FBI Targets Preppers and Preparedness Supplies

If you’ve been preparing for emergencies, disasters, or economic collapse there’s a strong likelihood that you’ve been added to a watch list somewhere.

Hard to believe?

The latest Communities Against Terrorism guidelines distributed by the FBI to military surplus stores in the state of Colorado outline specific activities that owners and retail associates should look for when trying to spot terrorist related activity. Much of the suspicious activity listed describes the behavior and shopping list of any modern day prepper:

What should I consider suspicious?

People or groups who:

Provide identification that is inconsistent or suspect or demand identity “privacy”
Insist on paying with cash or uses credit card(s) in different names
Make suspicious comments regarding
Anyti U.S. radical theology, vague or cryptic warnings that suggests or appear to endorse the use of violence in support of a cause.

Demonstrate interest in uses that do not seem consistent with the intended use of the item being purchased
Possess little knowledge of intended purchase items

Make bulk purchases of items to include:

-Weatherproofed ammunition or match containers
-Meals Ready to Eat
-Night Vision Devices; night flashlights; gas masks
-High capacity magazines
-Bi-pods or tri-pods for rifles
View the entire Federal Bureau of Investigation Memo [PDF]

The brief bulk purchases list described above is something you might find in the wish-list or supply closet of any serious prepper. If you are stocking up on ammo, buying extra magazines, a bi-pod and night vision then you are suspicious and potentially a domestic terrorist; nevermind that you may be planning a personal defense strategy for your property in the event of a widespread disaster and have no intention of using these items for any other purpose. Even if you are stockpiling the most basic of all preparedness lists, like MRE’s or other long-term food storage items, the FBI now considers you suspicious.

Some of the activities, taken individually, could be innocent and must be examined by law enforcement professionals in a larger context to determine whether there is a basis to investigate. The activities outlined on this handout are by no means all-inclusive but have been compiled from a review of terrorist events over several years.

The handout encourages surplus store owners and employees to provide information on “suspicious” customers by calling the Denver Joint Terrorism Task Force or the Colorado Information Analysis Center. This handout is very nearly identical to one issued by the FBI to gun stores from Connecticut to Utah(PDF)

This new handout expands the absurdity by now also targeting customers of military surplus stores, and by specifically targeting the purchasing of very common, and very popular, preparedness items such as Meals Ready to Eat (MRE’s) as “potential indicators of terrorist activities.”