When members of Occupy Buffalo gathered in January for a peaceful protest in Niagara Falls, federal agents were watching their every move.
Even more important, perhaps, about a dozen police agencies stood ready to intervene if necessary.
The monitoring of Occupy Buffalo’s New Year’s Day event by Homeland Security agents is at the root of a new lawsuit seeking information on the extent of the government’s surveillance of the protest group.
“The Department of Homeland Security was created after 9/11 for the sake of national security and just over a decade later we can clearly see it’s monitoring ordinary United States citizens,” said Jamie Nichol Stewart, an Occupy Buffalo volunteer.
The group’s attorney, as part of a federal court lawsuit, is seeking documents on when and how the government monitored the local organization.
Occupy Buffalo, like many Occupy organizations across the country, was formed around the “We are the 99 percent” message and the belief that economic inequality and corporate greed are ruining the country.
“The public has a right to know why the FBI has a file on Occupy Buffalo,” said Michael Kuzma, a lawyer for the group. “The FBI doesn’t have a right to open an investigation when folks simply choose to speak out.”
Kuzma said the FBI has confirmed the existence of a file on Occupy Buffalo but so far has declined to release its contents, which is why the group is suing in federal court. He said the group also is seeking information from Homeland Security, Buffalo Police and Buffalo City Hall.
Formed late last year, Occupy Buffalo became known for its tent encampment at Niagara Square, a protest that lasted nearly four months and brought attention to the group’s contention that the U.S. economy rewards the rich at the expense of everyone else.
The group’s lawsuit is part of a national Freedom of Information campaign aimed at determining the extent of the government’s surveillance and, some suggest, infiltration of the movement.
Several government watchdog groups have been successful in winning the release of documents detailing the government’s role in monitoring and cracking down on Occupy groups.
The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based civil rights group, discovered that federal law enforcement shared information with local police and a private security company before the eviction of the Occupy Wall Street camp in Manhattan.
Another group, Truthout, maintains that its FOI effort resulted in evidence that Homeland Security may have violated the Constitution while monitoring Occupy Wall Street.
“I think they’re infiltrating in order to destroy the movement,” said Daire Brian Irwin, a lawyer for Occupy Buffalo. “God forbid these kids be politically engaged and concerned about the future.”
One of the documents released as part of the national FOI campaign is a “Significant Incident Report” from Homeland Security regarding the New Year’s Day event in Niagara Falls.
The report details the number of Occupy members involved in the gathering and the Occupy groups in Canada they met with that day.
“Approximately 30 members of the U.S. Occupy movement went to the middle of the Rainbow Bridge and a brief ceremony was held on the bridge between the international Occupy members,” said the report.
Stewart said Occupy Buffalo, which has no recognized leaders and rules instead by consensus, recently met to discuss the FOI campaign and authorize the lawsuit.
Stewart, who has been arrested twice and both times had the charges dropped, said the suit is essential to determining whether the government broke the law in monitoring the movement.
FBI and Homeland Security officials said they could not comment on pending litigation.

email: pfairbanks@buffnews.com