It has been two weeks since 49 people were murdered at the Orlando LGBTQ Pulse club’s Latin night, and lawmakers at the state and federal level have already seized on public fear of “terrorists” to advance a spate [4] of reactionary bills that expand police powers and erode civil rights. Perhaps the most draconian of them all is the proposed New York State Terrorist Registry Act [5] modeled after controversial [6] sex offender registry legislation.
Under the provision, which has so far passed the NY state Senate but not the assembly, the list will collect photographs, fingerprints, employment information and even DNA analysis of so-called terrorists. Unlike with sex offender watch lists, all of this information will be available to the public, according to lawmakers.
Republican New York State Senator Thomas D. Croci directly invoked the Orlando massacre to accelerate the proposal, which looks alarmingly similar to Donald Trump’s outrageous call [7] for a Muslim registry. “The deterioration of the security situation overseas and the growing number of attacks at home, including the barbaric attack this week in Orlando,” said Croci on June 15, “it is clear we are under attack.”
Who exactly would be publicly “outed” in this registry? Croci’s office was unable to provide a clear answer. AlterNet had numerous back-and-forth conversations with Croci’s spokesperson, Christine A. Geed, who first said that only “convicted terrorists” would be included on the list but later proclaimed the following over the phone: “This is giving law enforcement the opportunity to say that a person might not have been convicted of a crime but all the earmarks of this person having allegiance to ISIS are there so you probably want to watch. This is not necessarily for people being convicted, if there is information and documentation that associates them with a terrorist act. I am just assuming those are the type of people they would be looking for.”