Subject: ACLU Denounces FBI Tactics Targeting Political Protesters
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2004 10:53:54 -0400
From: "Emily Whitfield" <EWHITFIELD@xxxxxxxx>
To: <declan@xxxxxxxx>
Declan,
Following is an ACLU news release criticizing the FBI's interrogations
and intimidation of protesters as reported in today's New York Times.
The ACLU has obtained a copy of the OLC memo on the FBI's
interrogration activities referenced in the story and we will be
posting it on our web site shortly. Meanwhile, we have issued a news
release about the FBI interrogations, online at
http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=16248&c=282
Emily Whitfield
ACLU
ACLU Denounces FBI Tactics Targeting Political Protesters
Calls on Individuals to Report FBI Interrogations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Emily
Whitfield, ACLU
August 16, 2004 (212) 549-2566
NEW YORK-The American Civil Liberties Union today denounced the FBI's
use of the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) to monitor, interrogate
and suppress anti-war and other political protesters and called on
individuals who have been targeted for investigation to come forward.
The ACLU issued the public statement after an article in today's New
York Times detailed actions taken by FBI agents in Missouri, Kansas
and Colorado to spy on and interrogate activists in advance of the
Democratic and Republican national conventions.
"The FBI's intimidation and interrogation of peaceful protesters
brings back eerie echoes of the days of J. Edgar Hoover," said Anthony
D. Romero, ACLU Executive Director. "Resources and funds established
to fight terrorism should not be misused to target innocent Americans
who have done nothing more than engage in lawful protest and dissent."
According to reports from ACLU offices, law enforcement officials
throughout the U.S. have been monitoring the daily activities of
various activists they believe are planning to protest major national
political events, including the upcoming Republican National
Convention in New York, which is expected to draw hundreds of
thousands of protesters. In the days leading up to the Democratic
National Convention, officials identifying themselves as JTTF agents
made "visits" to the homes of several activists as well as their
friends and family members.
In Missouri, three young men in their early 20's were subpoenaed to
testify before a federal grand jury on July 29, the same day they
planned on protesting the Democratic convention. The men, who planned
to drive to Boston with an activist group based in St. Louis, first
realized they were being targeted by the FBI when agents visited the
homes of their parents a week before the subpoenas. In addition to
asking about easily accessible information such as current addresses,
the agents also asked the parents for information on their sons'
political activities.
The very next day, agents visited the three men directly and asked
them if they had any knowledge of individuals planning "criminally
disorderly behavior" at the national conventions, the presidential
debates, the election or any other event. According to the men, the
surveillance increased after the visits, and conditions did not
improve until after they contacted the ACLU.
"These young men are quite terrified by the experience of being
targeted by the Joint Terrorism Task Force because of their protest
activities," said Denise Lieberman, Legal Director of the ACLU of
Eastern Missouri. "The FBI interrogations have had a chilling effect
on free speech."
JTTF officials conducted similar investigations on individuals in
Denver and Fort Collins, Colorado, including 21-year-old Sarah
Bardwell. Bardwell, an intern with the American Friends Service
Committee, a Quaker group dedicated to nonviolence, was approached at
her home by four FBI agents and two Denver police officers asking
questions consistent with those in Missouri: Are you planning to be
involved in any criminal acts at the national conventions? Do you know
anybody who is? Are you aware that if you assist or know anybody
planning any criminal acts and do not report them, it's a crime?
According to Bardwell, the officials at first jokingly told her and
her housemates that they were there to do "community outreach," but
then clarified they were "doing some preventive measures and
investigating." Bardwell and her housemates believe they were targeted
because of their past participation in protests, including anti-war
demonstrations.
Last year, the Denver Police Department agreed to stop its practice of
monitoring and recording the peaceful protest activities of local
residents in a settlement reached in the ACLU's landmark "Spy Files"
lawsuit. Despite the settlement, Denver's intelligence unit
contributes two fulltime officers to the JTTF.
"These JTTF visits are an abuse of power, designed to intimidate these
kids from exercising their constitutional right to protest government
policies and associate with others who want to protest government
policies," said Mark Silverstein, Legal Director of the ACLU of
Colorado.
The ACLU denounced JTTF tactics last November after the publication of
a classified FBI intelligence memorandum, which gave police detailed
instructions on how to target and monitor lawful political
demonstrations under the rubric of fighting terrorism.
As reported in today's Times, a previously undisclosed legal opinion
condoned the controversial tactics outlined in the memorandum. The
opinion was issued in response to an internal complaint by an employee
who charged that the tactics blurred the line between lawfully
protected speech and illegal activity.
"It is troubling that the FBI continues to advocate spying on peaceful
protesters," said the ACLU's Romero. "But even protesters who engage
in civil disobedience or other disruptive acts should not be treated
like potential terrorists."
The ACLU said that there has been a noticeable increase in domestic
spying on political protestors in recent years. One of the most famous
cases is the infiltration of the anti-war group Peace Fresno by a
member of the Fresno County Sheriff Department's Anti-Terrorism unit
in 2003. Peace Fresno discovered one of its members had actually been
a government agent through an obituary published after his death in a
motorcycle accident. The incident is portrayed in Michael Moore's
Fahrenheit 9/11 as an example of civil liberties violations in the
post-September 11th climate.
The ACLU said it is continuing to monitor incidents of FBI
intimidation and interrogation.
To read a copy of the FBI memorandum on targeting protestors, see
http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=14452&c=207
To read more about the ACLU's work to protect protest rights, see
http://www.aclu.org/FreeSpeech/FreeSpeechlist.cfm?c=86
To read more about the ACLU of Colorado's "Spy Files" case, go to
http://www.aclu-co.org/spyfiles/chronology.htm