Fusion Centers: How Government Surveillance Targets American Citizens

What happens when government surveillance targets ordinary Americans? The shadowy world of fusion centers represents one of the most concerning yet least understood aspects of our national security apparatus.

Built in the aftermath of 9/11 to improve intelligence sharing between agencies, these data hubs have morphed into something far more sinister. With minimal oversight and alarming financial incentives, fusion centers now collect vast amounts of information on millions of Americans – many with no connection to terrorism or criminal activity.

My own experience with fusion center targeting began after I declined a White House invitation and made political decisions that apparently landed me on their radar. What followed was textbook psychological warfare: subtle technology interference escalated to home break-ins where nothing was stolen but personal items were disturbed. Police surveillance became constant. Most devastatingly, people I trusted – even family members – were apparently recruited and compensated to participate in my monitoring and harassment.

This isn't conspiracy theory – it's documented reality. Government reports, lawsuits, and whistleblower testimony confirm that fusion centers have systematically expanded beyond their original mission. They've monitored environmental activists, journalists, and those who simply express dissenting political views. Their tactics, sometimes called "gang stalking," employ sophisticated psychological pressure designed to isolate, discredit, and destabilize targets.

The implications for democracy are profound. When government agencies can secretly target citizens without accountability, the impact extends beyond individual victims to threaten our collective freedom. Join me as we expose this hidden system and demand the transparency that true national security requires. Subscribe to Surviving Changes Podcast as we continue investigating the institutions operating behind the curtain of American power.

Support the show

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
In a world where surveillance quietly expands
beyond public awareness, fusioncenters operate in the shadows
data hubs designed to track,analyze and share information on
millions of people.
Initially established to combatterrorism, these secret
entities have morphed into vastintelligent networks with little
oversight and alarmingconsequences.

(00:21):
This is not just theory.
This is the story of thousandsof people who've been targeted
by the program.
It's also my reality.
Surveillance has always existed, but fusion centers brought it
to a whole new level.
These facilities, spread acrossthe United States, claim to be
intelligent sharing hubsdesigned to prevent crime and

(00:42):
terrorism.
That's the official story, butbehind closed doors, fusion
centers have quietly expandedtheir reach, pulling in data
from local police, federalagencies, even private companies
, with almost no transparency.
Today, there are more than 70fusion centers across the
country, linking local lawenforcement to national

(01:02):
intelligence agencies.
The promise linking local lawenforcement to national
intelligence agencies.
The promise Improvedcoordination, early warning
against threats the reality Notso much.
It's a surveillance machinethat's been used to track
activists, journalists, ordinarycitizens, many of whom had no
idea they were even beingwatched, many of whom had no

(01:25):
idea they were even beingwatched Early on.
Watchdog groups raised concernsthe lack of oversight, the vague
definitions of suspiciousbehavior, the unchecked power,
and soon, lawsuits and leakedreports would reveal the
uncomfortable truth.
Fusion centers weren't justwatching terrorists, they're

(01:49):
watching everyone.
Now let's understand how we gothere.
To understand, we need to goback Back to the uncertainty
following 9-11.
Back to a moment when thegovernment was scrambling for
answers.
That's when fusion centersbegan.
The September 11 attacks changedeverything.
Lawmakers realized thatcritical intelligence had been
scattered across differentagencies fbi, cia, local police

(02:11):
but no one had connected thedots in time.
To prevent the tragedy, thegovernment needed a new strategy
, a system that could shareinformation instantly across
multiple agencies to identifythreats before they even
happened.
Seems legit, right.
So in response, congress passedsweeping laws the Patriot Act,

(02:32):
the Homeland Security Act.
They created the Department ofHomeland Security, dhs, the
priority Intelligence sharing,and by the early 2000s, fusion
centers began appearing asstate-run data hubs designed to
bridge the gap between federal,state and local authorities.
Okay, and first the goal seemedclear Identify and prevent

(02:56):
terrorist threats.
Soon the fusion centers expandedfar beyond that mission.
They started collectingintelligence on protesters, on
environmental activists, evenpeople with no criminal
connections at all.
But why?
Because the definition ofsuspicious activity was left

(03:16):
dangerously vague and as federalfunding continued to pour in,
lots of funding.
Fusion centers had an incentiveto keep gathering more and more
data.
For every person who they puton the list initially, they get
a $30,000 bonus, and that's justthe beginning.
The more they determine aperson is a threat, the more
money they get.
It can be a big windfall.

(03:36):
Putting a political adversaryon there.
Everyone's on their payrollCops, judges, prosecutors,
corporate actors, citizens whothey call community-based agents
.
Maybe challenge them,eventually even your friends and
family.
By the mid-2000s, the signs ofoverreach were everywhere Leaked

(03:58):
reports showing that fusioncenters had labeled everyday
citizens potential threats.
I became a target when Ideclined Obama's invitation to
the White House and firedSenator Murray's daughter.
I had been the American dream,going from food stamps to owning
a successful law office.
I believed in the system.
I would have never believedthat declining to be part of the
Democrats' madness would havemade me a target of my own

(04:20):
government, but it did.
It sure did.
At first it was subtle.
Things seemed off, not alarmingDevices acting strangely,
messages that I never wrotebeing sent Colleagues, family
members, friends distinctthemselves, without explanation.
Then it escalated.

(04:40):
My home was broken into.
Nothing was stolen.
Instead, every picture of mydaughter was flipped over, as if
to send a message.
Police cars would now follow me, often, drive by my house all
day and night, when they neverhad done that before.
Friends I had trusted began totreat me different, as if they
had been told something about me, something that they believed
over the truth that they sawwith their very own eyes.

(05:02):
Perhaps they were getting paidPeople close to me, even my
daughter and my lead lawyer,cassandra Lopez de Arriaga.
They played a role.
They swatted me that was thestart Attempting to provoke a
police response, wanting topaint me as unstable Out of
nowhere, they approached me andencouraged me to speak to a

(05:23):
counselor, not for help, but tocreate a paper trail that could
be used against me.
They did these things as theylooked me in the eyes and said
they loved me and were worriedthat I was working too hard.
These things aren't random.
This was organized and it wasdesigned to make me doubt myself
, to isolate me, to make myreality seem like fiction.

(05:44):
But they were all being paid bythe Fusion Center, every
fucking one of them.
I wasn't the only one subjectedto Fusion Center abuse.
Cases like mine have surfacedall over the country.
People subjected to the samepsychological warfare, the same
coordinated tactics ofdiscrediting, isolation,
intimidation.

(06:05):
My family and friends were paidyour tax dollars to bring harm
to me, and they did.
They did, you did.
I'm going to get you back.
But you did.
Them get you back.
But you did.
Fusion centers were supposed toattract threats, but but at some
point, the definition of threatbecame dangerously blurred and,

(06:26):
instead of focusing oncriminals or terrorism, they
turn their resources towardsactivists, journalists and those
of us who are unwilling to jointhem.
So what do you do when a systembuilt in the name of security
turns against its own people?
The abuses by the fusion centeraren't just speculation.
They're documented.
Lawsuits have been filed, withmore to come.

(06:50):
Whistleblowers have comeforward.
Reports from governmentagencies themselves have
revealed just how far thesecenters have strayed from their
original mission.
These abuses aren't justhappening in distant lands.
They happened to me right therein Washington State.
I experienced firsthand what itmeans to be a target by the
Washington State Mission Center.
When I look at the lawsuits andreports, I see patterns,

(07:13):
patterns that match what I wentthrough.
My devices were hacked.
My name was twisted intonarratives I never created and
weren't true.
My home was violated in a waydesigned to send a message.
I was not just watched, I wasmanipulated, isolated,
discredited, probably poisoned.
And the worst part, the tacticsused against me weren't unique.

(07:35):
They fit into a broaderstrategy of psychological
pressure, one that fusioncenters have been accused of
using against others deemedproblematic or suspicious.
That part of the program iscalled gang stalking.
They have a manual they givethe gang stalkers that's
directly taken from the Nazitorture programs, and the
surveillance isn't just aboutcameras or data collection, it's

(07:57):
about control.
Fusion centers were meant toprotect us, but somewhere along
the way they became somethingelse, a system without clear
accountability, one that can beused against any political
adversary.
And when that happens, theconsequences are personal, found
and lasting.
I know because I lived it.

(08:18):
I felt it in isolation, in thegaslighting, in the way they
worked to turn my own worldagainst me.
I'm not alone.
Others have faced the samereality their lives disrupted by
silent forces they neverexpected.
So when you ask me what is afusion center?
It's the place funded bytaxpayer dollars, that directs

(08:39):
and pays gang stalkers, throughinstitutions like infregard, to
destroy anyone who has tried totell you what a fusion center is
and what they do.
It's the place that protectsdirty police officers, dirty
prosecutors, dirty judges, dirtycops all of them.
That's what it is.
That's what it is.
That's what it is.

(08:59):
So stay safe out there.
We'll break this down evenfarther in a future podcast.
I'm Heidi.
This is the Surviving ChangesPodcast.