US Universities Have Been Using Counterterror Intelligence-Sharing Hubs to Monitor Pro-Palestine Activists, Exposing a Crisis of Repression on Campuses Across the Country.
A shocking investigation by The Intercept has revealed that US universities have been using counterterrorism intelligence-sharing hubs to monitor pro-Palestine activists, sparking concerns about the erosion of civil liberties and the intimidation of students exercising their right to free speech.
According to documents obtained through public records requests, at least five campuses across the country have been targeted by these fusion centers. The Ohio State University was one of them, where a counterterrorism hub had warned administrators about an upcoming pro-Palestine demonstration, leading to the shutdown and arrest of 36 students.
The network of law enforcement bodies responsible for counterterror surveillance operations framed the pro-Palestine demonstrations as a security issue, warranting outside police interventions and technological surveillance. This is despite the fact that these protests were peaceful and student-led, protected by the First Amendment.
"This is not just an attack on Palestinian rights, but also on the rights of all students to express themselves," said Tariq Kenney-Shawa, Al-Shabaka's U.S. policy fellow. "We are up against repressive forces that have always been there, but have never been this advanced."
University administrators and officials from fusion centers have downplayed their role in surveilling pro-Palestine activists, claiming that they were acting to prevent potential security threats. However, experts argue that this is a thin veil for infringing on civil rights and targeting specific communities.
"Fusion centers have also come under fire for sharing dubious intelligence and escalating local police responses to BLM," said Rory Mir, associate director of community organizing at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "For universities to knowingly coordinate and feed more information into these systems to target students puts them in harm's way and is a threat to their civil rights."
The proliferation of fusion centers has contributed to a mass surveillance landscape that allows for the collection and sharing of vast amounts of personal data, often without transparency or oversight.
"The normalization of intelligence sharing between campus police departments and federal law enforcement agencies is widespread across U.S. universities," The Intercept notes. "As pro-Palestine demonstrations escalated across the country in 2024, U.S. universities would lean on their relationships with outside agencies and on intelligence sharing arrangements with not only other universities, but also the state and federal surveillance apparatus."
Cal Poly Humboldt, for example, had tracked the IP and account user information of students connected to WiFi in a building where they were protesting, in collaboration with the FBI. The university had obtained warrants for the search and seizure of devices.
"This is not just about pro-Palestine activists; it's about any student who dares to speak out against injustice," said Dylan Saba, a staff attorney at Palestine Legal. "We are up against repressive forces that have always been there, but have never been this advanced."
The Intercept investigation has shed light on a crisis of repression that is being faced by pro-Palestine activists and students across the country. As one expert noted, "What we're seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government."
A shocking investigation by The Intercept has revealed that US universities have been using counterterrorism intelligence-sharing hubs to monitor pro-Palestine activists, sparking concerns about the erosion of civil liberties and the intimidation of students exercising their right to free speech.
According to documents obtained through public records requests, at least five campuses across the country have been targeted by these fusion centers. The Ohio State University was one of them, where a counterterrorism hub had warned administrators about an upcoming pro-Palestine demonstration, leading to the shutdown and arrest of 36 students.
The network of law enforcement bodies responsible for counterterror surveillance operations framed the pro-Palestine demonstrations as a security issue, warranting outside police interventions and technological surveillance. This is despite the fact that these protests were peaceful and student-led, protected by the First Amendment.
"This is not just an attack on Palestinian rights, but also on the rights of all students to express themselves," said Tariq Kenney-Shawa, Al-Shabaka's U.S. policy fellow. "We are up against repressive forces that have always been there, but have never been this advanced."
University administrators and officials from fusion centers have downplayed their role in surveilling pro-Palestine activists, claiming that they were acting to prevent potential security threats. However, experts argue that this is a thin veil for infringing on civil rights and targeting specific communities.
"Fusion centers have also come under fire for sharing dubious intelligence and escalating local police responses to BLM," said Rory Mir, associate director of community organizing at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "For universities to knowingly coordinate and feed more information into these systems to target students puts them in harm's way and is a threat to their civil rights."
The proliferation of fusion centers has contributed to a mass surveillance landscape that allows for the collection and sharing of vast amounts of personal data, often without transparency or oversight.
"The normalization of intelligence sharing between campus police departments and federal law enforcement agencies is widespread across U.S. universities," The Intercept notes. "As pro-Palestine demonstrations escalated across the country in 2024, U.S. universities would lean on their relationships with outside agencies and on intelligence sharing arrangements with not only other universities, but also the state and federal surveillance apparatus."
Cal Poly Humboldt, for example, had tracked the IP and account user information of students connected to WiFi in a building where they were protesting, in collaboration with the FBI. The university had obtained warrants for the search and seizure of devices.
"This is not just about pro-Palestine activists; it's about any student who dares to speak out against injustice," said Dylan Saba, a staff attorney at Palestine Legal. "We are up against repressive forces that have always been there, but have never been this advanced."
The Intercept investigation has shed light on a crisis of repression that is being faced by pro-Palestine activists and students across the country. As one expert noted, "What we're seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government."