Judge orders FBI to explain withholding records of alleged Occupy Houston assassination plot

Occupy Houston posted this video of the tarp incident on its YouTube channel. (Warning: This clip contain expletives.)

A federal judge has ordered the FBI to explain why it withheld some information requested by a graduate student for his research on a plot to assassinate Occupy Houston protest leaders.

Ryan Noah Shapiro, a doctoral student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., filed a lawsuit April 29, 2013, against the U.S. Department of Justice in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer issued her order, with an accompanying memo, on March 12.

The FBI, as part of the Department of Justice, controls the records Shapiro wanted for his study of "conflicts at the nexus of American national security, law enforcement and political dissent," the plaintiff's complaint stated.

Houston was among hundreds of U.S. cities where protesters occupied outdoor spaces as part of the Occupy Movement that started in New York's Zucotti Park on Sept. 17, 2011.

"The movement has sought to expose how the wealthiest 1 percent of society promulgates an unfair global economy that harms people and destroys communities worldwide," the complaint stated.

Occupy Houston protestors lay in the exit ramp of Loop 610 at the Port of Houston Authority Monday, Dec. 12, 2011, in Houston. The event, Occupy The Port, was part of a nationwide movement targeting the nation's ports. About 20 of the more than 100 protestors were arrested according to the Houston Police Department. less Occupy Houston protestors lay in the exit ramp of Loop 610 at the Port of Houston Authority Monday, Dec. 12, 2011, in Houston. The event, Occupy The Port, was part of a nationwide movement targeting the ... more Photo: Cody Duty, Houston Chronicle Photo: Cody Duty, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 59 Caption Close Judge orders FBI to explain withholding records of alleged Occupy Houston assassination plot 1 / 59 Back to Gallery

Shapiro said in his complaint that the existence of an assassination plot against Occupy Houston's leaders became known through the FBI's earlier release of information in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

"According to one of the released records, ... [REDACTED] planned to gather intelligence against the leaders of the protest groups and obtain photographs, then formulate a plan to kill the leadership via suppressed sniper rifles...," Shapiro stated in his complaint.

Shapiro requested additional information from the FBI in January 2013.

"There is presently a vigorous and extraordinarily important debate in the United States about the authority of the government to conduct extrajudicial killings on American soil," the complaint stated.

"The records sought by plaintiff would likely be an invaluable contribution to the public discourse on this issue," Shapiro's complaint said. "It would also be a significant controversy if it was revealed that the FBI deliberately failed to act to prevent a plot to assassinate American protest leaders."

In response to Shapiro's request, the FBI identified 17 pages of records and turned over five partial pages while entirely withholding 12 pages, according to court records.

Shapiro filed the suit because, his complaint stated, the FBI's search was inadequate and failed to produce relevant records, and the agency improperly invoked certain exemptions as reasons not to disclose information.

In July, the FBI filed a motion to either dismiss the suit or request summary judgment. The judge granted the motion in part and denied it in part.

In its motion to dismiss, the FBI stated that it maintained its records pursuant to its "general investigative authority" and its "lead role in investigating terrorism and in the collection of terrorism threat information."

But the agency failed to supply facts supporting its belief that the Occupy protesters might have been engaged in terroristic or other criminal activity, the judge's memo stated.

The judge ordered the FBI to explain its basis for withholding information under Exemption 7, which protects records compiled for law enforcement purposes.

"To the extent that FBI believes it cannot be more specific without revealing the very information it wishes to protect, it may request an in camera (in judge's chambers) review of the documents," Collyer said.