Attorney: FBI was aware of plan for snipers on Occupy Houston

Justin Meeker (center) and other participants in the Occupy Houston movement pack up their belongings at Tranquility Park before police officers moved in and took over the park after sunset on Mayor Annise Parker's orders, Monday, Feb. 13, 2012, in Houston. The move comes approximately four months after Occupy Houston movement began. "I told Occupy Houston leaders in January they need to decide the next phase for their effort," said Mayor Annise Parker. "I support their right to free speech and I'm sympathetic to their call for reform of the financial system, but they can't simply continue to occupy a space indefinitely. We have to get the area ready for the spring festivals and that necessitates their leaving." ( Michael Paulsen / Houston Chronicle ) less Justin Meeker (center) and other participants in the Occupy Houston movement pack up their belongings at Tranquility Park before police officers moved in and took over the park after sunset on Mayor Annise ... more Photo: Michael Paulsen, Staff Photo: Michael Paulsen, Staff Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Attorney: FBI was aware of plan for snipers on Occupy Houston 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

As the Occupy Houston movement gained steam in 2011, the FBI was aware of a plan to use snipers to take out leaders of the movement, according to FBI documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The highly redacted documents do not point to any FBI involvement in the plan. Agency spokeswoman Shauna Dunlap said that it's premature to draw conclusions about the documents because the publicly released information is incomplete.

The documents do raise questions about how much the FBI knew about the plot, said Houston attorney Paul Kennedy, who represented several of the Occupy protesters in misdemeanor cases.

In an email Wednesday, Dunlap said the agency investigates hundreds of such threats, and "rest assured if the FBI was aware of credible and specific information involving a murder plot, law enforcement would have responded with appropriate action."

Dunlap stated the documents "were redacted in several places pursuant to privacy laws that govern the release of such information." She cautioned against "drawing conclusions from FOIA documents, as they often contain raw data and are incomplete."

Kennedy obtained a copy of the FBI document, which was requested in December 2012 by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, and has posted it on his blog.

"The documents clearly state that the FBI had knowledge of a plot, and they've redacted out the names of any people and organizations," Kennedy said.

"My gut tells me that somebody had put together a plan to kill the leaders of a leaderless group," he said. "Whether that person was affiliated with the government, I don't know. I find it hard to believe, though I know some things the government has done in the past."

The document states, in part:

"An identified (DELETED) as of October [2011] planned to engage in sniper attacks against protesters in Houston, Texas, if deemed necessary. An identified (DELETED) had received intelligence that indicated the protesters in New York and Seattle planned similar protests in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin, Texas. (DELETED) 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."