Maryland’s ACLU is investigating reported state police infiltration of local activist groups, including peace and anti-war groups such as Baltimore’s Iraq Pledge of Resistance (of which I am a member — and I know that spying did take place; it’s a fact). Words cannot fully express my outrage, but anyone surprised would be a fool. So far, the only comfort I have is that it appears the pigs — yep, I said it — may have spied on right-wingers too.
From the Washington Post:
The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland [is demanding that] state police disclose under public information laws whether 32 grass-roots advocacy and political activist groups that have held large public protests in recent years have been targets of spying by undercover agents.
[The] request follows revelations in July that state police officers posing as activists conducted surveillance in 2005 and 2006 on war protesters and death penalty opponents.
Information is being sought on behalf of groups ranging from Silver Spring-based Progressive Maryland, which promotes liberal causes, to Defend Life, a Washington area anti-abortion coalition. The organizations include immigrant advocacy group CASA of Maryland, PeaceAction Montgomery, Christian Peace Witness for Iraq, the gay rights group Equality Maryland and a coalition formed to fight high electricity rates in the Washington-Baltimore area.
ACLU Seeks Data on Spying for 32 Groups
It was true in the sixties, and it’s true now. Don’t trust the government. Don’t trust the cops. And never, ever give up your right to stand up for your beliefs, whatever the bastards do.
Pacifists as terrorists? Give me a break. We’re the ones trying to keep the peace, so of course, the thuggish cops target us, keep us off of planes, sneak their foul spies into our meetings. If this were the 1770s, revolution would be the cure.
Good luck to the ACLU on its probe. A lot of good people working to make the country a better place have been abused and insulted by the mainstream-approved system and betrayed by the police. We deserve answers.
