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WASHINGTON, D.C., February 10, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Bank of America has been examining the financial records of its customers and handing them over to federal investigators in an attempt to aid in prosecuting people who participated in the January 6 Trump rally and Capitol protests.
The move has been characterized by observers as treating Americans like “Al Qaeda,” and demonstrates the enormous power which banks have in controlling society.
Last week, Fox News host Tucker Carlson revealed on his show that Bank of America (BofA) had been “actively but secretly engaged in the hunt for extremists in cooperation with the government,” collaborating with “federal law enforcement agencies,” and sharing the private financial information of its customers without informing them. In essence, BofA had been “acting as an intelligence agency. But they’re not telling you about it.”
The move was to assist the swift action which was being taken in tracking down those involved in the January 6 protests at the Capitol. Although the majority of people had gathered to peacefully support former President Donald Trump, they have since been labeled by President Joe Biden as “rioters, insurrectionists, and domestic terrorists.”
In the aftermath, BofA dug through the “financial and transaction records” of its unsuspecting customers, looking for those who might fit a profile suggested to the bank by the FBI:
1) Customers confirmed as transacting, either through bank account debit card or credit card, purchases in Washington, D.C. between January 5 and January 6.
2) Purchases made for Hotels, AirBnB, RSVPs in Washington, Virginia or Maryland after January 6.
3) Any purchase of weapons or at a weapons-related merchant between January 7 and their upcoming suspected stay in D.C. area around Inauguration Day.
4) Airline related purchases since January 6.
In order to identify individuals who matched the profile, which Carlson described as “a very, very wide net — an absurdly wide one,” BofA had to search through a large number of records, assessing the various purchases, and eventually presented the results of its search to the FBI.
In the end, 211 customers had their information handed over to the federal investigators, still without their knowledge, and Carlson noted that at least one of them had been interrogated, yet was found completely innocent.
Due to the “absurdly wide” nature of the search, BofA, the second largest bank in the country with over 60 million customers, would have searched through customers who had purchased something as simple as a t-shirt from a “weapons-related merchant.”
The unprecedented action by BofA has caused strong backlash, particularly among its customers. One questioned, “Who’s the authoritarian surveillance state now?” Another noted she would be withdrawing her account after “16 years of banking.” The social media hashtag “#BoycottBOA” has also gained considerable traction.
Bernard Kerik, a former New York Police commissioner, pointed out the similarity to totalitarian and communist regimes: “Move over Russia, China, and Venezuela … Tucker Carlson: #BankofAmerica @BankofAmerica handed over customer data to feds following Capitol riot.”
What is the new extremism?
In a statement issued to LifeSiteNews, as well as to other media outlets, BofA wrote, “We don’t comment on our communications with law enforcement. All banks have responsibilities under federal law to cooperate with law enforcement inquiries in full compliance with the law.”
However, Carlson took issue with this, pointing out that BofA could have refused to cooperate with the FBI, and raised concerns about the legality of the bank’s actions.
Referring to a law allowing banks to assist federal investigators with information relevant to a “possible violation of any statute or regulation,” Carlson asked, “But the question is, legally, what constitutes information that ‘may be relevant’ to a ‘possible’ crime? Buying a muffin in Washington, D.C., on January 5? Does that make you a potential ‘domestic extremist?’ According to Bank of America, yes — yes, it does.”
Left-wing politicians, the mainstream media, and now BofA, have used the terms extremist or terrorist, yet — as Carlson observed — no one has defined what a political extremist is. “We’re getting the sense, they’re not defining it for a reason,” he added. He continued by suggesting that the deliberately vague term of a political or domestic extremist is interpreted to mean anyone who disagrees with the media, or the prevalent narrative of current affairs.
BofA’s secretive cooperation in flushing out those who are declared to be domestic extremists presents the larger concern which underlies such a move.
LifeSiteNews recently revealed how banks could become the de facto enforcers of the globalist anti-Christian Great Reset plan, and its green agenda, by simply freezing funds or canceling the accounts of those who did not conform to the globalist policies.
In fact, the World Economic Forum (WEF), which promotes the Great Reset, has already called upon governments and regulators to use “hard dollars and soft power” in order to “mandate and incentivize” the “sustainable investments” necessary for a “cleaner, greener future.”
Adherence to green policies could determine whether an individual or a business is allowed access to finances, according the Great Reset architect and WEF founder Klaus Schwab: “Governments led by enlightened leaders will make their stimulus packages conditional upon green commitments. They will, for example, provide more generous financial conditions for companies with low-carbon business models.”
Banks have already demonstrated the power they are willing to wield in order to enforce political agendas, with HSBC recently announcing that it would potentially close customers’ accounts if they entered the bank without a face mask. A number of other banks have canceled accounts of those opposing COVID lockdowns, supporters of former President Trump, and even Trump himself.
Chase Bank also recently blocked Covfefe Coffee from the payment service WePay, and is preventing the company from even withdrawing any funds. Covfefe was not given any reason for the move other than an unspecified “violation of the terms of service.” However, since Covfefe is openly pro-Trump and has previously experienced censorship for using the phrase Make America Great Again, it could see no other reason for Chase Bank’s ban other than Covfefe’s clear support for Trump.
Such actions correspond to a tactic drawn straight from Schwab’s recent book COVID-19: The Great Reset. In those pages, Schwab described a situation whereby investors withheld capital from an industrial plant as a way to make sure that the plant adhered to green policies.