Devised in the wake of the September 11th Terror Attacks and subsequent 9/11 Commission casting much of the blame on the lack of interjurisdictional communication between law enforcement, fusion centers have continued to operate in the shadows and outside the realms of the public eye, and even elected officials, ever since. Yet instead of foreign and domestic terrorists, these multi-million-dollar surveillance hubs monitor and collect data about everyday people exercising their constitutional rights to protest, assemble, speak out—or even simply snap a photo in the proximity of something as ubiquitous as a bridge. There’s at least one fusion center in every state, 80 in all, with hundreds of ancillary support agencies forming a complex network of local and federal law enforcement agencies—and private corporations—stretching every community across America, with dubious results. 

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