Mall of America visitors unknowingly end up in counterterrorism fusion center reports

  • Print

    The Alex Jones Channel
    Alex Jones Show podcast
    Prison Planet TV
    Infowars.com Twitter
    Alex Jones' Facebook
    Infowars store

G.W. Schulz,  Andrew Becker, Daniel Zwerdling
CFIR
Sept 8, 2011

Bloomington, Minn. – On May 1, 2008, at 4:59 p.m., Brad Kleinerman entered the spooky world of homeland security.

As he shopped for a children’s watch inside the sprawling Mall of America, two security guards approached and began questioning him. Although he was not accused of wrongdoing, the guards filed a confidential report about Kleinerman that was forwarded to local police.

The reason: Guards thought he might pose a threat because they believed he had been looking at them in a suspicious way.

Najam Qureshi, owner of a kiosk that sold items from his native Pakistan, also had his own experience with authorities after his father left a cell phone on a table in the food court.

The consequence: An FBI agent showed up at the family’s home, asking if they knew anyone who might want to hurt the United States.

Mall of America officials say their security unit stops and questions on average up to 1,200 people each year. The interviews at the mall are part of a counterterrorism initiativethat acts as the private eyes and ears of law enforcement authorities but has often ensnared innocent people, according to an investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting and NPR.

  • A d v e r t i s e m e n t
  • Mall of America visitors unknowingly end up in counterterrorism fusion center reports

In many cases, the written reports were filed without the knowledge of those interviewed by security. Several people named in the reports learned from journalists that their birth dates, race, names of employers and other personal information were compiled along with surveillance images.

One Iranian man, now 62, began passing out during questioning. An Army veteran sobbed in his car after he was questioned for nearly two hours about video he had taken inside the mall.

Much of the questioning at the mall has been done in public while shoppers mill around, records show. Two people, a shopper and a mall employee, also described being taken to a basement area for questioning. Officials at the mall would not address individual cases.

“The government is not going to protect us free of charge, so we have to do that ourselves,” said Maureen Bausch, executive vice president of business development at the mall. “We’re lucky enough to be in the city of Bloomington where they actually have a police substation here [in the mall]. … They’re great. But we are responsible for this building.”

Reporters at the Center for Investigative Reporting and NPR obtained 125 suspicious activity reportstotaling over 1,000 pages dating back to Christmas Eve, 2005. The documents, provided by law enforcement officials in Minnesota, give a glimpse inside the national campaign by authorities to collect and share intelligence about possible threats.

Read Full Article


Print
Print this page.

Comment Rules


4 Responses to “Mall of America visitors unknowingly end up in counterterrorism fusion center reports”

  1. “The government is not going to protect us free of charge, so we have to do that ourselves,”

    Just Wondering…

    After All The Money Spent, Investigations, Accusations, False Innuendos, And Blatant Misconduct…Did You Identify ANY REAL POTENTIAL TERRORISTS???

    NO?

    I Thought So.

    QMB
    thinking
    man

  2. Mall cops, the executive enforcement arm of Homeland security. lol. I don’t suppose they are getting a little of that Homeland security money? I can’t think of anything more immasculating and embarrasing than being a “Mall Cop”. How pathetic. Suppose the Mall Cops get Navy Seal anti terrorism training? I wonder how many push ups the average Mall Cop could knock out upon request…..
    might have to set down the Orange Julius…..

  3. Malls what are they good for?

  4. The answer is simple, Boycott…..

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes