State Police Spy on Law Abiding Political Acivists

Maryland State Police officers spent hundred of hours infilterating and recording peace activists and anti-death penalty protesters in 2005 and 2006 the ACLU revealed yesterday. Although there is no mention of any illegal activity by any of these people, some of their names were entered into a Law Enforcement databse along with suspected terrorists ann other dangerous criminals. (No more "Friendly Skies" for them)

Nearly 300 man hours and 14 months of time was invested in this garbage. I wonder how much the tax-payers were looted for?

The Superintendant of Maryland State Police said "does not inappropriately curtail the expression or demonstration of the civil liberties of protesters or organizations acting lawfully."

Really?

These were pacifists who held open meeting and publicsised meeting times and dates.
Why would Maryland State Police be wasting their time with this?



According to the ACLU;

The MSP's Homeland Security and Intelligence Division also appears to have been working to specially track the activities of at least one individual activist, Max Obuszewski, who was entered into the "Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area" (HIDTA) database. That database, which is funded by the federal government, was intended to facilitate information sharing among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies engaged in drug interdiction. In December 2006, Congress modified the federal law to allow HIDTA funds to be used to assist in terrorism investigations as well. The entry for Mr. Obuszewski indicates that the "Primary Crime" linked to him in the database is "Terrorism-Anti Govern[ment], and the "Secondary Crime" is "Terrorism – Anti-War Protestors" – which are outlandish and blatantly false accusations.



So, even though Mr.Obuszewski has broken no laws and there is no evidence that he intends to he now has his name in a federal database labeled an anti-government terrorist?! They are building themselves a mighty big list and in the process transforming lawful dissent into boiling resentments.

Lex