CNN suppressed leaked DHS report on Super Bowl LII security operation
By
Matthew Taylor
7 February 2018
On Monday CNN published a report detailing the discovery and subsequent suppression of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memorandum discussing preparations for a chemical weapon attack at Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Sunday.
The incident illustrates the collaborative nature of the relationship between the mainstream media and the intelligence agencies as well as the ways in which America’s most popular annual sporting event has been used to justify the further militarization of society and the buildup of police-state powers.
In December, a CNN employee discovered the documents in question in the seatback pocket on a commercial flight. Known as an “after action report,” the papers detailed the results of two drills held in July and November simulating an anthrax attack in Minneapolis during the Super Bowl.
CNN reported that the documents were accompanied by the boarding pass and travel itinerary of Michael V. Walter, microbiologist and program manager of BioWatch, a highly classified DHS program that operates a “nationwide aerosol detection system designed to provide an early warning of a biological attack across all levels of government,” according to CNN.
Walter, who had previously worked for both CIA and the Naval Surface Warfare Center, has been the director of the program since 2009. CNN reports that other sensitive DHS documents, whose contents were not disclosed, were also found along with the report.
According to CNN, the selection of documents which they chose to report on review the results of the exercise and disputes among various agencies involved in the effectiveness of the BioWatch operation. The limited findings released by…