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Activists Protest School of the Americas amid Reports of FBI Spying

HeadlineNov 23, 2015

Human rights activists converged in Georgia over the weekend for the annual protest calling for the closure of the U.S. military training school known as School of the Americas. Now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, or WISC, the school at Fort Benning, Georgia, has trained Latin American military leaders and dictators accused of presiding over massacres and torture. This year, protesters also called for the closure of Stewart Immigrant Detention Center in Lumpkin; 11 people were arrested for civil disobedience at the private prison. The protests come as newly released documents show the FBI monitored and infiltrated the peace group School of the Americas Watch, which organizes the annual rally. Documents obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund show that despite repeatedly acknowledging its activities were peaceful, the FBI spied on the group for a decade, using counterterrorism units and confidential informants.

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