Maryland State Police Target Activists
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Oct 12, 2008, 11:42:34 AM10/12/08
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Maryland State Police Target Activists
------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Maryland State Police Target Activists
Md. Police Put Activists' Names On Terror Lists
Surveillance's Reach Revealed
By Lisa Rein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 8, 2008; A01
The Maryland State Police classified 53 nonviolent activists as
terrorists and entered their names and personal information into state
and federal databases that track terrorism suspects, the state police
chief acknowledged yesterday.
Police Superintendent Terrence B. Sheridan revealed at a legislative
hearing that the surveillance20operation, which targeted opponents of
the death penalty and the Iraq war, was far more extensive than was
known when its existence was disclosed in July.
The department started sending letters of notification Saturday to the
activists, inviting them to review their files before they are purged
from the databases, Sheridan said.
"The names don't belong in there," he told the Senate Judicial
Proceedings Committee. "It's as simple as that."
The surveillance took place over 14 months in 2005 and 2006, under the
administration of former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R). The
former state police superintendent who authorized the operation,
Thomas E. Hutchins, defended the program in testimony yesterday.
Hutchins said the progr am was a bulwark against potential violence
and called the activists "fringe people."
Sheridan said protest groups were also entered as terror ist
organizations in the databases, but his staff has not identified which
ones.
Stunned senators pressed Sheridan to apologize to the activists for
the spying, assailed in an independent review last week as
"overreaching" by law enforcement officials who were oblivious to
their violation of the activists' rights of free _expression_ and
association. The letter, obtained by The Washington Post, does not
apologize but admits that the state police have "no evidence
whatsoever of any involvement in violent crime" by those classified as
terrorists.
Hutchins told the committee it was not accurate to describe the
program as spying. "I doubt anyone who has used that term has ever met
a spy," he t old the committee.
"What John Walker did is spying," Hutchins said, referring to John
Walker Jr., a communications specialist for the U.S. Navy convicted of
selling secrets to the Soviet Union. Hutchins said the intelligence
agents, whose logs were obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union
of Maryland as part of a lawsuit, were monitoring "open public
meetings." His officers sought a "situational awareness" of the
potential for disruption as death penalty opponents prepared to
protest the executions of two men on death row, Hutchins said.
"I don't believe the First Amendment is any guarantee to those who
wish to disrupt the government," he said. Hu tchins said he did not
notify Ehrlich about the surveillance. Ehrlich spokesman Henry Fawell
said the governor had no comment.
Hutchins did not name the commander in the Division of Homeland
Security and Intelligence who informed him in March 2005 that the
surveillance had begun. More than a year later, after "they said,
'We're not getting much here,' " Hutchins said he cut off what he
called a "low-level operation."
But Sen. James Brochin (D-Baltimore County) noted that undercover
troopers used aliases to infiltrate organizational meetings, rallies
and group e-mail lists. He called the spying a "deliberate
infiltration to find out20every piece of information necessary" on
groups such as the Maryland Campaign to End the Death Penalty and the
Baltimore Pledge of Resistance. When Hutchins called their members
"fringe people," the audience of activists who filled the seats in the
hearing room in Annapoli s sighed.
Some activists said yesterday that they have received letters; others
said they were waiting with anticipation to see whether they were on
the state police watch list.
Laura Lising of Catonsville, a member of the Baltimore Coalition
Against the Death Penalty, received her notification yesterday. She
said she wants a hard copy of her file, because she does not trust the
police to purge it. "We need as much protection as possible," she
said.
Both Hut chins and Sheridan said the activists' names were entered
into the state police database as terrorists partly because the
software offered limited options for classifying entries.
The police also entered the activists' names into the federal
Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area database,
which tracks su spected terrorists. One well-known antiwar activist
from Baltimore, Max Obuszewski, was singled out in the intelligence
logs released by the ACLU, which described a "primary crime" of
"terrorism-anti-government" and a "secondary crime" of "terrorism-anti-
war protesters."
Sheridan said that he did not think the names were circulated to other
agencies in the federal system and that they are not on the federal
government's terrorist watch list. Hutchins said some names might have
been shared with the National Security Agency.
Although the independent report on the surveillance released last week
said that it was part of a broad effort by the state police to gather
information on protest g roups across the state, Sheridan said the
department is not aware of any surveillance as "intrusive" as the
spying on death penalty and war opponents.
The police notified the protesters at the recommendation of former
U.S. attorney and state attorney general Stephen H. Sachs, who was
appointed by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) to review the covert monitoring.
In a report last week, Sachs also recommended regulations that forbid
such spying on protest groups unless the state police chief believes
it is justified.
"I can't imagine getting a letter that says, 'You've been classified
as a terrorist; come in and we'll tell about it,'" said Sen. Bryan W.
Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel). Two senators noted that they had been
arrested years ago for civil disobedience. Sen. Jennie Forehand (D-
Montgomery) asked Sheridan, "Do you have any legislators on your
list?" The answer was no.
© 2008 The Washington Post Company
--------------------------------------------------------------------
New York Times
October 10, 2008
Editorial
Citizen Terrorists Deleted
The homeland security mania has invited some startling abuses of
police power, but we have yet to hear of any more knuckle-headed than
one in Maryland. There, the State Police are sheepishly tracking down
53 innocent people to let them know they were entered as suspected
terrorists on state and federal databases — for the Orwellian offense
of engaging in peaceful protest.
The citizens had merely joined gatherings opposed to the Iraq war and
capital punishment. Yet they were listed as terrorists three years ago
on criminal intelligence rolls. “On the contrary, the groups were
determined not to violate the law,” Stephen Sachs, the former Maryland
attorney general, took pains to point out in a blistering report
concluding that the runaway program violated constitutional rights and
federal regulations.
Legislative hearings this week added insult to injury. Thomas
Hutchins, a former State Police superintendent, insisted that the
program was a legitimate surveillance of “fringe people” he somehow
divined as “those who wish to disrupt the government.” This is a
chilling free-speech distinction not found in the Constitution. It
should make any American wonder what else is out there in the way of
misbegotten police programs.
The 300 hours of surveillance devoted to data-smearing outspoken
citizens was aptly described in the report as “an instructive example
of the abuses that can result when the mere invocation of ‘terrorism’
is understood to override constitutional protections.”
Promising reform to angry legislators, the Maryland police are
scrambling not so much to apologize as to notify the 53 that they were
falsely deemed terrorists and can inspect their files before th e
files are purged. The databases were originally intended for anti-drug
intelligence, but were misused, officials explained, by zealous,
“technologically challenged” commanders.
Constitutionally challenged, as well.
0A
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Maryland State Police Target Activists
"Maryland Police Put Activists' Names On Terror Lists"
Washington Post, Wednesday October 8, 2008
Page A1, click here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/07/AR2008100703245.html
"Citizen Terrorists Deleted"
New York Times (Editorial), Friday October 10, 2008
Page A32, click here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/opinion/10fri3.html
============================================
<><><> the end / el fin / tamat <><><>
Promoting Justice for Latinas
###
==========================================
------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Maryland State Police Target Activists
Md. Police Put Activists' Names On Terror Lists
Surveillance's Reach Revealed
By Lisa Rein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 8, 2008; A01
The Maryland State Police classified 53 nonviolent activists as
terrorists and entered their names and personal information into state
and federal databases that track terrorism suspects, the state police
chief acknowledged yesterday.
Police Superintendent Terrence B. Sheridan revealed at a legislative
hearing that the surveillance20operation, which targeted opponents of
the death penalty and the Iraq war, was far more extensive than was
known when its existence was disclosed in July.
The department started sending letters of notification Saturday to the
activists, inviting them to review their files before they are purged
from the databases, Sheridan said.
"The names don't belong in there," he told the Senate Judicial
Proceedings Committee. "It's as simple as that."
The surveillance took place over 14 months in 2005 and 2006, under the
administration of former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R). The
former state police superintendent who authorized the operation,
Thomas E. Hutchins, defended the program in testimony yesterday.
Hutchins said the progr am was a bulwark against potential violence
and called the activists "fringe people."
Sheridan said protest groups were also entered as terror ist
organizations in the databases, but his staff has not identified which
ones.
Stunned senators pressed Sheridan to apologize to the activists for
the spying, assailed in an independent review last week as
"overreaching" by law enforcement officials who were oblivious to
their violation of the activists' rights of free _expression_ and
association. The letter, obtained by The Washington Post, does not
apologize but admits that the state police have "no evidence
whatsoever of any involvement in violent crime" by those classified as
terrorists.
Hutchins told the committee it was not accurate to describe the
program as spying. "I doubt anyone who has used that term has ever met
a spy," he t old the committee.
"What John Walker did is spying," Hutchins said, referring to John
Walker Jr., a communications specialist for the U.S. Navy convicted of
selling secrets to the Soviet Union. Hutchins said the intelligence
agents, whose logs were obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union
of Maryland as part of a lawsuit, were monitoring "open public
meetings." His officers sought a "situational awareness" of the
potential for disruption as death penalty opponents prepared to
protest the executions of two men on death row, Hutchins said.
"I don't believe the First Amendment is any guarantee to those who
wish to disrupt the government," he said. Hu tchins said he did not
notify Ehrlich about the surveillance. Ehrlich spokesman Henry Fawell
said the governor had no comment.
Hutchins did not name the commander in the Division of Homeland
Security and Intelligence who informed him in March 2005 that the
surveillance had begun. More than a year later, after "they said,
'We're not getting much here,' " Hutchins said he cut off what he
called a "low-level operation."
But Sen. James Brochin (D-Baltimore County) noted that undercover
troopers used aliases to infiltrate organizational meetings, rallies
and group e-mail lists. He called the spying a "deliberate
infiltration to find out20every piece of information necessary" on
groups such as the Maryland Campaign to End the Death Penalty and the
Baltimore Pledge of Resistance. When Hutchins called their members
"fringe people," the audience of activists who filled the seats in the
hearing room in Annapoli s sighed.
Some activists said yesterday that they have received letters; others
said they were waiting with anticipation to see whether they were on
the state police watch list.
Laura Lising of Catonsville, a member of the Baltimore Coalition
Against the Death Penalty, received her notification yesterday. She
said she wants a hard copy of her file, because she does not trust the
police to purge it. "We need as much protection as possible," she
said.
Both Hut chins and Sheridan said the activists' names were entered
into the state police database as terrorists partly because the
software offered limited options for classifying entries.
The police also entered the activists' names into the federal
Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area database,
which tracks su spected terrorists. One well-known antiwar activist
from Baltimore, Max Obuszewski, was singled out in the intelligence
logs released by the ACLU, which described a "primary crime" of
"terrorism-anti-government" and a "secondary crime" of "terrorism-anti-
war protesters."
Sheridan said that he did not think the names were circulated to other
agencies in the federal system and that they are not on the federal
government's terrorist watch list. Hutchins said some names might have
been shared with the National Security Agency.
Although the independent report on the surveillance released last week
said that it was part of a broad effort by the state police to gather
information on protest g roups across the state, Sheridan said the
department is not aware of any surveillance as "intrusive" as the
spying on death penalty and war opponents.
The police notified the protesters at the recommendation of former
U.S. attorney and state attorney general Stephen H. Sachs, who was
appointed by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) to review the covert monitoring.
In a report last week, Sachs also recommended regulations that forbid
such spying on protest groups unless the state police chief believes
it is justified.
"I can't imagine getting a letter that says, 'You've been classified
as a terrorist; come in and we'll tell about it,'" said Sen. Bryan W.
Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel). Two senators noted that they had been
arrested years ago for civil disobedience. Sen. Jennie Forehand (D-
Montgomery) asked Sheridan, "Do you have any legislators on your
list?" The answer was no.
© 2008 The Washington Post Company
--------------------------------------------------------------------
New York Times
October 10, 2008
Editorial
Citizen Terrorists Deleted
The homeland security mania has invited some startling abuses of
police power, but we have yet to hear of any more knuckle-headed than
one in Maryland. There, the State Police are sheepishly tracking down
53 innocent people to let them know they were entered as suspected
terrorists on state and federal databases — for the Orwellian offense
of engaging in peaceful protest.
The citizens had merely joined gatherings opposed to the Iraq war and
capital punishment. Yet they were listed as terrorists three years ago
on criminal intelligence rolls. “On the contrary, the groups were
determined not to violate the law,” Stephen Sachs, the former Maryland
attorney general, took pains to point out in a blistering report
concluding that the runaway program violated constitutional rights and
federal regulations.
Legislative hearings this week added insult to injury. Thomas
Hutchins, a former State Police superintendent, insisted that the
program was a legitimate surveillance of “fringe people” he somehow
divined as “those who wish to disrupt the government.” This is a
chilling free-speech distinction not found in the Constitution. It
should make any American wonder what else is out there in the way of
misbegotten police programs.
The 300 hours of surveillance devoted to data-smearing outspoken
citizens was aptly described in the report as “an instructive example
of the abuses that can result when the mere invocation of ‘terrorism’
is understood to override constitutional protections.”
Promising reform to angry legislators, the Maryland police are
scrambling not so much to apologize as to notify the 53 that they were
falsely deemed terrorists and can inspect their files before th e
files are purged. The databases were originally intended for anti-drug
intelligence, but were misused, officials explained, by zealous,
“technologically challenged” commanders.
Constitutionally challenged, as well.
0A
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Maryland State Police Target Activists
"Maryland Police Put Activists' Names On Terror Lists"
Washington Post, Wednesday October 8, 2008
Page A1, click here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/07/AR2008100703245.html
"Citizen Terrorists Deleted"
New York Times (Editorial), Friday October 10, 2008
Page A32, click here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/opinion/10fri3.html
============================================
<><><> the end / el fin / tamat <><><>
Promoting Justice for Latinas
###
==========================================
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