed not only suspicious, but worthy of law enforcement intervention.
“Early recognition and reporting of potential terrorist activities is the first line of defense against attacks,” the website states. “Be aware of what is going on around you. Whether traveling, at work or at home, be on the look out for suspicious activities.”
Given the fact that the majority of people would report actual suspicious activity without a multimillion dollar government program telling them to, Homeland Security has been accused of using the campaign to push the fear-based assertion that Americans must spy on their neighbors to stop terrorism, a nearly non-existent problem in the U.S.
Despite lightning strikes and bathtubs posing a statistically higher danger to Americans than terrorism, the NFL has willingly allowed Homeland Security to chisel away at their attendees’ privacy.
Multiple “security enhancements,” including a mandatory clear bag policy and pat downs at stadium entrances, are just a few of the policies now forced upon those attending NFL games.
The federal agency’s actual agenda becomes even more apparent in light of a 2009 DHS report that labeled American military veterans as the number one terror threat. With the vast majority of foiled terror plots being devised by the FBI as reported by the New York Times, the alleged trade between liberty and privacy becomes even more disingenuous.
The NFL’s role as a tool of the political establishment, seen in their promotion of Obamacare and refusal to air pro-Second Amendment commercials during the Super Bowl, prompted an Infowars-led boycott late last year.
While Homeland Security desperately attempts to shake off their Soveit-era secret police connotation, FOIA documents released in 2012 revealed that the agency monitored and tracked Infowars for their First Amendment-protected criticism of the “See Something, Say Something” campaign.
