| “ | I don't need to tell you the atrocities this government is committing in the name of freedom, but our rights haven't just been lost. They've been put to market. This whole town is bought and sold. Google, Facebook, Palantir -- a vicious cycle engorging the surveillance industrial complex." "A Presidential assassination would destabilize regions, cause thousands of deaths, and that's just, what, an unfortunate side effect?" "Citizens must fight for their freedom. |
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Vigilance Lite was a domestic terrorist group comprised of ordinary citizens who opposed mass surveillance. As noted by Sameen Shaw, the members were amateurs who were operating under their real identities rather than professional terrorists or criminals.
History[]
The group, led by Tracey Phillips, was formed out of ordinary citizens who ordinary citizens who opposed mass surveillance and sought to take a violent approach to ending it. This was detected by the Machine who dispatched John Reese, Sameen Shaw and Lionel Fusco to stop the group.
At a fundraiser, the group planted a bomb the explosion of which was contained by Reese and Shaw. Afterwards, a message was broadcast all over declaring that this was just a warning and demanding that the mass surveillance program be shut down or the President would die the next day. Reese and Shaw identified Charlie Vaida as a member of the group and suspected that Logan Pierce was the hacker responsible.
By the next morning, efforts by law enforcement to identify the group were unsuccessful while Shaw determined that Charlie's ID was real and he didn't have any illicit calls or emails or anything that would suggest a terrorist. Shaw was able to intimidate Charlie into revealing that something was going to happen later that day before Reese and Shaw allowed him to escape tagged with a GPS tracker.
Charlie led Shaw and Fusco to Tracey's home which served as the group's headquarters. Shaw was captured by Tracey who defended their actions as necessary despite the fact that a Presidental assassination would destabilize entire regions and cause thousands of deaths. However, Shaw recognized that her captors were ill-prepared for any sort of a fight just before the power goes out momentarily thanks to Logan Pierce, allowing Fusco to rescue Shaw and capture the terrorists. However, Tracey warned that it was too late and the group's plan was already in motion. From the surveillance setup, Shaw realized that the assassination would take place in the plaza where the President was giving his speech, but they were unable to call in the Secret Service as they couldn't be sure who to trust.
While Reese and Shaw positioned themselves on the plaza, Fusco remained with the captured terrorists and by observing Tracey's reactions to the surveillance setup, determined that the terrorists intended to crash a drone into the Presidential SUV which Reese and Shaw realized was the reason for the warning. Reese was able to identify Secret Service Agent Daniels as the group's mole, but Daniels turned the Secret Service on Reese. Taking over the position of a Secret Service sniper, Shaw opened fire on the President, keeping him pinned down long enough to prevent the President from entering the SUV. The drone crashed into and destroyed the SUV, but the President remained unharmed. As Reese and Shaw made their escape, Daniels, Charlie and another member of the group cornered and tried to kill them. However, the three were shot and wounded by Joey Durban who helped Reese and Shaw to make their escape as the President made it to safety.
In the aftermath, an anonymous tip from Logan led to the Secret Service arresting the group's members for their crimes. Harper Rose helped explain Fusco's presence as the detective helping Homeland Security to infiltrate the domestic terrorist ring. Afterwards, Joey, Logan and Harper revealed that the Machine had sent them to secretly help the Team with their mission.
Known Members[]
- Tracy Phillips
- Charlie Vaida
- Daniels
- Janis
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