ACLU: Police illegally monitor protest groups

Josey1

ACLU: Police illegally monitor protest groupsBy The Associated PressThe American Civil Liberties Union accused the Denver Police Department today of keeping illegal files on peaceful protest groups. The ACLU's Colorado legal director, Mark Silverstein, showed reporters files he said came from the police department. "These are a small sampling of documents we have that show Denver police are monitoring peaceful protest activities of individuals and law-abiding groups," he said. The groups included Amnesty International and the American Friends Service Committee. "The mayor thinks their concerns are legitimate and has asked the police for a full report to answer the questions posed to the city," said Andrew Hudson, spokesman for Mayor Wellington Webb. Police Chief Gerry Whitman was out of town. C.L. Harmer, a spokeswoman for the Denver Public Safety Department, said she had just received a copy of a letter from the ACLU and would call later with a comment. Stephen B. Nash, who was identified in one of the files as an event organizer for Amnesty International, said police could not use the excuse of a need for more security after Sept. 11. "My file goes back to 2000, well before Sept. 11. 9/11 has nothing to do with it." "This information has nothing to do with investigating terrorism," said Silverstein. He said he didn't know if police departments were also monitoring protest groups. Barry Leaman-Miller, was identified as a member of the "American Friends Service Committee (criminal extremist G)." He said the Philadelphia-based Quaker group has won the Nobel Peace Prize and "acts in the best tradition of nonviolence." Silverstein said the ACLU had sent a letter to the mayor asking that all monitoring be stopped, all files be made available to their subjects, police disclose who has been given the information and that all files be preserved in case a lawsuit is filed. Among the events mentioned in the files were a protest of an Italian-led parade honoring Columbus, protests of the killing by a Denver SWAT team that went to the wrong house, protests against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, D.C., and protests by the Chiapas Coalition of alleged civil rights violations in Mexico's poorest state. "This is really outrageous to me ... since Sept. 11 immigration equals terrorism," said Luis Espinosa, a member of the Chiapas group and recent arrival in the United States. Silverstein said the ACLU would consider a class action lawsuit against the city if the mayor allows the monitoring to continue. He declined to say where he had gotten the files. "I am convinced these files came from law enforcement." He said they were marked as permanent, not simply reports that would be discarded at the end of the day. Last Friday the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the police of Denver and nearby Golden accusing them of an illegal search of the office of a police group believed to have been connected to vandalism at a clothing store selling goods from Nicaraguan sweat shops. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_1025504,00.html March 11, 2002

badboybob

The american communist lovers union. That says it all.

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PC=BS